Dealing With Fear Part I

     In II Timothy 1:7 tells us:
          Verse 7:  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear(timidity); but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

     The dictionary gives us the definition of the word "Fear" as:  The instinctive emotion aroused by impending or seeming danger, pain or evil.

     Does this sound like anything you have experienced in the past? And maybe today you find yourself full of anxiety and unpleasant feelings of apprehension, distress, uncertainty and dread?  If we will be honest with ourselves and God, all of us at different times in our lives have had fear grip us and almost cripple us to the point of defeat.

     If we spell out "Fear" this is what it represents: 
          F - Failure to
          E - Enter into
          A - A
          R - Rest

     The bible tells us that:  Fear hath torment and brings with it the thought of punishment. 

     And what does this word  "Torment" means?  To inflict pain or severe mental anguish on someone, to severely distort, twist or wrench. 

     So when we are walking in "Fear" it causes great pain of the mind and body because  "Fear" and "Torment" go together and then that fear torments you with:

     Uncontrolled worry, anxiety, stress, restlessness, guilt, depression, confusion, difficulty in solving problems, concentrating, insomnia, nightmares and panic attacks just to name a few.  Fear will always anticipate the worst to happen in your life and rob you of your joy and your peace. It will cause you to think negatively and you find yourself getting caught up in what feels like an endless repeating cycle of fear and worry.  It becomes a vicious cycle that you can't seem to control and feelings of hopelessness set in.  Fear will suck the very life out of your soul, spirit, affect your body and distort your thinking.  It then leaves you empty and a prisoner to your fears.

     The devil loves to operate through "Fear" and remember that the enemy is watching you to see how you are responding and he is listening to every word that comes out of your mouth.  He will take advantage of every circumstance and situation to plant seeds of doubt in your mind so you speak words of failure, hopelessness and death. 

     In II Corinthians 2:11b tells us:  We are not to be ignorant of the schemes (traps, arrows, secret plots, plans to cause harm) of the enemy. 

     The enemy will set a trap for us that is designed to prevent us from escaping the cycle of Fear.  He will trick us when we're weak, vulnerable and least expecting it to keep us at a disadvantage.  He knows how to aim his arrows and where to send them so they wound us spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally.  They are also targeted toward the areas of our thought life that haven't been renewed, healed, or cleansed by the Word of God.  And so when that "Fear" grips our minds it tries to take us out because in Hosea 4:6 it tells us:

     Hosea 4:6:  My people are destroyed (demolished, reduced, fragmented) for lack of knowledge (information, facts, truths & principles learned)

     Fear operates through lies and if you believe those lies you've then given the enemy the power to create a counter force of Faith in your life.

     You might be saying what is a counter force?  It is a force that has the ability to deliver accurate strategic attacks against their target and can also be a force that works in opposition to another force such as Faith.

     So what the enemy will do is send a counter force of Fear that invades our thought life and if we constantly meditate on that Fear it can build a stronghold in our minds that becomes a fortified place.

     Some of the entry points or ways that the enemy can create a stronghold of fear in our minds are through:

          1.  Trauma or shock                                                         
                     a.  An accident                                                                  
                     b.  Loss of a loved one/death/divorce                                            
                     c.  Fighting/quarreling
                     d.  Rejection
                     e.  Nightmares/horror movies/violence
                    
          2.  Sin in our lives
                     a.  Fortune telling
                     b.  Involvement in the Occult
                     c.  Horoscope reading
                     d.  Witchcraft
                     e.  Ouija boards
                     f.  Idols/charms/saints
                     g.  Addictions/drugs/alcohol/food

     Remember:  Faith creates  -  Fear destroys.

Next week Part II of  Dealing With Fear

Blessings,

Elma Garlock    

Death - Resurrection - Life - Part III

Continuing with Part III of  Death - Resurrection - Life

In John 10:10 the word tells us:  The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill and to destroy.  I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.

     What is this thief in your life?  Is it unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness, jealously, anger, hatred, strife, fear or pride?     

     And what does it do?  It slips in secretly to accomplish It's task hopefully unseen, undetected and unnoticed. It begins to rob you of your joy, your peace, love and the fruit of light.
It hides in the dark and secret places of your heart in fear of being exposed.

