Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Parable of the Gulf Oil Spill

Joseph Herrin (06-09-2010)

As I arrived at Matthew Washington’s home for the first night of meetings in the Houston area he commented to me that he felt that I would surely say something about the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I told Matthew that I had prepared a presentation just that very day which addressed the spiritual significance of this oil spill.

As I was at my campsite the night before I began pondering this massive oil spill from the British Petroleum drilling platform called The Deepwater Horizon. As I prayed about the message the Father would have me bring to His people I was shown some things relating to the spirit that presides over the area of Houston, TX. What the Spirit of Christ revealed applies to the entire nation of America, though it was revealed through a parable taking place in the waters off of Houston.


















September 2, 2008 Named Tropical Storms

The Spirit of Christ reminded me of the sign that appeared in 2008 as three named tropical storms appeared at the same time in the Atlantic. It is very rare to have three named tropical storms in this area at the same time. Each year the computer at NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, randomly picks names from a database to assign to that year’s tropical storms.

Although these three storm names may appear random, they were perfectly appointed by Yahweh to bring forth a testimony of His work in this hour. Each name relates to the story of a barren woman in the Bible who cried out for God to give her a son, and Yahweh answered her prayer.

Tropical Storm Hanna relates to the story of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. Hannah was barren. Her husband Elkanah had two wives. His other wife Penninah had borne children to him, but Hannah remained barren. Although Elkanah greatly loved Hannah, she was intensely grieved that she had not borne children. One year when she went with her husband to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, she was agonizing in prayer, petitioning God to give her a son. Eli, the High Priest, thinking her to be drunk, scolded her. When Hannah explained she was not drunk, but was in deep distress of soul, Eli spoke a blessing on her that Yahweh might grant her request. The next year she bore a son, and Samuel was dedicated to the service of Yahweh when he had been weaned.

Tropical Storm Ike relates to the story of Sarah, the wife of Abraham. In her old age Sarah gave birth to Isaac, of which the name Ike is a diminutive form. Sarah was ninety years old, and past the age of childbearing when Yahweh performed for her and Abraham that which they could not. He gave them a son to serve as an heir and to provide a godly offspring to continue their name in the earth.

Tropical Storm Josephine relates to the story of Rachel, the favorite wife of Jacob. Rachel also was barren. Jacob’s wife Leah had borne him many sons, and the handmaids of Rachel and Leah had also borne sons. Jacob had ten sons and Rachel remained barren. In her great distress she cried out to God and He answered her. She gave birth to Joseph as the eleventh son of Jacob, and later she bore Benjamin as she was dying.

The message the Father was sending forth through the sign of these tropical storms is that at the end of this age it is time for the church to bring forth mature sons in His image. The church is pictured as the bride of Christ. Yet this bride has not brought forth sons to maturity. She is now in her old age and the time is at hand for the man-child company to be born from her barren womb.

Of the three storms named, the one to have the greatest impact upon the United States was Ike. Ike became a major hurricane and made landfall at Galveston Island, Texas which lies between Houston and the Gulf of Mexico. Galveston was destroyed, and over two million people in the Houston area were left without power. The devastation was widespread.

Although Ike had diminished in strength before landfall, it had the impact of a much more powerful storm due to its colossal size. At one point Hurricane Ike filled up the entire Gulf of Mexico. Following is an enhanced satellite image of Ike shortly before it had reached its full size.





















It was pointed out to me at the time I was doing this study that this enhanced satellite image resembles a sonogram of a baby in the womb. The birth canal would be the opening between the Yucatan Peninsula and Hispaniola. The baby’s head is beginning to be put in position for birth. The Gulf of Mexico is the womb.

The Spirit of Christ reminded me of this parable as I pondered the testimony of the current oil spill, leading me to consider another item of news that has been featured in Houston recently. It has been widely broadcast that the largest Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in the nation has been built in Houston, TX. This six story tall (six is the number of the flesh man) abortion supercenter was opened in May, just a short time after the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster began.




















Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic - Houston

As I began putting the presentation together for the gathering in Houston, I did a search of abortion clinics in Houston. I found that the city is peppered with them.















Aalto Women’s Center in Southwest Houston












From the webpage of the Aalto Women’s Center




















Aaron Women’s Center of Houston


















Crescent City Women’s Center



















AAA Concerned Women’s Center
















Houston Women’s Clinic



















Suburban Women’s Clinic of Houston


This is not an exhaustive list of the abortion providers in the city. It is enough, however, to reveal that there is a spirit of abortion that prevails over this region. The natural realm is a parable of the spiritual realm. As terrible as this flux of abortion centers is in America’s fourth largest city, an even greater number of abortions are performed in the following venues.





















