Spring 1985

Life
Bobbi Adkins

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.”

In Him was life; and the LIFE was the light of men.

We would like to share with you a portion of the blessing God was to all of us during the Easter convention. I suppose one way of saying a lot in fewer words is to say, the Lord condescended to come near to us, and in His nearness, He made a deposit of resurrection life.

The first night of the convention, Brother Earl Rountree from Evangelistic Center in Kansas City, spoke so clearly about the blood of Christ. I believe many were moved upon, as I was, by the Holy Spirit revitalizing the truths of the power of the blood of Christ in a life. He spoke of the scripture from Hebrews 9:14, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

To purge is to take away, to take away even unbelief; God wants to wash away, to purge those things within that are not seen with the eye, that cause one to stumble. When He purchased (redeemed) us, it was by the blood of the Lamb that is without spot or blemish. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground; Able brought of the first of his flock, which was accepted by God because something had to die – pointing toward Calvary.

God is preparing us for the greatest revival the world has ever seen. This can come about because of the power of the blood of Christ to cleanse us. In Luke 1:34, Mary said to the angel, “How can this be?” The answer was, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee, and the holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

God is dealing and will not let us alone because He is purging the Church. Let Him prepare us for Himself.

Friday morning Brother Wade Taylor spoke of the power, or the ability of the presence of God to change a life. As we respond to the anointing (the presence of God) there comes an adjustment within our being towards the Spirit and the power of God. It is good to have an appreciation for the presence of God and to acknowledge and respond to His presence.

He also spoke of the power of God as seen concerning Moses and his rod which turned into a serpent. God is preparing a people for a visitation of His glory. He spoke of John the Baptist in Mark 1:3, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight.” Not John crying, but a voice, the voice of God crying to bring a people to maturity for a purpose; that He might have a voice and prepare a people for the Kingdom of God. A people available to the Lord, as Moses and the burning bush in Exodus 3, who “turned aside to see” and when God saw that he turned aside, God spoke to him. A people available to the Lord so that a prophetic understanding may come from the Spirit of God, the power of God.

In making myself available, there is a warfare – Left to myself, I will cling to my own understanding, tradition, custom, habit, to the thing I would normally do, to what I think. In Psalm 119:25, David says, “My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.” Moses had to turn aside; we have to desire to relate to the presence of God, to His purpose, His desire. “Quicken thou me according to thy word.” As I desire and become available to the Lord, there will come a lifting into an understanding of God’s intention for the age to come, His purposes, where I can be a part of that which He is doing and bringing forth – the Kingdom of God.

We heard of Isaac in the valley of Gerar from Genesis 26:17, “And Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham.” We are encouraged to dig again the wells within that have become stopped by, or filled up with hurts, bitterness, unforgiveness, unbelief, and instead of striving with the conditions, to just dig more wells and partake of the refreshing flow of God that will surely spring up.

I believe that God is increasing our understanding and appreciation for the Body of Christ, and He is thereby causing the opportunities for us to come together to be very rewarding and meaningful.

There were people here from many states, cities and small towns, and other countries, and we appreciate everyone who came. Much of the praying done during the prayer meetings held each morning before the services expressed a real heart-desire for caring for others.

Our desire here at Pinecrest in printing THE BANNER, and in having conventions, and in sharing these meetings with you is that each one of you would be strengthened, encouraged and built up to function in the place where you are, and to fulfill the calling God has for each of us.

The next convention will be during the July 4 weekend, July 4-7. If it is possible for you to be with us we welcome and encourage you to come. The Summer Bible Conference begins immediately after that, providing families with an opportunity to be refreshed spiritually while enjoying the activities available in New York’s beautiful Adirondack Mountains.

In the meantime, may we all grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and may our lives be a witness of His resurrection by giving forth LIGHT and LIFE that can come by abiding in Him. God bless you.