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And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:20) |
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Once upon a time there was a huge elephant who worked for a lumber company. Although elephants ordinarily do not like mice, this elephant was lonesome and asked a little mouse to be with him and help him with his work. |
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One day the elephant and the mouse were assigned to haul a giant tree to the river so that it could be floated down to the sawmill. The elephant and the mouse put on their harnesses and began to pull with all their might. Slowly the great tree began to move along the path to the river. |
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When they got there the mouse wiped the sweat from his forehead and exclaimed, "It was hard work but we got the job done." |
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Ridiculous you say? |
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But this often has been the attitude of the Christian churches. |
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For two thousand years the churches, in many instances, have not recognized that it is the Elephant who does the work. Often they have tried to haul the log without the Elephant, supposing that the work of the Kingdom is performed by their plans, programs, money, and talents. |
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They have been as one witness. Sometimes the other Witness has been present, sometimes not. |
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During the closing days of the Church Age there will be two witnesses. This is what Satan fears most—that the Christians will lay aside their own plans and programs and seek the Presence of the Lord. Satan will permit any type of religious activity (although Christian efforts may be irritating to him). But he is deathly afraid that the believers will cease from their own works and permit the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to perform the work of the Kingdom, in their ministry, in bearing a true witness of God, in their personal growth in Christ—in all they are and do. |
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Throughout the present century there has been much excellent ministry, but often a false witness of God and Christ have been given. God has been presented as a kindly old gentlemen who continually forgives and blesses people whether or not they present their body a living sacrifice to Him, whether or not they bury their talents. His consuming wrath, His demand for righteous and holy behavior on the part of those who would have fellowship with Him, His attitude toward the members of the churches who are not diligent in their pursuit of the Lord, are not being presented clearly. |
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Because of God's great love for people, and because neither the churches nor the world is prepared for the power, the fury, the destruction that will accompany the installation of the Kingdom of God on the earth, God shall empower two witnesses, the Elephant and the mouse, so that all people may see and understand what will come to pass in the near future. |
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Would you like to participate in the witness of the Kingdom of God without precedent as to power and glory? It is at hand. Look past the garbage of our culture and you will see the angels leaning over the ramparts of Heaven, waiting to equip you for the work that must be accomplished before the Lord returns. |
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You can chirp merrily and run around the log if you want to but you're not going to move it without the Elephant! (from The Thing Satan Fears Most) |
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But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inner parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33) |
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Christians are fond of saying that God has done away with the Law of Moses. They are correct in one sense but incorrect in another sense. The new covenant indeed is a replacing of the Law of Moses with a better covenant. However, the better covenant is the eternal moral law of God of which the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, is an abridged version. |
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God never will do away with the moral law. The moral law is eternal, being of the Divine Nature of God. To alter the moral law in the smallest part would be to bring the worst of all calamities on the universe. |
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The Ten Commandments are a limited expression of the eternal moral law of God. The Ten Commandments are spiritual and perfect. Our adamic nature was born in sin and shaped in lawlessness and in no manner can conform to that perfect, spiritual law of God—the Ten Commandments. |
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How does God write His law in our hearts and minds? Christ is the Word, the Law of God. As we submit to the crucifixion through which the Lord guides us, Christ is formed in us. The Word is formed in us. The new covenant is formed in us. The eternal moral law, of which the Ten Commandments are, as we have stated, an abridged version, is formed in us. |
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As death and life work in the Christian he begins to reveal the deeds of the law in his personality. It is not an escaping of the law of God. Rather it is a case of dying to Moses, being married to Christ, and bringing forth the fruit of union with Christ, which is righteous, holy, obedient behavior. The intent of the Law of Moses is righteous, holy, obedient behavior. |
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If a Gentile believer says to the Jewish person, "I am not under the Law but under grace," he is not conveying the truth of the new covenant although he is quoting a verse from the Book of Romans. |