     But praise God, the I am has come and all things become visible when they are exposed by the light and from that light He says, Awake oh heart, rise from the dead and let me bring life to the hardness of your heart and live.

     Now let's look at the word abundantly in our scripture and find out what it means:  A sense of beyond, super abundantly in quantity or superior in quality.

     But what is it that will give you that quantity and quality of life?  A New Heart! 

     Jesus will go beyond what you can see with your eyes, believe with your faith and comprehend with your mind, because His quantity of grace is unmeasurable and the quality unmatched.  He see's your past, present, your future and He has no limits.  Who can measure the span of His creation or the depths of His universe. He is the all sufficient One that will not withhold any good thing from you if you are willing to humble yourself before Him. 
     
     Going back now to our main in John 11 let's read verse 25.  This is our key verse.

          Verse 25:  I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live.

     When I first began this message, I gave you three key words and they were:  Death - Resurrection - Life


     We have talked about Death and the process of dyeing to the flesh, now let's talk about what the words Resurrection and Life mean.

     The word Resurrection means:  A bringing back into use, to make to rise up and to stand.  

     And the word Life in the Greek is the word "Zoe" which is the animate life or to be infused with life.  It refers to the principle of life in the spirit, soul, mind and heart.

     So when the process of Resurrection begins in you, that same awesome power that infused Jesus Christ will permeate and penetrate every area of your heart. That which was once dead will begin to respond with Life and that life will bloom with the fragrance of Jesus.  You will experience a peace in your mind and in your heart, because you have come into agreement with His will and His word.  And that which was once barren and unfruitful will begin producing and multiplying fruit that will remain.

     Beloved, my intention was not only to give you my testimony to encourage you, but to challenge you to seek the Lord and ask Him to show you the condition of your heart. It doesn't matter who you are, what title you hold, how educated you are or how long you have been a believer.  One of our daily prayers should be Psalms 139:23,24.
         
          Verse 23:  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts.
          Verse 24:  And see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way.

      When God searches your heart what does He do? He examines and penetrates through the veils of deception, hurt, rejection and fears that expose the intent and the motives of your heart. He focuses on your deepest and the innermost thoughts where the battle of your mind is either being won or lost. He sends out His search-light of illuminating power that seeks out those hidden sins and exposes the darkness.  Then with fire He purifies and refines the heart in the furnace of tests and trials.  And through this fire comes Death and out of this Death comes Resurrection and Life.

      Then Jesus will cry out to you with a loud voice as He did when He spoke to Lazarus in John 11:43 that says:

          Verse 43:  And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth".

     And He is saying to you "come forth" and let me Resurrect a "New Heart" in you.  And I will cause you to shed the grave cloths of death that have robbed you of life.  I will free up your hands for the work of the Kingdom and unbind your feet for newness of Life.  And unveil your eyes that were blinded in darkness so all those around you may see and believe.  

     Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life and it's only through Death can you truly have Life.  

Blessings,

Elma Garlock 

Death - Resurrection - Life - Part II

Continuing with Part II of  Death - Resurrection - Life
       
      The enemy will always attack you at your weakest point and the vulnerable areas of your flesh, and why? because he wants to destroy you, your witness, your ministry and most of all your relationship with the Lord. 

     And this is exactly what the enemy was trying to do.  His plan was for me to give up and allow a death to take place in my body and in my spirit.  He wanted me to cease to function in the gifting and ministry the Lord had called me to.  He tried to rob me of the power of the Spirit in my life and cause me to lose hope and the that had become my strength.

    
     But in spite of all this, there was a death that took place and that death was the beginning of a process the Lord began in my flesh. 

     In Romans 8: 6a,13 confirms exactly what I was going through and this is what it says:
                    Verse 6a:   For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.
                    Verse 13: For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

     It was a process to renew my thinking, it was a death to selfishness, being self-centered and a death to my old heart.  My heart had become hard and unforgiving.  I would say Lord, I forgive them....my mind would say it and think it, but my heart and emotions were saying and reacting differently.  My heart had even grown cold towards the Lord and I hadn't even realize it until the Lord led me to the scripture in Jeremiah 17:9.

