“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD…the people may not come up…When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’S WORDS AND LAWS, they responded with one voice, “EVERYTHING THE LORD HAS SAID WE WILL DO.” Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.” (Exodus 24:1-4) Then, later on, “Moses took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “WE WILL DO EVERYTHING the LORD has said; WE WILL OBEY.” (Exodus 24:7)
“Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” (Exodus 24:18) “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, MAKE US gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, WE DON’T KNOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HIM.“ (Exodus 32:1) Why do we give up so easily?
My wife and I pastored in the state of Washington, and we were the boys and girls dean, in Youth Camp. I remember one camp when miraculous things happened as dinner was being served and the Holy Spirit moved in a very powerful way, kids were being saved, healings were going on and we even had a visitation by angles. I was seated on a chair at one of the tables praying for someone, dinner had not been served yet, and as they prayed through I turned to get up, all the tables and chairs were gone, and people were slain in the spirit everywhere, it was just fantastic!!! As a Pastor I was so excited to get back to the local church and carry on with this same Spirit. Well, it didn’t take long for things to cool down, we tried our hardest to keep things going but what I discovered was that the devil does not want revival to happen…
The Big Three Schemes of Satan:
- LIES: Satan schemes by using lies. “When he lies, it is perfectly normal; for he is THE FATHER OF LIARS.” (John 8:44) He attempts to deceive us by twisting or completely changing God’s Word with the purpose of confusion leading to sin. So, he convinces us that what we experienced was not real.
- TEMPTATION: Satan schemes by using temptation. He works to set before us sinful things that will tempt us to sin. While Satan cannot inhabit us and make us sin, he can certainly mess with us and tempt us to sin. To lead us AWAY from our wonderful relationship with God.
- MANIPULATION: Satan schemes by using manipulation. While Satan is not all-powerful, he is very clever and skillful at manipulating situations and people—always to achieve his purpose of provoking us to sin.
What must we do? “…you, beloved, BUILDING YOURSELVES UP on your most holy faith, PRAYING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, KEEP YOURSELVES in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude 1:20-21) We build ourselves up by the Word of God, it is LIVING and POWERFUL, it is the BREATH OF GOD It is so VERY MUCH MORE than mere words in a book. Our prayer life is so important we are God’s children, and our “Daddy” loves to hear from us!!!! God says, “Call to Me, and I WILL ANSWER YOU, and SHOW YOU great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham