July 31, Aug. 1, 1973 Is. 63-66, Ps. 107,62, John 2-3

Some neat references: to the Holy Spirit – Is. 63:10,11, 14. “The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.” (Heb.)

Some prophecy here that is maybe being fulfilled in the move of God today in the East and other parts of the world – Is. 66:19.

+ A lot of beautiful allusions in Isaiah to the para dies of Heaven, and the destruction of the wicked.

*Lord – make eternity more real in my thinking every day.

+ Psalm 107:20 – “He sent His Word and healed them. This is for Kent—Thank you, Lord.

Ps. 62:1 – “My soul waits in silence before God only. From Him is my salvation.”

I talked to Kent [Fosness] tonight about his healing, and Lord, I really don’t understand. Lord, I feel envisioned to do what I don’t have the power, faith and light to accomplish. Is that your way?

August 2, 1973 2 Kings 21, 2 Chr. 33, John 4

Judah is on the brink of judgment here in Kings and their impending captivity. Some of the things they had turned to were things we see today: witchcraft, spiritism, mediums and divination.

Here in Chronicles is a neat sequel to the story of Manasseh and how “he humbled himself before God” and “prayed to Him,” and how his life was changed because God heard his prayer and because of His great love, restored him in the land.

+ O, the love of our wonderful Lord!

John 4 – This is the chapter we were studying on following Jesus’ example in witnessing. This verse stands out: Jn. 4:34 – “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” Tonight, this is my sleep…

August 3, 1973 Nahum 1-3, John 5

Nahum is really a revealing book into the great hatred and wrath that God feels about sin. You know, I’ve been thinking about the ugliness of sin and reading some stuff by Finney, and then also the Lord gave me that revelation I’m going to use tonight I believe at YL [Young Life] – “Have You Ever Considered?” Lord you really want me to expose darkness tonight, don’t You? Please give me the words.

John 5:14 – “Behold you have become well, so do not sin anymore so that nothing worse may befall you.” *The relationship between sin and disease.

Boy, there’s a lot of depth in this chapter about our Lord, but I just can’t concentrate…

Lord, give me peace about C.

Aug. 5, 1973 2 Kings 23, 2 Chr. 35, John 7

What does it mean to be a man of God? To turn to the Lord with all your “heart and soul and might” (2 Kings 23:25 – King Josiah).

I’m very tired, but I still thank you, Lord, for the beautiful weekend and the beauty of your Word. I love it. I want to live in it.

Aug. 6, 1973 Hab. 1-3, John 8

Hab. 1:12 – Nations like Hitler’s Germany and others were ordained by God (Rom. 13:1) to judge mankind.

Hab. 3:17, 18 – “Though the fig tree shall not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines. Though the yield of the olive should fail, and the field produce no food. Though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls. Yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength.”

This is mine. Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord.

Aug 7, 1973 Zeph. 1-3, Jn. 9

I meditated on these at work yesterday during the day when I had a break. I also learned a great lesson last night at the BS [Bible Study] group. I am not leading things, and by myself, do not have to feel pressured to psych everybody up or something. God said, “I do,” so I want to marry Him. Thank you, Lord.

August 8, 1973 Jer. 1-2, John 10

What a neat “call” of Jeremiah – (1:7) – “Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak.”

There’s a couple of neat verse in Jeremiah 2 about the foolishness of evolution (v. 27). 

It’s neat to be a sheep…A sheep of the Lord. One of His “other” ones (Jn.10:16).

Lord, I want to follow You as a meek little lamb of God.

Aug. 9, 1973 Jer. 3-4, John 11

It’s very interesting to me how the sin and faithlessness of man to God is so commonly portrayed by the imagery of a prostitute and her lovers (Jer. 3).

Jer. 4:3,4 – “Break up your fallow ground and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart.”

+ A lot here – Lord, you’re speaking…Man, there is a lot of emotion involved here.

John 11 – the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Lord, you have really been speaking to me about healing and faith and I am approaching a point of real trust in You for every one of my needs. Thank you for the light that you are spreading before my eyes. Sometimes I feel that they are going to pop out.

