NUGGETS

I decided to compile a group of some of my status updates from Facebook over the past 12 or 13 months. This group consists of the updates that I wrote as God was speaking to me and teaching me. They are all mine, I decided not to use the status' where I quoted other people. So it's all original. I hope you enjoy them, and are ministered to by them!

~The world is not impressed by your words, how much you know, how spiritual you sound or how many scriptures you can quote! What impresses a lost
and unbelieving world is a demonstration of the power of God to meet their needs both physical and spiritual in miraculous, mind blowing ways! If Jesus
got people's attention through healings, deliverances, raising the dead, and performing miracles of provision, all before their eyes. . . what makes us think
we can persuade people with our smooth words and abundant head knowledge?? Maybe you haven't noticed, but it's not working!!~

~If everything we say and do is dependent on, or influenced by man's opinion of us, we will never do great things for God! Be singularly focused when
following His lead, and the world will see and hear Jesus Christ in you! Never quit!~

~While we are not to pursue signs and wonders, Jesus clearly stated that signs and wonders will pursue those of us that believe. . .then He told us what
those signs would be. . . if we are not seeing them in our lives, it's like a warning light that something is awry. Maybe we should be checking under the
hood today!!~

~DOUBLE is the LOWEST level of multiplication! God is the God of multiplication. What are you believing Him to multiply for you this year? Growth in
your relationship with Him? With others? People you reach with His Good News? Ministry opportunities? Giving opportunities? DOUBLE is the LEAST
He will do! How much can ...you believe Him for? Because He will go FAR over and above every time if you only believe!~

~No matter how cleverly disguised, gossip is poison! Have you ever found yourself treating someone differently, avoiding them, or thinking differently
about them because of something you heard from someone else? Guess what! You have tasted the poison of gossip. . . and swallowed!~

~Let people think and say what they want about you; the only thing that really matters is what God says about you. And then, well, try not to be too
creeped out that they would be that bothered with everything you say and do.~

~Knowing we are loved OUTRAGEOUSLY by the Creator of all things. . . what is our response? What should it be? Something to ponder. . ~

~I absolutely LOVE the sound of the constant *ding* *ding* *ding* as the enemy hurls his fiery arrows at me, they hit my shield of faith, and fall dead to
the ground!! *plunk* It is music to my ears!~

~~ONLY BELIEVE~~

~A difficult, sacrificial, unpopular, or inconvenient task is no excuse for failing to perform a divinely assigned duty. GOD chooses where we are called to
serve; we choose whether or not to respond in obedience to that call.~

~If the sin in your own heart, whatever that may be, does not grieve you more than that which you so easily see in others, something is gravely wrong.~

~My God is Semper Fi!~

~Strategic frontline intercession! The first to engage the enemy, and th last to leave, cleaning up the mess left after slaughtering the forces of darkness!~

~Unforgiveness is a spiritual poison. . . are you partaking today?~

~One of the greatest and most widespread deceptions in the Church today is that of self-importance.~

~Criticism of other's words or actions is at best the polar opposite of love and springs from the very roots of pride and unforgiveness.~

~I think we do people a real disservice when we judge them before we find out what they might possibly be facing in their life at any given time.~

~Stop looking for ministry opportunities inside the church building or off in another land. . . look around you and you will find you are smack dab in the
middle of a mission field right where you are!~

~The best advise my daddy ever gave me: "Close your mouth, you'll look more intelligent."~
~Every day God gives us choices; to follow His way, or our way. . . the way we choose tells Him MUCH about how deeply we love Him. . . or not. ~

~SOMEBODY has to be a demonstration to the World that the Word of God WORKS!~
~God is up to something BIG! It's the way He does things!~

~Flaky is not a fruit of the Spirit. . . it is a fruit of self-importance!~

~We are not truly free, until we are free from the need to impress other people.~

~ Crisis + Worship = no more crisis!~

~ I QUIT!! I quit trying to be perfect! I quit wearing a mask! I quit trying to please people! I quit worrying about what others think of me! I QUIT!!~

~Well will you just look at what the Lord has done?~

~ It may be simple and plain, or it may be elaborately decorated; it may be dirty, or it may look sparkling clean; it may be made of paper, or of the finest
godl; it may be small, or very big and roomy. . .but the bottom line is a box is a box and God won't fit in it! Not mine, or yours!~

~Hey! I have a great idea! Let's find out what God meant when He said NOTHING is impossible to them who believe!~

~When the church becomes an institution, we, as the Body of Christ run the risk of becoming institutionalized. . . prisoners embedded within the
organization or business of that structure. Focus on Christ, and Christ alone will ensure our freedom from the chains of imprisonment to anyone or
anything but Him! TRUE freedom can only be found in giving CHRIST our all!~

~When you determine to see people through the Cross and Blood of Jesus Christ that has redeemed and cleansed them from ALL sin, it is impossible to
see their faults. If what you do see when you look at them is their faults and failures, as God for a new vision, HIS vision, that sees us all through the shed
blood of Christ that by faith sees those lives transformed.!~

~What do I want, need and crave more than the very air I breathe? The Person of the Holy Spirit dwelling in me, on me, around me. . . filling me with the
very life and breath of God! Without Him I spiritually suffocate. Breathe upon me Breath of God!~

~To presume to know the heart motives behind anyone's actions or words is prideful judgement at it's worst.~

~Before we can walk in the fulness of our destinywe must have the revelation of who we are and Whose we are.~

~When my children need me, as their mother I don't sit back and tally what they have done for me, or whether or not they have lived up to my
expectations, or if they deserve my attention. . . my children have my ear and my heart because they are my children. . . they don't have to 'earn' that.
That is their BIRTHRIGHT!. How much greater a parent is the Father God!?~

~Your personal experiences neither serve to prove or disprove the Word of God. It stands as TRUTH. Yet, when men fail to recieve God's promises
for theirs or their loved ones lives, they choose to twist the Word of God, make their own interpretation of it, and create a new doctrine; excusing their
own failure in exchange for blaming and compromising God's Name and character in their words and declarations.~

~STOP signing for the packages the enemy keeps sending you! 'MY arthritis; MY diabetes; MY bad knee; I HAVE the flu; MY OCD, MY depression.
. . WAKE UP!! You are signing on the dotted line with your mouth!~

~God is in the business of breaking strongholds and bringing freedom!~

~A true passion for Christ will will always result in a passion for His Bride! We will not let worldly things keep us from her, we will pursue with fiery
determination to be a part of her through fellowship with her members. Not for religious appearances, but because we cannot help ourselves but be
outrageously in love with her, as Jesus is!~

~If you leave a newborn baby to feed itself, you can't very well blame it for the mess it makes, and for eating things it shouldn't. Newborns need parents.
Church, who is watching the babies?~

~Press in! There is much, MUCH more!~

~When you ask the Lord to open your eyes to see, you had better be ready for it! Because when He does it will slam you on your face in travailing
intercession!~

~Sometimes I wish I could pray the sugary sweet, flowery, eloquent prayers that I hear so often. But God put a sword in my hand, combat boots on my
feet, set me on the frontlines of the battlefield and said, "Tear it up girl!" And tear it up I will! Running TO it!~

~So what are you doing with the message you heard in church this week? There are two choices; application or apathy. . .choose wisely!~

~There is no need to know the details of a situation to pray for it. That's what the Holy Spirit does! Pray in the Spirit and you are like a sniper hitting
targets NO ONE knew were there with deadly precision! And another plus. . . you are also not tempted to gossip and brag about what you know! See
how God's got our backs all the way around?~

~YOU are important to God!! There is no such thing as insignificant in His family! There is no 'least' except in man's eyes; and if you feel that is how
people see you, REJOICE! Because God says the 'least' is the GREATEST where He is concerned! People create 'levels' of importance and
significance, but GOD created us all equal! Men, women, black, white, tall short, it doesn't matter. . . YOU are important to God!~

~There are two sides to every story, and you can count on 99.9% of both sides being exaggerated significantly, any guilt being denied and projected on
the other party; and a sob story so dramatized you'd swear you can hear violins playing off in the distance. My advise. . . .find the humor in it all and stay
out of the line of fire! SANITY 101~

~False humility is pride in it's very worst form, for it is claoked in the robes of deception.~

~God, Your Word leaves us with no excuse.~

~When you have been with God, there is no need to announce it; When He is doing a deep work in your life, you won't need to tell people; The evidence
will be undeniable to everyone who comes in contact with you. . . and the evidence will not be in words. . . .Shhhhhhhh. . .let HIM shine!~

~If you have ever been present when God performed a miracle or healing, you know how praise just absolutely erupts! You can't help it! I was thinking
today about the thousands that followed Jesus, and He was doing miracles, healing ALL manner of disease and raising the dead. . . I am willing to bet it
was quite noisy around Him! I have serious doubts that it was quiet and reserved. . . . I'm just sayin. . .~

~Never, never, NEVER get caught up in defending the call that God has placed on your life! That is not your job. No, not even when it is questioned by
the critics! Jesus never defended His call and purpose on this earth, He just kept DOING IT! When you get into a defense mode, your heart will
become hardened and your effectiveness in that call is compromised greatly. JUST KEEP WALKING IT OUT! God will take care of the rest!~

~Do you realize that as a Christ Follower your resources are INEXHAUSTABLE!?~

~When we choose to walk in forgiveness, not only are we obeying a command of God, and setting ourselves free from the burden and chains that
unforgiveness brings; But as we forgive and forget the past we help to keep the Body of Christ strong, walking in unity, and knit together in LOVE, so
that we can actually be accurate representatives of a forgiving Savior to the world!~

PRIDE is like BAD BREATH. . . .

I saw this saying today while reading a devotional on line. . ."Pride is like bad breath. . .everyone knows you have it, but you!" How true that is! I remember when the Lord revealed that spirit of pride to me! I was floored! I was on my face praying and asking God to "GET IT OFF ME!!" And He was faithful to remove it! I can't tell you how thankful I am!

As I was reading this statement God began to show me just how DEEPLY true this statement is! Let's look at one of the biggest causes and think about how it may apply to us spiritually:

Accumulation of plaque on the teeth is a major cause of bad breath.

**Plaque is a result of improper or lack of CLEANSING. Have you ever been in a hurry and took about 20 seconds to brush your teeth? As long as they did not feel like they were wearing little sweaters any more you were good! I've done it! But were they REALLY clean? Or was it just enough to make them FEEL clean and put a minty scent in your mouth for a little while? YOU felt better about it anyway, right? How often do we do that in our walk with God? Just a quick confession of sin, a quick trip to the altar and we have cleaned it up a little bit. . . enough to cover the stench of sin. . .the stench of pride. . . and make us feel better . . . for a little bit. When what we really need is to get before God and let him SCRUB all over, especially in the 'hard to reach' places, that may take a little more time and effort, and where the traces of pride and sin love to hide and try to go unnoticed! Have you ever had a dental cleaning? Call me weird, but I LOVE going to the dentist for cleanings! Yes, sometimes it irritates, sometimes it downright hurts, and a lot of times you bleed. . .but when that Hygienist is finished, you KNOW that your mouth is CLEAN! We need to allow God to do that to us regularly. Get in there and dig and scrape and get us completely clean and free of pride. Then, He can polish us up and make us SHINE!
If plaque is allowed to stay, it WILL cause tooth decay! DECAY! When the sin of pride is allowed to stay in your life, through denial or just ignoring it, it does not lay dormant. Oh no, it is not the same pride you covered up and ignored a year ago. . .it slowly but surely eats away and damages and destroys!

Recently I had to have a tooth extracted. I had only been having a toothache for about a week before I went to the dentist. But because I had not been for my regular cleanings( because of lack of insurance), some decay had gotten in at the back side of a molar up near the gum line between the teeth. So I was not aware of it. Because I had not had an EXAMINATION, and allowed the dentist to get in there and really look around for problems, it progressed to the point of having to have it extracted. I was not happy! While I love getting dental cleanings, I am not a fan of having to have CORRECTIVE PROCEDURES performed. It took them an HOUR to get this tooth out and they had to cut it in 3 pieces to get it out because the roots were not letting go! it turned into a traumatic oral SURGERY! Dental procedures have always proven to be painful to some degree during the actual procedure, at the very least uncomfortable. . .and there was usually an aching and tenderness afterward for a while as the area heals. . . Are you keeping up with the spiritual side of all of this? I hope so because this is GOOD! Is it fun to have let pride get to the point of having to have a CORRECTIVE PROCEDURE implemented by the Holy Spirit? Of course not! It means there has to be humility, admission, asking forgiveness, righting the wrongs, and then healing begins! If it has been let go for a long period of time, believe me, your breath is repelling a LOT of people! I am talking about PRIDE now! It repels and makes those in it's path sick to be around you. Have you ever talked with someone who has all kinds of dental decaying all over their teeth?? It not only smells horrible, but it looks hideous! Do we look hideous spiritually? If you have allowed pride access to live and grow within you, you do! I am not trying to be harsh, I am speaking from experience! The only people it doesn't look hideous to, is those who look just like you! Like the couple who both have rotten teeth! Misery loves company! Have you ever had a sin that plagued you over and over and you just could not seem to get past it? Once you found someone else who struggled with the same thing, all of a sudden you felt a lot better, and the struggling against it stopped. All of a sudden you felt like you were OK because so-and-so looks just like you (spiritually) and they have this ministry or do that ministry. We need to open our eyes and hearts and allow God to show us the TRUTH of our spiritual condition and stop trying to deny it and point fingers at everyone else.

