Vision: Prophets in Thailand
7th March 2014
I saw a slender built beautiful Chinese lady in Bangkok. She wore a silk white and gold long dress.
I observed her walking around in the vicinity of top hotels like the Dusit Thani, the Bangkok Regency, and the old Oriental Hotel etc. She moved around the busy market and mall areas, Sukhumvit Road, The Pratunam area/ Indra market, Chao Phraya River, etc.
The beautiful Chinese lady was speaking about the Lord to some of the people who professed to be believers, but they were rejecting the message.
When she asked the Lord about it, He Showed her that the people only gave Him lip service, but their hearts were far from Him.
I asked the Lord why this lady was moving around all the well-known social and commercial areas of Bangkok. I was told that these people, who said they knew the Lord, went about social and commercial places making a big show of their faith for selfish motives but had no intention of obeying the Lord.
There were people such as these all over Thailand.
The Chinese lady wondered aloud, “Where then are the true followers of Christ?”
She was shown that the true believers were outcasts amongst such empty professors. Many had been thrown out by the leaders and congregations, whilst others had obeyed the Lord and walked out of those worldly assemblies.
All over Thailand, the worldly ones disdained the ‘outcasts’. I saw a woman buying strawberries, and the moment she saw an ‘outcast’ she crossed the street.
This was happening nation-wide. The true followers were ignored and despised as personae non gratae. The worldly ones never welcomed them, as what these God lovers said about the Lord was beyond their comprehension.
I saw that all over Thailand a number of prophets were learning obedience, through the word of God, and were being made ready to minister to the nation and nations in the coming times.
I noticed that their bibles were opened to the book of Proverbs.
The beautiful lady now moved away from the commercial areas, and was shown these prophets-in-training. “But Lord, these men and women are sleeping all the time,” she protested.
She smiled as she quickly comprehended that these obedient ones loved the Lord and they were not slumbering but in a position of rest and were being specially trained.
“But specially trained for what?” she asked the Lord.
The Chinese lady was made to understand that these prophets in Thailand were being specially trained to understand hard sayings.
Proverbs 15: 23
23 A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!
Proverbs 1: 2-6
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
1 Kings 17: 2-6
2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
5 So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
Isaiah 3:10
10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
John 6:60
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
Bombay-India
Swarna Jha
15 comments:
Yes, how very true and how very beautiful!
Been thinking about the rejection prophet Jeremiah suffered....if we knew before hand that we would be treated all our lives like Jeremiah was, would we want to be prophets?
Religion Cannot Save Us - By T. Austin Sparks
To become a Christian is not to become ‘religious’, or to adopt a new ‘religion’.
Among non-Christian peoples, a turning to Christ is often referred to as ‘accepting Christianity’, and in what are called Christian countries conversion is frequently referred to as ‘becoming religious’. Such expressions, with their associated ideas, are altogether inadequate and indeed fundamentally false. There was no more religious man on the earth, in his time, than Saul of Tarsus. Read what he says of himself in Acts 22 and 26, and Philippians 3. Here was a man who was just aflame with religious zeal and passion. No argument is necessary, with history before us, to prove how wide of the mark religion can be.
And that is true of ‘Christianity’, when it is merely a matter of religion. To be a true Christian is not to accept a creed or statement of doctrine, to observe certain rites and ordinances, attend certain services and functions, and conform more or less diligently to a prescribed manner of life. All this may be carried very far, with very many good works; but those concerned may still be outside the true New Testament category of ‘Christian’.
Herein lies the danger of an assumed acceptance with God, which may bring that bitter disillusionment foretold by our Lord Himself in those startling words: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not… by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me” (Matt. 7:23, 24).
No, religion is not Christianity, either more or less; it may be only a deception. So that when we seek that people should become Christians, we are not asking them to change their religion, nor are we asking them to become religious. Religion, as such, has never made this world happier or better.
Swarna,
Thank the Lord and thank you for this ....
“But Lord, these men and women are sleeping all the time,” she protested.
I am one of these. I was actually kind of concerned about this and asked the Lord about it. I just thought I slept too much. So far, every time I go before the Lord, so far I have been ending up falling asleep. It reminds me of Daniel when he received one of his visitations. You just gave me the answer.
Juanita,
Yes, praise the Lord that this has ministered to you. I am so encouraged to hear this. This comment of yours is very timely and precious. Thank you. Praise God.