*“Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” I KNOW.

Aug. 10, 1973 Jer. 5-6, John 12

Jer. 6:14-25 – Here is really an apt description of the humanitarian brotherhood thinking of the institutional church. “Peace,” “peace,” “love is the answer.” Well it is, but it’s the love of Christ on Calvary that we’re talking about.

Lord, I’m looking for an answer to an important question tonight, and you haven’t given it to me here. Where now?

Lord, you’re giving me verse after verse about waiting…and trusting…and as I write this, I know this is what I must do (Ps. 25:4,5).

August 11, 1973 Jer. 7-9, John 13

*Jer. 7:1-3 – I think the Lord wants me to speak at Elim [Lutheran] again. I really felt this as I opened the reading. I’ll now wait for a confirmation.

+ Jer. 7:23 – Re-echoing the promise that obedience to God’s laws is for prosperity and well-being, not justification.

*Jer. 9:23,24 – I must memorize these—My verses for the day: “But let him who boasts boast that he understands and knows Me.”

John 13 – Jesus – our example (v. 15). This verse stuck out to me – Jn. 13:17 – If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

+ Thank you, Lord.

Aug. 12-13, 1973 Jer. 10-15, Jn. 14-15

Jer. 10 – A child of God is “different” from the world (v. 2). “Do not learn the ways of the nations…and (v. 3) “For the customs of the people are delusions.”

Jer. 12:3 – “But You know me, O Lord. You see me. And You do examine my heart’s attitude toward You.”

+ Jer. 15: 16 – “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart.”

Jer. 15:17 – Reminds me of work, sometimes eating alone reading my Bible and not playing cards with the guys. *The Lord here is backing me. Thank you, Lord!

Aug. 14, 1973 Jer. 16,17, Ps. 96, John 16

Jer. 17:5 – “Cursed is the man who trust in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord.” *BUT (v. 7) – “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust IS the Lord.”

Ps 96 – What a song of praise!! It’s thrilling to just read it…

John 16 – More messages about the “Helper,” the “Comforter,” the Spirit of Christ. I’m so thank He is in my life. I’ve never been happier, despite everything. He really has given me the peace that Jesus is talking about when He says (v. 33) “These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace.

Jesus said, “I have overcome the world.” We will, too, for “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Aug. 15, 1973 Jer. 18-20, Ps. 93, John 17

Jer. 19: 5 – The high places – places on mountaintops where the Hebrews sacrificed their sons as burnt offerings to Baal—a heathen god. I’ve been wondering about this. Thank you, Lord.

*Jer. 20:12 – “Yet, O Lord of hosts, You, who do test the righteous.”

*John 17:17 – “Sanctify them in the truth. Your Word is truth. With great feeling here, Jesus again stresses the importance of God’s Word in our lives…

This prayer of Jesus in John 17 is like Jesus is already in heaven, resurrected from the earth and that He’s speaking in the past tense. His greatest wish is for us, His people, is that we “may be one even as We are one.”

+ That’s my wish too—especially here in our work. Holy Spirit, please give us a oneness that will draw people to the side of the Savior.

*I long to see “unity of the Spirit” in Port Orchard.

Aug. 16, 1973 2 Kings 24, Jer. 22, Ps. 112, Jn. 13

The Babylonian Exile. What an ugly and humiliating thing it must be to the Lord—to see His people demolished this way.

*Thank you, Lord, for this answer to prayer: Ps. 112:7b-8a – “His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld, he will not fear.” This is about going to that YWAM school. God wants me to trust Him. Lord, I will.

John 18 – What a confrontation Pilate and Jesus must have had. Here was Pilate standing face-to-face with the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus said to him, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth.”

Pilate looked…heard…and didn’t believe. How could he? I don’t know.

Aug. 17, 1973 Jer. 23,25, Jn. 19

Jer. 23 – A lot of verse here that seem to apply directly to the present-day situation and rise of Christian cults and deviations. “They speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord (v. 16).