Ask GOD if your breath stinks! And then be prepared for an honest answer!! Then let him get out his brushes and floss and picks and scrapers. . . and GET IT OUT OF YOU, OFF OF YOU, AWAY FROM YOU AS FAR AS IT CAN GO! It may be uncomfortable, or even painful at times, and yes even humiliating to realize others saw it all along and have been repelled by it. But when He is done scrubbing, scraping, digging, drilling and EXTRACTING, let Him get that polisher out and buff you up to a nice SHINE! Then smile, because you are reflecting Him!

2 Corinthians 7:1
THEREFORE, SINCE these [great] promises are ours, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit, and bring [our] consecration to completeness in the [reverential] fear of God.

ARE YOU MOVING?

The words popped off the outside back cover of the latest ministry magazine. It wasn't the front cover. No one wrote an article on it. The magazine was just laying on the coffee table. But there it was, right next to the form you would fill out if you were moving to a new address. But God had something to say! ARE YOU MOVING?

Initially I thought, "Lord, we are all moving. We are going to church, and we are involved in this ministry or that ministry. . ." "ARE YOU MOVING?" I had to sit and think for a minute and then God spoke to me and said, "Andi, much of my Church is spinning it's wheels. They are ministering and reaching out to those who already know Me. Some of that is needed, but there is a world of people dying and going to Hell! And the Church is initiating yet another 'program' or 'ministry', that only reaches as far as the four walls of the building." OK, now I had to start taking inventory of my own life, and even though I have opened myself up and made myself available in my everyday life to be His hands, His feet, His voice to the world around me. . .I KNOW there is so much more.

Jesus gave us The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, and I love how it reads in the Message Bible:
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

He said 'GO OUT'. He did not say sit in the church and wait for them to come in. I hate to tell you, but they are not coming in unless you GO OUT and bring them in! That is MOVING! ARE YOU MOVING? We have this treasure, this great, wonderful, fulfilling, life giving, full-of-love, astounding, AMAZING TREASURE called salvation. A LOVING, INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP with the Creator of the Universe! If it means as much to us as we say it does, if it is as wonderful as we say it is, I have just one question. . . ARE YOU MOVING?? Because the Kingdom of God is only advanced as much as WE move forward, as the Body of Christ!

Hey everyone! I have an announcement to make!! I'M MOVING!!! Who's with me??

HE IS CHEERING US ON!

On our way home from a job this morning, I was doing my usual gazing out the window and having my own private conversation with God, when we passed a local pool. Being before noon, it was a very familiar sight for me to see the rope floats stretched across the length of the pool marking off the individual swim lanes for the swim team practice that morning. As a young teenager my summers were spent getting up at 6:30am every weekday to be at swim practice by 7am, and swimming countless laps in the pool until around 9:30 or 10am. . . or until our coach felt we had put forth the effort he knew we were capable of. As I stared out the car window at this pool, memories of swim practices, and swim meets came to mind. I was constantly working hard to beat pool records for my age group everywhere we went, and usually succeeded. I was a fish! And I loved competitive swimming with a passion!

One particularly wonderful experience came to mind this morning as we passed that pool. I believe I was 13 or 14 years old spending the summer with my Dad in Chicago and swimming on the team there. We were in a swim meet against a team that we knew we probably would not beat as they were a Triple A team, and we were not. But we agreed to the meet on an off Saturday for both teams just to challenge us, and most likely to amuse them.

Surprisingly, the meet was a very close one throughout, and we were all shocked that we were doing so well against them, and also pushed to do our very best by the sheer closeness of the scores. The very last event would determine the winner and was the 13/14 girls Medley Relay. That is where you have 4 people from each team swimming a relay race that involves each of the four swim strokes. Usually the order was Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle. The last swimmer doing freestyle is usually the strongest swimmer, and that was always my position. I was a fish I tell ya!

The race started and through each swimmers course the Triple A team gained more and more of an advantage. By the time my teammate hit the wall signaling me to take off, the other teams anchor was 3/4 of the way to the other side, and just had to flip-turn and come back to win. Diving in the water to race I knew we had lost, but was determined to close the gap on the distance between their swimmer and me. At least I wouldn't be swimming for what seemed like an eternity when the competition was well out of the water! I made it to the other side and flipped, taking advantage of my underwater time and dolphin kicking my way to almost the middle of the pool coming back. As I surfaced into my front crawl and took a breath, I heard loud cheering. With the next stroke I peeked up as I took a breath without losing my momentum, to see my whole team, coaches and parents at the end of my lane shouting and jumping and cheering me on. It confused me for a second until my next stroke when I saw under the water that I was actually neck and neck with this other swimmer!! I couldn't believe it! I was moving like a bullet in that water and leaving that girl. . . that triple A team girl. . . in the dust!