The reason that the church has been aborting her offspring is the same as the reason that women abort their natural offspring. A woman who desires the pleasure of intimacy, but does not desire the pain, sacrifice and responsibility of child rearing will cast away the baby growing in her womb as if it were a piece of unwanted fetal tissue. The church likewise enjoys the intimacy of being wed to Christ, but she does not want to experience the pain, sacrifice and responsibility necessary to bring forth sons to maturity. She therefore casts away every maturing son before he can bring her pain.

(Please note that men are just as responsible as women for the sin of abortion. The woman is the one being shown in type here, which is why she is the one in focus.)

In the third chapter of Genesis we are shown a profound spiritual parable. After mankind fell into sin the plan of God to have mature sons in His image did not change. However, there was only one way to bring forth sons in His image. Because of sin, the woman’s pain in childbirth had to be greatly increased.

Genesis 3:16
To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."

The majority of Christians have only seen the natural aspect of these words, and even then they have understood them poorly. Yahweh does everything with great design and purpose. The natural realm is given to reveal spiritual truth. According to type, Adam is representative of Christ. Indeed, the Son of God is called “the last Adam.”

I Corinthians 15:45-48
As it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.

Eve is therefore a type of the Bride of Christ. What Yahweh was testifying is that the only way in which He could bring forth mature sons in His image was to greatly increase the suffering and pains of the church. Even so, the church’s desire will be toward her husband, and He will rule over her.

Yahshua has accepted the suffering of the Bride as His own suffering. He has led the way, revealing the path by which all must become perfected sons.

Hebrews 2:10
For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.

Yahweh desires to bring MANY sons to glory. All of them must be perfected through sufferings.

Philippians 1:29
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake...

The Hurricane that did the most damage to America was Ike. We read the following regarding Sarah, Isaac’s mother.

Isaiah 51:2
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you IN PAIN...

The Spirit is testifying that Yahweh will have sons in His image. Pain is a necessary part of their coming forth to maturity and being revealed to the world. What was Houston’s answer to the pain of Ike? She has built the nation’s largest abortion clinic. She has thereby prophetically symbolized her soul rejecting the necessary pain, sacrifice and selflessness required to produce offspring in Yahweh’s image.

This attitude is clearly reflected in the myriad of churches that dot the landscape of the Houston area. They are pleasure palaces that proclaim a message of ease and comfort, of prosperity and endless physical and material blessing.


























Joel Osteen’s church is in the area, and his message is very evident in his books, preaching, and broadcasts that are watched by millions.

The churches of Houston, and throughout America, are proclaiming that they have rejected suffering. They are rejecting all sorrow, and mourning, and pain. How then can they take up THEIR CROSS and follow Christ? How can they bring forth sons to maturity? The church in America is exemplified by the Great Harlot, Babylon, in the book of Revelation. Of her we read:

Revelation 18:7
To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning ; for she says in her heart, “I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.”

What is this passage saying? The church of the last days refuses to embrace suffering even if it be the only way to fulfill the desire of her Husband to have sons in His image and likeness. Would not a natural king be filled with wrath if his bride continued to sit as his queen, to be a recipient of his seed knowing that he desired sons, but she continually aborted the children growing in her womb? Will not Christ be filled with wrath at the treachery of His bride?

People of God, it is not the prosperity preachers of this world that are the problem. It is the church’s rejection of the disciples’ cross. A sensual body of confessing Christians that refuses the necessary suffering appointed to her by God, has rejected the message of the disciple’s cross while heaping up to herself preachers of ease and comfort.

II Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.

Houston, Texas has been at the forefront of this great parable of the Father. Yahweh has testified of His desire for sons, sons which can only come forth by increasing the pains of the church. The church has rejected this pain and consequently aborts her sons. What is now occurring in the Gulf of Mexico is a testimony of the church’s evil choice. She has chosen death rather than life.





















Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf

Even as the physicians of Houston’s abortion clinics inject toxic chemicals into the womb to terminate the life of the child growing there, so too are toxic chemicals filling the Gulf and killing all life there. A recent article on the Fox News website reported the following:

The oil has reached the shores of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. It has turned marshlands into death zones for wildlife and stained beaches rust and crimson. Some said it brought to mind the plagues and punishments of the Bible.

