Midnight

 

Pastor John,

Concerning a recent comment you made: “Midnight does not just turn into noon. It never has. It brightens into dawn, and in turn lightens into noon.”

Oh​,​ how safe this makes me feel !​​ ​It is so true.

My life was so dark, so black. ​ ​There were times I begged Jesus for death. ​ ​ How sweet God is to me.​ ​ He granted that prayer.​ ​ He put that dark life to death. ​ ​Each day has gotten brighter.​ ​ It has gotten sweeter. ​ ​As my midnight turned to dawn, I began to see. ​ ​A little at first , and more and more as Jesus gently brightens my life, holding my hand, and leading me to him. ​ ​Every day Jesus shows me a little more. That dark life is so far away from me, it feels dead.

I am so thankful.

I have listened to the ” book of Acts” ​teaching CD, over and over today. ​ ​Drinking in every word. ​ ​What you said about ” midnight not just turning to noon” is so true. I often worry about being on track….being where Jesus wants me to be. ​ ​That quote brings me peace.​ ​ I feel the truth in it.​ ​ I can just see Jesus coming to rescue me. Walking hand ​-​and​-​hand into the light.

Whew! I wish I could attach these feelings, and email them to you. ​ ​ What you said went straight into my heart.

Beth

 

 

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Sandy: “fellows”

Dear Bro. John:

Reading “Jesus’ Fellows” was so sweet to me. (See post 8/31/14 “Jesus’ Fellows”.) With every revelation God has given to us for the Father and Son book, He has opened up our hearts to understand the truth more fully.  As I was reading this, my heart kept saying, “This is where fellowship comes from!  There is no fellowship except that created by the Spirit through God’s Son.”  Fellowship was no longer just a word to me.  I was understanding more fully the word “fellowship”.  And then, there was your paragraph on biblical fellowship:  🙂

This is what biblical “fellowship” is, and it was a matter of the greatest joy to John to be able to say, “our fellowship truly is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ!” (1Jn. 1:3).

Ahhh, this is one sweet journey the Lord is taking us through!   Teaching us, loving us, sharing His heart with us.  We have been made “fellows” with the Father and Son.  Such an overwhelming thought, as Paul joyfully understood: “that in every way, you are enriched in him, in all speech and in all knowledge.”

I pray the hearts of God’s people will be touched by His love that is in this book.  Even with all He has done for us, I still am in awe of His tenderness and willingness to keep blessing us with His love that goes beyond any human understanding. 

I am so grateful to be a “fellow” and to have a Family of Fellows with which to share this wonderful life!

Sandy  🙂

 

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New section of F&S book, “Jesus’ Fellows”

Hey John,

This ​(below) is so good!  One of my favorite thoughts from this section is when you write, “Every time God fills another repentant soul with His kind of life, the Father creates for His son another fellow”. 

First of all, that we share the same kind of life as the Creator of this whole universe is hard for me to take in!  Secondly, I love the thought of being one of Jesus’ fellows.  That is so special!  And I love the other fellows he’s put in my life!  

We really do “share a certain kind of life and experience with one another” that cannot be explained with words, because it’s in the spirit and it’s beyond words.  I understand why the apostles “marveled at this grace”.  To have God’s kind of life and be one of Jesus’ fellows really is a marvelous thing!

Sweet thoughts to think about tonight!  I appreciate the tremendous work you’ve put into this book!  I’m looking forward to seeing it in print and out there for Jesus’ other fellows to read and be encouraged by.

Lee Ann

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God’s “Fellow”

A “fellow” is one who shares a certain kind of life or experience with another. Before the Spirit was given to men on the day of Pentecost, only the Son shared God’s kind of life. But since the Son had not yet been revealed, no one knew that God had a fellow. For God to be unique, it would seem that such a thing was impossible. How could the Almighty have a fellow, a companion who thought His thoughts and shared His feelings? Nobody in heaven or earth could have answered that question before the Son was revealed. Or, more probably, everyone would have confidently given the wrong answer, namely that there was no fellow with God, that there could never be anyone enough like Him to be considered His fellow – even though God Himself, through one of the prophets, said there wasone!