     Jeremiah 17:9 (Amplied Version) tells us:  The heart is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick, who can know it, perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind.

     When you read this scripture, what was it saying to you?  Ask yourself this question.  Do I really know or understand my own heart?  I thought I knew my heart, but as I read this scripture over and over again it began cutting deep and revealing the truth that I could not deny.  I found myself crying out to God and saying, "God, I need a new heart"!  God, I need your nature and your character to be manifested in my life.  Needless to say, I was miserable.

     In Ezekiel 36:26 - God had instructed Ezekiel the Prophet to prophesy to the Mountain of Israel and to the House of Israel, and part of that prophecy says this:

     Verse 26:  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

     The word heart in this scripture figuratively means:  The feelings, the will , the intellect or mind.

     And I thought this was interesting what Ungers bible dictionary describes the heart as:   Being the innermost center, the center of the rational-spiritual nature of man.  It's the center of thought and conceptions, the heart knows, it understands, it's the center of the feelings, affections and is the center of words, actions, pride, fear, despair and pain.

     Now let's see what the word stone in verse 26 means:  Hardness & insensibility which means to be indifferent, not aware, not feeling and in a state of unconsciousness. 

     This describes exactly what was going on in my heart.  It had become cold and unresponsive, unemotional to the things of God and I felt like there was a heavy and unmovable hardness that I just couldn't break free from.  I felt like God was a million miles away.

     Ok, let's go back to our main text which is John 11 and let's read verse 11 and then we will talk about it. 
          Verse 11:  These things said He, and after He said unto them, (we are talking about Jesus here). Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.

     The word awake in this verse come from two Greek words and they are the words:
          1.  Ex meaning:  The point where motion and action proceeds from, time or cause.
          2.  Hoop-nos and means:  A state of suspended spiritual power.

     This is exactly where I was.  My spirit man felt like it was in a suspended state, suspended in time, action and I felt like I had lost the power of the anointing in my life. But all along what was causing that state of suspended spiritual power in my life was due to my cold heart.  It was as if a stone had been rolled over my spirit to block out the life and the power of Jesus in my life. 

     And so the process continued.  I now found myself crying out to God in desperation for healing and my prayer went something like this:   Lord, I'm tired of fighting this cold heart, I can't feel you!  I'm tired of fighting the old thoughts that play over and over in my mind.  I'm tired of trying to control my circumstances, I give up!  Lord, not my will be done but Your will.  I lay it all down and I will rest in you.  Father, help me to die to this fleshly nature and please, "Give me a New Heart".

     Maybe in one degree or another you can relate to the process I was going through and you might be saying to yourself, how do I know if I need a "New Heart?

     1.  The Holy Spirit will reveal to you the condition of your heart through the trials and testings in your life.
     2.  You will know by your emotional response during those times of trials and testings. 
Ask yourself, did I respond out of my old fleshly carnal nature or did I respond through the Spirit?
     3.  Another area you will know is though your thought responses.  Did I respond out of my old thought patterns, my old way of thinking?

     Along with the "New Heart" has to come a "Renewed Mind", but the mind must be transformed and that doesn't happen over night.

     In Ephesians 4:23 tell us:  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.  The word renewed in this scripture means:  To renovate

     And what do you do when you renovating something.  You tear down, pull down and remove.  In other words, you gut out the whole room or area and make it new again.  And this is exactly what the Lord wants to do in our heart and in our mind.  He wants to renew the old waste places of our heart and tear down the walls of hurt, rejection, fear and bitterness.  He wants to pull down the strongholds of our mind that have us trapped in our past and remove the destructive patterns of thinking and behaviour.  Beloved, this is all part of the "Death" process.


     Next week we will continue with Part III of  Death - Resurrection - Life.

