A Wonderful Life

Posted on November 30, 2015 by JMEA - Moore

“ I came that they might have life and might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10b
Here it is Christmas time again. As one gets older this time of the year seems to come faster and faster. I start tuning the radio to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies the day after Thanksgiving. One of the movies that I always have to watch is; “It’s a Wonderful Life.” My most favorite part is when Clarence, the angel sent from heaven to show George, who feels like a total failure, that he did have meaning and purpose. I think it reminds me that some 2000 years ago God sent His only Son, Jesus, who came to earth to let us know that we too can have purpose and meaning by accepting Him as our personal Savior and have a life more abundant, a wonderful life.
The word “life” in John 10:10b means in the original language, “Zoe” God’s Life. The word abundant means, enough.
So the Bible says that the life that we receive when we accept Jesus as our Savior is always going to be “enough.”
Enough when we are separated from God by sin. “For God so loved the world (you and me) that He sent His only Son that who so ever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16; “Zoe Life!” God the Father did the first surgical implant by placing the Life of His Son in our heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amazing!!!
God’s Life is “enough” when bad things happen to good people. When that doctor’s report, “it is cancer.” When the phone rings, “your loved one has been in a fatal car accident.” There are so many more, loss of job, depression, wayward children and the list goes on. God in His word says that Zoe life is enough. John 14:27 “My peace I give you.” Psalm 46:1 “God is my help in time of trouble.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 “The eyes of the Lord are searching to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His.”
Oh my friend, I want to share this truth not only from the Word of God, but from personal experience that with Jesus as your Savior, He is enough for you to experience a Wonderful Life, His Zoe Life.
Joy,
Phyllis

How are you doing?

Posted on October 30, 2015 by JMEA - Moore

I’m sure you’ve heard that before, and you’ve probably asked that same thing before. It is a typical conversation starter, but there are times when it means more than that. There are times you are concerned about the physical or spiritual welfare of someone. Then the question becomes more personal, more serious. You want to fulfill Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” As people learn about my journey with lymphoma cancer I am being asked that question, “How are you doing?” I am confident there is more than curiosity involved. Friends are concerned and want to know, so I will attempt to answer that question here.

First of all, I am periodically sending out an email to those who want to be updated about my physical condition. If you want to receive that email, you need to let me know at jmoorejmea@aol.com. I do not wish to randomly “spam” anyone with emails they don’t wish to receive. Briefly, as of this writing I have received one chemotherapy infusion, and the side effects are minimal at this point. I would say it is not a good route to follow just to lose weight!

How are you doing psychologically, or more importantly spiritually? That is a good question, and I’m glad you asked! In the first place I would not be much of a believer if I did not believe God’s Word, and I am a whole-hearted believer! The Bible says in numerous ways in numerous places that I am One in Christ; that I am in Our heavenly Father’s hand, and that my steps are ordered by the Lord! There is no way any disease or affliction could touch me apart from the Lord’s permission any more than Satan could touch the old testament character Job without the permission of God! Knowing that puts a different perspective on this journey to which I have been introduced. I’m on a mission for my Lord. No! I’m on a mission with my Lord, and it is my privilege to do so.

As the song goes, I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I do know Who holds tomorrow!

Jon Moore

Drawing from the Well

Posted on October 1, 2015 by JMEA - Moore

When I was a little girl I remember the trips to Oklahoma to see my great grandmother. She was a typical great grandmother of that era, about 5’2” with solid white hair pulled back in a bun. As with most grandmothers, whatever my brother and I wanted we got. Since she didn’t have running water in her house, she had a well in her back yard. We loved to drop the bucket and pull up water over, and over, and over, spilling most on the ground. It was messy, but such fun.
This morning as I was praying about what I wanted to share with you, I was reminded of our Lord’s encounter with the woman at the well found in John 4:6-29. Read the story and be blessed. After the woman asked the question in verse 11 about not having a bucket in which to draw water from the deep well; Jesus answered her in verse 14. “Whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give shall never be thirsty again. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up continually within him unto eternal life.”
Recently, because of an unexpected challenge with Jon’s health, I have had to draw from that Living Water that my Lord Jesus promised in His Word. He has quickened my heart with some of these promises during my early morning visits with Him. Insert “your name” in these verses as I have.
“He shall be to Jon and me a restorer of life and a nourisher of our old age.” Ruth 4:15
“”Call on Me, Phyllis and I will answer. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him.” Psalm 91:15
“God is my refuge and strength, my helper, Who is always found in the time of trouble, therefore, I will to not be afraid.” Psalm 46:1-2
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, Phyllis and lean not on your own understanding and He will direct your path.” Proverbs 3:5-6
“Thou will keep me in perfect peace when my mind is stayed on Thee, for I trust in Thee.” Isaiah 26:3
Trusting in Jesus,
Phyllis

The Missing Burden!

