Conversing With The Almighty

by Barry W. Gaugler

As I was lying on my bed this morning, after awakening, I was having a conversation with our heavenly Father. My thoughts were upon Adam and how - before his fall - he walked with God in the cool of the evening. How awesome that would have been to have a conversation with the Almighty in real time just as we would have with another person. Our prayers are supposed to be that way. I got out of bed, grabbed a cup of coffee, and went out onto the porch to sit and drink it while the morning was still cool. Our conversation continued.

I was wondering why our Father would withhold His truth to so many people who seem to be honestly seeking Him with their whole heart. I asked Him, "Why is it so easy to hear from the deceiver? He is constantly there bombarding us through our thoughts and the things he places before our eyes to tempt us. Yet, there are times that it seems so difficult to hear from You? So often we pray and seem to get no answer. Why is that?" His answer was a bit surprising, but at the same time, not so much.

Many seek after God intellectually for the sake of their own curiosity. They are not truly interested in a personal relationship with Him. They simply want some form of intellectual evidence whether or not He is real. They really have no heartfelt desire to fully submit their lives to Him. Some intend to use Him for personal gain which is why so many seek the prosperity teachings with such passion. Some attempt to use Him as a way of wielding power in an intellectual manner. It becomes all about self, and looking wise before men. True wisdom certainly does come from the fear of the Almighty, but the wise will always point back to the Wisdom Giver as their source. It is not about us. It is all about Him. Then there are those seeking spiritual power. They are easy prey for Satan to use his power through them and thus counterfeit God's power through false spirits. Sadly this happens all too often. There certainly is power granted to those trusting in the Almighty. He will demonstrate His power through His true believers. However, Satan is a counterfeiter. He will attempt to mimic everything God does, but his intents are to deceive. We are to try the spirits whether or not they are of God.

Make no mistake, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap (Galatians 6:7). We need to understand that our God is a God who is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Yeshua (Jesus) has made it clear that His sheep know His voice and will not follow another.

John 10:1-5 New King James Version (NKJV)

10 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Again in John 10:27, Yeshua says this:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

You cannot trick God. I will say it again. He knows the thoughts and the intentions of your heart. It is imperative as believers that we learn to know the voice of our Shepherd. Satan has many of his wolves out there speaking to the sheep. Prayerfully study the Scriptures that Yeshua's voice will become crystal clear to you. We should know the voice of our Shepherd better than we know the voice of our earthly parents and siblings. Satan has a lot of Rich Little voice impersonators out there. Do not be deceived. King David had the right heart attitude when he said to God, in Psalm 51:1-13 (KJV [Revised]):

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou might be justified when thou speak, and be clear when thou judge. 5 Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, thou desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

People are constantly wondering. How can I know God? How can I hear His voice? I find it ironic that people desire to hear from God, but then when someone clearly does hear from God, and He gives them a word, people circle their ear behind their back and consider them crazy. God does speak to His people. Are we willing to hear?

David had the correct attitude. First he asked God to have mercy upon him according to His loving-kindness. He acknowledged that it was upon God's loving-kindness to which he was appealing. He understood that before his many transgressions were blotted out that he had no right to even come before a holy and righteous God. He knew he had to be washed of his iniquity because his sin was ever before him. He could not escape from his sins because they were ever before him. He had to acknowledge his sin. Confessing it before God in order to enter His presence. Verse 6 is a very important verse. David knew that God desired truth from within his inner parts. It was much more than simply acknowledging God from his fallen fleshly intellect. It was in his inner parts (his spirit) that the Almighty reveals Himself. In his spirit, not just his mind. He knew that he could not purge his own sins and make himself righteous before God. God had to do the purging. Only God could make him clean.

Then David calls upon God to create in him a clean heart and renew within him a right spirit. Without the Holy spirit working within us, everything we attempt to accomplish is simply the works of the flesh. After all these things, David declares, "13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." It is not until a right spirit is working within us that we will be an effective tool in the hand of the Almighty for the conversion of sinners.

Think on these things.

America's Final Warning

by Barry W. Gaugler

Please take note. This article is going to be quite long. However, it is my conviction that the Almighty has called me to be a watchman on the wall. There is a burning within my heart, and it is not originating from my desire to speak. There is a fear, and a trembling, at what is about to come forth from my keyboard . Remaining silent is not an option. Should I not blow the shofar, and sound the alarm concerning this warning, there is a fear my heart will explode. I cannot have blood upon my hands. It's that important.

