Leadership Can Usually Interpret by Roberts Liardon
Posted on July 1, 2011
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Roberts Liardon tells us that when there is no interpretation in the congregation, if the leadership will reach out to God, they can usually get it. As the pastor of the church, I can usually get the interpretation of a tongue, whether I’m unctioned to give it or not. I usually get the gist of it and many times I get it word for word. But if I were to interpret all the time, my congregation would never do it. They’d just wait for me to give the interpretation. That’s why I don’t do it all the time.
Sometimes there will come a series of tongues and interpretations, one after the other.
“Well why can’t God say everything all at once?” Because He doesn’t want to.
Roberts Liardon tells us that it’s like when I’m overseas preaching in Russia or in China. When I get up and I say, “How is everybody doing?” the interpreter translates my short sentence and then waits for me to give the next one. The interpreter has to break my sermon down into little sections in order to speak it out accurately to the people. God does the same thing when He’s communicating to His people through the gifts of tongues and interpretation.
Maturity In The Spirit b Roberts Liardon
Posted on June 22, 2011
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I’m so glad that there are men of maturity in the Spirit who can respond properly during a heavenly visitation. In the scriptures, every time angels show up they say, “Fear not!” because most people are overwhelmed by fear and lose it. If an angel appears to you don’t say, “Oh my God, there’s an angel in front of me, what am I supposed to do?” Just cool your jets and say, “What’s up?” Or just stand there and listen to what he has to say.
You can tell Ananias was mature by the way he responded during the visitation. He said, “Here I am Lord!” In other words he was saying, “I’m available! What is it that you want me to do?”
So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”
Acts 9:11-12 (NKJ)
Here in this account of Paul’s conversion experience, we see that he has two visions within the first few hours of his salvation experience.
Roberts Liardon tells us that the one that knocked him off his high horse and the one that brought comfort to him showing that God was going to take care of his blindness.
Roberts Liardon tells us that then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard much about this man. He has done great harm to Your saints in Jerusalem. I hear he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
Tribulation Trouble by Roberts Liardon
Posted on June 14, 2011
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Roberts Liardon tells us that every Christian should have an inner awareness of the future and not just a generic paranoia of end time prophecy.
“Well 666 is here and the government is getting ready to stamp it on our foreheads!”
Maybe so, but the Holy Spirit is planning to have a revival first! Some of these end-time prophecy teachers jump over the work of the kingdom and try to get everyone living in the tribulation before the time!
“Well, we are closer to the tribulation, aren’t we?”
Yes, but why focus on that? We should be focused on getting people saved, building new churches and going to the mission field while we still have time.
“But we should be aware that the Lord is coming!”
Of course! But that should also make us realize that it’s time to get to work. I’d rather be found laboring in the harvest field than looking at the sky through a pair of binoculars!
Roberts Liardon tells us that in verse 14, Jesus said, ” .. and He will glorify Me….” In other words, the Holy Spirit will lift up Jesus. He will reveal Jesus to you and show you how to make Jesus your personal friend. ‘Tor He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you.” (John 16:14)
Jesus and the Little Ones by Roberts Liardon
Posted on June 6, 2011
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Roberts Liardon tells us that as Marietta’s angel was speaking, the guardian angels, with their infants, rose and joined the choir surrounding the angel who held the cross. A great light descended from above and in the midst of the angels was Jesus.
The groups of angels and infants approached Him, and He said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them” (see Matt. 19:14). He moved His hand over them, and goodness, like drops of water, rained down upon them. These infants seemed to drink as if from a fountain of living water. The angels who attended Him began to sing a hymn of redemption, and music arose from every temple in the city. As the music rose, Jesus re-ascended to His place.
Next, Marietta and her angel approached the area where she would see the infants who were just arriving from earth.
Suffering on the Cross
Roberts Liardon tells us that as Marietta looked at the face of the angel who was leading her, she thought the angel looked as if she would weep. Marietta wondered to herself if sorrow could indeed enter Heaven. The angel seemed transfixed by some scene, and she lifted Marietta’s head and pointed to what held her attention.
To Marietta’s great shock, she beheld a vision of the cross upon which Jesus had hung, suffering and dying! There were guardian angels and their infant spirits gathered in a circle, worshiping the Lord in reverent silence. Each infant was brought near the cross, where a stream of light touched them. A heavenly choir began to sing, and the cross and its sacrifice disappeared from view.
