A black hole experience

Nasa Black Hole Pictures

God, your thoughts are not my thoughts (Isa. 55:8).

What you have planned for me is beyond all I can ask  or imagine (Eph. 3:19–20).

Yet you have also promised to reveal it to me through your Spirit (1 Cor. 2:8–10).

So I open my heart, mind, and life to more of you—to whatever you have for me.

Where there is ongoing fear in my life, please replace it with faith.

Where there is a desire to hold back, give me the strength to move forward.

Where there is a desert, lead me into the Promised Land you have prepared for me.

I embrace that my part is to pray, plan, and most of all seek you.

And yours is to get me where you want me to go (Prov. 16:9 and 19:21).

Wherever that is, that’s where I want to be too. Because there’s no better place in this world or the next than with you (Ps. 84:10).

Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth (especially my little corner of it) as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). ( 1)

Since 1987, 75 million souls in Africa have come to salvation through the ministry of CfaN. Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke says God is ready to pour out the same blessing on the United States.

“We have seen God do so many mighty things in Africa,” he says. “But I know that he is the same God, and He will shake America. America shall be saved. America will be saved, and this is the day of salvation.”

Bonnke isn’t naïve. He knows well the moral issues that America faces—abortion, same-sex marriage and discouragement, among many. He hears the negativity daily about how America has lost its soul.

But Bonnke isn’t buying it.

“This is not the day of damnation; this is the day of salvation,” he says. “Do you know what Satan hates about us as human beings? He hates the image of God in us. He wants to remove it and replace it with his own image. He’s got a big sledgehammer, and he tries to flatten the Spirit of God. So many people suffer under those hammerings of sin, and they don’t know how to help themselves.

“Drug addiction, alcoholism, immorality—it’s blow after blow after blow until the image of God is almost gone. But Jesus intercepted that hammer for us. He stops the devil if we seek refuge in Him. He will deliver you from bondages, compulsions, fears and tears ... only Jesus saves.”

CfaN President and CEO Daniel Kolenda says there is only one thing that can remove the spiritual darkness that has engulfed America.

“The United States will be saved only through a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirt,” he says. “I see the seeds of a movement of evangelism and the Holy Spirit that will sweep across the nation from sea to shining sea. Our nation is in desperate need of revival. The solution won’t come from the White House, and it won’t be fixed through the polls. It will only come from Jesus.”

And Bonnke unashamedly has a word for so-called “Sunday Christians” and backsliders.

“I don’t know why they always have to slide away from Jesus,” he says. “They cheat like the world, tell foul jokes just like the world—everything just like the world. I have a question for them: Why can’t you slide away from the devil? Jesus’ arms are wide open, and He’s ready to save you now.”

So be prepared, get set, go.......

"As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua 1:5b).

A black hole is a place of total nothingness. It's a time in our life when God removes the resources and supports that we normally rely on to feel secure - our careers, finances, friends, family, health and so forth. It is a preparation time.

When you find yourself in a black hole experience, don't just sit and brood. Take stock of your life. Take a look at your relationship with God.

First, ask God if there are any sins, habits, or attitudes that He might be judging in your life. It's important to discern whether the trial we face is the result of God's discipline for our sin?or if it is preparing us for a future leadership role.

Second, when you enter a black hole, don't trust your feelings. Trust God. Your feelings will tell you, "God has rejected you. Abandon hope. He has left you utterly alone." Feelings change; God never changes. Feelings come and go; God is always with us.

Third, remember that your black hole experience is not only intended to refine and define you; it's also intended to influence and change the lives of hundreds or even thousands of other people. Our adversity is not just for us, but others in our sphere of influence.

Fourth, don't try to hurry the black hole process along. Remember, when Joseph was in the depths of the pit, there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't climb out, jump out, levitate out, or talk his way out. All he could do was pray and wait upon the Lord.

Fifth, lean on God. Even when you don't feel like praying, pray. Even when you don't feel like reading His Word, read. Even when you don't feel like singing songs of faith, sing. When you pray, don't just talk; listen. Be silent before Him and listen for His still, quiet voice.

Sixth, be alert to new truths and new perspectives. During a black hole experience, God often leads us to amazing new discoveries. A black hole can be a storehouse of unexpected riches for the soul. (2)

Notes:

(1) Holly Gerth, Opening the Door to Your God-sized Dream

(2) Os Hillman, Today God Is First Volume 2, Deliverance from the Black Hole,

                  

            

Blessings,

Raj Kosaraju