Jesus was quoting the prophet Zechariah (13:7b) when he told his disciples that they were about to desert him. He made it clear to them that Zechariah’s words were a prophecy of what would take place that very night:

Matthew 26

1. Tonight, all of you will be offended because of me, for it is written, “I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.”

The disciples did not believe what Jesus said, and they all insisted that they would never desert him (Mt. 26:33–35), even though within hours, they all did just that. But there is more to Zechariah’s prophecy than Jesus quoted, and it was good that he did not quote all of it. Doing so would have given his disciples more problems than the first part did, for in that other half of Zechariah’s prophecy, God referred to the smitten Shepherd as His fellow:

Zechariah 13

    7a. “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is my fellow,” says the Lord of hosts.

If God said He had a fellow, then what are we to believe but that He had one?

The Son’s Fellows

A scripture quoted previously for a different purpose contains an astonishing, little-recognized element.  For in that verse, the Father promises His hidden Son that he, too, would have fellows.

Psalm 45

    [6] Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

    [7] Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

This is an incredible prophecy, considering the greatness of the Son.  Had anyone in the Psalmist’s time known about the Son, it would have seemed to that person as impossible for the Son to have fellows as it seemed for the Father to have one.  But since no one knew that the Father had created a Son as His fellow, no one could have understood this mysterious promise of the Father to the Son.  Nevertheless, that promise of the Father was kept on the day of Pentecost when God shared His life with about 120 of Jesus’ followers, creating fellows for His Son.  Since that wonderful day, God has continued to keep His promise, again and again.  Every time God fills another repentant soul with His kind of life, the Father creates for His Son another fellow.  The apostles marveled at this grace.

1John 3

1. Oh, what great love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!  The reason the world doesn’t knowyou is that it didn’t know him.

Romans 8

9. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Hebrews 12

    [9] Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the  Father of spirits, and live?

   [10] For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.

This is what biblical “fellowship” is, and it was a matter of the greatest joy to John to be able to say, “our fellowship truly is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ!” (1Jn. 1:3).  Paul’s joy for the new experience of divine fellowship with others was expressed this way to the Corinthians:

1Corinthians 1

4. I thank my God always foryou, for the grace of God which is given toyou in Christ Jesus,
5. that in every way,you are enriched in him, in all speech and in all knowledge,

. . .

    9b.  by whom you were called out, into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

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The New Section, “Because he wanted a Child”

Pastor John,​

I like th​e new section on “Because He Wanted a Child”.  I had a thought, God is not a loner–He wants to share his thoughts and feelings and life​.

​Billy M

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​Right, Billy.  In other words, God is a God of relationships.

 ​jdc

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John,

This ​new section ​of the Father and Son book (below) is really good.

​I like the way you have explained that the Father creates only what he wants to create therefore He created a son because He wanted to. 

I’ve been thinking lately on how precious each person is who accepts the invitation of the Father to come to Jesus and remain in the truth. The Father creates the invitation in us simply because He wants to.

I can hardly take that thought in​, but I am very grateful that He wanted each of us. 

Whew! 

Tom 

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Because He Wanted a Child

Many ancient prophecies had a dual meaning, one for that time and another for the future.  For example, in Isaiah 28:11-12, God was telling the righteous among His people that foreign invaders would bring them rest from their oppressive Jewish rulers.  But Paul also quoted those verses in 1Corinthians 14:21–22, claiming that God was speaking through Isaiah of the New Testament experience of “speaking in tongues”.

Malachi 2:15 may provide us with another word from God with a dual meaning.  It is a mysterious verse, difficult to translate, as a survey of various translations will show, but its meaning for Malachi’s time was obviously to provide God’s reason for insisting on Israelite men being faithful to their Israelite wives:

Malachi 2

15a. But did He not make one?  And the rest of the spirit was His.  And why one?  He was seeking a godly seed.

But this portion of scripture also appears to have been a not-so-obvious revelation concerning God’s reason for creating His Son, and it may also be translated thus:

Malachi 2

15a. Did He not create one in whom is the fullness of the Spirit?  And why him?  Because He wanted a divine child.

If God created whatever He created only because He wanted to create it (Ps. 135:6), then it is only reasonable to believe that God created a Son simply because He wanted one, as Malachi said here.

