trouble | Revelations From The Road

Obstacles

September 10, 2018 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given August 2018

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

This should be an encouraging word from Jesus but, many times, we forget it. He’s saying, “Don’t worry, chill out, fear not, calm down…I’ve got this!” This would be a good declaration to pray every time you face an obstacle or a temptation.

In church in May, God showed me something that I made note of to share and today is the day. It was about a wall and darkness. I want you to picture in your mind these two scenes especially if you’re facing an obstacle right now. Picture this:

You’re on a path, the path of life I guess, and you’re moving on pretty well. Then, as you round a steep curve, there in your path is a giant wall. Now, you can have three reactions: 1. Turn around and go back. 2. Try to get over or around the wall yourself. 3. Ask jesus for help. Now whether you know it or not, if you’re a Christian, God is there with you and He’ll let you quit or try it on your own; He’s not going to force you to do anything. But He will suggest, direct, or guide you by the Holy Spirit in you to let Him help. Remember the Israelites at the Red Sea? They faced a great obstacle and God told Moses to tell the people, “Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.” (1 Samuel 12:16). So in this scene, see yourself saying, “OK God, you take it from here.” Then either the wall will topple, disappear, or you’ll suddenly be on the other side, God’s choice. Or, He might make you climb over it, with His help.

The other vision I got that day was of someone in a small pitch-black room, total darkness. They were afraid to move because they might trip or bump into something. They didn’t know which way was out. Instead of just sitting there, they called out to God. He flipped the switch and they weren’t in a small room, but a giant auditorium and His light dispelled the darkness! Our vision and thinking are so small, so limited…God’s is so big! Your obstacle???

Go and Sin No More

September 4, 2018 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given May 2018

Our pastor, Wayne Hager at Zion Family Ministries, preached a sermon recently about the woman caught in adultery, (John 8: 1-11) . One of the things that stood out to me from his message was a statement Pastor made after he told of the woman’s accusers who, one by one, dropped their stones and left the scene. Pastor said that Jesus was the “last man standing”. If we’ll allow Him, Jesus will be our “last man standing” when we’re in trouble. I was thinking about this scene recently while driving and God showed me some more lessons in this story. Again,this is where “Revelations from the Road” comes from; things God speaks to me while on the road.

Well, from this story, God showed me three lessons that I had not focused on before:

Number 1 – If you’re near Jesus and He’s on your side, you’ll be alright. In this story, the woman was brought to Jesus and “deposited” at His feet. The “religious people” were making all kinds of accusations about this woman, which were true, and demanded that Jesus do what was right according to the law. I thought, what would have happened to the woman if Jesus wasn’t there? I’m sure she would have been stoned to death. But Jesus was there, He was near the woman and she was at His mercy. Lesson: Accept Jesus, get Him on your side and draw near to Him (James 4:8).

Number 2 – The devil uses people to accuse you. The Bible says that the devil is the “accuser of the brethren”, (Revelation 12:10). Many times we cry, “Oh, the devil is doing this or that to me.” Well, the devil, Satan himself, is not omnipresent; he cannot be everywhere. There are many demons who were cast out of Heaven with Satan, (Revelation 12:9), and they’re all over but be sure that Satan and his demonic forces will use people to accuse us and do other dastardly deeds from hell. So Satan uses people to accuse us; to remind us of our past, to lie on us and take advantage of us. It’s not always demons working for Satan against us but people who have been enlisted by Satan to do this work.

Number 3 – What about the man? This question comes up often when this story is told. The woman was caught “in the act” of adultery which means she was caught having sex with a man who was not her husband. So why was the man not brought before Jesus too? The Bible doesn’t say. We can speculate on all kinds of answers: Women were treated differently in that day than men. The man ran away. Maybe the man was a church leader and they let him go. We don’t know but the man wasn’t there and was not even mentioned. Jesus told the woman, after her accusers left and no one was there to condemn her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11). I can imagine if the woman would have asked, “Thank you Master, but what about the man?” Jesus might have answered, “Don’t worry about him, I’ll take care of that.” “You just go on, accept my mercy and sin no more.”

Another idea that came from this sermon and story that I have used often when temptation tries to influence me is the boldly stated phrase, “NO MORE!” Jesus told the woman to go and sin NO MORE and, I’ve found, that this statement is a good deterrent to temptation. #nomore

Surrounded!

May 17, 2018 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given May 13, 2018

We sang a worship song in church recently by Michael W. Smith called, “Surrounded” and one of the lines brought an image and lesson to my mind: “It may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by You”. Actually, I saw two visions in my mind.

First, I saw someone standing in an open area surrounded by several evil demons. They were harassing, threatening and impeding progress. The person cried out to God, “Lord, help me!” Then I was reminded of Elisha’s servant Gehazi in 2 Kings. The city of Dothan, where Elisha was, was surrounded by the army of the King of Aram in order to capture Elisha. The prophet had been telling the king of Israel the plans of the Arameans and they had come to capture him. They came at night and surrounded the city. In the morning, Elisha’s servant Gehazi went out and saw the enemy surrounding them and was afraid. But Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (v. 16-17). In my vision in answer to the person’s cry, God said, “May his eyes be opened.” The person then looked beyond the threatening demons and saw the army of God, strong and mighty, surrounding the demons. When they saw God’s army, they fled in terror.

The second vision I saw was of this same person surrounded by the demons on a road and crying out to God, “Lord, help me!” We know from God’s Word that He is always with us, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20), so, out from among the trees on the side of the road steps God. He says to the person, “I’m with you, are you with Me?” To which the person answers strongly, YES!” Then as the person submits to God, they begin to feel and show the power of the Holy Spirit in themselves and resist the demons who then know what they’re up against and flee.

If you feel like you’re surrounded by the enemy for whatever reason, you can be sure that God is there to help you. Call out to Him, submit to Him, believe that He’s there to help and, as Moses told the people when they were surrounded by the Red Sea and the Egyptians, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today.”

Week of Prayer

January 16, 2018 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given January 15, 2018

Our church, Zion Family Ministries, has entered into a week of prayer where we are gathering at 6 AM and 7 PM daily to pray for certain things. Our prayer topics are: Repentance, Ourselves, Our Community, Our Government, The Lost, Our Church and Revival. Last night was the first night and we had almost 60 people there to pray for the first topic, repentance. As I walked around the sanctuary in prayer, God kept speaking to me; answering questions, reminding me of things He had shown me in the past and speaking new things to my mind. I’d like to share one of these things with you because I know God’s communication will be helpful to all.

First, I asked God what it means to repent. The dictionary defines it as, “To feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin.” I think it means to feel AND express sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin. Our “feeling” shows that we really know something’s wrong and to “express” it to God is repentance. God reminded me of something He showed me several years ago during another time of prayer at church. I was praying thanking God for my successes, “Thank You for my wife and family, my education degrees and my job.” I was feeling pretty good for myself then God’s response came and it floored me, “Yeah, you’ve done pretty good for yourself but it’s not all I have planned for you.” I prayed, “Oh God, I’m so sorry for thinking about all I had done for myself.” “What do I need to do?” His reply was, “You need to be broken!” I said, “OK God, break me.” Then, in my Spirit, I saw myself being broken, reduced into a pile of light brown dust. God came over and began pouring oil from a jar onto the top of the pile and started working the pile of dust and shaping it into the man He had in mind for me to be.

That vision was what I needed at that time and many times since then when I get to thinking too highly of myself, (See Romans 12:3). God showed me this night that true repentance involves being broken, admitting it and asking God for forgiveness. You might be in a place of hard times where you say, “Well, I’m already broken.” God told me that means you have been broken by the world but now you must allow God to break you so He can build you back up in the way He intended. When God re-builds us, we will be much better than any building up of ourselves we could do.

Last night I repented and asked for God to do four things: TAKE me as I am, BREAK me into original pieces, MAKE me into what He wants and WAKE me to His plan. I prayed this for my family, my church, my circle of influence and for God’s people. It’s time to be broken and repent!

Around the Bend

January 14, 2018 by Bill 1 Comment

Given January 10, 2018

I want you to picture this in your mind because some of us are in this scene.

You’re on a path, the path of life maybe, and as you walk the path, up ahead it takes a sharp turn to the left. God has told you that there’s something great for you just around the bend. “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8) Your anticipation and joy increases as you get closer to the curve and wonder what God has in store for you. What is it that’s around the bend?

Well, as you round the bend, there in the path it is, but it’s not what you expected. There blocking your way is an obstacle, a trial, some trouble, a shadow of death. Whatever it is, you can’t get by. So now what do you do? Do you cut and run the other way? Do you try to figure it out on your own? Are you on that path right now? Has God promised you something? “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

You turn to God, who is with you, and say, “What’s up with this Lord. What do I do?” To which He replies, “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13) “Trust in Me with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways submit to Me, and I will make your paths straight.”(Proverbs 3:5-6, paraphrased) You’re encouraged and say, “OK Master, I’m with You, let’s go!” And as you move forward toward the obstacle with God, He shows you the way through it. You may get a few scratches, bumps and bruises but you get through it. And then you look up ahead, and there it is, God’s blessing! Your joy returns and He motions with His right hand, “There you go child it’s yours.” “Thank you Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

We’re all on a path. Don’t be sidetracked. There’s something great…just around the bend.