(continued from Part 1) Cross dressers also came to our services, dressed in drag. We never said anything to put them down, and over time the Holy Ghost dealt with them. Many were saved and began to change their appearance. Some even grew beards as a sign of repentance. We had to face other significant problems among the people. Practicing gays wanted to sing in the choir. Bar-hopping musicians wanted to play in the orchestra. We had to preach the law to deal with sin, but we always tempered our messages with mercy. We also had to deal with sin on our own staff. One musician was seen visiting X-rated theaters after our church meetings. And a member of our worship team - a white man - boasted, "Any black guy who tries to clean my windshield for money is going to get a fist sandwich." We released that man immediately. We also had to deal with deceptions and delusions in our congregation. One married man told me he believed the Lord was going to take his wife from him. He said God had already revealed to him the woman in our church he was going to marry. I told this man bluntly that any such revelation he might have received wasn't from God. We kept preaching holiness, week after week. And over time, our sermons scared many people away. Yet the Lord had kept a godly remnant for himself, a people who loved his word. In every service, these people sat like hungry little birds, their mouths wide open for food. Afterward, they took home sermon tapes to listen to over and over. We saw in them a spirit of repentance, an eagerness to obey, and a readiness to conform to God's word. One wealthy couple called our offices and said, "Please send a truck tomorrow, along with some workers. We want to remove our liquor cabinet from our home, as well as our TVs." As the people came under the power and government of God's word, a joy broke forth. Soon our services were filled with more than tears of repentance. Suddenly, the sanctuary shook with shouts of victory, mirth, glee and gladness. There was great rejoicing - because we'd begun to understand the great truth of God's word. To Maintain the Joy of the Lord, God Called for an Even Deeper Work of the Spirit. God had heard the Israelites' cry, and he'd shown mercy to them. He had turned their mourning into mirth, allowing them to shout and rejoice. And now he called them to gather for yet another meeting. If Israel's joy was to be maintained - if it was not to be lost once again - God had to dig a little deeper. Certain areas of people's lives still weren't conformed to his word. Yet the Lord had allowed everyone to rejoice for a season, because he wanted them to know they were secure. Now, during this state of acceptance and joy, he asked them all to commit to a greater separation from the world. God said to these joyful souls, "I am well pleased with you. You have revered my word - repenting of your sin, rejoicing in my mercy, and promising to obey me. Now, it's time for you to act on my love. I want you to separate yourselves wholly - to break away completely from the worldly influences that have crept into your hearts and homes." You see, while the Israelites were in captivity, they'd become cozy with the heathen, slowly adopting their language and ways. Israelite men had married heathen wives, and Israelite women had purchased heathen husbands with dowries. The Israelites had also allowed unsanctified things to become a part of the worship in God's house. Beloved, we can't go on to fullness in Christ if we don't increasingly separate ourselves from this world. If we're not becoming more heavenly minded, and less like the unsaved people surrounding us, we'll slowly lose all the joy of our repentance. Israel didn't want to lose their great spirit of rejoicing. So they assembled again, to obey God on this matter: "The seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins" (Nehemiah 9:2). "They...entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law...and that (they) would not give (their) daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for (their) sons" (10:29-30). This Israelite remnant had also neglected to tithe. Now God demanded this of them as well. You may wonder, "Would God really withhold his joy and mirth from a church if the people weren't tithing?" I refer you to Malachi 3:8-10: "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse...prove me...if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." God was saying to Israel, "Don't continue to rob me. If you'll conform to my command to tithe, I'll pour out a blessing you won't be able to contain." The people pledged "that we should bring the first-fruits...and our offerings...and the tithes...unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage" (Nehemiah 10:37). God's Promise to Pour Out A Blessing From Heaven Holds True for Us Today. When we set our hearts to obey God's word - allowing his Spirit to expose and mortify all sin in our lives - the Lord himself causes us to rejoice. "God had made them rejoice with great joy" (Nehemiah 12:43). I believe this poured-out blessing includes abundant joy, even in the midst of our trials. The Lord opens heaven and baptizes us with "Jesus joy" - with shouting, rejoicing and singing - no matter what our circumstances. Nehemiah reminded a rejoicing Israel of how God had provided for their forefathers in the wilderness. The Lord had poured out manifold mercies on them. He'd taught them by his Spirit and led them by the cloud and the pillar of fire. He'd supernaturally provided them with manna and water. And, miraculously, he didn't allow their clothes or shoes ever to wear out (see Nehemiah 9:19-21). How do these kinds of blessings sound to you? Manifold mercies, clear direction, God's Spirit teaching you, all your physical and material needs supplied - these all sound wonderful to me. And, indeed, all of these blessings hold true for us today. The Lord, in his great mercy, has promised to provide them all for his people. Yet, we can still choose to live in a wilderness, as Israel did. Nehemiah pointed out that their forefathers had rebelled against the Lord, ignoring his law: "Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs...Yet many years didst thou forbear them...yet they would not give ear" (Nehemiah 9:26, 30). Can you imagine the awful spiritual death these people brought upon themselves? Forty years of sabbaths without any joy or mirth. Forty years of funerals, without ever entering the promised land. These Israelites were rich with blessings, increased with goods, needing nothing - but they were lukewarm in spirit. This is a picture of Jehovah Jireh - the God who faithfully provides for his people, even when they become hardened to his word. The Israelites had become bored with the things of God. They were just going through the motions. In his mercy, the Lord continued to direct their daily affairs and provide for them. But these people would never enter into his fullness. Is it any wonder their clothes and shoes never wore out? They simply weren't going anywhere. This is also the sad state of many churches today. God may extend his mercy to a congregation - freeing them of debt, giving them direction for good works, supplying them with finances for new construction. Yet that church may remain in a spiritual wilderness, never going anywhere. They can enjoy a measure of God's blessing - enough to keep from dying of thirst - but they remain weak, weary, ready to die. And it's all because their focus is still on the things of the world. They have no spirit, no life. Simply put, only the joy of the Lord supplies us with true strength. We can talk all we want to about our ten- or twenty-year walk with Christ. We can show off our robe of righteousness. But if we're not allowing the Holy Spirit to maintain the joy of the Lord in our hearts - if we aren't continually hungering for his word - then we're losing our fire. And we won't be ready for what comes upon the world in these last days. How do we maintain the joy of the Lord? We do it the same way we obtained his joy in the beginning: First, we love, honor and hunger excitedly for God's word. Second, we continually walk in repentance. And third, we separate ourselves from all worldly influences. This is how a Holy Ghost person or church maintains "Jesus joy" - rejoicing always, full of gladness and mirth. --- Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O. Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771, USA. Jan Ross jross@... http://focusontheword.com ICQ#18767082 "Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalayim" (Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem) Psalm 122:6 ~*~*~*~*~*~* Focus On the Word Banner Exchange--Sign Up Today and Receive 2,500 Free Credits http://focusontheword.com/banex