I flew past her to touch the wall and before I knew it I was being hoisted out of the water by my coaches and surrounded by my teammates cheering and hugging me and patting me on the back. What a day that was! I will never forget it!

And as I thought about that moment I smiled at how good it felt to have my whole team cheering me on as I raced to the finish line, and when the race was won, how we celebrated a great victory that by all standards we should not have won. . . I heard His still small voice. . ."I am cheering for you Andi, every day, with every challenge, in this race you are running for Me. I am at the finish line cheering you, encouraging you. . . and I am behind you, pushing you, strengthening you, giving you the ability to keep at it! I am there celebrating with you the victories! Hugging you, patting you on the back, letting you know 'I knew you could do it'! Your life is like that race Andi. And the victory is yours, and I am there cheering you on every step of the way! Keep swimming! Keep pushing! Keep moving forward! You've got this! WE've got this!"

What a wonderful, WONDERFUL God we serve!! He is cheering us on brothers and sisters!! He is rooting for us, and assuring us the victory!! He is strengthening us and giving us the ability, and then cheering us on until we reach that finish line!! Stay with it!! Don't give up!! It doesn't matter what the circumstances look like. . . you are destined to WIN!

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

THE SHACK

After reading The Shack and being touched and moved so deeply in my own intimate relationship with God, I understood that at one point in the book we are faced with a decision. A decision to let our minds go "tilt" and completely shut them off at that point to any possibilities that God may want to say something significant to us in the deepest part of our hearts, or to keep reading and open our hearts to Him and allow Him to show us just one of the infinite facets of His personality and deepen our relationship and knowledge of Him as a loving and caring and gentle Father. Papa. I chose the latter, while asking the Holy Spirit to walk with me through the reading, and am sooooo thankful I did! My relationship with Him has been absolutely revolutionized. My love for Him has deepened considerably as well as my capacity to BE LOVED by Him! Our communication has increased a thousand fold!! And the freedom I have found to be what and who He has created me to be has burst forth in my life in an amazing flurry of joy and peace and Love!!

I HIGHLY recommend this book. Ask God to speak to you and guide you as you read and discover the heart of your Father.

As I was looking online for more on The Shack I found a letter from a Pastor. Rev. Lawrence Rae. A time of prayer that he had with God, and God's response to him. BEAUTIFUL!



Lawrence - to Papa

Lord, The Shack, struck a chord deep within my heart. I heard you speak in such "human" terms I was wildly blessed. I believe the portrayal of you, although totally inadequate to your Ultimate Being, was a vividly clear expression of your merciful interface with us common folk. I loved you deeply, emotionally, radically in this book. Thank You for encouraging Paul to write it.



Papa - to Lawrence

You are right when you speak of the inadequacy of this, or any other book to display ‘all’ of My person, character and glory. I AM…and there is none beside Me.

I am not a kind, black woman, a wraith, or an elderly, rather tall and slim white man. But Paul touched My being by faith and what flowed out of his collaboration with his friends is definitely a work of the Spirit. As We watched and heard and saw the oozing out on paper of Our love and joy and laughter; Our power and delight, Our mercy and grace and Our overall creativity, We were delighted with the substance of the text. So narrow a volume - so wide an expanse of thought and devotion.

It won’t be liked. It won’t be tolerated. It will be loved or despised. As each reader first steps across the threshold of the Shack, they will have an opportunity, granted by Me, to be deeply offended. As their hearts reel at the possibility of God stepping down as far as a big black hug, they will either be un-stumbled and touch the Son at Calvary, knowing the wounds also engraved in My wrists, or they will sentence themselves to a bounded vertical relationship; a ‘thus far and no farther’ tension that never squeals with glee as I tickle them unmercifully or never groans deep within as I press my fingers into the open wounds of their own broken souls.

Knowing Me is the goal. Paul knows Me. Better still, I know Paul, and I have trusted him enough to reveal a little of Myself to him. How do you like Me now?

His Name is Faithful and True!

I have really put off sharing this new blog. . .mostly out of embarrassment. . .not really wanting to publicize my spiritual shortcomings. But clearly that is pride trying to intervene, and by sharing I hope to uproot that ugly thing! Those I have shared this story with already have told me how much they needed to hear it, and how much it blessed them, so here it is:

Last week my husband and I were facing a dire financial crisis on Thursday that as the day went on and his efforts to "fix" it failed, looked bleaker and bleaker. Now, as a person of faith, and an intercessor for our church, I KNEW what to do. . . BUT, what I did was the exact opposite! I focused on the crisis, and allowed myself to become overwhelmed and I laid in bed and cried and fretted. . . ALL DAY! What a mighty warrior I was! What a faith giant! hmph! I went through so much in my head that day that I gave myself a headache and a stomach ache! My nerves were completely shot!

