Eclipsed

It is entirely possible that what is happening to those who are crying out for God in this hour is described by Jesus statement to Peter concerning what was about to happen in his walk of faith.

Luk 22:31-32 KJV  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:  (32)  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Luke 22:31-34 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan by asking obtained you and your fellow disciples for himself and from my power to his, in order that he may shake you in a sieve as grain is sifted, by an inward agitation, trying your faith to the verge of overthrow. But as for myself, I made petition concerning you that your faith should not be totally eclipsed. (from The New Testament: An Expanded Translation by Kenneth S. Wuest Copyright © 1961 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights reserved.)

When we look at this in our experience, the above quotation from the Wuest more accurately describes the mental and emotional expression.

An eclipse is when something comes between the source of light and you. Here is some food for thought.

1. Faith has a light of its own in our lives.
2. Something can come between us and the light of Faith/Son .
1. It can be the things, people, religious experiences and gifts, or something demonic.
3. Satan has to ask permission to try to eclipse our faith.
4. Experimentally it seems like we have been delivered into satan's hand in order to destroy us. None of the things that have worked before, work now. 
5. God has put limitations on satan even though it does not feel like it. 
6. Jesus, intercedes for us before the Father.
7. His intercession will be effective, because Jesus said to Peter.
1. ... I made petition concerning you that your faith should not be totally eclipsed Luke 22:31  And as for you, when you have returned to your original position with respect to your faith, stabilize your brethren.(from The New Testament: An Expanded Translation by Kenneth S. Wuest Copyright © 1961 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights reserved.)
8. The Eclipse will pass
    

Although the above principles are true, while going through this, it feels like you are not going to make it and there is extensive teaching on it in "Jesus Revealed To The Seven Churches".

Have you been through, or are you going through an "eclipse of your faith"?   Further outlined at www.drwmjhurst.com

Lesson Quotes: The Eclipse of Your Faith

Swimming with the Sharks

Have you ever felt like God threw you in the deep end or into the ocean where "all thy waves and billows have gone over me"?

This is defined in scripture as "when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."  This precludes a number of things.

1. I feel like I am drowning.
2. I have somewhat lost my way.
3. The journey out of here must be lead by the Spirit.
4. The direction of that journey is uphill.
5. God's heart in this is that I come to The Rock as a solid place in my life and circumstance. 

If we were to look into the depth of this it could be in any area of my life.

There are times in your life, for your growth and development, and because of your cry for God, He allows a situation to come upon you that  causes in you a sense of being overwhelmed.  It is not God forsaking you, although it definitely feels that way in your emotions. It is God answering your cry for Him and a deeper knowledge of Him. Can He not do this by revelation to you, is your question? Yes He can and sometimes does. But, in saying that there must always be an anchoring of that revelation in and experiencing of the Word's operation in you.

This experiencing of His applied Word in you, gives you authority in the given dimension of testing. Job was thrown in the "deep end of the pool". His only way to deal with it was cling to what he knew of God and let everything else shake. It caused him to ask multitude of questions and shook him until he said, "Though God slay me, yet will I trust Him."

Even though it is quite a journey through this, Job never lost his trust in God and he did come out on the other side with a greater understanding and revelation of God. I pray that we too come to that place in our current circumstance.

I cling to, "will not the judge of all the earth do right?".

Can I rant? :)

My heart is hurting today as I have watched how the enemy of our soul endeavors to bring division and tear apart relationships. I wish there was some way we could learn outside of experience. We know the theology, and theory of the enemies tactics but it is a very different matter when you watch him do it in your emotions and the emotions and minds of those you love.

There is a cry arising from my heart as we watch this at microcosm level in one relationship and know that it is going on throughout the church of God. Lord show us how to take that which the enemy clearly meant for evil and turn it for good. 

Lord Jesus, somewhere your church has to get out of the rut of fear of dealing with the devil and make it through to seeing victory in individual relationships and in local assemblies to the whole Body of Christ. Lord we need to learn how to build up ourselves in the most holy "faith", so that we go from faith to faith. 

Going from faith to faith is not an easy task, in fact it gets more difficult as we go along. Because we past the last test, the current test is more difficult. Attitudes are tested. 

If we take that those that came to Jesus saying "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name and in Thy Name cast out devils" were right, that they had done those things, then He was after more than the works of God. He said that in the doing of those things, there is a knowing of Him that is essential. There is a coming and learning of Him that is imperative to doing the "Works of God", that gets acceptance from God.

Lord, I present myself to you to Learn of You while doing your works. That is, I ask for a revelation of Your Person as those works are done through me.

While working in the Kingdom, let me get to know The King. No matter what I go through, I want to "know Him" and "Learn of Him" while making that journey through.

The question could be asked, "Where is God in all of this?" That is the question we must ask Him until He reveals Himself to us in all that we go through.

Jesus where are you and where is the revelation of your person in what I am experiencing?