Let Us Be Thankful... How does one explain the Divine phenomenon of reasoning in the human mind, or the stirring of compassion in the human heart? And which is greater - the Divinely-created and mysterious mechanism in our being that speaks our thoughts, or the Divinely-created and mysterious mechanism that hears the spoken words of another's thoughts, and indeed all the sounds of the universe? Or do we count the windows of our soul the greatest? Those wonderful, light-receiving, light-holding, and light-shining bulbs of perception and enablement that testify of such miraculous molding of delicate flesh only a Divine Creator could have designed and fashioned them, then given them color with genetic banks for receiving and storing the different hues and shades. We are a wonder - fearfully and wonderfully made - and while the physicians can tell us HOW these things work, they cannot tell us WHY they work. They cannot tell us why something so delicate as human flesh, so prone to disease, mortal wounds and death, can see with their eyes, hear with their ears, speak with their tongues and experience the emotions and thoughts of every day life. Even more mysterious are the senses of smell and taste. Yet, when one is placed into the grave, the flesh melts away into a little thin black line of dried crumbled earthly protein that lies beneath the bones. In their inability to explain the realm of miracles, the physicians and the courts tell us this is death - the cessation of living - the fate of every man. And of course, if they cannot explain the miracles of the living, we don't dare ask them about the immortality of the soul. That is counsel they leave to the preachers... Oh my friends, we have so much to be thankful for - not just on this national day of Thanksgiving, but every day of our lives. Once we realize how special we are to the One who fashioned us in our various colors and sizes, we can love ourselves as the creation of a Holy God who is the author and fashioner of miracles... About that thin line of protein in the grave - have you not read - do you not believe - that there is going to be a resurrection??? Let me explain the grave to you - it is the most miraculous of all... When you receive Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, and are born again of His Spirit, you become a grafted-in child in the household of faith and the family of Almighty God, and as such you inherit the promises and Covenants of Abraham. Prior to His ascension into Heaven, Jesus said He would send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to abide with us "forever" and that He would NEVER leave us nor forsake us. That same Holy Spirit comes to dwell within each of us when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And when Jesus said "forever" and "never" he was not promising what He could not deliver…. The indwelling Holy Spirit brings with Him the "born again" phenomenon which is a burst of spiritual cleansing that rushes in the birthing of God’s love and presence in our hearts, our minds, and our own immortal spirits. He brings the new birth to our own spirits, that part of our being that lives forever, and because we are transformed by this Holy One within us – we will never be the same and we will never be alone - even in the grave... Do you remember the two verse story of Elisha's anointed bones in II Kings 13:20-21? I talk about this in depth in a previous article on the website, A Midnight Tale of Graveyard Bones. You can read that also if you wish, but I am explaining it again so you can know, and understand, the bones of the believer are saturated with the oil of the presence of the Holy Spirit. There are no dry bones in the grave of the believing saint that abides in Christ Jesus. If you abide in Christ, and Christ abides in you, your bones will be saturated with the anointing of His Spirit and the degree of that anointing will be up to you and how deeply you abided in Him on the earth. The miracle is this - there is going to be a resurrection of the Godly when Jesus returns for His Bride. When Jesus shouts for the dead to rise, the Holy Spirit that is still dwelling in the bones of the saints will burst forth in a nuclear power that ignites those thin lines of black protein and they will come together in new and glorified bodies like Jesus had when He rose from His tomb two thousand years ago. Meanwhile, while we wait for that shout, the spirits (souls) of these entombed saints are still living, still watching over us from their windows in Heaven, and our loved ones there are still praying and interceding before the throne for you and me. And guess what - they can still see, hear, speak, taste and smell because the soul is spirit, like God, for it is created in the image of God who can see, hear, speak, taste and smell... It is the spirit of man (which is the breath of God) that enables the flesh to live, and lends to the flesh the miracles of the five senses. It is by the Grace of God through faith that our flesh is preserved and the bones are saturated with oil and prepared for the resurrection that is coming. Do you remember the story of the ten virgins? Five were wise and took extra oil and five were foolish and did not. I urge you today, study and draw closer and closer to Him and gather all the oil you can carry in your bones and in your flesh. You cannot give your oil to another, but you can pray down oil upon another who is sincere in their seeking of the baptism of the Holy Spirit... Do you remember Ezekiel’s vision in Chapter 37? It is the story of the dry bones of Israel? God had asked Ezekiel, "Can these bones live?" You see, there were no bodies – the bones were dry and parched dead – without flesh, without God and without hope. It was the site of a great ancient battlefield and no one knows how long these slain had laid there, their bones parched in the weathers of unknown numbers of seasons. God didn’t ask Ezekiel if the bodies could be restored to life. He asked him if the BONES could live… and Ezekiel did not know… But God said they could live if Ezekiel would prophesy (preach life) to them. He did and the bones came together, each to his own frame, and Ezekiel looked and beheld the flesh forming upon the bones. Then the Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy to the four winds of the Spirit to come forth and breathe upon these slain that they may live. Ezekiel commanded the winds of the Spirit and breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army. It is a picture of secular (dead) Israel becoming spiritual (living) Israel, returning to faith in the Lord God of Heaven and Earth. It is a testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit