A People for His Praise

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="129a11c3.png"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to the Heart4God Website!"><U><B><IMG SRC="4b55a500.png" border=0 width="90" height="80" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Writings of Joseph Herrin"><U><B>Writings by Date</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id212.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Writings of Joseph Herrin Organized "><U><B>Writings by Topic</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm"><U><B>Audio Files</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id690.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Videos"><U><B>Videos</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id323.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Writings of Others"><U><B>Other Authors</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id324.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id339.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Questions and Answers"><U><B>Q&A</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id328.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Heart4God Email List"><U><B>Heart4God E-mail List</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com"><U><B>Parables Blog</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id306.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="File Downloads"><U><B><IMG SRC="2b264140.png" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <B>A People for His Praise</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="c2827160.png" border=0 width="807" height="22" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Joseph Herrin (8-18-2002)</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Isaiah 62:6-7</div> <div> 6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; </div> <div> All day and all night they will never keep silent. </div> <div> You who remind Yahweh, take no rest for yourselves; </div> <div> 7 And give Him no rest until He establishes </div> <div> And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. </div> <bR> <div> The most ardent desire of every saint should be to satisfy the heart of God. We have not been saved to seek our own desires and will, nor should the saint envision God as existing to meet the longings of their soul. Man was created for God’s pleasure, and it should be the satisfying of the deepest longings of God that occupies the thoughts of the elect and chosen of His kingdom.</div> <bR> <div> Have you considered what it is that the heart of the Father is yearning for in this hour? Are you calling out in prayer, and devoting yourself to seeing His purposes fulfilled in the earth? Are you making yourself an intercessor to see that which God hungers and thirsts after fulfilled? It is only when we die to seeking our own will and aspirations, and only as we become attuned to that for which Yahweh’s heart aches, that we truly begin to enter into heavenly realms. There is no purer example of prayer than that which Yahshua spoke when He uttered the words, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”</div> <bR> <div> When I was a young saint I was focused mainly on what salvation meant to me. I looked at the Father as a giver, and myself as a recipient of His gifts and attention. This is normal, for all babes, whether physical or spiritual, need much attention and caring for. Human babies need someone to attend to all of their needs, or they would perish. When I was a spiritual babe, I was much the same.</div> <bR> <div> It is not the will of the Father that we should always remain as babes. Even as it would be a great absurdity for a fully developed man to still act as a child, so it is in the spiritual realm. Paul spoke of it in this way: </div> <bR> <div> I Corinthians 13:11</div> <div> When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. </div> <div>  </div> <div> Paul is not simply speaking of the natural here. Rather, he is using the natural as an illustration of the spiritual. When we are spiritual newborns, it is acceptable for us to be very needy and demanding of much care. Over time we should mature and begin to exercise our spiritual muscles. Spiritual maturity should be the natural end at which we arrive. The apostle John spoke of this progression in his first epistle.</div> <bR> <div> I John 2:12-14</div> <div> 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake. </div> <div> 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. </div> <div> 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.</div> <bR> <div> John depicts little children as being focused upon their sins being forgiven. They know only elementary principles, and they find much joy and satisfaction in these matters. Young children rejoice in seeing God as their Father. Young men have begun to flex their spiritual muscles and have joy in overcoming the evil one. The word of God has become meat to them, and this meat has made them strong. </div> <bR> <div> Finally, there are the fathers, which represent the state to which we are all called. The Fathers have built upon the former things; their salvation is an established fact, their knowledge of the word of God is sure and has made them strong, and now they have begun to look away from themselves and to lose their spiritual self-focus. They have become aware of the heartbeat of God, the One who is from the beginning, and they have begun to contemplate His will and desire in His creation. These mature ones are marked by an awareness of the purposes of Yahweh. They have united themselves to His purposes and they have begun to stand with Him in seeking to satisfy His deepest longings. Their great and chief aim has become His satisfaction.