A New Creature. . . an Apostolic Pentecostal blog

A Measure of Meekness I desire to be pleasing to the Lord. I fall short in many ways, but to even have a chance of making God happy, I must know what gladdens His heart. When I read in the sermon on the mount where Jesus says: Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. My attention is drawn to meekness. Jesus valued meekness so much that He said that the meek would receive the entire earth as their inheritance, but what is meekness? Do I know? Is it timidity? Are we to be shy and reclusive like a little mouse? I love to allow Scripture itself to define its own words. The first occurrence of the word ‘meek’ is: Numbers 12:3 (Now the man Moses was very meek,above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) My first observation about this verse is that it occurs in the book of Numbers. . . one of the five books of Moses, which were written by Moses. It makes me smile broadly, to think of Moses writing this verse about himself for he would have wri...

Over the years of my life I have seen the names of various people and laughed and cried at nearly the same time. . . to go through life as Ima Skunk. Ha Ha. . .What cruelty. How terrible to play such an indelible trick upon your child. I take great pride in my name. I am the seventh generation of David Stokely. My son, Colin David Stokely, is the 8th generation. We must be getting close to 200 years of this tradition in our family. I value my name. As now being a Christian, I value my name even more. To have the same name as King David of the Bible. . . David the beloved, for that is the original Hebrew meaning. . .loved or beloved. Yes, I treasure my name. In the Bible names had great meaning and were oftentimes prophetic of the attributes or destiny of the child given the name. In my devotions this morning, I was in 2 Kings chapter 10 when I read this verse: Kings 10:16 And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD This was spoken by the newly anointed King Jehu ...

Deuteronomy 2:27 . . .I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. A few years ago the community where I live, built a new highway that looped around the southern edge of the 3 largest cities in the area. Running from east to west, this new road greatly enhanced travel in the area. Today it is so much easier to go from one town to another by hopping on the by-pass. For many the construction of such a road through a countryside of beautiful small farms was quite painful, required great personal sacrifice. My step-mother’s family farm, on which she and her siblings were raised, was bisected by this 4 lane concrete intruder. Many many other farms and little rural communities were similarly disrupted, but the community as a whole was well served by this road. Uncountable thousands were benefited by the sacrifice of a few.. At the time of its construction, the highest legal speed limit for this type of road was 55 mph. Not satisfied with travel t...

Whom do you bow before? What do you bend your knee to? Everyone reveres something above all else. . . Money. . . beauty. . .for many in today’s world, the god of science reigns supreme in their thinking. Their faith in science to solve their problems and lead the way to truth is complete. This ignores the indisputable historical record which shows that over and over again the most ardently held scientific beliefs have been found to be false. As new observations are made which run against existing thought, each theory is eventually replaced by a newer thinking, upon which is then bestowed the mantle of final truth. . .again and again each supposed scientific axiom in its turn to be deposed by a new generation of great thinkers who have unshakable faith in the correctness of their current ideas. We obviously cannot argue against the ability of the scientific method to describe the world around us and through this understanding to make possible marvelous advancements in our physical abili...

God is not the creator of confusion. His Word is straight forward and clean and pure. It fits closely together without contradiction or error. The Word of God is given to bring enlightenment and certainty and joy and understanding: Psalms 19:7-8 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. In the physical, the time in which we live in is the greatest age of enlightenment. . . In the spiritual, our world is in the midst of the darkest night of confusion imaginable. In churches with crosses out front, we find doctrines preached which have their origins somewhere other than in the Word of God. In such a manner, when confusion can be successfully sown about God and His perfect plan of salvation, then the devil’s work is accomplished. He need do nothing more, by the means of such confusion, those who b...

Often I start my meetings at the jail with a question to the men, “Why are you at this meeting. . .What did you come looking for at this meeting tonight. . .” Several years ago a fellow confided to me that he had first come to a church meeting in the jail for the express purpose trying to steal a pen. He was touched by the Lord that evening and was later baptized in Jesus name. I saw him again several years later and he was still living for the Lord. His walk with the Lord began with his sinful desire to come to a church service and steal a pen. My first visit to a church, over ten years ago now, was to say thank you to the church that had prayed for me during my then recent heart surgery. I had no desire to learn more of God. I had no interest in worship or holiness or repenting of my sinful lifestyle. I came through the church doors, that first Sunday of June 2000 only to say thanks for an act of kindness that I did not even believe in. Recently our church had a block party in...

Reading today in Exodus for my daily devotions. Exodus is the book of the Bible where the Hebrew people, led by Moses, depart from Egypt. The leaving of Egypt was a physical occurrence. It was a historical event, but as many things in the Bible there was a heavily symbolic meaning to the historical event. Egypt is a metaphor of and symbol for the non-religious world. The 40 year journey of the Hebrews from Egypt through the wilderness of Sin and finally to the promised land, is a journey from the world of sin and fleshly appetites into the presence of God. After receiving the commandments of God for a second time, Moses comes back to the people and tells them everything which God has given him. Moses received the Law and the Commandments, and he also received a very detailed plan from God, for the temple the Hebrews were to use to worship and minister to God while they journeyed through the wilderness. It was very detailed, mind numbingly so. For verse after verse. . .chapter aft...

Matthew 3:1-6 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. What comes into your mind upon hearing the word, “biker”? Someone a bit unconventional?. . .someone who doesn’t fit into the cultural norm? A free spirit? Someone not overly concerned with the opinions of others? Not a polished person. . .not a person of gentle flavors and hues, but a bold flavor-filled, pungent, strongly independent minded. . .a radically free spirit. . . Ent...

I speak not to your flesh, with its malignant hungers and desires. I speak not to your mind, with its corrosive pride and rebelliousness. I speak to your Soul, that everlasting spiritual part of you, which will eternally live with the consequences of the actions of your flesh and your mind. You Soul. . .You need to take command. Long after the shell of this body is dust. . .ages after your mind has succumbed to dementia and unconsciousness, cloaked by the false escape of death, you will remain, forever remembering and reliving each day of life, replaying each minute of each day of your life on this earth. . .far too late for repentance. . .ages after forgiveness can be granted. . .painful wishful aching remorse. . .rivers of eyeless tears shed in the horror of suffocating darkness. . .endless and hopeless weeping for a life lived and relived. . .again and again replayed. . .vividly minutely remembering, your rebellion and denial of God. Long ages after the lust of the flesh has fade...

Genesis 18:20-21 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. . . Genesis 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. God’s hearing was filled with the cries of the victims of the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. He heard again and again the pain and anguish resulting from the violence and depraved acts committed by these people. God knows the number of hairs upon the heads of every man, every woman, every child on earth. He intimately knows the number of hairs upon the heads of every unborn child. He surely knows the exact number of feathers on every bird and the precise number of scales upon each fish in the sea. . . Do you seriously think that...