"In Revelations it says the water will turn to blood," said P.J. Hahn, director of coastal zone management for Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish. "That's what it looks like out here — like the Gulf is bleeding. This is going to choke the life out of everything."


Longtime friends Rancho Moore, of Warner Robins, Ga., and Kirk Darby of Navarre, Fla., drank beer from plastic cups at the Pensacola Beach fishing pier as they watched Gov. Charlie Crist and musician Jimmy Buffett, a son of the Gulf Coast whose songs famously extol beachgoing pleasures, caucus with tourists.


"A way of life is ending here," Darby said.

[Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/04/anger-grows-bp-disaster-reaches-florida-panhandles-beaches-bp-pins-hopes-cap/]

Do you observe the prophetic element in this article? It evokes images of the judgments of God. It speaks of an end of the lifestyle of pleasure. Jimmy Buffett whose songs “extol beachgoing PLEASURES” was present when the person interviewed said “A way of life is ending here.” Yahweh will bring an end to the pleasure of the church. She will be cast upon a bed of suffering. All who joined in her sin will share in her plagues. The chief sin of the Harlot has been that she has continuously aborted her sons by choosing endless pleasure over the necessary pain to bring forth mature sons.

Revelation 18:4-7
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning...”

This is the message of the Gulf Oil Spill that the Spirit has revealed to me. It is a serious message. Go to the news sites and look at the slideshows of the dead pelicans, dolphins, fish, and birds. See how everything is dying. Why is this so? It is because the only way in which the world can be delivered is by mature sons of God coming forth in His image.

Romans 8:19-22
For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

Unless the church embraces the pain of childbirth the creation will perish. Make no mistake, Yahweh will have His sons. The question remains, “Will you be one of them? Or will you be found in the pleasure loving harlot when her plagues are meted out to her?”

The hour is very late. Do not hesitate to decide.

Heart4God Website:
http://www.heart4god.ws

Parables Blog:
www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Worship God Will Not Despise

Joseph Herrin (06-08-2010)

First the Announcements:

Audio Page Has Been Updated:
Some had reported problems listening to, or downloading, the audio files from the recent meetings that have been posted. Ifeanyi Isitor has kindly labored to get these audios posted where all can listen to them. If you have not yet done so I greatly encourage you to begin soon. These messages are the heartbeat of the Father for His remnant of overcomers in this hour. You can find them at the following link:

http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm


Upcoming Meetings Scheduled:
Following are the meetings that are at this time scheduled. If you are able, please make plans now to attend the meetings.

Fort Worth, Texas

Roger Norman will be hosting meetings June 10-12 at his home. Please contact Roger for directions, or to let him know you are coming, at 817-909-0648. Following are the meeting details:

Location:
3204 Sweetbriar Lane
Fort Worth, TX 76109

Dates/Times:

June 10th (Thursday) - Beginning at 6:30 P.M.
June 11th (Friday) - Beginning at 6:30 P.M.
June 12th (Saturday) - 1 P.M.

Mesa, Arizona

These meetings will be hosted in the home of Mike and Kathy Vye on June 18-20. Please contact them for directions, or to let them know you will be coming. These are the only meetings scheduled in Arizona on this trip across the country. You can contact Mike or Kathy at 480-984-9266.

Location:
940 S. 96th Way
Mesa, AZ 85208

Dates/Times:
June 18th (Friday) 7:00 P.M. - 9:30 P.M.
June 19th (Saturday) 9:00 A.M. - Noon,
Break for a meal,
2:30 P.M. - 5:30 P.M.
June 20th (Sunday) 9:00 A.M. - Noon

Apple Valley, California

The Apple Valley meetings will be hosted by Jim and Andrea Bean in their home. The dates of the meetings are set for June 25-27. Please contact Jim or Andrea if you plan to attend. They will gladly give you directions and inform you about accommodations in the area if you have to travel. They can be reached at: 760-946-2371,
or by e-mail at: jimbeanjr@afo.net

Location:
15856 Dale Evans Pkwy.
Apple Valley, CA 92307

Dates/Times:

June 25th (Friday) 7:00 P.M. - 9:30 P.M.
June 26th (Saturday) 9:00 A.M. - Noon,
Break for a meal,
2:30 P.M. - 5:30 P.M.
June 27th (Sunday) 9:00 A.M. - Noon

A Final Note: Some have sent me financial gifts through the mail while I have been traveling. I thank all who have done so with a very grateful heart. My daughter is collecting my mail for me and making the deposits while I am traveling. Her schedule and my own have both been very hectic of late, and as a consequence I have not gotten the address and e-mail information from those who have sent gifts that I might send a thank you note to all who have done so.