</div> <bR> <div> About ten years ago the Spirit began to lead me to “grow up” unto the full stature that the Father desires for all of His children. He led me to read two books that brought great light to my heart. The books were by DeVern Fromke and they are titled “Unto Full Stature”, and “God’s Ultimate Intention.” These books were used of the Spirit to begin to overturn my self-focused spirituality, and to become God-focused. Instead of seeing myself at the center of all things, and God existing to meet my needs, I began to understand that He is truly at the center, and I exist to fulfill His longing.</div> <bR> <div> My life didn’t immediately change from one of self-focus to being God-focused, but a steady transformation began to take hold. About eight years ago the Father began to call me to earnest intercession for the body, and this too was a growth process. I started out being focused on the body and it’s needs, and praying for the individual members and for the maturing of the body in general. This was a step away from a self-focus, as it focused on others, yet God wanted to take me deeper still.</div> <bR> <div> After about a year of intercession I began to note a welling up within me to pray for the desire of the Father. I began to consider what He wanted to see birthed in the earth. I contemplated those things that would satisfy His heart, and my prayers changed once again. With great fervency and zeal I cried out for a people to be raised up in the earth that would bring glory to the Father, and truly bring pleasure to Him. Isaiah 62:6, 7 became my theme verses.</div> <bR> <div> Isaiah 62:6-7</div> <div> 6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; </div> <div> All day and all night they will never keep silent. </div> <div> You who remind Yahweh, take no rest for yourselves; </div> <div> 7 And give Him no rest until He establishes </div> <div> And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. </div> <bR> <div> What a joy it was to begin to intercede that the Father’s desire be fulfilled. What a lightness entered my Spirit, as praying His will became my focus. This indeed seemed to me to be the highest and purest realm of the Spirit, to pray that the Father might be satisfied and that His will might be accomplished in our midst, to pray that He might find satisfaction as He looked at His people upon the earth.</div> <bR> <div> Isaiah’s very words in this passage reveal that he has entered into oneness with the desire of the Father. In one line Isaiah states, “I have appointed watchmen”, indicating that it is God speaking, yet in another line we read as if Isaiah is speaking, “You who remind Yahweh, take no rest for yourselves, and give Him no rest.” In the same way the Father desires for His mature saints to enter into a oneness with Him in desiring to see His will accomplished in the earth.</div> <bR> <div> When the disciples asked Yahshua to teach them how to pray, He began by speaking that which should grip the hearts of all of God’s children, seeing the Father’s will accomplished.</div> <bR> <div> Matthew 6:9-10</div> <div> 9 “Pray, then, in this way: </div> <div> ‘Our Father who is in heaven, </div> <div> Hallowed be Your name. </div> <div> 10'Your kingdom come. </div> <div> Your will be done, </div> <div> On earth as it is in heaven.’”</div> <bR> <div> All else should be secondary to this. It is understandable that as spiritual babes that we should be focused upon our own needs, and as young men we should be exhilarated by our victories over the enemy and the stature that we are attaining, but we must go on to fullness of stature. We must attain to fatherhood where we become one with the mind of the Father.</div> <bR> <div> The church age is even now reaching it’s closing moments, and the kingdom age of Christ is upon us. At the end of the church age it is this maturity that the Father is seeking. He longs yet to see His pleasure fulfilled, and to see a people arise who will be a praise in the earth, and who will bring glory to Him as they manifest His glory in the midst of gross darkness. </div> <bR> <div> As I prayed the Father’s will to be done and for Him to know satisfaction among His people, it became evident that there were certain things that were unmet longings of His heart. He longs to have a people who are united in their love for Him, a people that share a deep passion for His Son, and who are led of the Spirit in all things. He yearns for a people of faith, a people who have such an unshakeable confidence in Him that He marvels at their boldness and steadfastness.</div> <bR> <div> This latter characteristic of faith is one that has been impressed upon me time after time as I have prayed. Yahshua expressed the following question that reveals His longing and desire: “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8). The Father and the Son long for a people of faith, but what does this mean, exactly?</div> <bR> <div> In Eden the serpent beguiled Adam’s wife by telling her that God was withholding from her something that was for her good. He led her to believe that by eating of the forbidden fruit that she would be as God, being wise and knowing both good and evil. What was under attack was mankind’s confidence in the character of God and of His goodwill toward them.