Swarna
12 MAR – “Christ In You, The Hope of Glory” - T. Austin Sparks
There is one indispensable mark and feature of the Christian life to which we will point at this time. It is shown in the words addressed to Paul by one Ananias: “The Lord Jesus… hath sent me that thou mayest… be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17).
The consummation of this basic work, by which we become Christians in the true sense, is that everything which is true of Christ is made an inward thing with us. Up to this point, although everything has been very real and deep changes have taken place, it has been mainly as in an outward relationship with Christ. But it would have been fatal to have left it there, however great the discovery. We cannot live upon something which happened at a certain time. We cannot meet all the tremendous forces of evil which will oppose us, in the strength of a mere memory, however vivid. We shall never live triumphantly, or serve effectively, or satisfy God truly on any basis of what is merely outward and objective.
The fact is that only Christ can really satisfy God; only Christ can do God’s will and God’s work. Only Christ can overcome the spiritual forces of evil. Yes, only Christ can really live the Christian life. Hence, the one great inclusive and crowning reality of a Christian is Christ Himself WITHIN! Paul later put this in these words: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
This becomes true by a definite act when we believe. The Holy Spirit takes possession of us in an inward way. This indwelling of Christ had never been known by any man in history until Christ had died and risen and been glorified. It is therefore the peculiar wonder and glory of the Christian. It is this very thing that explains the New Testament term “born anew”. There was nothing like it before.
Spontaneous Ministry - T. Austin Sparks
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You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. (John 5:39 NIV)
Ministry is the expression of Life, and not the taking on of a uniform and a title. Once I thought that to be in the ministry was to go into a certain kind of work, to come out of business, and, well, be a minister! So one got into the thing. Many, many are laboring and toiling in it, breaking their hearts, afraid to leave that order of things, lest they should be violating what they conceived to be a Divine call. Many others cannot get out of it because it is a means of livelihood, and they too are breaking their hearts. It is all false. Ministry is not a system like that. Ministry is the expression of Life, and that is but saying in other words that it is the outworking of the indwelling of Christ. Disaster lies before the man or woman who ministers on any other ground than that. When the Lord gets a chance in us, and we really will trust Him on that ground and take our position there, He will show us that there is ministry enough for us; we shall not have to go round looking for it. The real labor so often is to get us down to that ground, the delivering of us from this present evil age even in its conception of the ministry, unto the heavenly ministry.
The Lord Jesus is our pattern. You see the spontaneous ministry, the restful ministry of that Heavenly Man. I covet that! It does not mean that we shall become careless, but it does deliver us from so much unnecessary strain. That is how it should be. May the Lord bring us to it; the heavenly Man with the heavenly Life as the full heavenly Resource.
By T. Austin-Sparks from: All Things in Christ - Chapter
OTHERS MAY: You CANNOT
-by G.D. Watson.
If God has called you to be really like Jesus He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other people do things which He will not let you do.
Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.
Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.
Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.
The Lord may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small. He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious He may let
others get credit for the work which you have done, and thus make YOUR REWARD TEN TIMES GREATER when JESUS COMES.
The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasting your time, which other Christians never feel distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an Infinitely Sovereign Being, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you absolutely sell yourself to be His love slave, He will wrap you up in Jealous Love, and bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle.
Settle it forever, then that you are to DEAL DIRECTLY WITH the HOLY SPIRIT, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use with others. Now, when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this PECULIAR, PERSONAL, PRIVATE, JEALOUS GUARDIANSHIP and MANAGEMENT OF the HOLY SPIRIT OVER YOUR LIFE, then you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.
-G.D.Watson (1845-1924).
SOURCE: Faith, Prayer, & Tract League,
Tract #76; Grand Rapids, MI 49504.
Hi Swarna,
Thank you for posting the above articles, God bless you. Your question brings to mind something I read by a prophet, whose grandfather had been a prophet; the grandson had seen all that his grandfather had gone through, and when it came to be his turn, he said, he did not want to be a prophet, but the young man came to understand, he really didn't have a choice. I'm saying, remember Jonah; the Lord has His way of dealing with those He has called and chosen to be His Prophets. But, in this world, it is hard for anyone who speaks the Truth of God's Word, whether they be called to be a prophet or just a "regular" God lover. Jesus said all that come after Him and take up their cross to follow Him will have persecution and tribulation, but it all works for our good. Amen.