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The believer ought to be saying something like the following: "I am not attempting to keep the Ten Commandments in my own strength. I am submitting to death and resurrection so Christ, who is the Law, the Word, made flesh, may be formed in me. I am not without law or else Christ would be the minister of sin. Rather, Christ, who Himself is the Law of God, is bringing forth a new creation in me—a creation that by nature keeps the eternal moral law of God." |
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The new covenant is not a doing away with the law of God but a bringing forth in us of Christ who Himself is God's eternal law. (from The Christian and the Ten Commandments) |
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For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:10) |
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The fourth chapter of the Book of Hebrews presents the rest of God as a goal toward which we should be striving. |
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The rest of God is the state in which the saint is abiding in the perfect will of God at all times, under all conditions, for eternity. |
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The rest of God is compared, in the fourth chapter of Hebrews, to the Sabbath day and also to the land of promise. |
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The rest of God is based on the fact that God finished all His works at the time of the creation of the universe, and now is resting. |
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Each saint is to struggle to enter the rest of God, to cease from his own ways, his own pleasures, his own words, and to honor God by following God's ways, by embracing God's pleasures, speaking God's words. We enter God's rest by entering the death of Christ and entering His resurrection. When Christ is living in us we fulfill the Sabbath commandment perfectly. |
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The old covenant commands us to live in God on the seventh day of the week. The new covenant commands us to live in God seven days of the week. We are directed to present our body to God a living sacrifice. The requirement to present his body to God a living sacrifice was not placed on the Jew of the old covenant. He kept the Sabbath one day of the week. We enter the eternal Sabbath, the eternal rest of God, as our adamic nature is crucified and the risen Christ is formed in us. |
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The demands of the new covenant are much greater than the demands of the old covenant. The grace given under the new covenant is much greater. The promises to the faithful are much greater under the new covenant. It is a superior covenant based on superior promises. |
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Indeed, our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. He who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than the Prophets of Israel. |
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The writing of the Law in our heart, which is required if we are to attain bodily resurrection to righteousness, immortality, and glory, is the way we enter the rest of God. We enter God's rest as we cease from our own works and permit the Lord to crucify and then resurrect our inner nature in His own Life —which is equivalent to writing His Law in our heart. |
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The writing of the law of God in our heart is accomplished one line at a time. Speaking in tongues assists in the process of transformation, for as we speak in tongues we learn to cease from our own strength and wisdom and lean on the Lord. |
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The end result of leaning on the Lord, allowing Him to slay our old nature and form His own Life in us, is that we "go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken." We find rest as the old Adam is crucified and Christ is formed. The mark of full entrance into the rest of God is the clothing of the Christ- filled inner man with the white robe of righteousness and resurrection glory. After the full transformation of the inner nature it is only the work of a moment to raise the deceased flesh and bones and clothe them with immortality. |
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Something to look forward to! (from The Christian and the Ten Commandments) |
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For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3) |
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But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Romans 13:14) |
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Most of our daily living is occupied, if we are striving to be a Christian, with resisting the world, our fleshly nature, and the devil. We battle against lust, hatred, covetousness, pride, idolatry, foolish talk, unthankfulness, selfish ambition, and so forth. Such temptations are common to people—Christians and non- Christians alike. |
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When we overemphasize our legal position in Christ our testimony may become intellectual, doctrinaire, static. There is too much fussing about words and verses and not enough pressing forward in the spiritual combat that characterizes the Christian warfare. |
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When, on the other hand, we overemphasize our actual experience of living the overcoming life, we may tend to lose the anchor, foundation, and regenerative guiding force and principle of Christianity, which is identification with the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. If we are not careful we can become discouraged while struggling against sin, not accepting the victory won for us by Christ. |
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Any Christian who is not in a warfare against the polluting influence of the world, Satan, the lust of his eyes and flesh, and the pride of life, is in deception. Such warfare is the nature of the true Christian experience. |
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When a Christian claims he no longer is troubled by satanic opposition he has been deceived. He has turned away from spiritual realities and is making little progress in Christ. He may possess the land of promise legally but he is not making headway toward the actual possession of it. |
