Now the reasons I do these posting are basically 2 reasons.
The first is that the Lord our God Jesus Christ tells me to. At least that is who I believe I hear from as my Lord. A Lord gives instructions, and so it is there is One who give me instructions as my Lord. I now hear Him, but I used to not hear Him. Over 40 years of my life was spent not knowing Him. More than 20 years now I do hear Him. This store was done about 20 years ago, and was a direct result of hearing Him every day.
The other reason is that because I hear from Him I believe He is God, as in the Word of God who is God (Jn 1), and He seems worth knowing. Knowing Him is not a religious thing!! It is a personal thing!! You, as you are, and Him, as He is, walk and talk together. God is spirit, so He talks to you via His Holy Spirit speaking to your spirit. So the Word of God we should be preaching is found in our mouths and in our hearts. And He is always with us, so we should be hearing from Him a number of times everyday. How could it be otherwise. How much do you want to hear from God, and that is how much you will be hearing Him, if you believe in Him.
So let me testify to this some more to help give people an idea of how it was with Him and me.
At that time He was taking me to yard sales a lot. They of course are a good place to get things you need without spending much money, and I was going through my money pretty quickly, because it was a slow store. I opened the store on Saturdays at 10, so before that He took me to yard sales. Because I sold used Christian books, the yard sales were a good place to get some, but not only that. There are a number of things that can be found and used. So I went, and that according to exactly where He was telling me to go! The following verses explain it really well.
Is 30:20,21 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
He would tell me turn right up here and left hear, and look for the sign. And as we went He gave me teachings. I would pull up to a sale and He would tell me about the sale before I got out of the car. He sometimes told me what price to pay for what I was going to find even before I got out of the car. He also taught me, but having me look at the sale and house and telling me things about the person or people I was about to encounter. It seemed that there was nothing too small to talk about with Him. So let me give some specifics.
At one sale I pulled up to He told me the man working the sale was a pastor, before I started looking at the sale. And yes, there were a few used Christian books there. I picked them up and took them up to pay for them and told the man that he was a pastor, because the Lord had told me that. The man looked at me an explained that he was a youth pastor. That was interesting, because the Lord didn't call him a youth pastor but 'a pastor'. So I learned that the Lord does not look at things like we do. The man was a pastor, even though he saw himself as a youth pastor.
Another time He took me to a yard with quite a number of Christian books and He told me to make an offer for all of them. The offer wasn't a lot, but since He told me to make that offer I did so. It didn't seem to make the lady too happy, but He had told me what to do. I was thinking that perhaps I could get a few for her asking price, which seemed fair, yet the Lord was not changing His mind. So I wait for her to consider and she accepted the offer.
As I was picking them up, she asked me what I was going to do with them all. So, I explain that the Lord had me open a Christian bookstore where I sold used books, and there were going there. That seemed to upset her more, that I was getting them from her to sale them for more. Ok, I guess I could understand that point of view. Anyway, the store was costing me and was an interesting ministry. So she was helping and getting paid some for the books she no longer wanted but was selling. She didn't have to take the offer, but apparently the Lord knew that she was going to accept his offer.
I also found it interesting that about ten years later the Lord had me helping in a Christian healing ministry, when she came into the ministry for prayer. We usually had about 7 different groups, and she wound up in mine and remembered me. She was still upset that I had made a low offer and she had accepted it. If anyone has worked in a Christian healing ministry they are going to know that perhaps the biggest issue with Christians getting healing is the failure to forgive, forget, and move on. She had not been cheated, but something in her was telling her that she had and she was holding on to that spirit.
Heb 8:12 “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”
Over and over and over, in that Christian healing ministry, the Lord had me/us leading people in forgiveness, and that part about not remembering and moving on. The really sad part is that sometimes we don't want to even forgive the Lord, and He does not sin. So often when we lead people to asked the Lord who they needed to forgive, the answer came back to them that they needed to forgive the Lord. It is not that He did anything wrong, but that we didn't like what He did in our lives.
We need to learn to listen to the Lord everyday. And if that is a problem, you might was to start by asking Him if there is anyone in your life you need to forgive. Just say, "Jesus Christ, is there anyone that I need to forgive?', and see what comes to you. And don't be surprised if you hear that you need to forgive yourself or even Him!
