Cutting Edge Ministries

"For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

I knew that from the very beginning this ministry was different than any ministry I had ever come into contact with. Even though I came into it as a baby Christian so to speak, I knew there were things in my life that had to be dealt with only through the cross. How did I know this? It was through my experience with Him.

From the very beginning Christ gives us discernment through the Holy Spirit. I don't believe in this, "he/she has the gift of discernment." It is a gift given to us all. Why would He leave some of us defenseless against the forces of darkness? He wouldn't. Discernment came to us through believing in Jesus Christ. When we allow Him to rule in our lives He will guide us through until our work in this life is over. The conviction we sense from the Spirit when we slip is that discernment. Knowing when the word is spoken through Jesus Christ is discernment. When we're faced with choices discernment comes into play. What is discernment? It is Jesus Christ, Himself. He is the only one that can make the choices we should make and judges the situations we are to judge. Discernment is freely given to us all. Thank God! How do we know our discernment is right? Why through His word, of course. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2Timothy 2:15. When I read that verse I wonder if there is a wrong way of  dividing the word of truth. The answer is yes when we do it our own way to benefit our own agenda. There is no shame when we allow Him to do it all for us. With discernment comes peace. Whenever the Lord reveals something to me and it is followed with peace, then I know it is Him speaking to me. We must firmly stand on that peace and do the thing we know we should do. Otherwise there is no faith. Without faith we cannot please Him. Heb.11:6. In other words, without Jesus Christ as our faith we cannot please the Father. Over the years since I've come back to Him I come to realize one thing, I am nothing without Him. I cannot and will not believe that I can do anything that would bring me rewards. Salvation is free and I truly believe that the rewards awaiting us is also free when we allow Him to do it all in us. He is to have the preeminence in all parts of our lives. Col.1:18. If He is to have the preeminence then we are to die. Watching my older sister dying at the age of 42 from cervical cancer was heart wrenching to all of us. Watching my mother dying of lung cancer at the ripe old age of 80 was also just as heart wrenching. Both women clung on to their lives for as long as they could the best they could. Neither one of them wanted to leave until they knew it wasn't going to do them any good fighting it. Both were prepared and ready to go when it was time. There was no longer any fight left in either one of them. The way we cling to our old nature is very much the same. We hold on and on because it is in our nature not to want to die. However, if our desire is to truly serve the Lord there will come a time when we hold up our hands and say, "Lord, it's your life and you do what you need to do to finish the work." And He will. Yet, we all know that the old nature will rear up its' ugly head again and once more we continue to fight and call on the name of the Lord. As long as we watch and pray and keep our eyes focused on Him, He will finish what needs to be accomplished. It is crucial that we know without Him we can do nothing.

At Cutting Edge the word of God seemed hard. Some wanted to hear more about grace and love and everything else except what the Father really wanted to convey to us. He wanted us to start building on Christ and the Church. God's word to us was hard because man's heart was revealed. Each and every time there was conviction. Conviction was not easily received if we're looking for something that would make us feel good for the day. Yet I stayed because I knew that it was the sweet candy coated word that allowed me to fall away from Him before. I found out that the old saying"truth hurts" was in actuality the relevant truth. It hurts to die and that was something that needed to be done in order for the new man of God to come forth. Christ is waiting for the Church to adorn "Herself". To do so she has to put away the old garments. The Father has given us ample time to watch and pray until He sends His Son to fetch His Bride. Are we watching and praying? How should we watch and pray? We should walk circumspectly that's how we watch. "Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess: but be filled with the Spirit." Eph. 5:14-18. In other words our actions and the way we come across to the world should reveal the Christ that is living in us.We have to live our lives focused on Him and Him alone. I had two experiences the other day that showed me how the old person I thought was dead was very much alive. Both of them was while I was driving home from a rather long day working and babysitting two of my grandchildren. I got caught in the middle of rush hour and nobody seemed to care how they drove or how their driving affected anyone else. A young woman on her cell phone nearly plowed into me as she was turning left into a shopping center. She stopped just a few feet of me to let me go. I looked at her and shouted (with my windows up) "GET OFF THE PHONE!!!!". She didn't hear me or even seem to acknowledge my existence. I was so mad. Then all of a sudden I realized what I'd done and said, "Oh, my God please forgive me, Jesus." I must have said it three times. Then less than one minute later I was sitting at a red light. The light turned green and the woman in front of me started to go then changed her mind and decided she wanted to turn left instead. Of course there was someone right next to her in the left turn lane and she couldn't go anywhere except sit there and wait for them to move. I sat there and got real mad. I couldn't go around her vehicle as there was traffic in the other lane. When it finally cleared I whipped around her and gave her a mean and disgusting look.Then again I realized what I'd done. I knew that it didn't please the Lord. I turned off my Christian music CD and just began to pray. I knew He heard me. So often times I am so full of myself that all I can do is cry out to Him and pray that His peace will settle on me to let me know that all is well. I think of how Peter must have felt each time he denied Christ. How he must have wept bitter tears afterwards. Lk.22:62. Then how he must have felt when he was told how the angel of the Lord sent a special message saying "tell his disciples and Peter" concerning the Lord's resurrection. The feeling of peace and joy that must have filled his heart knowing that the Lord had forgiven him must have renewed him tremendously.

Now we come to prayer. How do we pray? We pray, "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven". Mt.5:10 While we are here we will continue to have struggles within ourselves and I so long for that day when our trials will be over for all of us and we will be with Him. Right now He is just waiting for us to adorn ourselves as His Bride. As John in Revelation 22:20 we should be praying for His coming. Come quickly Lord Jesus.