Needless to say, at the end of the day, despite my huge lack of faith, GOD CAME THROUGH!! He is Jehovah Jireh, our PROVIDER! That is His COVENANT Name (one of them), and we are in a COVENANT relationship with Him! He is FAITHFUL even when we are faithless!!

2 Timothy 2:13 (Amplified Bible)

If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.

So, that night, after exhausting myself with worry, I slept really soundly. The next morning, with the weight of the financial burden lifted, I went to the kitchen to make breakfast and as I opened the refrigerator door to get the eggs out I was whistling. Suudenly He spoke in my spirit so strongly, "Having a good day daughter?" I smiled, "Yes, I am Lord! Whew! Yesterday was a bad one wasn't it?" He answered, "Yes, it was for you wasn't it?" I stood still, I knew something was coming. . . "Andi, was I not your Provider yesterday as much as I am today?" OUCH!! Then He continued, "Isn't faith the SUBSTANCE of things HOPED for and the EVIDENCE of things not YET seen? (Hebrews 11:1)" At that point I breathed out and could not seem to breathe back in again, the heaviness of that statement hit me so hard! "Where was your faith in Me daughter? Why did you fret? Am I not your Father? Have I not always been faithful? Have I EVER let you down?" At that point all I could do was stand there with the refrigerator door open and cry!! He has NEVER let me down! Even in the bleakest of times He has ALWAYS come through for me! He has proven His faithfulness to me time and time again! Yet here I was looking at the situation instead of the ANSWER. . . . HE is the ANSWER. . . . and allowing it to break me down to the point of not being able to get out of bed!! "I am so sorry Lord." That was all I could say. And at that moment I felt such a warmth and amazing Love surround me. It was OK. I learned, it was over, and my Daddy was holding me in His arms and loving me like no one else can! He is FAITHFUL and TRUE!! Trust Him in whatever it is that you are facing today!

Mathematical Probability that Jesus is the Christ

My Pastor shared all of this with us last night at church and I am still trying to wrap my mind around it! AMAZING! So amazing that I HAD to share with you! It's a little long but you will be so amazed at the facts in this article!! Skeptics. . . TAKE NOTE!

Mathematical Probability that Jesus is the Christ
(original article at www.biblebelievers.org.au/radio034.htm)

Long-time listeners know, that in addition to broadcasting this program, I pastor a tiny church, manage a computer bulletin board, and a national conference on the network, called BIBLE BELIEVERS.

Most of our programs, feature current comments from the BBS; often questions and answers. I'd like share a message from the InterNET by David Williams, Computer Systems Manager, for the Mathematics Faculty, at the University of Newcastle.

I think you'll find this edifying. Now remember, David Williams is a mathematician. In this post he's responding to a Jewish user from Melbourne. His subject is: Jesus and Prophecy. Here's what he says:-

"In a recent followup to a posting by Leslie Brown I said I'd make a post detailing the probability of Jesus fulfilling Old Testament prophecy by chance. Here it is!

The reason why prophecy is an indication of the divine authorship of the Scriptures, and hence a testimony to the trustworthiness of the Message of the Scriptures, is because of the minute probability of fulfillment.

Anyone can make predictions. Having those prophecies fulfilled is vastly different. In fact, the more statements made about the future, and the more the detail, then the less likely the precise fulfillment will be.

For example, what's the likelihood of a person predicting today the exact city in which the birth of a future leader would take place, well into the 21st century? This is indeed what the prophet Micah did 700 years before the Messiah. Further, what is the likelihood of predicting the precise manner of death that a new, unknown religious leader would experience, a thousand years from now - a manner of death presently unknown, and to remain unknown for hundreds of years? Yet, this is what David did in 1000 B.C.

Again, what is the likelihood of predicting the specific date of the appearance of some great future leader, hundreds of years in advance? This is what Daniel did, 530 years before Christ.

If one were to conceive 50 specific prophecies about a person in the future, whom one would never meet, just what's the likelihood that this person will fulfill all 50 of the predictions? How much less would this likelihood be if 25 of these predictions were about what other people would do to him, and were completely beyond his control?

For example, how does someone "arrange" to be born in a specific family?