God bless you beloved
sherry
Hi Sherry,
One of my most favorite has to be.........G.D. Watson's Others May: you cannot.
We fix our eyes on Jesus. The young grandson you mention , UNDERSTOOD WELL!
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
The Joy of the Lord is our strength.
Thank you so much for your comments and encouragement, Sherry.
blessings
swarna
Spiritual Increase is Related to the Throne - T. Austin Sparks
Firstly, it does mean that the deepening of spiritual life, as it is called, or any other terms used for the same thing, is not a matter which is just to issue in our fuller blessing. So often people will bring it right down there to that level of fuller blessing, and we are very often tempted even there, in the time of fire and adversity, to react to this whole thing by saying, Well, if I have heaven, why need I trouble about all this, and why should I go through all this? Here are plenty of people just very happy and contented, they are saved and they know they are saved, and here am I who have sought to go on with God, and I am having the most awful time.
It seems to me that I have got the worst of the bargain, by wanting to go right on with God! If we look at it like that, purely from the personal point of view of blessing, we have missed our way, and we shall get into difficulties; because, as we have always sought to point out, when you come out of this spiritual infancy into the School of sonship, you graduate from what is personal as to your own interest and blessing into what is for the Lord and not for you. From that time forward the whole motive is, not what I am going to get, but what God is going to get. That is Ephesians. “That ye may know what is… the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance in the saints.” Not what I am going to get now: that will follow, that will be all right, the Lord will be faithful, but it is something else. We have come into the school on the basis of God’s eternal purpose, and God’s eternal purpose does not begin and end when He has got us born again. God’s eternal purpose is only reached when He has got us in the throne. Thus it is the Lord, for the Lord, and what the Lord is after that is the one consideration. It will be glory for me, but that is not the motive of it now. It is this great purpose with which we are called: that is what is governing everything, and it is in the terms of the throne.
So the transition from infancy to the School of sonship, being a very painful thing, and fraught with all sorts of difficulties, brings us nevertheless into relation with that which has been in God’s mind from before the world was where we are concerned. … chosen in Christ Jesus “that we should be to the praise of HIS glory.” All the dealings of the Lord with us in this school have that throne in view.
Pride and Shame or Humility and Wisdom
By Bob Hoekstra
When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom . . . The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools. (Proverbs 11:2 and 3:35)
In order to live by the grace of God, we must be willing to walk in humility, instead of in pride. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). We must be willing to acknowledge our daily, desperate need for God. Any other approach to life is based upon pride (which is a foolish, inaccurate assumption that we are adequate to produce a life on our own). Those who walk in pride end up with shame. Those who walk in humility end up with wisdom.
The scriptures describe those who foolishly walk in pride, as well as declaring the shame that they experience. "When pride comes, then comes shame . . . shame shall be the legacy of fools." One example would be the wicked way that many privileged and powerful persecute the downtrodden and the vulnerable. They are demonstrating their pride. "The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised" (Psalm 10:2). Their shame is that they can become entangled in the very schemes that they have contrived. Another example is those who arrogantly oppose the people of God. "This they shall have for their pride, because they have reproached and made arrogant threats against the people of the LORD of hosts" (Zephaniah 2:10). Their shame was announced as a barrenness so severe as to be likened unto the end of Sodom and Gomorrah.
" 'Therefore, as I live,' says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah - overrun with weeds and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation' " (Zephaniah 2:9).
In contrast to the shame that comes to the prideful, is the wisdom (and resulting glory, or honor) that comes to the humble. "With the humble is wisdom . . . The wise shall inherit glory." Those who walk humbly before the Lord find the godly wisdom that is available in the Lord's infallible word. "The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple" (Psalm 19:7). This wisdom from God brings honor to the humble ones who live by it. "A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor" (Proverbs 29:23). Again, this honor for the humble is in striking contrast to the wretched and ignoble ends that pride engenders.
Dear Lord of glory, how fitting that those who pridefully oppose You will be brought low and will end up in shame. I do not want to be numbered among them. I want to walk in humility. I want to eagerly acknowledge my desperate need for You every day in every way. I want to be compassionate toward the needy. I want to bless Your people. I want to humbly seek the wisdom of Your word. I want to be a vessel of honor unto You, through Christ Jesus, my Lord, Amen.