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If the Christian is to live the overcoming life, the life of conquest over the burdens of life, and if he is to progress toward the character transformation and consistent dwelling with the Godhead that are part of the plan of redemption, then he must develop a balance in his life between the legal position in Christ and the actual experience in Christ. |
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The natural man of the believer includes the physical body with all of its passions, the human mind with all of its pride, and the human soul with all of its self-centeredness, self-will, self-seeking, self-love. |
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To be a Christian we must assign our natural man to the cross with Christ. The natural man is our self before we bring the physical body under the law of the Spirit of life; before we put on the mind of Christ; before we endure the crucifixion of our self-centeredness, self-will, and self-seeking under the supervision of the Holy Spirit of God; before the new creation grows and comes to maturity in us. |
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There is only one acceptable place for the first personality of the believer. It must be hung on the cross with Christ. Our old "self" should be considered by us as crucified with Christ. We must adopt this attitude twenty-four hours of every day, seven days of every week. |
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We must consider ourselves crucified and resurrected with Jesus Christ. Then we by faith, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, must live at all times and in every situation as though this is true. |
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Have you wished to be a victorious Christian? Try reckoning yourself dead with Christ and alive with Christ. Then arm yourself to fight the good fight of faith. |
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I think you will be pleased with the results. (from The Land of Promise) |
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To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18) |
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The land of Egypt is not a symbol of the physical earth. Egypt is a symbol of the spirit of the world. Pharaoh is a symbol of Satan. People are not in bondage to the earth itself. |
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The earth was created by the God of Heaven and He declared that it is good. The earth is good. There is nothing wrong with the earth except the curse of thorns and wearying labor that God placed on it because of sin. Rather it is the spirit of evil dominating the earth that is producing the repulsive fruit of sin. The blood of Jesus has the power to cleanse us from this filthy spirit. |
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During the process of becoming a Christian we accept the blood atonement made by Christ Jesus as the payment for our sins. We are baptized in water as a sign of our forsaking the world. The Lord God gives us a new heart and spirit. God plants the Divine Seed, Christ, in us and gives us His Holy Spirit. We are born again of the Divine Nature. By these acts of redemption God rescues us from the authority of Satan and moves us into the Kingdom of God. |
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God does not move us from the earth when we are saved. He moves us from the spirit of the world. It is important that we grasp the difference between being redeemed from the earth and being redeemed from the bondage of evil. If we remain in the belief that God is performing His works of grace in us so He can move us from earth to Heaven we will not understand the plan of redemption. |
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The purpose of redemption is not to move us from the earth to Heaven. The purpose of redemption is to move us from the kingdom of Satan to the Kingdom of Christ Jesus. |
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The redemption of the Christian believer is not from the earth to Heaven. Rather, it is from the control of Satan to the control of Christ Jesus. An understanding of this distinction makes a great difference in the way we view God's working in us. For if we regard Heaven as the land of promise and the earth as Egypt, we will sit down spiritually and wait for Jesus to come and take us to the land of promise in the sky. |
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If we regard the fullness of our inheritance in Christ as the land of promise, and bondage to the will of Satan as Egyptian slavery, we will take up our cross and follow the Lord. We will put on an attitude of battle and of overcoming the enemies of Christ until we bring ourselves and our environment into subjection to God's will, as the Holy Spirit enables us. |
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Waiting for Christ to carry us to Heaven, and bringing ourselves and our environment under subjection to the will of God in Christ, are two very different approaches to the Christian life. |
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When we receive Christ as our Savior we are declaring that we desire to leave the bondage of Satan and enter the Kingdom of Christ, the rule of Christ. God in His love and mercy has made it possible for us to do that. God points us toward the land of promise, the land of milk and honey: perfect rest in God in Christ, freedom from sin and rebellion, conformity to the image of Christ, and authority and responsibility as one of God's eternal kings and priests. |
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There is a land of tremendous glory and joy toward which we are pressing. The land will be ours in solid reality one day if we do not remove our eyes from the Lord Jesus Christ. (from The Land of Promise) |
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Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said. (Joshua 14:12) |
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Reader, grasp God's rest for yourself. Do not come short of it. "Sell all" and give yourself wholly to the things of Christ. Such is the exhortation of the Book of Hebrews. Some of the believers will press through to God's goal for them. Why shouldn't you be included in the group of victorious saints? |