How does one "arrange" to be born in a specified city, in which their parents don't actually live? How does one "arrange" their own death - and specifically by crucifixion, with two others, and then "arrange" to have their executioners gamble for His clothing (John 16:19; Psalms 22:18)? How does one "arrange" to be betrayed in advance? How does one "arrange" to have the executioners carry out the regular practice of breaking the legs of the two victims on either side, but not their own? Finally, how does one "arrange" to be God? How does one escape from a grave and appear to people after having been killed?

Indeed, it may be possible for someone to fake one or two of the Messianic prophecies, but it would be impossible for any one person to arrange and fulfill all of these prophecies.

John Ankerberg relates the true story of how governments use prearranged identification signs to identify correct agents:

David Greenglass was a World War II traitor. He gave atomic secrets to the Russians and then fled to Mexico after the war. His conspirators arranged to help him by planning a meeting with the secretary of the Russian ambassador in Mexico City. Proper identification for both parties became vital. Greenglass was to identify himself with six prearranged signs. These instructions had been given to both the secretary and Greenglass so there would be no possibility of making a mistake. They were: (1) once in Mexico City, Greenglass was to write a note to the secretary, signing his name as "I. JACKSON"; (2) after three days he was to go to the Plaza de Colon in Mexico City and (3) stand before the statue of Columbus, (4) with his middle finger placed in a guide book. In addition, (5) when he was approached, he was to say it was a magnificent statue and that he was from Oklahoma. (6) The secretary was to then give him a passport.

These six prearranged signs worked. Why? With six identifying characteristics it was impossible for the secretary not to identify Greenglass as the proper contact (John Ankerberg, John Weldon and Walter Kaiser, "The Case for Jesus The Messiah", Melbourne: Pacific College Study Series, 1994, 17-18).

How true, then, it must be that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, if he had 456 identifying characteristics well in advance, and fulfilled them all! In fact, what does the science of probability make of this?

The science of probability attempts to determine the chance that a given event will occur. The value and accuracy of the science of probability has been well established beyond doubt - for example, insurance rates are fixed according to statistical probabilities.

Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, Peter Stoner, has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning the Messiah. The estimates were worked out by twelve different classes representing some 600 university students.

The students carefully weighed all the factors, discussed each prophecy at length, and examined the various circumstances which might indicate that men had conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy. They made their estimates conservative enough so that there was finally unanimous agreement even among the most skeptical students.

However Professor Stoner then took their estimates, and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or scientists to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions were more than fair. Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented (Peter Stoner, Science Speaks, Chicago: Moody Press, 1969, 4).

For example, concerning Micah 5:2, where it states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah, Stoner and his students determined the average population of BETHLEHEM from the time of Micah to the present; then they divided it by the average population of the earth during the same period.

They concluded that the chance of one man being born in Bethlehem was one in 300,000, (or one in 2.8 x 10^5 - rounded),

After examining only eight different prophecies (Idem, 106), they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one in 10^17.

To illustrate how large the number 10^17 IS (a figure with 17 zeros), Stoner gave this illustration :

If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They'll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would've had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom (Idem, 106-107).

In financial terms, is there anyone who would not invest in a financial venture if the chance of failure were only one in 10^17? This is the kind of sure investment we're offered by god for faith in His Messiah.

From these figures, Professor Stoner, concludes the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of the prophecies (Idem, 107) - the likelihood of mere chance is only one in 10^17!

Another way of saying this is that any person who minimizes or ignores the significance of the biblical identifying signs concerning the Messiah would be foolish.

But, of course, there are many more than eight prophecies. In another calculation, Stoner used 48 prophecies (Idem, 109) (even though he could have used Edersheim's 456), and arrived at the extremely conservative estimate that the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10^157. In fact, if anybody can find someone, living or dead, other than Jesus, who can fulfill only half of the predictions concerning the Messiah given in the book "Messiah in Both Testaments" by Fred J. Meldau, the Christian Victory Publishing Company is ready to give a ONE thousand dollar reward! As apologist Josh McDowell says, "There are a lot of men in the universities that could use some extra cash!" (Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, California: Campus Crusade for Christ, 175).

How large is the number one in 10^157? 10^157 contains 157 zeros! Stoner gives an illustration of this number using electrons. Electrons are very small objects. They're smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5 TIMES 10^15 of them, laid side by side, to make one inch. Even if we counted 250 of these electrons each minute, and counted day and night, it would still take 19 million years just to count a line of electrons one-inch long (Stoner, op. cit, 109).