Marietta’s angel began to explain to her that the cross was always in the sight of those who had been redeemed, and that it was constantly impressed upon the infants there so that they would fully understand and appreciate the sacrifice of their Redeemer.
My life and ministry by Roberts Liardon
Posted on June 3, 2011
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My life and ministry, I believe, have become examples of what God can do with you, if you will pay the price. The price is total commitment, being totally “sold out,” as it were, to the will of God. Part of that price is praying each day and studying God’s Word. The price requires putting Jesus before absolutely everything else.
Roberts Liardon tells us that first, you must choose whom you are going to serve. You will have to give up everything you have into God’s hands—everything from A to Z and beyond.
Jesus and I are friends. We walk and talk together. When I travel, we get on the plane together. He sits down beside me. He does everything with me.
Roberts Liardon tells us that in the mornings, when I wake, I say, “Good morning, Father. Good morning, Jesus. Good morning, Holy Spirit.” We cannot know the Trinity of the Godhead by our feelings, but rather we learn to know them by the Word of God. Our emotions are fickle; they have been influenced by the environment of this world and by its thinking. They are not dependable. But if we will study God’s Word, we will learn to know God better.
God has a personality. He has emotions. He can be hurt because we have not talked to Him or spent time with Him lately. I have found that He is three things: light, life, and love. God loves people so much that the love simply boils up out of His being.
All throughout the Bible, men have been friends of God. Abraham is referred to particularly as the friend of God. Daniel talked with God. Likewise, you can be a friend of God. When was the last time you said, “God, I love You”? Perhaps that time is overdue. Jesus wants us to be friends with Him. Many people who are His servants are not His friends; to be His friend requires our obedience.
Great Cloud Of Witnesses by Roberts Liardon
Posted on May 24, 2011
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Hebrews 12:1 speaks of a “great cloud of witnesses”:
Roberts Liardon tells us that therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (NIV).
I saw that great cloud of witnesses. They are aware of what the Church is doing spiritually. When I am preaching, for example, they are cheering me on, yelling, “Do this…do that…go!” When “halftime” comes, every one of them hits his knees and begins to pray. Halftime is prayer time. Then they get back up and start cheering again.
It is as though we are in a big game, one that is serious and for real—not a game just for fun! And we have some fans who are cheering us on. They are backing us 100 percent saying, “Go! Go get ’em! That’s right. Go!”
Roberts Liardon tells us that if we clearly understood the Scripture about there being one family in Heaven and earth, we would hear in our spirits what our family in Heaven is saying. If we could hear that “cloud of witnesses,” we would be successful in every area of our lives. To do this, you must enter the realm of the spirit through prayer and time spent with the Lord.
People have asked me from time to time about their own family members who have passed on: “Will I see my cousin when I get to Heaven, and will I know him?” I have been asked if I saw any of my family members who went on before, and I did not. I saw the Lord, angels, and various people. I know who my relatives are, but I did not happen to see them.
Lucifer—The Fallen Angel by Roberts Liardon
Posted on May 19, 2011
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Roberts Liardon tells us that the seraphim are described in Isaiah chapter 6 as having six wings; two cover their faces, two cover their feet, and they fly with the other two. In verse 3, the seraphim stand above the throne of God and cry out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory!” Their purpose is to recognize and proclaim His holiness and His majesty.
In Isaiah 6:1-7, the prophet has a vision of the Lord on His throne, with the seraphim flying about Him, calling out to each other of His holiness. As Isaiah is confronted with his own sinfulness and cries out to God, it is the seraphim that fly to him, bringing a live coal from the altar, and laying it upon his mouth to purge his sin.
Roberts Liardon tells us that at the top of the angelic hierarchy are the chief angels, known as archangels. These angels rule over entire kingdoms. The Bible names three of them: Michael, the prince of Israel, mentioned in Daniel 10:13, 21; Gabriel who stands before God and announced the birth of Jesus to His mother, Mary, in Luke 1:26-38; and lucifer, or “light-bearer,” the angel who mounted a rebellion against God and was cast down from Heaven with one third of the angels.
Ezekiel 28:14-17 gives us a detailed picture of this prince of angels who was the ruler of earth before his fall:
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings (NIV).