My inability to acknowledge gifts in a timely manner weighs on my heart, for I never want to appear ungrateful for all that the saints do in support of this minister and the work I am engaged in. Whether the gift be financial, or whether it be the prayers of those who often lift me up, I am deeply indebted to all whose love for God and the body of Christ have directed them to such sacrifices and labors.

Please accept my great and sincere gratitude. What you have done in secret the Father will reward openly.

The Worship God Will Not Despise


The Father has wonderfully blessed the meetings in Spring, Texas and in Hemphill. Having three days together at each location has truly allowed a family atmosphere to develop as saints are gathered together in the name of Christ to hear from Him and to encourage one another. The Spirit is leading during these gatherings and has been directing me to share a different emphasis on the message of “The Way” that leads to life at each meeting. The last day of meetings in Hemphill was one where the Spirit was speaking to many hearts with visible conviction resulting in brokenness and tears.

Some in hearing of this aspect of these meetings may be uncomfortable at the thought of attending. The church at large emphasizes a “feel-good” atmosphere in the majority of its meetings. There is loud praise, with music and instruments. There is seldom heard a somber message of dying to self, or a call to a wholly surrendered life to be led of the Spirit of Christ in all things. I am reminded of the following Scripture:

Amos 5:23-24
"Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

The Spirit has had me emphasize to His scattered remnant that the purest form of WORSHIP is found in presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice to God that He might reduce our flesh and bring forth a spiritual creation in His image. This is the message of Paul in the following passage:






















Romans 12:1
I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

What is a sacrifice? It is flesh that is put on an altar for the fire to consume it. This is what the apostle declares to be our reasonable and spiritual service of WORSHIP. Present yourself to God that He might purify you. Such an offering He will not despise! As Christ said,

Luke 12:49
“I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!”

Following is an image of the Chandra Nebula from the Hubble Space Telescope. This image reminds me of the verse above.


























Chandra Nebula

Man’s flesh was formed of the dust of the earth, and Christ must purify us by fire. One saint upon hearing me share this during a meeting remembered the occasion when Abraham took his son Isaac to the mount of God to present him as a sacrifice. We read:

Genesis 22:5
And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and return to you."

Abraham was going to slay that which was most precious to him. He was intending to slay his son as an act of obedience to Yahweh. He described this as “worship,” and truly it was. There is no purer worship than is found in the cross we are called to carry. When Yahshua went to the cross He presented to His Father the purest form of worship - an obedience that cost Him His life.

We too are called to follow in the steps of Christ. He is our pattern man.

I Peter 2:21
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps...

Would you be a true worshiper of the Father? Take up your cross. Surrender to walk the afflicted path that alone can produce sons in God’s image. Submit to be led of the Spirit in all your decisions, and our Father will accept what you offer as a fragrant aroma that arises to His nostrils.

Psalms 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Oh to be broken and yielded vessels before an almighty God. Though our way may be sorrow for a season, it will end in life and great joy.

The message of the Father for His remnant in this hour is not one that will attract large crowds. It is a difficult message, but it is the only message that leads to life. The wise will consider that the ways of God are not the ways of man. The soul ever desires comfort, ease and pleasure. Even in the natural world it is well known that such things do not lead to health. How much more in the realm of the spirit?

Solomon proclaimed the following message of wisdom:

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for when a face is sad a heart may be happy. The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.

The Spirit is proclaiming a message of life at this hour. There are few who are drawn to it. It is a message of discipline, of sacrifice, or self-control. The Spirit is urging the saints to embrace hardship now that they might receive an imperishable inheritance.

This life is but a moment. As Jim Elliott said many years ago, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Psalms 126:5
Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

It has been a common experience in these meetings for conviction to come upon the people of God that results in weeping. Such things should not be despised, nor feared by the people of God. If this is the beginning of surrender to the afflicted path God has appointed for the saints, then the outcome will be joyful shouting when the journey is done.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.