Posted on August 28, 2015 by JMEA - Moore

“I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4

Recently I was visiting with a friend with whom we had been members of a local church back in the late 1960s and early 70s. God graciously visited that church and area with a mighty demonstration of revival power. Over a period of a number of months we saw numerous lives changed, salvations, deliverances from various sins and dependencies, supernatural provision of great needs of every kind and most of all an awesome abiding presence of the thrice holy God!

Before this period of time that forever marked all of our lives that were there, it was preceded by a time (some three years) of praying, confessing, repenting and purifying that is difficult to put into words if one was not there!

It would be easy to magnify the times of glorying in the presence of our glorious savior, Jesus Christ, once the time of reviving came. But the thing I am remembering today is the times of prayer before the glory of God came to dwell. Every time of meeting eventually evolved into a prayer meeting, whether it was a church committee meeting, a Bible study class, a group social gathering, or just two couples going out for a meal together, eventually winding up in one of their homes in prayer together. Prayer had become contagious! Through the centuries countless numbers have looked to the Psalms and asked many similar questions that the psalmist asked in his day. “Will You not Yourself revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” What is missing today? Why in such a time of obvious need does heaven seem to be silent?

I asked the friend mentioned above if he was seeing what I refer to as “the activity of God” in his area, reminding him of the difference between religion (Men working for God) and Christianity (God at work among men). His answer was, “Sadly, no!” I then asked him if he could put his finger on what is missing so often today in our churches. He told me his pastor had recently felt led by the Lord to return Wednesday nights from Bible study to a time of prayer (What a novel idea!). He said that Wednesday night attendance dropped drastically for the next several weeks with some saying, “If all we are going to do is pray, I can pray at home! There just seems to be no burden to pray!”

May God in His gracious mercy and goodness open our eyes to see that all of the problems and challenges facing this generation will never be met until we as believers join Nehemiah on our knees to weep, mourn, fast and pray before the God of heaven!

Jon Moore

Sometimes life can be a real bummer!

Posted on August 1, 2015 by JMEA - Moore

Events and circumstances in life can sometimes, let’s admit it, be a real bummer. I guess it is because those happenings catch us off guard. I will have to admit that my first response is not always the most Spiritual. It does make me feel a little better when I read that some characters in the Bible didn’t always respond well to their circumstances. In anger, Peter, who was with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane reached out and drew his sword, striking the servant of the high priest and cutting off his ear. That is recorded in Matthew 26:51. In Luke 9:54 when the people were rejecting Jesus, James and John asked, “Lord do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them.” Another event where self-pity reigned was when Jezebel was trying to kill Elijah. He came to a large bush and sat down in the shade and begged the Lord, ”I have had enough, just let me die.” Yep, to my regret I have experienced both anger and self-pity when presented with unwanted happenings.
It would be easy to say that we deserve to get angry or have self-pity. Truthfully, the only right and good answer to the unexpected circumstances and disappointing things in life is also found in the Scriptures. Let’s take a brief look at Psalm 46.
We must behold our God. “God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change and though the mountains be shaken into the midst of the seas.” He is our Supreme power. He has authority in heaven and earth. “Come behold the works of our Lord who does wonders in the earth.” “Be still and know that I am God.” Be still (stop moving, have tranquility of mind)…Know (observe, reflect, by experiencing),I am God (Sovereign, Supreme power, Superior to all others). God is the One that controls every event that affects our lives if we are His children. Selah (pause and calmly think on this).
I am really working on those times when life sends me those unexpected events, so that I can behold my God and turn the bummer things into the joy of the Lord.
Joy,
Phyllis

A PRIORITY FOR THE PRESENCE OF GOD!

