God's Got It All In Control Part III

     We know that the chastening of the Lord is intended to instruct, train, mature and build our character as His children.  And God has designed that chastening to discipline us when we need it. (ouch)

     But God does not want us to see him as a hard task master or someone who is going to hit us over the head or slap our hand if we get out of line.

     So many of us have a distorted picture of God.  We often subconsciously think God will discipline us like our earthly fathers did as children.  Some of us had very loving fathers that were tender and yet stern when they disciplined us.  And then some of us were dealt with very harshly and all we remember is the anger.  Then there are some of us who were verbally abused and disciplined with control and think God will deal with us in the same way. We naturally impose the relationship we had with our earthly father onto our heavenly father because that's how we think a father acts or reacts. 

     Beloved, He loves you and wants to bring healing to the wounds and scars of your childhood.  He wants to mend your broken heart and set you free of the hurt.  Allow Him to pour upon you and into you the oil and the wine and you will begin to see Him as a father of mercy, grace and peace. 

     Going back to our main scripture text found in Hebrews 12:5 what is God saying to us:

          Verse 5:  Nor faint when thou are rebuked of Him.

     Let's key in on the word "faint" and it's meaning is:  To loose, to realize, grow weary, to lack courage, loose heart, become fainthearted from the effect of tribulation.

     This word expresses the opposite of "to gird up".  The words "to gird up" or "to gird up the loins" means:  putting one's self in readiness for any service that might be required.  In I Peter 1:13 tells us:

          Verse 13:  Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for that grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

     Satin will try and come against the mind of God's children if we don't gird ourselves up and faint not when we are going through testings.  The enemy  would like nothing more than for you to just lay down and give up, Amen!

     Now let's take the word "rebuke".  The writer of Hebrews is exhorting us not to become discouraged, sad or cast down; even though the rebuke of God is hard to accept some times. 

     If we look up the word "rebuke" in the Greek it says:  To convict or convince.

Ok, let's go back to Hebrews and talk about verse 6 of chapter 12.

          Verse 6:  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

     Do we really comprehend the love that the Lord has for us?  Do we realise what "agape love" means?  We know that "agape love" is explained as "God's perfect love" that is unconditional.  But have we really grasped the depth, the height, the length or understood the width of that kind of love? 

     How many of you have been tested in the area of unconditional love?  This message was birthed while going through much pain and heart ache while God was instructing and teaching me about His love.

     In I Corinthians 13, the word of God tells us how important love is.  It is the most important fruit of the Spirit.  Everything that God is and does for us is motivated by love.  Are you able to say that love is your motivator? 

     The Love Outpouring

     Many years ago I had a love encounter with the Lord that I have never forgotten.  I remember lying in my bed one night just looking up at the ceiling and I began to crying due to emotional pain and trauma I had experienced earlier that day.  Needless to say, my heart had been broken and then suddenly from deep within me feelings of desperation, rejection, loneliness and betrail began to flood my mind.  I felt unloved, unappreciated and hopelessness began to to set in.  All I wanted was to be loved and to be able to feel love, but all I was experiencing at that moment was pain and brokenness in my heart.

     Then suddenly I felt a rush of love flow all over me.  I could feel it rushing through me into every fiber of my being from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.  It was so strong and overpowering that it almost took my breath away and I remember thinking, Lord I can't take much more or I will explode.  I instantly knew that It was the love of the Lord; His unconditional love and it was perfect and filled me up to overflowing. 

     He than began to explain to me that the love I was feeling was just a small portion of the love that He has and feels for us. He told me that His love was so far beyond what we could ever know, comprehend or experience in our earthly body and that flesh could never contain or stand in the presence of the fullness of His love.  

     Beloved, His love is perfect and He loves the imperfect vessel.

Blessings,

Elma Garlock

A Christmas Card

Merry Christmas

To all of my facebook friends and family

May this be a time of blessings, joy, peach and love.

And may Christ be the center of your celebration.

Elma Garlock

Love Reaching Out Ministries

YOU'RE INVITED TO THE ESTHER GATHERING

       The Spirit and The Bride say "COME"    

   This will be a day to honor the King.

