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Dear All,
This scripture below is a teaching on how Christ begins the conversion process of one of His Elect:
Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
This verse is directed to sons. They are the Elect. Those who are called but not chosen are not sons.
In the scripture above, the Elect believer has only received the Early Rain. They still need the Latter Rain (baptism of the Holy Spirit) to be converted. When Christ is ready to come to an Elect believer to give them this gift, He will cause them to pray (ask, seek and knock) for it. In response to their prayer, Christ will pour out the Holy Spirit upon them.
This verse applies:
Phil 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
This is exactly what happened to me when Christ poured out the Latter Rain upon me. At that time, I was carnally minded and fallen away but the Lord compelled me to pray for an answer to a question that was consuming me. Then three days after my prayer, Christ answered my question by sending a person to me in the spirit of Elijah. Christ then poured out the Latter Rain upon me so that I could receive His answer. It turned my world upside down. It was a day of spiritual earthquakes, thunder, lightning and trumpets. My sun and moon were darkened and the scriptures suddenly opened up to me. I could then see the Abomination of Desolation that had occurred within me years ago and the Man of Sin was revealed to me. It was the greatest day of my life beyond question.
Below is my conversion testimony from Oct. 8th, 2005. I will have to fit it into an additional post.
Conversion Testimony of Joe & Julie Edwards
In the year 2000, I relocated to Fayetteville, Arkansas with my wife and three sons. We visited many churches during those first years there but we never could find any that seemed to have a real love for the Lord. After our own personal study of the scripture, we decided that we wanted to be baptized in the name of Jesus instead of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit as we had done many years ago. We could not find any churches that would baptize this way until we talked to a friend who went to a Oneness Pentecostal church. They agreed to baptize us in the name of Jesus so we decided to go there and be baptized, even though we were from a Church of Christ/Baptist type background.
Four weeks after we were baptized, my wife was filled with the Spirit at home and started speaking in tongues as she prayed. It was a very powerful experience with her. She spent a great deal of time on her knees in tears, speaking in tongues as she prayed. We didn't really know what to think of it since we came from a church background which denied tongues.
A few weeks went by and she would still go on her knees in prayer every day and the Spirit would speak through her in tongues until one day as she spoke, the words changed into English. We soon realized that she was prophesying in the Spirit. We had never even heard of this gift before and were greatly amazed by it. Over the next year & a half, she received "words" (that is what we call them) from the Lord more than two dozen times. One of the words she received told us that the Lord had great treasure for us if we would continue seeking him.
I will quote it to you:
"I am. I know your heart. Seek Me and I will be found. Look deep into My Word. The truth is not to be given by man but only revealed by Me. It is for those whose hearts desire it above the treasures of this world. You must give up all and treasure you will receive. I am the truth and the only way. I am the Lord."
Julie received this "word" in July 2004. I know what you are thinking - I wouldn't have believed it is real either if someone were to tell me about it happening to someone else. I was not sure whether to believe it or not for a long time. But after a few months, I did come to believe it was really from the Lord because the things she prayed over and received "words" concerning, would come to pass just as she prophesied.
Then on Tuesday, October 4th, 2005, I saw a story on my computer concerning a young Muslim boy (age 12) who had just lived through a recent earthquake in Pakistan. After reading the story, my heart really felt for him and what He had just went through (he lost his parents). That evening in prayer at home, the image of the boy came back to me and I grieved for him as I prayed. I was not grieving for him just because of what he suffered in the earthquake. I was grieving for him because I thought he was going to be eternally lost and that he didn’t have a realistic chance of being saved. I couldn't understand why I had been blessed with the opportunity to know the Lord and why he had virtually no opportunity since he lived in a Muslim country. I asked the Lord why this was the case. I was so confused and couldn't understand why he was most likely going to hell just because of where he had been born.
Almost three days had passed since I had prayed that prayer and I had not given it much more thought. Then on Friday, Oct. 7, 2005, I had some extra time at work so I decided to study "end-time" prophecy on the internet (my great passion). I conducted a google search and a list of websites came up. From the list, I noticed Ray Smith's website called bible-truths.com. I thought it looked interesting so I clicked on it. By the next morning, I had read his Lake of Fire series for a few hours and was now on the fourth part. I couldn't believe what I had been reading but I still felt compelled to continue reading it anyway. Later that same morning (Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005), I took a break from my reading to pray about it. I prayed for the Lord to open my eyes if what Ray Smith had written was true. I then went back to reading and was still on the fourth part when the Lord suddenly opened my eyes. I became overjoyed at the new truth the Lord had just revealed to me! It was joy like I had never felt before in my life.
It was at that moment that I remembered my prayer from earlier in the week concerning the Muslim boy. Immediately, I knew that this new truth which the Lord had just shown me was the answer to that prayer. I was overjoyed again. I then decided to find Julie (she was in the kitchen) and share with her what the Lord had just revealed to me. I explained to her what I had been reading and pointed out the supporting scriptures. Within 30 minutes, she was filled with the Spirit and began praising the Lord because of the new knowledge of the truth which He had just revealed to her, too.
CONTINUED ON THE NEXT POST...
