July 2007

Life Application Ministries
July 2007
Newsletter

BE IN HEALTH by Linda

Many things are happening in Life Application Ministries. We continue serving you through phone ministry, on-line ministry, teleconferences and seminars and now we are helping Pleasant Valley Church in Thomaston Georgia in developing their curriculum for world-wide ministry - which is called "Be in Health". I have been traveling back and forth to Georgia and will be for some time as I have been assigned Curriculum Facilitator to work with an action team on developing curriculum to be taught on DVD. These are exciting times, so I ask that you pray for this effort as it will assuredly help countless hundreds of people all over the world!

In order to meet this time line and obligation I will need to defer some of Life Application Ministries activites until after the project is completed. They are:

Help for the Holidays (year end outreach)
Personal phone ministry
Teleconference teaching (last one July 11th)

To continue with ministry teachings, you can access the teachings on-line, or order DVD's, books, etc. It's your job to continue to press into the Lord, and you have all the tools you need to do so. The Bible says that we don't really need anyone to teach us because we all have the same Holy Spirit who is well qualified to teach. So during this time of transition in Life Application Ministries, I urge you to put down the phone, and go to the Throne! Our whole purpose and JOB on this planet is to dwell in the presence of our Lord God through what Jesus did on the cross. Relationship with our Heavenly Father is first and foremost! Receiving His love and loving Him back is all that is required. Because as you do that it's then easy to love yourself and others - fulfilling all the law and the prophets! (Matthew 22:37-40)

TO BE NOTICED by Linda Lange

Have you had the desire to be noticed? I mean, do you want to be appreciated, accepted, admired, loved, or respected? If you do, then you want to be "noticed."

This was a hard one for me to recognize, but it was an area in my life that caused so much problems in relationships with people. A person who needs to be noticed can be hurt and offended easily, especially when they aren't being noticed or accepted or loved.

I recently saw a breakthrough in this area that has already changed my life for the better. I realized that when we have that need we are putting our confidence in man, we are looking for man's approval above God's. I did this for a long time and didn't even realize it. But I had. I would do work and then want someone's opinion, approval or whatever, to know if I was doing it right, did a good job, etc. I needed the attention in that area of my life because if I didn't I would feel rejected or that I didn't do a good job or that my worth was nothing.

This past week I had an opportunity to see the change at work in my life. The revelation finally came to me that said, "I'm not working for man, I'm working for God." When the Lord said those few words (a reminder because I knew this to be true in my head) I finally got it into my heart, that I don't need to be noticed, nor approved, nor admired, nor appreciated by men because God already noticed me, approved me, admired me as His daughter and appreciates me and no man can give me what God can give. Even if man did approve of me and give me all those things, it still wouldn't be enough. But when I look to God and Him alone, then it's complete! I'm fully satisified.

I can attest to that because while in Georgia this last month, my testimony and picture was placed in their newsletter that was distributed at the church services. Yet, I was still not feeling like I was getting "recognition." It wasn't enough! After all, nobody "said" anything during the service of how wonderful of a job I had been doing, etc. Even saying this out loud to you right now sounds awful! How my heart was being deceived because I was still needing man's approval. The other area that showed me I needed healing in this area was when a particular person seemed to ignore me. You know what I mean. You have so much respect to someone - perhaps your pastor or a teacher you admire yet when you see them they just pass you by, not even a hello. This happened to me too. Then I had to laugh because this was all part of God's plan to free me from needing man's approval or to be "noticed" by man. He didn't allow that person to notice me, if they did, I wouldn't be getting free from that need.

Let me back up a bit on this and tell you what happened at my church one day. I had started participating in my church's worship team. I wasn't really part of the team, but would go and help out as needed. One day I said, "I'm not really officially on the worship team." Then the person I was talking to said, "Yes you are, what do you need a written approval?" That was hard to hear but it was true. I was "needing" to be made a fuss over and say, "Here ye, Here ye, Linda is now part of this worship team." Even saying this right now makes me want to laugh or gag!

Then as the weeks went on, I've had many opportunity to exercise this new revelation in my life - that I'm not working for man no matter what it is I'm doing, but for God. He sees every thing I do, He knows my heart and my intent to serve Him and do a good job. I don't have to try to convince anyone - any more. I don't have to justify myself to anyone - any more. Because when we do that, we can lose our peace. Now I'm not saying we don't need to communicate or explain things to people to help with any misunderstandings, I'm saying that I dont' need to tell people everything that is going on in my life or explain why about everything I do, that can become so exhausting.

And when we work for God you can be sure of one thing - you can never fail! We only fail when we do things for man's approval.

HE LEARNED FROM THE BEST by Pete Plitt

There are a couple sayings: "Don't reinvent the wheel" and "Don't fix it if it isn't broken." Apparently the devil retained these concepts after getting booted out from God's presence. He observes God's structure in spiritual and physical laws like, you reap what you sow, and even how within that law, there is a seed time and harvest. Also, like a drop of water on the hardest rock, the devil assumes a patient posture knowing it's only a matter of time before he penetrates our best defenses, or so is his goal.