  A day set aside to strengthen and encourage the Bride

 Day:       Saturday, January 14, 2012

 Time:    10:30am - 3:30pm     

Place:    Led By The Holy Spirit Worship Center

                 670 East Parkridge Avenue

                 Corona, Ca.  92879   

                                                               

                     

     Come join us for a time of worship, prayer, fellowship and body ministry.  Come and hear the Lord speak to His Esters.  "And who knows but that you have come to the Kingdom of God for such a time as this and for this very occasion?  Esther 4:14

       Our Morning speaker will be:  Elma Garlock

                                               "Standing in Your Authority and Power"



And

Our Afternoon speaker will be:  Dr. Pat Miles

"What Is Your Goliath"

Free no signup fee
Lunch will be served

The Chastening Of The Lord Part II

     Have you ever tried on thick horned rimmed glasses that belonged to someone else?  And did you try reading with them and everything you looked at was blurred, distorted and you couldn't make out what was in front of you?

     This is how we sometimes see things when we are in the center of a situation or circumstance that is out of our control.  It's as if we walk about with blinders on and not seeing the word of God in the light of Jesus. We forget His promises that says that; "He will never leave us or forsake us" and we begin entertaining fear and fear leads to hopelessness and despair.  

     Beloved, we don't know what tomorrow holds for us, only God does.  And even thought we have made decisions out of the will of God, don't despair or give up hope.  Keep pressing in and keep pressing on, because there is nothing you have done nor ever do that will keep God from working everything out for your good and for His glory.

     He's bigger than your wrong decisions.  He's bigger than that problem.  He's bigger than that sickness or that disease.  Stop putting God in a box and trying to figure everything out.  In Isaiah 54:2 it tells us:

          Verse 2:  Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.

     Allow the Lord to do the impossible in you life.  Start thinking bigger and better, look at things on a larger scale, widen your scope and release your faith.  Don't say:  God, this is even to big or to hard for you to fix.

     If God could create the Stars and the Galaxies and hold them in place; If He could cause the Sun and the Moon to orbit around the Earth and keep every planet in it's rightful place don't you think He can take control of your life and bring you through every circumstance and situation?  It's all about faith.... learning to trust Him and allowing Him to instill in your heart His will...His plan... and His purpose for your life.  It's about praying;  Lord not my will, but thy will be done.

     Quit beating yourself over the head wondering God, have I made the right decision?  Practice what James 1:5-8 tells us to do.

          Verse 5:  If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God (who gives) to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.
          Verse 6:  Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting)  For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.
          Verse 7:  For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything (he asks for) from the Lord.
          Verse 8:  For being as he is a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything (he thinks, feels, decides).

     Don't let satin come in and start putting doubts in your mind, because with doubts comes confusion.  Pray and make that decision to stand on God's word and you will see Him begin to move in your life in a mighty way.  He is waiting for you to move from fear into faith so victory can come.

                                                                The Dream

     I remember seeing a large stage and I was standing in the middle of that stage.  I then looked out at what seemed to be a large auditorium of empty seats. I began to look to my left and to my right and I could see curtains on either side of the stage that had been drawn opened. As I fixed my gaze to my right I could see Jesus standing right behind the curtain.  I knew in my spirit that He had been waiting patiently for me to make a decision about something He had been dealing with me about.  He let me know that He had never left me nor would He ever forsaken me, but that I had been the one that had forsaken and ignored Him.

     The next thing I noticed was my hands, legs, head and body had been strung up and attached to something or someone and I looked like a puppet that was being manipulated and controlled by an unknown source.  The Lord then began to speak to me and told me that He had been waiting patiently behind the scene for me to call on Him and allow Him to control my life instead of the enemy.  He said that the enemy had been playing me just like a puppeteer plays, controlls and manipulates every move of his puppet by pulling it's strings.

     He than revealed to me that the strings represented bondage's in my life and that the bondage's were because of rebellion and unforgiveness. This began a healing and deliverance process in me that enabled me to call upon the Lord and trust Him once more with my life. I was then able to pray Lord not my will be done, but Thy will be done in my life.    

     Beloved, He is waiting patiently for you. Trust Him and allow Him to come into your situation and your circumstances. He delights in proving Himself to His children.  He is a God that can turn your mourning into joy and your failures into victories.  He longs to prove Himself strong, faithful and to show you His grace in your life.  HE LOVES YOU!

Blessings,

Elma Garlock