This warning primarily comes from Deuteronomy chapter 28, but there will be other passages of Scripture to tie these warnings together. We will be skipping over some verses to focus upon what the Spirit is saying in these End Days. That does not mean these verses are irrelevant. It simply means they are not the primary object of this warning. I encourage you to read these passages in several versions of the Bible. We need to get the clearest understanding possible. I also encourage you to pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to what is happening right before our eyes. The time is at hand.

The argument could be made that these prophesies are concerning Israel and do not apply to the United States of America. I can appreciate that understanding. However, the word of God is eternal and applies to Israel and wherever they may be scattered. The last time I checked, there were more Jews in New York City than there are in Jerusalem. That fact may have changed in recent years, but It could still stand true at this point in time. Even so, God's words are true and will always apply to His people.

Deuteronomy 28:15-17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Consequences of Disobedience

15 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

Have you noticed the turmoil within the cities of America in the past several years? Have you noticed the unrest and lawlessness on the rise? The burning, looting, rape and murders perpetrated by the masses is rapidly on the rise. Sure this has happened before, but not at these levels. Our government, and our media is constantly pitting one race against another for power and profit. The police are constantly portrayed as the evil villains. Sometimes justly, but often unjustly.

How are we cursed in the country? The rapid influx of illegal along with legal immigration is causing the need for urban sprawl. More and more of our farm land is disappearing every day to developers. Farm land is a disappearing commodity. Soon the majority of our food will have to come from other countries. Many of those countries do not like us. Then there is the problem with large corporate farms pushing the small farmer out of business. Add to the mix the fact that most of our crops are rapidly being genetically modified in ways prohibited by biblical standards and you can begin to wonder where real food will come from in the near future.

Then there is the regulations put upon the food industry. GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) do not need special warnings. However real food as God created it does. We have gone to the ridiculous extremes that natural foods are dangerous, but artificial processed foods are not. Dangerous things we consume do not need labels, but organic food does. We have truly become cursed in the City, in the Country, and in our kneading bowl.

28 The LORD will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart;

34 You shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see.

Since we have departed from God's ways and have kicked him out of our public venues, and even many of our places of worship, He has allowed blindness to His Scriptures to prevail in our nation. We have chosen our own way by murdering our unborn and kicking His Scriptures out of our schools and courts. The results have been evident to anyone who will take the time to look at the facts. When many of us older folks were children in school, the primary problems were chewing gum in class and running in the halls. Compare that with today's school shootings and pregnancy rate. The things we see with our eyes on a regular basis are often maddening causing many to be astonished and bewildered.

43 The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you will be the tail.
45 “So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever.
47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things;

Our nation has turned its back on God, His commandments, and His statutes. We have altered them, ignored them, dismissed them, and said they no longer apply to us. We have created our own laws in conflict with His and have gone our own way. Therefore our nation is overrun with aliens from other nations. They will be the head and we will be the tail. They have been rising higher and higher over us and are now to the point that we have to press 1 for English. These curses will overtake us until we are destroyed with our debt because we did not obey the Lord.

The following passages of Scripture should open our eyes to the perilous times in which we are presently living. These are clear warnings which the Almighty has been sending our way. He has been giving us these warnings in the hope that we would repent. However, we have not repented. Instead, we have thumbed our noses at the Almighty and have gone deeper and deeper into sin as a nation. I fear there is no longer any turning back. The time is short and we are rapidly drifting further off course as a nation as the majority continues to express its hatred for God and His ways. Please pay close attention to these following verses and ask yourself if they agree with what has been happening to us as a nation.

49 “The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young.

52 It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the LORD your God has given you

These verses may seem to be a bit obscure, but remember the promise God made to His people back up there in verse 15. What happened to us on 9/11/01? The Lord brought upon us a nation from afar. from the end of the earth. How did they attack us? As an eagle swoops down. How does an eagle attack its prey? from above, swiftly and unexpectedly. How were we attacked on 9/11/01? Do you think that, if perhaps the people on those airplanes understood Arabic, they would have allowed their lives to end in such a tragic way? Probably not, but these people spoke in a language that the people on the planes did not understand. These Islamists had no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. They will behead anyone whether old, young, or infant.