Blessings,


Elma Garlock

Death - Resurrection - Life - Part I

     Today I want to share with you a journey that the Lord and I took together that happened about 8 years ago.  It's also a testimony of how God can take a shattered and broken heart and put it back together.  During this season of my life, three words become so real to me and a new understanding of them came into focus and these words are:

     1.  Death
     2.  Resurrection
     3.  Life

     In John chapter 11 is a  story about a man name Lazarus.  This chapter is about Lazarus's death,  how Jesus called him forth to be resurrected and brought him back to life.  As I began reading through this powerful bible story the Lord revealed to me that this was exactly what He was doing in my life and that all of us as believers must go through this process.

     All of us have experienced a death in certain areas of our old carnal natures.  We've had to die to old habits, wrong thinking, dysfunctional reactions and actions, old life styles have had to change and hidden sins have needed to be exposed.  The bible tells us that if we want to mature...... if we want our character to be changed into the character of Christ...... if we want to get beyond today and step into our tomorrow....... if we want to step out of self and step into Him, we must allow the Holy Spirit to take us through that death (which is part of the sanctification process) that brings resurrection and life to us. 

     I thought I had died in certain areas of my the old nature, but ya know, when you're faced with a crises in your life it's at that point God begins exposing the condition of your heart and you see where you lack maturity, healing and the nature of God.  You find out where your level of faith is and where it isn't, because God will test it by fire.   As I studied John 11, key words began standing out to me and I realized these words were describing exactly what was going on in my heart that was effecting my soul, spirit and emotions. 

      Throughout this chapter a precise account is given of the emotions that Mary, Martha, Jesus, and the disciples were going through.  It describes their feelings and responses to what was going on in them during that difficult time, but it doesn't mention how Lazarus was feeling.  I wonder what Lazarus was thinking?  Was he praying to himself, Lord, where are you when I need you? I've been a faithful follower, I've entertained you in my home, accepted you, loved you and now when I'm sick you aren't here for me.  Did he lose hope and did he know that he was dieing?  

     Have you ever had those same thoughts or questioned God?  Well I did.  In Proverbs 13:12 it tells us:  Hope deferred (prolonged, delayed) makes the heart sick. 

     Have you ever been sick in your heart?  This describes exactly where I was.  Prior to finding out that I had breast cancer, I had just come through a very trying and disappointing time in my life concerning my daughter.  She had gone back into a very destructive lifestyle and taken my grandchildren with her and to say the least it devastated me.  This hit me at such a very deep emotional level that I can't even begin to explain the pain in my heart nor the grieving of my soul.  I thought I had dealt with certain hurts and disappointments from the past but as this trial progressed, God began bringing up the dross in my life. 

     In John 11: 1,2,3 & 4 give us a snap shot of what was going on with Mary, Martha, Jesus and Lazarus.

     Verse 1:  Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
     Verse 2:  And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
     Verse 3:  The sisters therefore sent to Him, saying, "Lord behold, he whom You love is sick".
     Verse 4:  But when Jesus heard it, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it".

     This word sickness in the Greek means:  A weakness, to be feeble, an active disease and comes from a word that means:  strength less.

     So what the Lord showed me was that this sickness that the scripture is talking about not only represents a physical sickness but also an emotional and spiritual sickness that we carry in our soul's that affect our heart.  It also represents bondage's and strongholds that make us sick, weak and we wonder why there is no power in our walk and testimony. 

     This was exactly what the enemy was trying to do in my life.  He was trying to take me out physically with the cancer and destroy me emotionally and spiritually with the trauma, hurt and the disappointment concerning my daughter. But what the enemy meant for harm, God turned it around for my good and for His glory. It wasn't until months later did I realize that God was testing my response to see just where my heart was.  I wasn't defeated by all of this, but I walked through a fiery trial that caused this soldier to experience a blow that was fierce and wounding.

     In I Peter 4:12 the word tells us:  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try (or some translations say, test) as though some strange thing happened unto you.

     Do you know what the definition of the word "Test" is?  Websters dictionary says:  It is an examination of the nature or value of anything.  It's a standard by which a thing or qualities are tried.  It's a set of circumstances in which the nature or qualities of a person are revealed.

     Through this test, God began revealing the condition of my heart and the fire of testing began purging and cleansing everything that was not of Him.

Next week part II of  Death-Resurrection-Life.