This scripture below is a teaching on how Christ begins the conversion process of one of His Elect:
Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
This verse is directed to sons. They are the Elect. Those who are called but not chosen are not sons.
In the scripture above, the Elect believer has only received the Early Rain. They still need the Latter Rain (baptism of the Holy Spirit) to be converted. When Christ is ready to come to an Elect believer to give them this gift, He will cause them to pray (ask, seek and knock) for it. In response to their prayer, Christ will pour out the Holy Spirit upon them.
This verse applies:
Phil 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
This is exactly what happened to me when Christ poured out the Latter Rain upon me. At that time, I was carnally minded and fallen away but the Lord compelled me to pray for an answer to a question that was consuming me. Then three days after my prayer, Christ answered my question by sending a person to me in the spirit of Elijah. Christ then poured out the Latter Rain upon me so that I could receive His answer. It turned my world upside down. It was a day of spiritual earthquakes, thunder, lightning and trumpets. My sun and moon were darkened and the scriptures suddenly opened up to me. I could then see the Abomination of Desolation that had occurred within me years ago and the Man of Sin was revealed to me. It was the greatest day of my life beyond question.
Below is my conversion testimony from Oct. 8th, 2005. I will have to fit it into an additional post.
Conversion Testimony of Joe & Julie Edwards
In the year 2000, I relocated to Fayetteville, Arkansas with my wife and three sons. We visited many churches during those first years there but we never could find any that seemed to have a real love for the Lord. After our own personal study of the scripture, we decided that we wanted to be baptized in the name of Jesus instead of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit as we had done many years ago. We could not find any churches that would baptize this way until we talked to a friend who went to a Oneness Pentecostal church. They agreed to baptize us in the name of Jesus so we decided to go there and be baptized, even though we were from a Church of Christ/Baptist type background.
Four weeks after we were baptized, my wife was filled with the Spirit at home and started speaking in tongues as she prayed. It was a very powerful experience with her. She spent a great deal of time on her knees in tears, speaking in tongues as she prayed. We didn't really know what to think of it since we came from a church background which denied tongues.
A few weeks went by and she would still go on her knees in prayer every day and the Spirit would speak through her in tongues until one day as she spoke, the words changed into English. We soon realized that she was prophesying in the Spirit. We had never even heard of this gift before and were greatly amazed by it. Over the next year & a half, she received "words" (that is what we call them) from the Lord more than two dozen times. One of the words she received told us that the Lord had great treasure for us if we would continue seeking him.
I will quote it to you:
"I am. I know your heart. Seek Me and I will be found. Look deep into My Word. The truth is not to be given by man but only revealed by Me. It is for those whose hearts desire it above the treasures of this world. You must give up all and treasure you will receive. I am the truth and the only way. I am the Lord."
Julie received this "word" in July 2004. I know what you are thinking - I wouldn't have believed it is real either if someone were to tell me about it happening to someone else. I was not sure whether to believe it or not for a long time. But after a few months, I did come to believe it was really from the Lord because the things she prayed over and received "words" concerning, would come to pass just as she prophesied.
Then on Tuesday, October 4th, 2005, I saw a story on my computer concerning a young Muslim boy (age 12) who had just lived through a recent earthquake in Pakistan. After reading the story, my heart really felt for him and what He had just went through (he lost his parents). That evening in prayer at home, the image of the boy came back to me and I grieved for him as I prayed. I was not grieving for him just because of what he suffered in the earthquake. I was grieving for him because I thought he was going to be eternally lost and that he didn’t have a realistic chance of being saved. I couldn't understand why I had been blessed with the opportunity to know the Lord and why he had virtually no opportunity since he lived in a Muslim country. I asked the Lord why this was the case. I was so confused and couldn't understand why he was most likely going to hell just because of where he had been born.
Almost three days had passed since I had prayed that prayer and I had not given it much more thought. Then on Friday, Oct. 7, 2005, I had some extra time at work so I decided to study "end-time" prophecy on the internet (my great passion). I conducted a google search and a list of websites came up. From the list, I noticed Ray Smith's website called bible-truths.com. I thought it looked interesting so I clicked on it. By the next morning, I had read his Lake of Fire series for a few hours and was now on the fourth part. I couldn't believe what I had been reading but I still felt compelled to continue reading it anyway. Later that same morning (Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005), I took a break from my reading to pray about it. I prayed for the Lord to open my eyes if what Ray Smith had written was true. I then went back to reading and was still on the fourth part when the Lord suddenly opened my eyes. I became overjoyed at the new truth the Lord had just revealed to me! It was joy like I had never felt before in my life.
It was at that moment that I remembered my prayer from earlier in the week concerning the Muslim boy. Immediately, I knew that this new truth which the Lord had just shown me was the answer to that prayer. I was overjoyed again. I then decided to find Julie (she was in the kitchen) and share with her what the Lord had just revealed to me. I explained to her what I had been reading and pointed out the supporting scriptures. Within 30 minutes, she was filled with the Spirit and began praising the Lord because of the new knowledge of the truth which He had just revealed to her, too.
CONTINUED ON THE NEXT POST...