Divine appointments in the States
How often have we asked God to bring that special someone into our lives? Or maybe we’re asking God to hook us up with an employer? God is still in the business of giving divine appointments!
My time in the States has been a great learning experience! Many of the prayers I wrote about just last month have been answered. Before I left the Philippines, I had been praying for God to send me the people I’m supposed to teach in the States, as I did in Cebu. My desire is to multiply myself (in other words, make disciples) and teach them to be better than me. I want a true fathering spirit, and that means encouraging them to go further than I can go and be better than I can be. By the same token, I haven’t stopped praying for more spiritual fathers to guide me.
There are now 6 people who have come to me, asking me to teach them to walk like Christ in the ministry of reconciliation, with proclamation and demonstration. I’m so grateful to God for the evangelism group back in the Philippines and now here in America! I know none of their lives will ever be the same, all for God’s glory!
A couple of those who asked to be taught were divine appointments from God! God told me to post a message on Craigslist asking if anyone needed prayer. Only one person replied. God had also told him to search Craigslist. Neither of us could have thought up something like this!
God had told the second one that he would meet a healing evangelist on Monday who teaches others. When I met this guy Monday night, the Holy Spirit and I wasted no time teaching him how to pray for the sick. Sure enough, many people got healed that night, including serious back and knee problems people had suffered with for years! God is a good God! I was teaching both of these people to pray for the sick, and healing was flowing out in that crowd of 30+ people. God desires to use you as well. He is looking for those who will walk in His power!
This past month I’ve really been busy connecting with many churches and Bible studies. God’s hand continues to reach out to all who need His touch.
In the past month, 50 people have been healed in various places, and I’ve recorded their testimonies. Incurable diseases have been healed, and many backs and legs have been brought back into correct alignment as a demonstration that God is over everything!
Many of us are comfortable with His presence being found inside the church, but what about in His temple? We are called the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we must always recognize that He is with us and in us everywhere we go! Not just “Where two or three are gathered in His name,” but when you’re alone, too! That verse is often taken out of context. It’s actually about reconciliation between two brothers in Christ, which is why it’s good for all of us to read the whole chapter, not just the verse. What if you’re the only one around? Is God not there?
I’ve also been able to witness to people without ever leaving the dinner table at a restaurant. Twice this month God has brought someone to me while I was eating so they could be brought back to Himself! Both times they also got healed and were taught the truth. He has told us to go make disciples, not decisions. He’s also asked us to exchange our yoke for His yoke, our kingdom for His Kingdom.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” – Matt 13:44.
We’re not called to convict or change people. God does that. But we are called to preach the truth, and the truth is, many people are going to miss the Kingdom of God. Salvation does have a price tag. It’s an exchange. Some people want to walk in the kingdom of this world and not in His. Who’s the king of your kingdom? Yourself? What about God’s Kingdom? God.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give (EXCHANGE) in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” – Matt 16:24.
If the Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then why did Jesus wait three years before He told His disciples that He would die and rise again? What were they preaching before that time? Jesus and the disciples were preaching the Good News that His Kingdom is here and is above all problems, demons and sicknesses! After they proclaimed that there is freedom, they demonstrated it!
Each one He called to preach, He also gave power and authority over demons and sickness.
“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” – 2nd Tim 3:1-5.
I believe we are living in the times He’s referring to. But God loves to show off His power! He’s just looking for those who will believe in His promises. If you’re struggling with a heartache, headache or stomachache, God can heal it right where you are.
I know I’m speaking very straight, but these simple truths can be easy to miss, even after years in church. Lester Sumrall said, “First the truth will make you mad, then it will make you free.” These are the truths that will set you free in so many ways! Those who are born again from heaven above have the Spirit of God in them. A seed produces after its own kind. God sowed a Son to reap more sons!
“So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” – Romans 8:12-14.
Notice that God calls us sons? That goes for every woman, too!
His desire for your life is nothing but great things. Trust in Him as you exchange your thoughts for His. He will renew your mind to focus on things that are better for you.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart (affections) will be also. The eye is the lamp (light) of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” – Matt 6:22-24.
Ask God, “Where am I, Lord? Am I light or dark?” He could say to you, “Where is your eye?” So my question to each of you is the same. Where is your focus?
Continue to pray for more of God’s divine connections in this missionary’s life and for the right doors to open in the States, and in the Philippines when I return. I am so grateful for all of your prayers. Thank you for being a blessing to me!
Because they haven’t heard,
Justin Gilpin