Minister Karen Schwarzenbacher--Last Days Ministries
Rev. 21:7-- He that
overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and
he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable,
and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all
liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:
which is the second death.
I hear brother Beasley talking preaching
about the praise we ought to give a God who is worthy, and I hear folks
talking about the storms that are raging. I love to hear them sing about
the storms that are raging in my life and how I've got to praise God because
he is my anchor, and in times like this we better have an anchor that holds,
and we better make sure it grips the solid rock.
I start thinking about a scripture that says, "He that overcomes."
Which tells me we're gonna have to have something to overcome.
And I start thinking about a scripture that tells me, "He that endureth
to the end shall be saved." Which tells me that there's going to be some
enduring to be done, and I got to thinking, "Lord!"
Words like overcome and endure, and I think about a woman who
made a press to see God. We're talking about a life and death situation.
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We're talking about when the storm is raging.
I'm not talking about when everything is hunky dory. I'm not talking about
when you have a nice sturdy ship, and you batten down the hatches and
you have a little drink of tea, and you can hear the ship is kinda tossed
to and fro.
I'm talking about a storm and your boat is being battered on all four
sides. I'm talking about when the storm hasn't let up for LONG
time, and you begin to wonder, "Where is the land in sight? When are my
feet on gonna set on solid land again?" I'm talking about when those hatches
that you battened down, they start to splinter, and the boat that
has been rocking back and forth for so long, that the hinges are starting
to rattle, and the wind is still blowing, and the rain is still coming down,
,hallelujah and looks like the water is going to fill the hull of your boat
and sink your boat. You've bailed water so long that your arms are tired,
and you feel that you can't lift the bucket anymore. Oh, glory to God! That's
when endurance kicks in, that's when overcoming kicks in. Oh, glory to God!
At the point when you can't go another step, at the point when it's
no longer you. Oh, glory to God! and there's nothing left to do but
put your mind on the praise of God. You get to that place there's nothing
but trust in your mind, safety is in your mind.
And I'm looking at verse eight, and it says "But.",
and that's the first two words that start out that verse. " the fearful
and unbelieving." They put those two words before abominable, before murderers,
before whore mongers, before sorcerers, before idolaters and liars--"fearful
and unbelieving."
Don't you know that's all the enemy has got
to get you to do is to lose your salvation, is to become fearful
and unbelieving ?
Think of the times that the Lord came to reveal himself to Joshua.
The first thing he said was, "Don't you be afraid and don't be discouraged."
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Two things he told Jehosaphat right
before the rage of the battle, "Listen, I know times are gonna get tough.
Listen, I know that the battle is gonna rage. I know that the storm
is gonna rage. I know it's gonna look like everything is against
you. I know what your human are eyes are gonna see. I know what your
flesh in gonna endure. I know what your mind is gonna try to perceive,
but I am the God of Israel. I am the God that created all this. I am the
God who stands before you, trying to show you that there's nothing that I
can't do, nothing that I won't do, nothing that is too much for me.
I am the God of your salvation. When you can't see your way, when
you can't do anymore, that's when you've got to stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord. That's when you got to put your trust,
that's when you can't be afraid. That's when you can't be discouraged,
that's when you can't doubt. That's when you've got to get your praise
on. That's when you've got to say, "Lord, I thank you."
When I first started to get saved, I came from a quiet church.
I came from a church that didn't know how to praise God. I came from a
church that was bound. They didn't know about the power of the Holy Ghost,
speaking in tongues.
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When I first came to these people,
I said why are they always saying, "Thank you, Jesus!" Why are they
always saying out loud, "Thank you, Jesus." One night, I'd been seeking
for the Holy Ghost for about two years, living holy as I could, holding
Bible studies at my house, following the Pastor around like a puppy
dog, trying to get what I needed. One night at the kitchen table, after
everybody had gone--I'd fasted, standing on the word of God--one of the
saints stayed over to help me with the dishes, and I had two pies, and
I had a piece of pumpkin custard pie. I went for my second piece
of pie, and I said, "Oh, Lord!" I feel like someone had laid hands
on me. All of a sudden, and I put my head back, and I let go of the lie.
I let go of the fear is what I did. I let go of the all the doubt for the
first time in my life, and leaned back and I opened my mouth to say, "Thank
you Jesus." My heart began to praise God for the first time, and my tongue
felt like I'd been to the dentist. My tongue felt like it had been anesthetized.
My tongue thickened as I began to say again."Thank you, Jesus." The power
of the Lord overwhelmed me and took my tongue speaking in a heavenly language.
One thing I do on my job, I teach people skills, skills of how to overcome,
skills how to t hink right, skills of how to get their minds right to be
able to overcome their problems, and I think about this, that in the days
of battle, there was a time in battle that skill with a sword and shield
and skill with a sling was important, but if there is one skill we need
right now that we need in this time of warfare, one skill that is as good
a sling hitting a giant right in the one spot where he was open, one skill
that's as good as Jonathan and an armor bearer getting in between the cliff
rock and knocking over the whole army. One skill. It's skill of opening
our mouth and praising God.
Pictures and material for this fellowship
wmeetingere taken and recorded by Sister Yolanda Monia and Brother
Mark Monia.
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