*FOR ME – “But let him who has my word speak my word in truth” (Jer. 23:28).

God sure seems like a brutal enemy of wrath here, not at all like the figure of Jesus. Weird.

John 19 – Nothing really hits me here. The death of Jesus. Her seemed so purposeful, so sure.

*Lord, help me to appreciate the agony of love that you endured and broke through for me. Sometimes it seems so unreal. May I carry my cross as you did today. AMEN.

August 18-19, 1973 Jer. 26,35,36, 45-47, Ps. 105, Jn. 20-21

God DOES change His mind about some things—out of His great love, if we repent (Jer. 26:4,5,13). 

*Jer. 16:14 – “But as for me, behold I am in your hands. Do with me as is good and right in your sight.” I needed this right now.

I really have some questions on prophecy, especially the gift of prophecy. How is it used and exercised? How can you be sure of a “word of the Lord?”

Ps. 105:3,4 – “Glory in His holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord he glad. Seek the Lord and His strength. Seek His face continually.

Jer. 21:15,16,17. Ron – “Do you love me?” (v. 19) – 1) Tend my lambs, 2) Shepherd my sheep, 3) Tend my sheep. Follow Me!! Lord, I want to follow.

Aug. 20, 1973 Jer. 48, 49, Ps. 67, 1 Jn. 1

Jer. 48: 7 – “…for because of your trust in your achievements and treasures…” I wonder who/and or what Moab is? I wonder about the “type” involved here. Lord, grant me wisdom.

*I know that there is a lot of prophecy and future revelations and things here. I can sense it…For now, though, my eyes are just not open. Lord is it because I could not bear these revelations now?

+ BINGO! 1 Jn. 1:5-10 – Thank you, Lord, for this revelation. I run into a lot of people who say they “know God” and “believe,” but if their lives are not pure, they are lying. God’s Words says that He “is light” and that of “we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

+ Knowing God is walking through life as He did, in the power and purity of the Spirit.

Aug. 21-22, 1973 Jer. 21, 24, 27-30, Ps. 118, 1 Jn. 2-3

Interesting line: “Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death (Jer. 21:8). Neat type. 

*Neat verse – Jer. 24:7 – “And I will give them a heart to know Me for I am the Lord and they will be My people and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.” God wants our hearts…

+ There are false prophets. Just because someone says, “Thus says the Lord,” it doesn’t mean it is true. Look at Hananiah here (Jer. 28).

Ps. 118:27 – “The Lord is God, and He has given us light.” 

Jn. 1: 9 – “There was the true light that coming into the world enlightens every man.” Jesus – “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).

1 Jn. 3: 9 – “No one who is born of God practices sin because His seed abides in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God.

Aug. 23, 1973 – Jer. 31-32, 1 Jn. 4

Jer. 31:26 – “At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.” Lord, I’m in a hurry and tired. Forgive me—and You said, “Why are you worrying about sleep? Is that so difficult for Me? (Jer. 32:27).

Aug. 24, 1973 Jer. 33-34, Ps. 74, 1 Jn. 5

Jer. 33:3 – “Call unto Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.”

*Thank you, Lord. Lately I’ve felt bad because I feel a lack of faith, courage and love for You to really be used by You. Now I know I must seek You for Yourself.

It amazes me how these dear men of the O.T. praised God right in the face of disaster. I’m learning to do this very slowly.

1 Jn. 5 – What a profound chapter! There is so much here. 

*Lord Jesus, renew a right spirit within me…

Aug. 25, 1973 Jer. 37-39, Ps. 79, 2 John

Jeremiah as really put through it. Spent a lot of time in jail and in this thing called the “cistern.” Ugly.

+ I wonder HOW the “words of the Lord” came to Jeremiah? Did the Lord speak to him audibly?

Jer. 39:18 – “…but you will have your own life as booty because you have trusted in Me,” declares the Lord. This is for me today. Thank you, Jesus.