Posted on July 2, 2015 by JMEA - Moore

“One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.” Psalm 27:4
One of the more fascinating verses I have found in the Bible is 1st Samuel 13:14. The prophet Samuel is speaking to King Saul concerning David and says, “The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart!” Immediately a question arises in me, ‘What was there about him that so captured the Lord’s attention and admiration that He would make such a statement about David?’ That led me to search the Scriptures concerning David, and there are numerous indications as to why. One is found in Psalm 27:4 printed above. David does not take a “shopping list” of things he desires from the Lord. He only desires one thing: that he may live all the days of his life in the Lord’s presence. He makes a similar statement in Psalm 63:1, “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly (early); My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
A second thing David states in Psalm 27:4 is that he not only has made the request to live in the Lord’s presence, but he will seek to do so! Most will remember their school grammar lessons that “seek” is a verb, and verbs are action words. That requires a discipline to be established in one’s life. By the way, the word ‘disciple’ comes from the word ‘discipline’.
One day a young man came to the fourth century leader Augustine and asked, ‘Can you help me know God?’ When Augustine asked the young man if he really wanted to know God, the young man enthusiastically answered, ‘Yes’! Augustine walked out into a garden, got on his knees next to a small pool of water, bowed his head, clasped his hands and closed his eyes. The young man, following, did likewise. Suddenly, without warning Augustine reached over grabbed the young man by the arm with one hand, and with the other hand he grabbed the back of his neck and pushed his head under water, holding his head under water for several seconds. Finally he pulled the young man up so he could take a couple of gasps of air, then he plunged his head under water again! After what seemed an extremely long time, Augustine pulled the young man’s head up, turned his head to his own and said, “Young man, when you want to know God as badly as you want to breathe right now, then you will get to know God!”
What would happen in churches if believers today had a priority for the presence of God like that? What would happen in your life if you had a priority for the presence of God like that?

Jon Moore

Another Christian woman that God used to bring Spiritual awakening!

Posted on June 1, 2015 by JMEA - Moore

Pandita Ramabai, a Hindu woman was converted to Christ after reading a copy of the Gospel of Luke. It was part of the fruit of William Carey’s works in India. He was known as the father of the modern mission movement. In 1898 while visiting the Keswick Convention (started in 1875 known as “living the whole life of Christ”), Pandita pled with the some 4000 to pray for a Spiritual movement in India as was happening in America. She at the time was caring for some 2000 girls in Bombay. After several months of prayer, 1200 of the girls accepted Christ as their Savior. Later another 600 were converted to Christ. Pandita Ramabai then started prayer circles of 10 girls to pray for the salvation of others. That began to spread and encompassed many prayer groups. In June of 1905 a mighty Spiritual Revival began across India.
As I read and study about how God used this bold woman and small groups of girls committed to pray for a new and fresh work of God in India, I am challenged even more to be consistent and fervent to cry out to the Father for Spiritual Renewal in America. Isaiah 62:6-7 “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchman all day and all night that will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” Can we not add our America to this request from God through the prophet, Isaiah?
Joy,
Phyllis

Praying for Revival!

Posted on April 30, 2015 by JMEA - Moore

“Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence—As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence!” Isaiah 64:1-2 (NASB)

Slowly, but surely more and more Christians are coming to realize that our world needs something more that any man or method can produce. Today we stand in desperate need of a mighty work of God! We need spiritual renewal (revival) among the saved! We need a spiritual awakening among the lost! It is at this point we would be wise to consider what the great old Methodist preacher, John Wesley, had to say. “Prayer is the engine that drives revival!”

If revival is the need of the hour, and prayer is the engine that drives revival, then that poses a valid question. “How should we pray for revival?” The disciples were on to something when they came to Jesus in Luke 11:1 and said, “Lord, teach us to pray!” Surely many have learned by now that the more we know about prayer, the more we understand how much we don’t know about prayer, bringing us to the place of repeating the same prayer the disciples prayed!

Add to this what Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 10 concerning the Old Testament scriptures, “These things happened as examples for us” (v 6), and “they were written for our instruction” (v 10). We are told to avoid the bad decisions of the old testament saints, but we are to adopt the good decisions! With that in mind let’s learn from Isaiah in 64:1-2 how to pray for a mighty work of revival in our day.

Notice the terms that Isaiah uses: Rend (tear) the heavens; Quake (shake) the mountains; Boil the waters (oceans, rivers); Tremble the nations! The Bible teaches God is always and every where present (theologians refer to this as His omnipresence), but Isaiah goes beyond that, asking the Lord to manifest His presence in an supernatural fashion. We see this illustrated in many of the great historic revivals. People testified in the great Welch revival in the early 1900s that the presence of God was “indisputable and inescapeable!” A woman converted in the revival in the Hebrides Islands in the mid-1900s said, “The islands were saturated with the presence of God!” Reports in the New York City newspapers in the prayer revival of 1858-59 stated that crew members sailing into New York harbor from foreign lands would fall under heavy conviction and cry out to God before the ship ever docked and anyone had an opportunity to speak to them!