who brings new birth, new life and new beginnings when behold, old things are passed away and all things become new… We are living examples to the world, and we shall forever be the living miracles of God the eternal Creator. Let the redeemed say so, and let them proclaim to the prisoners of Ba’al, “Our eyes did not evolve from the fish eye...” It was God who created the fish...It was Jesus who multiplied the loaves and the fishes… If God did not create the fish, if we indeed evolved from the fish, then how did Jesus multiply them – by what power and by whose authority did He do such a thing? Did He consult with the sea before He prayed? What kind of powers were these that He could defy the natural orders of this world? We know He had power to defy the grave. He raised Jairus’ daughter, He raised the only son of the widow woman, and He raised the four-day dead Lazarus. And those are just a few New Testament accounts. We are told by the writings of the Apostles that there were many more miracles and deliverances that were not recorded… And we know, by His authority alone, He commanded the winds and the waves in the height of the storm – and peace returned immediately. If our ancestors were fish, would Jesus have helped Peter catch a net full and fry fish for breakfast? Would He have eaten broiled fish and honey in the Upper Room on the night of His resurrection? Wouldn’t that be like eating your cousin? Get a grip, you foolish world, get a life…God stocked the sea with fish for food… Only the doubting Thomas dared challenge the risen Messiah, and only a doubting Thomas will deny Him today. Just as Jesus had patience and love for Thomas then, inviting him to thrust his hand into the wound hole in His side, Jesus has patience and love for the doubting Thomas’ of today. He waits, and He will quickly forgive them their unbelief when they confess on their knees, “My Lord and My God.” I tell you truthfully my brothers and sisters, we are special unto God, and we are precious and desired by Jesus the Bridegroom. Do you think God would have given Christ a body of flesh and blood and a brief mission on this earth if mankind was so corrupt it was already condemned without hope? The answer of course, is YES - YES - YES - that is exactly what He did. And He came willingly, without reservation, and without regret. His Word is true, His promises are yea and Amen - His Covenant is commanded forever (Psalm 111:9) for He has sent Redemption to His people... God is not a quitter. He is not a fatalist. He is not a defeatist. He is a God of love, of hope, of mercy and redemption. He judges, He chastises and He breaks the will and the heart of those He loves to bring them to His truth, and He judges the unbeliever with Divine justice - not like the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals - but like the rebellious in the wilderness whom the earth swallowed up and silenced. They would do their soul-ish screaming in the prisons of unbelievers. God will mourn them for He still loves them, but they neither loved nor accepted God. They wanted nothing to do with Him, therefore that is their life's reward - to be separated from God for eternity... We have much to be thankful for and we have much to consider concerning our great salvation by God's Grace through our faith in Jesus Christ. It is more than surrendering with all our shamed being a prayer of repentance. It is more than the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is more than a new and changed life. These wondrous events may start the ball to rolling, they may bring us to the total cleansing and redemption of His salvation plan, but it is not the sum of it. As we can see, our redemption continues through the grave - through the Rapture - through the millennium and through eternity. We are the redeemed, the justified, and we are being sanctified because the Holy Spirit will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings. Let us say so… This is why we are commissioned by Christ (Mark 16) to heal the sick, cast out devils and raise the dead. Not one of these commands is impossible, not one is improbable, and not one is a feat of man's ability but of God only through the faith of man and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is He who responds to the faith and authority of man. Oh yes, Jesus gave us His authority just as He gave us the shield of faith. He gave us the power of His name, His blood, and the two-edged sword of His Word, to fight the enemies of our souls. We are to do just that. We are to show the world we are not of this world but are born again of the highest...drawing men to the Cross of Christ. Jesus had said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me..." One cannot see Heaven without going through the Cross. One cannot see Hell without first viewing and rejecting the Cross. The Cross is the center of the world. It is the center of all life - and death. But it is not the Cross that determines our fate. That is determined by the thoughts of our mind, the intents of our heart, and our lips that speak...it is the fruit of the miraculous within us that decays our flesh and parches our bones, or melts our flesh and oils our bones... It is the Gospel the Church has lost. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Revelation of Jesus Christ that has been lost to the Church and to western civilization. They are finding it in Asia, in Africa, and in the Middle East, but in western nations, it has been cast out like last week's newspaper. We must find it again - America and Europe must wake up and find the one message that awakens the souls of men, and brings life again into the Church. We must search out and find again the Cross of Christ. We must search out and find again the power in the blood and the power in the Name of Jesus. We must learn to love again, not this earthly love that kills its children, but the love of God whose love never fails, whose love is without measure, whose love is crowned with mercy, whose love is everlasting and never conditional... Oh, what miracles we are and what miracles we can be in this world if we will let go and let faith have her wonderful sway, and let God be God in all His wondrous ways. What baskets and bundles of joy we should have today remembering our beginnings on the road to life, and remembering the sacrifice that paid for the passage… What thanksgiving should erupt from our lips and what humility should consume our being as we remember - we are but flesh after all - but oh, what life is this that lives within our flesh to be ever so thankful for... Joan Krempel
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