The first is that the Lord our God Jesus Christ tells me to. At least that is who I believe I hear from as my Lord. A Lord gives instructions, and so it is there is One who give me instructions as my Lord. I now hear Him, but I used to not hear Him. Over 40 years of my life was spent not knowing Him. More than 20 years now I do hear Him. This store was done about 20 years ago, and was a direct result of hearing Him every day.
The other reason is that because I hear from Him I believe He is God, as in the Word of God who is God (Jn 1), and He seems worth knowing. Knowing Him is not a religious thing!! It is a personal thing!! You, as you are, and Him, as He is, walk and talk together. God is spirit, so He talks to you via His Holy Spirit speaking to your spirit. So the Word of God we should be preaching is found in our mouths and in our hearts. And He is always with us, so we should be hearing from Him a number of times everyday. How could it be otherwise. How much do you want to hear from God, and that is how much you will be hearing Him, if you believe in Him.
So let me testify to this some more to help give people an idea of how it was with Him and me.
At that time He was taking me to yard sales a lot. They of course are a good place to get things you need without spending much money, and I was going through my money pretty quickly, because it was a slow store. I opened the store on Saturdays at 10, so before that He took me to yard sales. Because I sold used Christian books, the yard sales were a good place to get some, but not only that. There are a number of things that can be found and used. So I went, and that according to exactly where He was telling me to go! The following verses explain it really well.
Is 30:20,21 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
He would tell me turn right up here and left hear, and look for the sign. And as we went He gave me teachings. I would pull up to a sale and He would tell me about the sale before I got out of the car. He sometimes told me what price to pay for what I was going to find even before I got out of the car. He also taught me, but having me look at the sale and house and telling me things about the person or people I was about to encounter. It seemed that there was nothing too small to talk about with Him. So let me give some specifics.
At one sale I pulled up to He told me the man working the sale was a pastor, before I started looking at the sale. And yes, there were a few used Christian books there. I picked them up and took them up to pay for them and told the man that he was a pastor, because the Lord had told me that. The man looked at me an explained that he was a youth pastor. That was interesting, because the Lord didn't call him a youth pastor but 'a pastor'. So I learned that the Lord does not look at things like we do. The man was a pastor, even though he saw himself as a youth pastor.
Another time He took me to a yard with quite a number of Christian books and He told me to make an offer for all of them. The offer wasn't a lot, but since He told me to make that offer I did so. It didn't seem to make the lady too happy, but He had told me what to do. I was thinking that perhaps I could get a few for her asking price, which seemed fair, yet the Lord was not changing His mind. So I wait for her to consider and she accepted the offer.
As I was picking them up, she asked me what I was going to do with them all. So, I explain that the Lord had me open a Christian bookstore where I sold used books, and there were going there. That seemed to upset her more, that I was getting them from her to sale them for more. Ok, I guess I could understand that point of view. Anyway, the store was costing me and was an interesting ministry. So she was helping and getting paid some for the books she no longer wanted but was selling. She didn't have to take the offer, but apparently the Lord knew that she was going to accept his offer.
I also found it interesting that about ten years later the Lord had me helping in a Christian healing ministry, when she came into the ministry for prayer. We usually had about 7 different groups, and she wound up in mine and remembered me. She was still upset that I had made a low offer and she had accepted it. If anyone has worked in a Christian healing ministry they are going to know that perhaps the biggest issue with Christians getting healing is the failure to forgive, forget, and move on. She had not been cheated, but something in her was telling her that she had and she was holding on to that spirit.
Heb 8:12 “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”
Over and over and over, in that Christian healing ministry, the Lord had me/us leading people in forgiveness, and that part about not remembering and moving on. The really sad part is that sometimes we don't want to even forgive the Lord, and He does not sin. So often when we lead people to asked the Lord who they needed to forgive, the answer came back to them that they needed to forgive the Lord. It is not that He did anything wrong, but that we didn't like what He did in our lives.
We need to learn to listen to the Lord everyday. And if that is a problem, you might was to start by asking Him if there is anyone in your life you need to forgive. Just say, "Jesus Christ, is there anyone that I need to forgive?', and see what comes to you. And don't be surprised if you hear that you need to forgive yourself or even Him!