It seems more than apparent that we need to learn from Isaiah and adopt his practice when it comes to praying for a mighty work of God in America today, asking the Lord to make His presence, purity and power known in an unusual way!

Jon Moore

The Great Ulster Revival

Posted on April 1, 2015 by JMEA - Moore

Several months ago, I was wanting to share how women were used in the great mighty works of God in past centuries to usher in revivals and Spiritual Awakenings. A friend shared the following article with me. I will be paraphrasing some of the devotional due to space.
E Michael and Sharon Rusten in a devotional in “One Year Book of Christian History” wrote the following:
In 1856 in Ulster, Ireland, James McQuilkin was invited to tea. There a visiting woman skirted the civilities of discussing the weather and spoke openly on a subject McQuilkin found uncomfortable: the condition of his soul. After another guest described the nature of her Christian experience, the visiting woman said to McQuilkin, “my dear, I don’t believe you have ever known the Lord Jesus.” McQuilkin later wrote, “I knew that she spoke what was true of me. I felt as if the ground were about to open beneath me and let me sink into hell. As soon as I could, I left the company. For two weeks I had no peace day or night. At the end of that time I found peace by trusting the Lord Jesus.”
The following year McQuilkin felt a burden to pray for his neighbors and asked three friends to join him. Once a week the men gathered in a school house to pray for each person in their community by name. This was September of 1857. Unknown to them, God was laying on the hearts of many others to start prayer groups in Northern Ireland. Pastors started preaching about revival.
After nine months of prayer McQuilkin’s prayer group saw their first conversion. One morning in the city of Ballymena a young man fell prostrate in a crowded marketplace and called out, “Unclean, Unclean! God be merciful to me a sinner.”
March14, 1859 McQuilkin’s prayer group responded to an invitation to a prayer meeting. The church was so crowded they moved it to the street. Hundreds knelt in the mud and rain confessing their sins and praising God. They were the first of one hundred thousand people God called to Himself in 1859. A reporter to Ulster reported that the “Ulster movement touched off revivals in England, Scotland and Wales and it all started with an unknown woman unafraid to speak spiritual truth over tea.”
We never know what will be the effect our conversation will have on others. The woman at tea had no idea that God would use her to launch a nationwide revival. Our responsibility is to faithfully share God’s truths as we go about our daily lives and leave the results to Him.
“I have not been afraid to speak out, as You, O Lord, well know. I have not kept this good news hidden in my heart; I have talked about Your faithfulness and saving power.” Psalm 40:9-10
Joy,
Phyllis

What kind of revival are we praying for?

Posted on March 1, 2015 by JMEA - Moore

“O Lord, now I have heard Your report, and I worship You in awe for the fearful things You are going to do. In this time of our deep need, begin again to help us, as You did in years gone by. Show us Your power to save us. In Your wrath, remember mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2 (TLB)

Slowly but surely it is beginning to dawn on more and more Christians that the complex mess man has made in the land can only be resolved by God Himself. That in itself is a good thing! It is also increasingly clear that the efforts, strategies, etc. put forth by man (whether sinner or saint) is inadequate to effectively deal with the profound problems of the day, and hopefully voices in the Church in America are pointing us to our true Deliverer, the Lord God Almighty!

The question is, “What kind of revival are we praying for?” I know, I ended a sentence with a preposition, but the question remains valid nonetheless! The prophet Habakkuk initially prayed for his own version of revival, questioning the Lord about using the wicked terrorist Chaldeans to triumph over the “righteous” Hebrews, but the Lord reminded him of the multitude of sins of His own people…rebellion, arrogance, idolatry, child sacrifice, etc. (Sound familiar?) He assured Habakkuk the Chaldeans would be judged in God’s time, but first the old testament people of God would know the wrath of God, using the wicked as His instruments of judgment. In the meantime, as always, “The righteous shall live by faith,” trusting God to always do the right thing at the right time!

Hopefully, those of us in the Church will move from trying to convince the Lord to do things our way to cooperating with Him in believing prayer to do things His way in His time, and we can come to the place where Habakkuk came,

“Even though the fig trees are all destroyed, and there is neither blossom left nor fruit, and though the olive crops all fail, and the fields lie barren; even if the flocks die in the field, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord’ I will be happy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He will give me the speed of a deer and bring me safely over the mountains.” Habakkuk 3:17-19. (TLB=The Living Bible).

Jon