Published Articles - Section 2
Published Articles -
Section 2
Permission to reprint for publication will be granted, if requested and the articles are published in their entirety. Copies of the publication in which article appears would be greatly appreciated. Send it to Pam Clark Ministries, PO Box 883, Grandview, MO 64030-0883. E-mail:pamclark@prophetic.net
I believe that you will find them interesting, and hopefully helpful! God bless you!!!
"The Importance of Making a Stand"
I know someone who is a very good story teller. When he is telling a story you almost forget where you are, and then boom! --the punchline!
As I was pondering a story that he recently told, and thinking about a dear friend of mine who is in the hospital on Christmas day, I began thinking about all the people who are wondering about their lives, including me sometimes!
When you think about events and wonder why in the world something is happening the way it is, you just have to give it to God. You don’t understand, and you don’t like it sometimes, but you still have to just give it to God and just trust.
You can do that when you are living before God the best you know how. That is the First and one of the greatest Commandments--To Love the Lord with all your heart, your mind, your soul and strength. We haven’t even lived until we have done that, and some of the hard places in life require just that!
I came to the realization some time back that if I was doing my best, it was good enough--for God, if nobody else, and He is the bottom line. He is the One to Whom we ultimately answer. He has the power to change things, to open doors, to close doors and to give me the revelations that I need. But my part is to obey the First Commandment, and then all the others as well.
So as I was pondering the hard place that my good friend in the hospital was in, it was as if I heard God say, “Can I tell you a Story?”
“Sure!” I got excited.
It was as if He said, “Once upon a time (or in time), there was a man named Adam. I created this whole world just for him...” And He went on to describe all that He had made in the earth. “And then Adam met this beautiful woman named Eve...” and He gave me that story on how that happened. And then how they had kids, but did not live happily ever after for a while.
But what God did, in this Story, was to take me through every individual’s life.
For you see, the Bible says that “the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with his angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done.” (Matthew 16:27)
Many of you have been in church services where people would stand in line to give their testimonies. There are some really wonderful and inspiring stories! God is an awesome God!
But this was God telling this Story--He was the Great Storyteller. And as He told this Story, I was on the edge of my seat until the story of every last life had been told. Some who appeared to be so insignificant had a very key part to play, and the Story wasn’t finished until every life was told. If one person had been left out, the Story would not have been complete!
I think this was a revelation, to some degree, of how it will happen. Every individual is precious in God’s sight and is important to His Story. We should all be as Jesus who said in Hebrews 10:7: “Then I said, 'Behold, I have come; in the Volume of the Book it is written of Me; to do Your will, O God.' ”
(c) Pam Clark Ministries, Email: pamclark[at]prophetic.net
TO THE HOMEPAGE OF PAM CLARK PROPHETIC MINISTRIES
Life was mine; the tenets of faith were recommended guidelines. I was young, healthy, attractive, smart; the world was my oyster; I could do anything I wanted, so I thought. I went to college and in less than two years had my M.R.S. degree to a man I was convinced could gain the world in the way that I wanted him to.
I assumed we were in agreement about a lot of things and for a while, I think we were; but life's troubles came along and the song and then the lyrics changed. He wasn't playing this "game" anymore. He wanted to be set free.
I had married for life, good or evil; I assumed we were in it "together, forever" as they say. My behavior had not been out of order; my best efforts had gone toward the marriage. I travailed, but the break came anyway. The marriage was over. I cried until I knew I had exhausted my resources. There was nothing left to give.
Since I was suddenly on my own with no real work skills, a friend offered me a job as a cocktail waitress and said she would train me to bartend. "It's good money and a nice clientele. The top businessmen of the city enjoy their drinks here after work, and you'll like it!" And for a while I did.
I got lots of compliments and met a lot of nice and influential people. I was able to pay my bills, and have a good time and happy attitude with many people who had gone through some of the same pain of divorce I had. There was a healing in the shared grief.
I'd like to say I lived happily ever after, but you know that is not what happened. I did meet a lot of influential people. I saw many "deals" made over cocktail napkins. Many other people "solved the problems of the world" over their drinks.
But then these people, big businessmen, attorneys, government and law enforcement people and just the regular people who I shall not name, had lives that were falling apart. People I looked up to, who were supposed to take care of the things of the city and state and government, were doing things and saying things that I knew were wrong.
They were nice people. I knew their backgrounds and training were not that different from mine. Most had probably gone to church as I had. But I saw society frazzling before my eyes. Some knew me in the bar, but not on the street. I thought that was unusual. I was very innocent and naive, but Satan was making his play toward me.
I wondered, what was wrong with these people? Don't they know how to live? I've had heartbreak, but people are still people, why are you destroying ultimately yourselves?