</div> <bR> <div> From the fall in the Garden, we have a record of God bringing nations and men to places of testing where He desired to see them express faith and confidence in Him, His ability to save them and His desire to do them good. One of the greatest victories in this area was realized when Abraham took his son Isaac to the mount to sacrifice him before Yahweh. By his obedient act Abraham proved that he believed that God was a loving and faithful God, and, even if the most tragic event occurred, that Yahweh’s character could still be relied upon.</div> <bR> <div> Hebrews 11:17, 19</div> <div> 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son...</div> <div> 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. </div> <bR> <div> Abraham’s faith was not merely that he believed that God could raise the dead, but that He WOULD raise the dead. Abraham had confidence in God’s love for him, and he knew that the One who said that in Isaac a great nation and people would come forth would not go back on His word. Abraham had faith in the surety of a promise spoken by God. He considered Yahweh to be faithful. For this reason Abraham is called “the father of faith.”</div> <bR> <div> Abraham’s offspring did not always pass this same test. After 400 years of harsh slavery in Egypt they had lost their confidence in God’s love and benevolent desires toward them. Even after they saw God deliver them from their taskmasters, even when they saw Him bring them out with a strong hand, even when the wealth of the Egyptians was plundered, being given to the Hebrews, they still doubted His love for them, and spoke mockingly of it. Having left Egypt, Yahweh led Israel to the Red Sea with mountains on their left and their right, knowing that the Egyptian army would come from their rear and they would have no path of escape. He did this to test them.</div> <bR> <div> Exodus 14:10-11</div> <div> 10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh.</div> <div> 11 Then they said to Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? </div> <bR> <div> We know that God was displeased with this people. Their lack of faith in His character brought Him no pleasure, for without faith it is impossible to please God. In trial after trial this generation failed to demonstrate faith in God’s kind intentions toward them. They denied that which Jeremiah spoke many years later:</div> <bR> <div> Jeremiah 29:11</div> <div> "For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares Yahweh, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”</div> <bR> <div> Because of their lack of faith, this generation died in the wilderness and they were not allowed to inherit the promises of God. We now live in another generation where the hearts of men and women are being tested, and God is once more looking for a people of faith. Christ is about to return and He has asked, “will He find faith on the earth?” In situation after situation the Father is bringing His children to places of testing. Multitudes are failing the test, preferring rather to lean on the arm of man, to return to Egypt, to that which they can touch and feel and see. These shall not enter into the promises of God.</div> <bR> <div> Hebrews 3:12-14</div> <div> 12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. </div> <div> 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. </div> <div> 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end...</div> <bR> <div> Having begun our Christian walk in faith, we must continue in faith. Having started out with assurance of God’s love as demonstrated in the death of His Son, we must remain steadfast in our confidence of this same love. Though persecution, famine, nakedness, the sword, peril, or any other thing come against us, we must believe that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.</div> <bR> <div> The Father is looking for a people in this hour who have an unshakeable confidence in His love toward them. He is looking for a people who will declare, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” He is looking for a people who will follow Him wherever He leads, whether into the fire, or through the flood. He desires to raise up a strong and courageous people who will not shrink back from following Him, but who will do exploits in His name.</div> <bR> <div> For many years I prayed that this people would be raised up, only to see one church after another shrink back when He called them to a path that appeared perilous to them. Yet He will have His desire fulfilled, and the Spirit is indicating that now is the time for this people to be manifested. Now is the hour for the longing of the Father to be accomplished. A people strong and mighty are soon to be unveiled. A people who will be a praise in the earth.</div> <bR> <div> Let as many of those as are mature, who seek the Father’s heart and His satisfaction, travail in this hour to see His kingdom come and His will done in the earth. Now is the time to push forth in the Spirit. A manchild is about to come forth. A nation is to be born in one hour. Jerusalem, the church of the firstborn, is about to be made a praise in the earth. You who are watchmen, give Him no rest, and take no rest for yourselves until it is accomplished.</div> <bR> <div> May He be satisfied as He looks upon His people!</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>