With this introduction, let's go back to our chance of one in 10^157. Let's suppose that we're taking this number of electrons, marking one, and thoroughly stirring it into the whole mass, then blindfolding a man and letting him try to find the right one. What chance has he of finding the right one? What kind of a pile will this number of electrons make? They make an inconceivably large volume.

This is the result from considering a mere 48 prophecies. Obviously, the probability that 456 prophecies would be fulfilled in one man by chance is vastly smaller. According to Emile Borel, once one goes past one chance in 10^50, the probabilities are so small that it is impossible to think that they will ever occur (Ankerberg et. al., op. cit., 21).

As Stoner concludes, 'Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact, proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world (Stoner, op. cit., 112).'

God so thoroughly vindicated Jesus Christ that even mathematicians and statisticians, who were without faith, had to acknowledge that it is scientifically impossible to deny that Jesus is the Christ. our thanks to David Williams, a mathematician who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Last century, a lecturer on Russian literature, Carlyle, Emerson, Tolstoy and others discovered the amazing mathematical design in the Bible, firstly in the Greek, and later in Hebrew. He found that the Bible is divisible by seven in 56 DIFFERENT ways. This was Ivan Panin, author of 'God's Amazing Seal', the 'Numerical Bible' and 'The Inspiration of the Scriptures Scientifically Demonstrated'.

Applying the same criteria to the books of other religions, Panin proclaimed 'No order at all; and not of God'. He discovered that everything in God's creation: animal, vegetable, or mineral, has a unique mathematical signature.

Yes, sir, God so thoroughly vindicated Jesus Christ the unbeliever will be speechless at the judgment. But Jesus Christ was sent to Israel at the end of their dispensation, when their denominations were apostate. And God is no respecter of persons. He promised to reveal and vindicate Jesus Christ to us Gentiles at the end of our dispensation, when our denominations are apostate.

God never leaves Himself without a witness. Jesus said, 'As it was in the days of Lot, so will it be when the Son of man is revealed' by the same Sign which vindicated Him to be Messiah in the days of His flesh.

Now, in the days of Lot, the Gentile civilization was in a Sodom condition. Homosexuality was rampant. Before God sent Fire from heaven which destroyed them, He sent three witnesses to those who claimed to be His Own. Two went and preached to Lot's group, the nominal, worldly church down in Sodom.

Our Gentile civilization is in a Sodom condition. God's sent two witnesses to the nominal church of the world: a Billy Graham and Oral Roberts. The world knows about it. By the great ministry of these God-given men, He's shaken the nations. They performed no miracles. Only blinded a few eyes. Preaching the Gospel blinds the unbeliever.

But, remember, the word 'CHURCH' means, "called out." Abraham had separated himself from all that. The third One stayed behind and talked with Abraham, who called Him 'LORD'. That was God. Read your Bible; Abraham called Him, capital, "L-O-R-D", Elohim, "Lord God." Abraham fed Him the meat of a calf, milk of a cow, butter, and cakes. He ate it. And He was Elohim.

He stayed with the elect Church. He never went down to the church in Sodom; He came to the called out, the elected church: Abraham.

He was a stranger. And while He was talking, He said, 'Abraham'. Now, remember, He NEVER called him Abram. Just a few days before that, his name had been changed from Abram to Abraham. He said, "Abraham, where is Sarah (not Sarai, Sarah, her new name - which had been changed just a few days before)? Where is Sarah, thy wife?"

He was God, veiled behind the flesh of a created Man, and He proved He was the Word by discerning the thoughts and intents of Abraham and Sarah's heart. That's the Messianic Sign.

God veiled Himself behind the virgin-born flesh of Jesus Christ and discerned the thoughts and intents of the people's hearts to vindicate that in him dwelt the fullness of the godhead bodily.

You'll remember, Jesus told Peter his name - and the name of his father. When Jesus discerned Nathanael's heart, Nathanael called Him 'Elohim' ... Lord. So did the little prostitute at the well, when Jesus told her all about herself.

Jesus said this would repeat in our day, just before God destroys all life by Fire from heaven. In this day He veiled Himself behind the flesh of a sinner saved by grace, revealing 'Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, and today, and forever' - discerning the thoughts and intents of people's hearts around and around the world, before congregations of up to 500,000; healing the sick, restoring sight, raising the dead, and casting out demons.

This is the last Sign promised to the Gentiles. And God vindicated His Word in the ministry of the late William Branham. His ministry restored the apostolic faith, finished the mystery of God, and is now calling the wise and foolish virgin out of Babylon; bringing His elect into oneness with the word and maturity for the manifestation of the Sons of God and the translation.

God vindicates His Word so thoroughly, and not in a secret place. Will you search the Scriptures to recognize YOUR day and ITS Message.