Church at that time seemed to be just for the real "do-gooders." You had to have this real positive attitude all the time or you didn't qualify, or so I thought. And I had found, through my family problems and my personal problems, that this "positive attitude" didn't exist for me 24 hours a day. As I continued to grow older, having that positive attitude one day a week was difficult, so I dropped out of church. I had my excuse.
The crisis for me came when I realized that the leadership of the community was failing. My parents didn't have the answers. My church didn't have the answers. Society didn't have the answers and I saw it falling apart and deteriorating. I got physically sick. I lost my job. I looked into the occult and things didn't get better, they only got worse. It was more broken and phony promises.
I went through several years of deep grief, hearing a lot of lies, that I didn't know were lies at the time. I wondered how society had gotten as far as it did! People wanted my assets, but they didn't really want me. "No man cared for my soul."
God was calling me then, but I didn't know it. I thought the call of God was for a select few. Some seemed to enjoy themselves, but they guarded their turf as any business man would do. I didn't feel called to cut-throat business tactics.
I thank God for a James Robison's ministry that somehow came to me saying I didn't have to give myself to every story that came along. I believed the best in people but was sensing they didn't always mean the best for me. Thank God for James who communicated through a book that I was valuable.
I learned how to say no, but I needed to say yes to something, but still didn't know what that yes was. Finally I met some Christians. There was something strange about these Christians, their story didn't change with the passing winds. That, for me, was curious.
I saw fellowship and affection. That was new, a group of people really respecting one another. Then they said that God had some demands on my life. I started to be spooked, but they said these demands were not grievious. These demands were for my own good.
I had a million and one arguments, but I began to see that they were right. Not only that, there was a Book, called a Bible, that I could read, in a version I could understand, that would tell me the things I needed to know. I didn't have to go to a man. I didn't have to please and appease flesh and blood to get the answers that I needed. How wonderful that was!
I had not just been burned; I was burned out! But God was using all of that to reach me for the work He was calling me to do. This Book had answers not just for me, but for society! There were real answers! It even took care of the real life and death issues. I rededicated my life to Christ.
Later I had to learn the pain of leadership failure in the church, but the Book sustained me through that. The Word called for me to make a difference and the Word was alive in the Form and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. I mattered. I made a difference.
I have value, and so do you, my fellow man. I can love you and it is ok. I don't have to live up to your standards, I can live up to God's standards and that will make a positive difference in all of our lives.
No, I am still not "up" 24 hours a day, but I have life, abundantly in my soul, and you can have Him too. He's in the Book and He will come into your heart to live forever. All you have to do is ask. It's free, no charge. There is an Answer. His Name is Jesus.
(c) Pam Clark Ministries, Email: pamclark[at]prophetic.net
TO THE HOMEPAGE OF PAM CLARK PROPHETIC MINISTRIES
If we knew our unused potential, we might be staggered. But how can we ever know what our abilities are, if we don't make an effort? So often people go through great tragedy to discover the best in them, but I want to say that it doesn't have to be. Oh, it happens, and it is great when something good can come out of evil, but why don't we give life our all to begin with?
We come up with the "I can't's" and the "I couldn't's" and "Who would be interested in me?" but you would be surprised how people are admired for their forthrightness, even if it just seems insignificant to begin with.
I am sure you have worked a jigsaw puzzle at some time or another, and you know that each piece fits together to make the whole picture. Alone, it looks like nothing, mis-shapen and blurry but when put together, it forms a beautiful picture! And if just one piece is missing, the picture is not complete.
The Bible says we are strengthened with might in our inner man by His Spirit. The key to accomplishing great things is to begin with something small and not stopping at that, but continuously give until little becomes much. Perhaps all you can do today is minister to one person, but that may be much in God's eyes, and His heart is moved to favor you because you are being a blessing.
The more you practice doing good, the better you get at it. Today you may pray with a friend and share a Bible verse, next year you could teach Sunday School and then you might find yourself attending Bible School because you feel a tug to do even more!
Today you may care for a child and next year be starting a great Children's Ministry. It could be today that you donate food at the drop off place, in a few months you could be the Shelter's most valuable volunteer, reaping the reward of love from changed lives. There are so many things you can do!
Perhaps you decide to discipline yourself to take a night class or start a home business and then find yourself influential in a place that will minister to others. The Christian is never without gifts!
Maybe all you can do is talk, but if you do that talk in a worthy way, calling shut-ins, visiting in hospitals, you can change a dark and gloomy situation into one of great joy for both of you! You never give without getting something in return if you do it in the right Spirit, for God is Love.
The first of the Ten Commandments says to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5) If we are lazy in our inner man, we fail God! We are not obeying His Commandments.