 

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Meat of Life

Pastor John,

Last night Jenny and I went to Cathy’s and watched the move “God’s Not Dead”.  I left with the thought, what about repentance?  What about being filled with the holy Ghost?  In the movie, there is a professor who is teaching his students that God is dead, that He doesn’t exist.  Throughout the whole movie, this is his stand.  Then we find out he was mad at God because when he was a little boy, his mother died of cancer.  He had begged God not to take her, but she died anyway.  After his girlfriend left him and his student made his point that God is indeed alive, it looked liked he was having a change of heart when he was hit by a car.  This preacher man ran over to him and asked him to accept Jesus so that he could die in peace, and the man said he did accept Jesus and he died.

It was terrible, this horrible lie that people are being fed.  Christians are skipping the very thing that Jesus did die for – true repentance to receive the holy Ghost! They are skipping the peace, the joy and the comfort that Jesus suffered to give us.  They are being satisfied with a momentary feeling of the Spirit without going on to the main course, the goodness, the meat of life!

It is heartbreaking!  I was thinking about how sad all this made me feel, and then I thought how Jesus must feel.

We are so incredibly blessed!  The food that you feed us, the wonderful lives that Jesus has given us!  To be full, satisfied, content, happy, joyful and to know the comfort of life in Jesus, in the precious truth that He has allowed us to love!

Whew…… It just makes your heart feel like bursting!

Michelle H

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Yes, Michelle, it is heartbreaking to see Christians try to combat the spirits of this world with something else that is of this world.  Nothing but the power of God will save anybody.  Claiming to believe in Jesus won’t do it.  Only Him claiming us, by baptizing us into His family, counts in heaven.

May God help them, and all of us who love Jesus, to humble ourselves completely at his feet, where true peace is.

Pastor John

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AMAZING GRACE

 

Hi Pastor John!

I left OT class Sunday feeling really thankful. We were talking after class about different things, and I just felt thankful to be in this family. I woke up Monday feeling the same sweet thankfulness. I sent a few texts and wrote how thankful I felt to a couple of sisters in the Lord. Their texts back were really sweet. We were writing about being created and grafted into Gods family together. It took my breath away to think Jesus loved us enough to make us His family.  On my way to work, I put the new CD of the book of Acts into the player.  Almost right away, a thought came (the kind of thought that feels inserted or injected in). I thought about the song ” Amazing Grace”. I instantly said out loud “Jesus, that’s my story … that really is my story!”

When I was about 8 years old, I would come home from church and go to a quiet spot. I would get a little hymn book my mama kept, and sing my heart out to Jesus. My favorite song was Amazing Grace. (Really, it’s amazing how I could always find that little hymn book, even in 4000 sq ft of clutter). When I got to track 8 on the 2nd Acts CD, I just felt the holy spirit settle into the car. I could see me as that little girl, standing in garbage, singing with my whole heart to Jesus (my mother was a hoarder).  The feelings on that disc were so good!

Well on track 9, you were talking about being chosen by God. It gets very spirit-filled. Then on track 10, everyone sings…Amazing Grace!  I just cried. How overwhelming to feel all these feelings of thankfulness for being in God’s family. (That was said on this CD!). Then to hear Amazing Grace sung by my new family!

Whew! I felt full, like I would burst. I started singing with my WHOLE heart. I started singing in English but finished singing in tongues. I have never felt anything like it. It was as if the Spirit and I were pouring our hearts out together. It was like Jesus was letting me know He saw me as a little girl. He put that song on my heart. He put it there, long before I knew it would be ” my story”.  Jesus knew.

Whew! I wanted to share it with you.

Love Beth

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Oh, Beth.  Thank you for that testimony to the love if God.  We are very blessed to be in His family!

Pastor John

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Reading from Acts 2

Pastor John

Gary’s song in Wednesday night’s meeting wonderful with all the ladies singing. And I loved the way you put the scriptures together about Acts.  Someone who does not know the Old Testament would be able to understand more of Acts the way you laid it out for us.  What a joy it is to understand what happened in Acts chapter 2: the beginning of a nation, a nation being born in one day!!   Us!!