Blessings,

Elma Garlock   

Earthquakes In The Spirit

     Within the last few years earthquakes have increased with intensity and frequency all over the world.  Weather patterns have changed causing severe flooding, record snowfalls and tornadoes that have left thousands devastated, homeless and confused.  An increase of  nations rising against nations, wars, famine, unrest, demonically controlled dictators massacring their own people. Inflation, unemployment, countries going bankrupt, false doctrines, wide spread witchcraft, the new age movement, the threat of ISIS and the wide spread of Islam.

     In Matthew 24:3  Says that Jesus was sitting with His disciples on the Mount of Olives and they asked Him.  What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?
     Verse 4:  And Jesus answered and said to them,  See to it that no one mislead you.
     Verse 5:  For many will come in My name saying, I am the Christ, and will mislead many.
     Verse 6:  And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars, see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
     Verse 7:  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
     Verse 8:  But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

     Today I want to focus in on earthquakes that take place not only in the natural realm but also occur in the spiritual realm as well.

     Websters dictionary says that an earthquake is:  A pressure wave in the earth's crust caused by a deep-seated disturbance. Major earthquakes result from fractures, usually along existing faults in the underlying rock strata which have been subject to cumulative strain. 

     So what happens in the natural when an earthquake occurs?  The ground begins to rupture and becomes displaced.  A sudden release of energy happens in response to the breaking up of rocks deep within the crust of the earth.  Powerful pressure waves radiate to the surface causing sudden lateral and vertical movement of the earth and everything that is standing above the tectonic plates begin to sway and crumble under the continuous pressure and motion. 

     This continuous pressure causes the ground above to be shaken to its very core.  Building's begin splitting apart and tumbling to the ground as if they were toys and everything that is unstable, weak and has no solid foundation will not stand against its power.  Fires break out due to ruptured gas lines that burns what's left standing.  Tidal waves, Tsunamis and floods devastate coast lines while landslides, avalanches and volcano's consume everything in their path until there's nothing left. 

     A couple of years ago the Holy Spirit revealed to me that when we see, hear and experience things happening in the natural realm (on the earth and in our every day lives) that things are also happening in the spiritual realm at the same time.  I knew that in God's timing He would allow me bring the revelation to the body of Christ so we could better understand what He is about to do in us.

     Part of the the prophecy that Jesus foretold in Matthew was that all these things were the beginning of "Birth Pangs".   You may be asking, what are birth pangs?  They are regular recurrent spasms of pain that are characteristic of childbirth.  And this is a sign of the end times and beloved, THESE ARE THE END TIMES.

     Jesus is getting ready to bring an Earthquake in the Spirit to His people....AND HE IS SAYING IT'S TIME.  He has pregnated us with the seed of His glory and we carry in us the DNA of the father.  Through seasons of wilderness, draught and even leanness we've cried out to the Father for a glimpse His glory, for that cup of cold water to be poured upon our thirsty soul.  Their are those who have allowed Him to develop that seed, to be watered and matured but their are also some who have fallen and given up hope. But in this hour He is getting ready to release seismic waves of His glory in us that will literally shake our very foundations....AND HE SAYS WHO CAN STAND IN MY GLORY? 

     One seismic wave will be a Surface Wave that will cause changes in the outward man to be seen.  The second wave will be what is known as a Body Wave that will start at the very epicenter of the Body of Christ and will expose the core of each and every one of us that claim to be a child of God.  This is part of the Birthing Pangs that must come and will cause buried hurts, unforgiveness, bitterness and anger to be up rooted and rise to the surface for the healing of the soul, because without healing and maturity the birthing can't come.

     And those that have built there house on the sold rock will withstand this process and those that have not will fall.  He is coming to those who are seeking Him and because of that He says, I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight therefore you will know my ways and you will see the glory light of Jesus that is unstoppable.  And this glory will be released through my people that will send shock waves to the enemy with such force and velocity that they will not be able to defeat, stop or hinder this move of the Holy Spirit.  This glory will radiate from you just as it did from Moses face because you've spent time on the mountain with Me and it will be for a testimony and a witness for all to see that will draw men to Me. 

     May you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Blessings,

Elma Garlock