J. C. Philpot - Daily Portions
Today's Devotional
"I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." Isaiah 48:10
According to God's own testimony, it is "through much tribulation" that we are to enter into the kingdom; and therefore there is no entering into the kingdom of grace here or the kingdom of glory hereafter without it. But let this be ever borne in mind, that whatever affliction befall the saints, it is laid upon them by the hand of God, and that for the express purpose of putting them into a situation and of making them capable of receiving those comforts which God only can bestow. None but Jesus himself and the Father can comfort a truly afflicted heart. And he can and does from time to time comfort his dear people by a sense of his presence; by a word of power from his gracious lips; by the light of his countenance; by the balm of his atoning blood and dying love; and by the work and witness of the Spirit within. And as they receive this consolation from the mouth of God, their hearts are comforted. How good the Lord is of his own free grace to bestow such blessings upon his redeemed family! May he give us much of them! And may he wherever he has bestowed upon any of us everlasting consolation, or even a good hope through grace, comfort our hearts as we journey through this vale of tears, and may our consolations be neither few nor small.
DELIVERED THROUGH THE PRAYERS OF "HELPERS" by David Wilkerson
“We would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8). The Greek word for pressed in this passage means “heavily burdened, grievously crushed.” Paul was telling these saints, “Our crisis was so serious that it almost crushed me. I thought it was the end for me.”
When Paul says he was so burdened down that he despaired of life, we can know he truly was at rock bottom. In other passages, he downplays his sufferings. You may recall how he simply shook off a poisonous snake that had attached itself to his hand. He was shipwrecked three times yet he mentions this fact only in passing, to make a point. Paul was beaten, robbed, stoned, jailed—yet through it all he never complained.
In this passage, however, the apostle was at a point of total exhaustion. I believe this “trouble” he endured was mental anguish. We cannot know exactly what Paul's trouble was but 2 Corinthians 7:5 gives us a hint: “When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.”
I believe Paul was referring to pain caused by the sheep he ministered to. False teachers had risen up in Corinth and had tried to turn the people against him. Now Paul feared his flock would reject his message and follow men who did not have their interest at heart.
He was consoled when Titus arrived, bringing him good news about his “beloved children” in Corinth. Paul writes, “Nevertheless God . . . comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more” (verses 6-7).
I have felt this kind of anguish in my life. At times, the words of people I have loved and helped have felt like knives in my back. I can say with David, “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords” (Psalm 55:21). In such troubled times, I have most needed “helping prayers.”
_________
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IN THE MIDST OF TROUBLES, PAUL LEARNED GREAT LESSONS by David Wilkerson
The most significant lesson Paul learned in his anguish was that he had to turn to the Lord and His covenant promises. He knew he could no longer trust in his own flesh, abilities or willpower. He writes, “We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9).
Paul’s trial had brought him to the end of his endurance. He knew he did not have any strength left to fight the powers of darkness so he sentenced his own flesh to death. And God marvelously delivered him: “Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us” (verse 10).
How was Paul delivered? Several things were involved: First, he was a mighty man of prayer and second, he had great confidence in the Lord. Paul knew God would uphold His covenant promises. He could say, “Just as the Lord has delivered me in the past, He is at work delivering me from this present trial. From now until the day I die, I’ll be living under His delivering power.”
Like Paul, we also are allowed to endure troubled times, so that we will die to our reliance on human ability. The Lord permits us to be crushed, made helpless and weak, in an effort to convince us we cannot defeat the enemy by any fleshly efforts.
As we compare our lives to Paul’s, we may be tempted to think, “I’ll never experience the kind of deliverance this man enjoyed. He was well-educated in the Scriptures and he received great revelations from the Lord about Jesus, the gospel, the New Covenant.
“And Paul ministered in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost. He single-handedly shook cities and nations. He couldn’t be killed by the devil, even after stonings, mob attacks, three shipwrecks. God even used him to raise the dead. This man was one of God’s most anointed servants in all of history. He had it together spiritually.”
Not so, according to Paul. The apostle makes it clear that there was one other important factor in his deliverance: the powerful intercession of praying helpers. “Ye also helping together by prayer for us” (verse 11). Paul was saying, “I’m confident God will deliver me. And you’re helping that come to pass by praying.”
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