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If you should die before the consummation of the promises, make certain you die in faith. Do not stagger in unbelief at God's majestic promises. Be strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what He has promised He is able to fulfill to the uttermost—for you! |
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Behold these promises afar off, as did Abraham. Confess you are a pilgrim and stranger in the earth. Lift up your cross and take a step toward the vision of the fullness of Christ. Do not look back—even one time. Push on against every temptation, every distraction. Endure hardness as God leads, with the eyes of your faith fixed on Christ. |
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As you draw closer to Him, His Glory will transform you until you are in the image of Christ and in restful union with the Godhead. The saints in light are cheering you on for without you they cannot "be made perfect." |
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You are a warrior, a fighter in God. The hordes of Hell will come against you but God is leading you against His enemies. You are bringing the Presence of God Almighty into the land of promise. Your unwavering faith, given to you and maintained by God's impartation of grace to you, is providing the means by which God can judge and cast out the enemy. |
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Christ is desirous that all of His beloved younger brothers return His grasp upon them by cooperating with the Holy Spirit until they possess Him, His image, His Life, His dominion. |
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At His glorious appearing each of us will rise to meet Him in the air but each will receive a different reward. The special place in the land of promise we stake out for our own, as Christ directs and gives us the desire, is possible of complete attainment by us. There is a unique reward for each disciple whom Jesus chooses. |
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How much of a claim we are able to stake out, to grasp, to hold, depends on the faith and diligence with which we seek Christ. It is foolishness to believe that a careless believer with one eye on Christ and the other eye on the things of the flesh, will inherit the fullness of the promises of God in Christ. The Scriptures state the rewards will be given to the overcomers. |
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What is your attitude toward God's land of promise, God's rest? Is your heart like that of Joshua and Caleb? Do you believe that the Lord God of Heaven is able to give you complete victory over the enemies in your "land"? Do you have a willingness to fight, as did Jacob, who took his inheritance out of the hands of the Amorites with his sword and bow? |
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And Joshua blessed him, and gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. (Joshua 14:13) |
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Jesus, your "Joshua," will not disappoint you. You will inherit your "Hebron" in the land of promise! (from The Land of Promise) |
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Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. (Matthew 21:21) |
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We let life beat the wonder out of us! We no longer believe that with God all things are possible. |
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Jesus marveled at the unbelief of the disciples. |
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Sometimes the idea of casting mountains into the sea is presented as a challenge to our faith. The idea is if we could just summon up enough belief we could work mighty miracles. This is not the point at all. |
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Jesus was referring to the natural relationship of a father to his son. God is our Father. He created all things. He wants us to govern all things and enjoy them, not be bound by them. |
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The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. All of this is ours when we press through to victory in the Lord Jesus. He who overcomes shall inherit all things. |
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There are few things in the universe so fixed they cannot be changed by the prayers of the children of God. Of course, the laws of righteousness and holiness cannot be altered because they are of the Nature of God. |
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But water was made to be walked on. Fig trees had better bear fruit out of season or else! Mountains are to adorn the landscape. Fish love to search around and bring up coins from the ocean floor. And what better sound in the universe than that of trees clapping their hands in delight? |
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"Oh," you say, "you are not practical. You are a dreamer." |
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Listen, at seventy-one years of age I am not an impractical dreamer. You know what? We have let our experiences dictate to us what is possible and what is not possible. |
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Ask what you will and it shall be done. You say, "I have asked and nothing happened." You forgot one little word—"yet"! Nothing obvious has happened yet. |
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Is God a liar? The moment you asked in Jesus' name the Divine engines began to turn in order to fulfill your order. Did you give up in unbelief? |
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Go back to the drawing board. Tell God what you really want. Then wait expectantly. Keep aware of God's Presence because He may invite you to modify your prayer, knowing that what you asked is not what you truly desire but only a metaphor. |
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Your mountain shall move! Expect a miracle in Jesus' name. |
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Go out tonight and look up at the heavens. Consider that God spoke it all into existence. |
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Then ask something commensurate with the ability of your Father! |
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