Heart4God Website:
http://www.heart4god.ws

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Thursday, June 3, 2010

On the Road with the Holy Spirit - Part Four

Joseph Herrin (06-03-2010)

Important Note: The Hemphill, Texas meetings begin Friday night (June 4th) and run through Sunday morning. My next stop is Fort Worth, Texas. Roger Norman will be hosting meetings June 10-12 at his home. Please contact Roger for directions, or to let him know you are coming, at 817-909-0648. Following are the meeting details:

Location:
3204 Sweetbriar Lane
Fort Worth, TX 76109

Dates/Times:
June 10th (Thursday) - Beginning at 6:30 P.M.
June 11th (Friday) - Beginning at 6:30 P.M.
June 12th (Saturday) - 1 P.M.

On the Road with the Holy Spirit - Part Four

I shared previously concerning some of the difficulties that have arisen as Randy and I have journeyed forth on this trek the Spirit has sent us on. I am reminded of the missionary journeys of Paul, who first set out with Barnabas.

Acts 13:2-4
And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

A very key part of any successful ministry trip is knowing that it is initiated and directed by the Spirit of Christ. Having the assurance of being sent becomes all the more necessary as one encounters trials, obstacles, and difficulties along the way. In the previous post titled Crossing the Stormy Sea it was revealed that Christ repeatedly instructed His disciples to go places only to have some storm arise that made their journey difficult, and at times perilous. The same could certainly be testified of Paul’s missionary journeys.

It is apparent in the passage above that it was the Spirit of Christ that initiated the journey for Paul and Barnabas. The many persecutions, distresses, and difficulties encountered were not the result of being out of the Father’s will. From the beginning of Paul’s conversion it was testified that it was appointed to him to suffer.

Acts 9:15-16
But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake."

Back in 1999 the Spirit spoke to me while I was waiting upon Him to discern His will for my life. He said that He had called me to be “a cutter of grass, for all flesh is as grass.”

Isaiah 40:6-7
A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of Yahweh blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.

He then testified that I must permit Him to cut the grass in my life before He could use me to cut the grass in other people’s lives. I have submitted to this flesh cutting process during the last decade. At this time He is sending me out to encourage others to submit to this necessary flesh cutting in their lives. Although I am being sent out with this message, the process of reducing my flesh continues. It will not be complete until I lay aside this mortal body.

The Father has been testifying to Randy and I through a number of parables. I have shared previously how greatly the Father used the story Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard to speak to me. This book presents an allegory of the afflicted path that all of God’s children must walk if they are to attain to spiritual life. The book begins with Much Afraid dwelling much as a settler in the town of Fearing. The Shepherd calls Much Afraid to venture forth despite tremendous fear in her life.

The book employs the imagery of deer learning to walk over difficult places as a metaphor for the Christian. The main character begins the journey with crippled feet, and stumbles badly. Because she cannot walk with much grace, her way is exceedingly bitter. Over the course of time she grows more sure in her walk, and obstacles and difficulties are passed over much more easily.

Christians who accept the call to discipleship experience very similar things. It is necessary to embrace the walk appointed to by God, accepting it rather than choosing to complain bitterly, or murmur as did the Israelites in the wilderness. As we surrender willingly to Yahweh’s course, we grow in our ability to overcome difficulties. We learn to lean heavily upon our Savior, placing no trust in our human abilities.

As Randy and I have traveled, we have repeatedly observed highway crews, campground personnel, and home and business owners out cutting grass. The unique thing is that our attention is repeatedly drawn to people cutting grass using John Deere mowers of all types and descriptions.





















John Deere Mower at Campground






















Another John Deere Mower


In the book by Hannah Hurnard, the main character makes it to her destination in the mountains of the Lord. She is then sent back to help others to make the same journey. What I have discerned the Spirit to be signifying through these John Deere mowers cutting grass is that He has led me through an afflicted path, just like Much Afraid, the main character of Hannah Hurnard’s book. He is now sending me forth as one who has some experience in the journey to lead others to embrace the path that will result in their flesh being reduced and a spiritual creation arising.

At the same time, there continue to be obstacles in my path for me to surmount. Those who direct others to the narrow path to life must continue to walk it themselves. Randy and I have received many testimonies to this fact.

When we arrived in Spring, Texas after having passed through numerous difficulties, I was led to a specific campground. I had no idea until I registered that the campground had the word Trinity in its name. It was called Trinity Spring Oaks RV park. Below is a picture of the office.




