Mansions Prepared for Us by Roberts Liardon
Posted on May 10, 2011
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Roberts Liardon tells us that as we walked on through this section of Heaven, which was really like a small town, he saw street signs. We came to one street, the name of which he cannot remember, and we turned right.
We walked up what looked like an unpaved dirt path. Being a small boy, I did what small boys everywhere enjoy doing—I tried to kick up the dirt and make little dust clouds as I walked along. But the path stayed where it belonged! (Whenever I tell this part, the women in the congregation always applaud—they won’t have to dust their furniture in Heaven!)
As we continued up the path, I saw a gigantic house above the trees. Even now, as a grown man remembering that house, I know it was a mansion, and that it didn’t simply look that way because I was a little boy. While I was in Heaven, I saw different kinds of mansions or homes. They all are not the same size, but each seems to fit the desires of the ones who live in them; each one has some of the features that the person who dwells there likes. It is as if there are touches both of Heaven and of earth in them.
Roberts Liardon tells us that Jesus talked to me the entire time we walked up the path toward the house. You see, Jesus is a person. You can talk to Him about everyday issues, and He’ll answer you on your level and according to your understanding, just as He did with me that day in Heaven. He is not only a member of the Godhead who rules and reigns, but He is our friend, too. And you don’t have to make a visit to Heaven to talk to Him, either! He is here with us on earth, and He has told us in Hebrews 13:5 that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Visions For His Purposes by Roberts Liardon
Posted on May 2, 2011
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As I have traveled around the world in the last two decades and studied Church history, it has become apparent to me that more and more Christians are experiencing the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. Many believers tell of dreams and visions about Heaven or hell in books and publications such as Guidepost magazine and the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International’s monthly publication, Voice. Some men of our day report having had more than one vision.
Roberts Liardon tells us that God’s Word goes into detail concerning visions and supernatural dreams, making it clear that they are for today; the testimony of many bears this out. Men and women, throughout history and into the present, have received visions from God, and there are more to come. Yet, there is no way you can earn a vision or have one simply because you choose to have it. I know that nearly every Christian would like to see Jesus or have a preview of Heaven. There seems to be no set criteria for these experiences except the sovereign will of God. He alone determines who will have them.
Much so-called “new age” teaching, I have noticed, seems to emphasize the power of our own choice in having visions, dreams, and supernatural experiences whenever we want, “on demand.” This, however, is wrong; it is not up to us to decide to have a supernatural experience whenever we want. If we try to make something happen, we may experience something supernatural, but it will not be from God. It comes from satan to deceive. Only God decides when and if we will have visions and dreams—we don’t.
Roberts Liardon tells us that primary belief remains that God’s will alone is involved in selecting people for these experiences. I also know it’s not because He favors those selected, but I believe their visions, dreams, and experiences are meant to help further God’s plan on earth in some particular way. Ultimately, I feel He does these things to establish His will and His Kingdom on earth, rather than merely for our benefit or enjoyment. He sends visions for His purposes, by His will.
Visions Are for Today! by Roberts Liardon
Posted on April 25, 2011
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Roberts Liardon tells us that when he was eight years old, my life was, he think, fairly ordinary in most respects. Eight-year-old boys are not consumed with jobs or making a car payment or planning their retirement fund. Instead, their days revolve around school, their friends and pets, their favorite sports and their families. My own life was much the same, living in American’s “heartland.” I enjoyed meeting up with my friends to play sports. The summer I was eight, I remember rushing indoors from a baseball game and hurrying through my chores so that I could get back outside to more baseball! And yet, there are some aspects of my existence that were definitely far from average and certainly out of the ordinary.
When I was eight years old, I visited Heaven.
“Train Up a Child”
Roberts Liardon tells us that he was born February 14, 1966, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My parents had moved there so that my mother could attend the charter class of 1965 at Oral Roberts University (ORU). I was born while she was attending ORU, and because I was the first baby boy born to a student, I was named Kenneth Roberts Liardon.
ORU Founder and then-President Oral Roberts and his wife, Evelyn, wanted the privilege of helping name the first boy and the first girl who were born to students of what was at that time a new university. I have always been proud of my name because of its origin.
When I was between five and six years old, my father left us and divorced my mother, and I did not see him again for many years. My grandmother, an Assembly of God pastor, then came to live with us. She had pastored for many years alongside my grandfather. Together, they had started more than 20 churches, mainly country Pentecostal congregations, during their ministry together.
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