Having failed in being, ". . .like the Most High," [Isaiah 14:13-14], the devil switched to us as target. With those heavenly lessons in tow, he has built his vile empire of various ranking darkness, using a cunning line upon line set of persuasions at our every turn. Part of our defense is that wonderful armor of God found in Ephesians 6, the truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Word, the Spirit and prayer. Paul was acquainted most closely with Roman soldiers on more than one occasion. He found the parallel of this highly trained and organized military machine his choice of example for us.

When he stated that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, it was more than just stating the obvious that our true enemy was of the spirit world, but that with the exception of God's organization of rank and file, this creature has a system of order, strength and guile that would be the envy of every Roman warrior. That is why, short of our really taking God's armor seriously, we don't have a clue with whom we are dealing.

For the body of Christ, the organization has been set thus: 1Corinthians 12:27-28 "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." Now since the next and surrounding verses indicate that we all don't have the same calling or gift, God has apparently decided to stay sovereignly in charge of who gets what. But there is a need to identify the difference between the appointed positions and the tools necessary to get there. For instance, there is a tongue for personal edification that we can enter into at will, and a tongue with interpretation in a assembly that is as the Spirit wills.

One reason is that the tongue for personal edification, studying to show ourselves approved, fastings, and time we have in worship, are all within our stewardship for the purpose of bring us to a place where we are fit for the Master's use. That is why when we are first faithful to draw near to Him, He can reveal more of Himself to us, consequently revealing more of the parts in us that need work. Part of that revelation is the understanding of and the walking in of that Grace that Paul learned about when a messenger of highest rank and authority sent straight from Satan came visiting. Paul learned a hard, but vital lesson that there was no room for dependance on the flesh, but that the fullest dependancy on Grace alone was his only true strength.

God would never throw a novice into an Apostolic office. His own law of seed time and harvest applies. For instance, isn't it interesting that the very first piece of armor for us to don is having our loins girt about with truth, a defensive piece of armor. This is not our using the Word to chase off some devil, but rather our transition to the Word. Out of Abraham's loins came nations of people. But Paul said we are not fighting flesh and blood. Having our "loins" girt about with truth is keeping our spiritual seed, the words of our mouth, the kind or nature of seed we really want to reproduce. Since God, Who cannot and will not lie, will not be a part of our lies, it is paramount that we "transition" to the place of holiness that God abides. It's not just a matter of being able to trust us, but, again, it's for our own survival.

In looking again at the order God has set in the Church, the Apostle may be the highest office, but tongues is certainly not the least. Of your home that has walls, windows, a roof, etc., the stability of that structure is totally dependent on a solid and true foundation. Tongues is the foundation to every position that follows. For this reason, this is the first front of attack, to get you out of prayer. For those that push on, the devil is waiting to test your honesty in helps, your integrity in governments, your faith in miracles and healing, and your faithfulness as shepherd and overseer.

How he meets this challenge is by setting an order of his own. As counterfeit to God's design, one might say that, "The devil hath set some in his kingdom, first principalities, then powers, next the rulers of the darkness of this world, and finally, spiritual wickedness in high places," [Ephesians 6:12]. The parallel is uncanny. Could it be that the highest ranks of "principalities" that Paul tangled with would be to God's counterpart of Apostle, Prophet and Teacher, the "powers" which enabled the sorcerers of Egypt to turn their staffs into serpents [Exodus 7:11] to most likely be mirrored to the power gifts of miracles and healings, "rulers of darkness of this world" [or this world's system] that orchestrate spiritual blindness to entire nations as side opposite of the organizational gifts of helps and governments, and finally, the close contact "spiritual wickedness in high places" which inhabit the unsuspecting soul in a crude collimate of how the Holy Spirit abides in us, the evidence being tongues? The devil's "light" has certainly gone out, but don't ever let someone tell you that he doesn't know what he's doing. In his own way, he really did learn from the best.

Case in point. At this very moment, there are Christians with sickness, vices, and unforgiveness in there beings. They are very familiar with the truth that sets free from all of the cursed by-products of the fall, yet are still In bondage to these hindrances. After time, with one drop after another of water on that rock of faith and truth, pretty soon a new "reality" is embraced that this must just be our "thorn," or "cross." Having been effectively neutralized by this highly organized lying machine, they succumb to the misrepresentation and don't even know where it came from. It becomes their mission statement that, "When I get to heaven, I'm going to ask God why He never took this problem away from me." Please know this, His response will be something along the line of, "If I could have, I would have." Then the really hard part will begin, that part where He begins to reveal what His amazing plan for our lives was on this earth, that same kind of walk of mercy and power that our bigger Brother demonstrated over 2000 years ago. I suppose it may be after this little talk to which the Bible is referring when He "Wipes away the tears"

Right here, right now is when we get to walk in the victory He has provided, though it is an aquirred taste. After we lay these bodies down, the opportunity to press for the prize, the mark of the high calling [Philippians 3:14] is over. It's like the old story of the young man on his horse. Riders came up from behind him, knocked him to the ground, told him to grab the pebbles on the ground and ride to the east. They said when the sun sets, pull out the pebbles and you will be both glad and sorry. The young man rode until sunset and reaching into his pocket, found that the pebbles had turned into priceless gems. Then the words came back to him and he understood. He was glad that he had grabbed as many as he had, and sorry he had not grabbed more. Grab as many pebbles while you still can.