Address 22014


Note the address next to the door. 22 is a number denoting flesh cutting. 14 is a number signifying transition into a new experience with God. I have written of the symbolism of these numbers elsewhere, and how the Father used them profoundly in my life to testify to these very things.

While in Spring, I was ministering to a group of saints in the home of Matthew Washington and his wife Tonetta.




















Matthew Washington - Our Host in Spring, Texas

We had wonderful meetings there, with a good number in attendance. The message was consistently that there is an appointed path for each individual. Only as we walk the path the Father has chosen for us can we encounter the experiences necessary to conform us to the image of Christ. Only as we take up OUR CROSS daily and follow Christ can we experience those perfectly tailored events that will lead us to crucify the flesh, crush the soul, and allow a spiritual creation to arise. The Spirit was inviting all present to transition into a complete surrender to the path Yahweh has determined for their life.

Another metaphor the Father has been speaking through is that of pioneers. Randy and I have been encountering pioneer symbolism everywhere we go. While holding meetings in Columbia, Missouri, I was struck by all the books on the pioneers that our hosts had on their shelves.




















A small sampling of the many books they had on Pioneers

While staying with David and Donna Miller in Columbia, they took us to a nearby town, and I observed markers for the Lewis and Clark Trail. The Father is calling His people to embrace a pioneering spirit. It is necessary to cast away the security the soul seeks in order to follow the path the Father appoints to us. We must be like Abram and Sarai who accepted the invitation of Yahweh to leave home, family, and all that was familiar, to go to a destination chosen by God.

Matthew Washington has four precious sons whose names are Matthew, John, Mark, and Luke. Mark is eight years old, and immediately befriended Randy and me. One of the last things spoken to me in Spring was by Mark. He said that he thought Randy and I were like Lewis and Clark. I asked him which one of us was whom. He thought for a moment and said to me, “You are Lewis, for he was the one who started first.”

Such statements seem random. It was an unusual comment to come from an 8 year old boy. When Randy and I arrived at our campsite outside Hemphill, Texas the very next day, the comment Mark made came back to me. Our sites were side by side at the junction of two roads on the campground property.




















Lewis and Lunker Lanes

A lunker is a large fish, such as a trophy bass. Randy is an avid fisherman, and I have no doubt that this natural affinity has a fulfillment in his spiritual call. The campground has great fishing, and it was the first thing the owners told us about.

Before passing on to other things, I want to share some of the testimonies of grace we have received amidst our trials. When we were driving into Spring, Texas and my oil pressure gauge dropped to the bottom, I stopped and had the oil changed and a thicker oil added, as well as some oil stabilizer. The bill came to $55.50. The three fives in the cost are a testimony to a fulness of grace. Although my gauge continued to drop after this, I knew the grace of the Father was with us.

While staying in Spring I was seeking the Father to know what I should do regarding this issue. One mechanic had already told me that it might require the engine to be rebuilt to correct the low oil pressure problem. I was led to call a Christian brother I had met at the meetings in Helen, Georgia. Marc Lieberman is a skilled mechanic, and he told me more than once before he left that if I needed anything done to my van that he wished to help me.

I called Marc and described the problem. He shared that because I was not hearing any clanging and tapping when the oil pressure gauge bottomed out that he would advise me to first look at the gauge as it might be defective. I purchased a mechanical oil pressure gauge, which are more reliable than electronic ones, and installed it that day. I then took the van out onto the Interstate around Houston to see what oil pressure readings I would get. Immediately as I got onto the Interstate I looked in front of me and saw the following site:























GRACE Tanker Truck

I am not sure what type of truck this was, but it struck me as an oil truck. To see the word GRACE spelled in large letters as I was seeking the Father on this situation was a great encouragement.

I ran the van up and down the Interstate and the oil pressure, although somewhat low (about 32 PSI at cruising speeds), was not critically low. I felt that it was OK to continue to drive the van onto my next destination. In my van I have a small model ship made of metal with the following inscription below it:

“The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.”

Randy and I drove nearly two hundred miles yesterday with outside temperatures in East Texas of 98 degrees, and even pulling a trailer my van did well. The oil pressure remained steady and the van never ran hot.

There is a vulnerability in a natural sense in following the path the Father appoints to us, but we are ever secure when we stand upon the Rock who goes with us.

Romans 8:34-39
Christ Yahshua is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Yahshua our Lord.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws

Parables Blog:
www.parablesblog.blogspot.com

Mailing Address:

Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063