Thank you, John

Stuart

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http://www.goingtojesus.com/text/books/fatherandson.pdf

Pastor John,

Last night’s meeting was so good! Made me so thankful to be one of His, to be born into that new nation!  We were reading about our ancestors:). Gary’s song “

​A​sk of ​Me” really touched me, too.  ​I love reading verse by verse with the lessons and scriptures about each verse.  I feel like I walk away knowing Jesus better.  But I also think reading the ​Father and ​the Son book has opened the door to better understanding and appreciating what I’m reading.

​Very good 🙂

Lee Ann​

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Pastor John,

​The Acts reading felt so good and refreshing.  It was an honor!

Thank you.

Billy M.

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Hope’s paper for the kids “Bible Study”

From Brother Haskell:

 

 

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Waiting

I loved what you said about “waiting” the other night, referring to this scripture, 

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles.”

You said we can even fly while we are waiting, hovering in the air like an eagle.   I had never thought of flying (or getting strong) as “waiting”, but then again, we don’t know how to do anything, even wait, unless Jesus helps us.  Mama used to have this scripture on our bathroom mirror to encourage us when we were young, so I have read it many times.   But I never thought that flying could be waiting!  I looked up YouTube clips of eagles hovering and I like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFvBy-uzST8

I liked how the eagle is flying alone until another joins him.   I loved the tenderness of what you said, that when one of us has to wait, we all have to wait.  God teach me how to wait YOUR way!

te.

 

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Introduction to the Acts of the Apostles

Hi John,

​We are so blessed with all the wonderful songs that Jesus has given us, and Joel’s voice has gotten so strong. ​ I loved hearing Aaron and Abby singing together​. It sounded so good!! ​ ​ I really like how you ​color-coded the ​Introduction to the Acts of the Apostles in red​,​ green ​,​ black​,​ and blue. ​It sure made a differen​ce​ in how we looked at what was going on ​ after Jesus was raised from the dead until Pentecost​. ​ ​It made it very simple as you were reading over it ​. T​hank you​,​ John. They were people just like us ​,​ chosen by God to hear and feel his spirit​,​ and know his ways!!!​

Stuart

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Pastor John,

I certainly don’t want this to sound like a “compliment” or “flattery”. . .

I just have to express how much I loved that lesson, and the fact that you have taken the time, energy and thought to make it such a detailed study for your lambs and sheep. The color scheme was wonderful, just wonderful… very enlightening! While you were walking us through the lesson, I felt your hand in mine (or Jesus’ hand, probably), truly, as if I were a child just eating up the truth of God with joy and confidence. It gave me such peace today.

Love,

Brad

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Pastor John,

Tonight was so good! I was expecting to jump right into Acts, but to get all that background was wonderful! It made it alive. How blessed we are to have God’s life!

Carrie

PS I loved that Acts 2:4 was both red and blue print! 🙂 )

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John,

Your message last night on the introduction to Acts was extremely good.  The manner in which you broke things down made it very clear as to the spiritual condition of the apostles prior to Pentecost.  Even though they were told by some that Jesus had risen and was alive they still could not believe.  And as you pointed out in the scriptures, they even saw Jesus before he ascended into heaven, yet still had doubts.

Today I was thinking about when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon back in 1969.  I was 18 years old at the time.  I remember sitting in front of the TV at a friend’s house watching this extraordinary event take place.  Our eyes were glued to this amazing scene as it was broadcast around the world.

As you probably remember, many doubted what they saw, and I assume they counted the whole thing as some sort of governmental propaganda or political scheme.  The truth is, even though I believed it happened I cannot be completely sure it actually did because the experience was based primarily on what we were seeing and hearing on the TV.

Your teaching on the introduction to Acts, however, is entirely convincing because we have had first-hand experiences similar to the apostles.  We know what it feels like to doubt what we at times have seen and felt.  I heard all my young life that God and Jesus were real and worthy to be worshiped.  I believed what I was told the best I could but there was always room for doubt.  But, when Jesus made himself real to me one night by pouring out the sweet holy Ghost there was no longer any room for doubt!  When one experiences the power of God it is not hard to believe what we read in the scriptures such as what you taught last night.

We are so blessed to know these things are true.  Thank you for taking the time to explain what the scriptures actually say and for the many other things you pass on to us from Jesus.

Tom

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