Notice what was attacked. Our high and fortified walls were attacked. This is very significant and did not simply happen by chance. What was attacked? Our high towers (World Trade Center) and fortified walls (Pentagon). Since the word says that the Lord brought this nation against us (verse 49), what was the center of this attack. The center of this attack was in the things in which we trust. What are the things in which we trust that has made America such a great nation? Our economy, and our defense. Thus the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Stock Market was closed for about a week and a total of about $600,000,000,000
was ripped from our economy in one day. The third plane was probably headed for the Capitol or the White House. That would have included our government into the mix, but God in His grace spared the government. We will not be so blessed next time around as many have made the government their provider and thus their god.

How did America respond to this attack? Were we humbled, or did we take upon ourselves a spirit of pride? Sadly, we took on a spirit of pride. Some in our government even took the Scriptures out of their context to boast in pride.

Isaiah 9:10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

10 “The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.”

Yes, many were humbled for a short time and there was a period of prayer and repentance. It lasted about a week and then it was back to normal. Instead of seeking God and asking Him to reveal why this happened, we took on the attitude of "we will rebuild." I find it ironic that not only did the bricks fall down, but the sycamores across from the World Trade Center in front of the church where George Washington was sworn in as our first president also came down. What did they replace them with? Cedars. They have since died. God is not mocked.

Exactly 8 years later, on the 29th of Elul on the Hebrew calendar, the Housing Mortgage Market took its worst hit in history causing many large banks to go belly up. In fact the company that we had our mortgage with (Countrywide) was one of them. We still have not fully recovered from that hit to our economy.

For those who understand the Scriptures, every seventh year is to be a Sabbath year. The Hebrew year is lunar, and the Gregorian year is solar. The date of 9/11/01 was on Elul 29 according to the Hebrew calendar. It was a Sabbath (Schmita) year. The date the mortgage market collapsed was 9/08/08. It was also on the 29th of Elul, seven years later. Also a Sabbath year. Here we are in 2015. Elul 29 falls on September 13, 2015. What warning can we learn from the Scriptures concerning this matter? If you think you can wait until the last minute to get right with God, you are eternally sadly mistaken. Now is the time to come before the Almighty, humble yourself, turn from your sinful ways and accept His ways as the only way to escape what is coming. This could be your final warning America.

Luke 21:34-36 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

34 “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; 35 for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. 36 But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Shalom

Our Heart's Desire

                                by Barry W. Gaugler

The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be cursed thing like it: but thou shall utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

Deuteronomy 7: 25 & 26 (KJV)

The wicked boasts of his heart's desire, and blesses the covetous, the Lord abhors.
Psalm 10:3

Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and the remembrance of thee. With my soul I have desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Isaiah 26:8 & 9

I often hear people quote Psalm 37: 4 without its surrounding verses. "Delight thyself in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." This is often used by prosperity teachers as a proof text that our heavenly Father wants to overflow you with material blessings. I urge the Israel of our heavenly Father to look at these verses in the whole context of Scripture. Delight yourself in the LORD. He and He alone is to be our heart's desire. Our desire is not to be for the silver and gold, nor the abominations we may bring into our houses which we may put as idols before Him. We are not to be covetous of the things of this world. He, and He alone, is to be our heart's desire. When we learn to make Him the desire of our hearts, then, and only then, will we begin to understand what this walk is all about. It is all about Him. It is not about our covetous desires for material things.

Seek after Yeshua and His kingdom to be established in our lifetime. There is nothing upon this earth outside of His will for our lives that can satisfy. We should desire the kind of intimacy with Yeshua that we cannot only trust Him, but that He can trust us. We should covet to know His voice better than we know the voice of our earthly parents, spouse, or even our children.

Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25 & 26

Our heavenly Father certainly does want to give us the desires of our hearts. However, let's put that statement into its proper perspective from His point of view. He wants to be the sole desire of our heart. He knows our needs and desires. He wants us to prosper, but most of all He wants our soul to prosper. Sadly, many miss that point.

Let's not be blessing our covetousness with that which the Lord abhors. Perhaps that ham and cheese sandwich really isn't a good idea in our Father's eyes. If you really are desiring the things of our Father, and if you are really walking in the Spirit of the Living God, how can our desire be towards those things which He has clearly condemned and called abominations? Can the Spirit contradict God's words? If God has written His laws upon our heart, what has changed from those laws written in His Scriptures? Is God double minded? Has He changed?

Who is there in heaven but You that I may desire? Fill me to overflowing with your Ruach (Spirit) that I may know You with an uncommon intimacy. Cause my life to be lived in such a manner that the world might come to know you through your living in me. I ask this in Yeshua's name. Amen.

Shalom Ahlaychem,