1 Jn. 8 – “Watch yourself that you might not lose what we have accomplished but that you may receive a full reward.” What will and HAS overcome the world, our faith (1 Jn. 5:4).

*Lord, I want to believe You for a night of love and glory for Yourself on Tuesday night. I don’t want anybody to be turned off, for your sake Lord Jesus. Send your precious Comforter upon us in a way that will create noting but joy and peace.

Aug. 26, 1973 Jer. 50-51, 3 John

I had my quiet time at Cs. While we were there, Theresa and Patty Jacobson came up for lunch and we began praying and Patty received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Praise you, Lord!

Aug. 27, 1973 Jer. 52, Rev. 1, Ps. 243, 144

The exile of Judah is completed. It must have been such a horror. I wish that I could really feel the emotions involved.

Rev. 1 – Here’s a good verse about what Jesus died for us (v. 5) – “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first born of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood.”

Psalm 143 – a message from God: “I meditate on all your doings…I stretch out my hands to You…Answer me quickly, O Lord…Teach me the way in which I should walk…Teach me to do Thy will for you are my God. Let Thy good Spirit lead me on level ground.” 

+ The Lord is GUIDING me.

Aug. 28, 1973 Ez. 1-3, Rev. 2

Ez. 1:3 – Ezekiel was a priest. Oh, if this could be my testimony – Ez. 1:12 – “And each went straight forward, wherever the Spirit was about to go, without turning as they went.”

*Ez. 2:7 – But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.” This is for me tonight. Thank you so much, Lord, for helping in my faith by speaking to Me. Yes, I will speak your message.

Lord, I’m ready. Glorify Yourself tonight. I’m scared by confident. You won’t fail.

Aug. 29, 1973 Ez. 4-7, Rev. 3

Ez. 5:5 – It’s not a coincidence that the country of Israel is at the crossroads of the globe. God established her in the center of the nations.

+ Thank you, Lord, for your total healing power in my family and after last night. Thank you for triumphing over Satan and your Word going forth. Hallelujah!

“I shall bring your ways upon you…” (Ez. 7:4). This is an interesting verse of truth. Good and Bad.

Rev.3:5 – “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. And I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before angels.”

There is so much neat stuff here. In heaven, we will be “clothed in white garments” (v. 5), we will dwell in the “temple of my God” with new names on our heads (v. 12) and we will sit with the Lord Jesus on His throne (v. 21).

A lot of verse in Revelation 3 about the steadiness of faith. It is he who overcomes that will be with the Lord forever. This would be a good chapter to memorize sometime. Beautiful.

Aug. 30, 1973 Ez. 8-11, Rev. 4

*Thank you, Lord Jesus, for answering my prayers. Today I have been accepted to the YWAM school in Germany. It’s what I’ve been waiting for…Lord, I love you…and now need your guidance even more in making some decisions.

Ez. 9 – A “type” of the judgment here. A “man writing,” marking people and then a destruction of all those unmarked.

+ Cherubim – Sure would love to know more about these creations…symbolically especially. A vision is repeated concerning them here in Ez. 10.

Lord, I’m not sure how Ez. 11:16-21 fits together for a Gentile like me. Reveal it to me by your Spirit.

Rev. 4 – Here we get a glimpse of Jesus our King on His throne. What a sight this must be for John. How privileged he was to see these things.

+ How neat it will be to be there one—soon.

August 31, 1973 Ez. 12-14, Rev. 5

*Ez. 12:2-3 – This is confirmation of my going to Germany. Thank you, Lord. “Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go…”

Ez. 14:3 – Do I have any “idols in my heart? This is a neat way to describe the foolish things we value and live for.

Rev. 5: 9 – “You are worthy to take the book and break its seals, for You were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from very tribe and tongue and people and nation.”

Worthy is the Lamb.

Thank you, Lord, for this encouragement also…you do want me to speak about the lamb and the precious shedding of your blood for us, in our place. Lord, pour out your Spirit upon us tonight as we end a summer of ministry for your kingdom. Anoint all with the news. Hallelujah!