It may seem like trouble to find out a little information on a few candidates and then make the right vote, but in doing that you will serve a nation of people, yours! If we do not stand up for our Spiritual rights in a world that wants to take them away, we not only cheat ourselves but our children and grandchildren.
What you do today will impact them greatly in the future and your example will stay with them for the rest of their lives. If you do good, chances are they will, too, for they will imitate you.
My prayer is with Paul, "that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height; to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:16-20)
Every great plant begins with a small seed. Are you the planting of the Lord?
Learn to weather the storms and the trials, but stand for what is right and you will be surprised how much your influence causes blessings not only to others, but also yourself, and at the end you will hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Maker!"
(c) Pam Clark Ministries, Email: pamclark[at]prophetic.net
TO THE HOMEPAGE OF PAM CLARK PROPHETIC MINISTRIES
Finally, the man had enough money to go back home and visit his mother who lived in dire poverty. When he went in the house he saw dollar bills on the walls.
"Mother," he cried, "What is this?"
She said, "Oh son, I could tell that you liked the presidents very much, so I put their pictures that you sent me on my wall."
Do you have gifts that you are not using? If someone gave a mother with hungry babies a hundred dollar bill to help her meet her needs, how sad would it be if she believed it when someone told her, "You can't spend that money! It's not real!"
Or what if they intimidated her and said, "You don't know what you are doing! You aren't smart enough to spend that money! You are just going to mess up!"
What a crime, but it is one the devil commits every day with God's people. They do not believe that they are worthy, or able, or sensible enough to use the gifts that He has given them.
Wake up! Realize there is an enemy out there who has come to steal, kill and destroy. God has given gifts to His people for His abundant life. Don't let the devil cheat you out of your blessing and supply and reward.
(c) Pam Clark Ministries, Email: pamclark[at]prophetic.net
TO THE HOMEPAGE OF PAM CLARK PROPHETIC MINISTRIES
Consider the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus revealed to her in famous words that He is the Messiah. Amazed, she ran and spread it to the whole town! The Scripture says that "Many believed because of the woman who testified." (v.39)
And consider her credentials. She had been divorced five times! But now she has the Messiah. He came into her heart and this fed Him!
The other people there said to her, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." And their faith was where it should be, not in her, but in Him!
Jesus offers a lot of respect for women. Many Bible passages bear this out. From the beginning, He said, that God made man (mankind) male and female, and that the two would become one flesh.
Men and women will never be complete one without the other, for that is how they were made. The woman came out of the man, and woman has been giving birth to man ever since! They are a part of one another.
Jesus said that hardness of heart caused most divorces and it wasn't God's will. None the less, He wasn't too quick to throw the divorcees on the garbage heap, either.
We see the example of that in the story of the woman at the well (John 4) as well as the lady caught in adultery (John 8). Jesus offered forgiveness for repentance. He loved this sinful world, and He still does!
Many women ministered to Jesus and traveled with Him as they could. And they learned from Him. Mary Magdalene was just one of many who followed Jesus.
Obviously because of the problems in her life, she first observed Jesus at a distance. But when she saw that He was accessible, and offered healing, she came to Him and was delivered of seven demons that tormented her.
Luke 8:1-3 tells of women who ministered to Jesus, some of them noble women, such as Joanna the wife of Chuza who was Herod's steward! Many people, of high and low esteem, sought to minister to the Lord Jesus Christ and were received by Him.
The Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, had appeal to both women and men in Bible times, and we are still in Bible times! The Proverbs 31 example woman is an active vibrant woman.
She's not a drab little mouse, but she is active in the affairs of her community. Her family is her number one priority, but she is knowledgeable about community affairs and is involved in the marketplace.
There are many passages where we see that Jesus heals and forgives women, as well as men, and He says to each of them, "Go, and sin no more." He wants all of mankind to have productive lives.
The man is to be a spiritual covering for the woman. He is part of the human species that she is to honor, or, to have merited respect. When a woman acts as a man, she loses the spiritual covering that God has provided for her. God meant for men and women to work in harmony together.
Women are not to scorn men or usurp authority over anybody, particularly their husbands, and men are not to go through life not honoring and respecting and caring about women. In Ephesians 5:21, the Bible says we are to submit to one another!
The woman, as well as the man, was created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) Her honor of him balances out the care he is to provide for her. A woman is not to act as if she has dominion over men, for he was created first! Paul wrote in I Timothy 2 that he did "not permit women to teach or have authority over a man, but to be in silence." The word "silence" there in the Greek original text is the same word used earlier in the chapter that is translated "quiet."
It means women should learn in quietness, not noisiness. They can teach, but not as having dominion or authority over men. Women can lead, but decently and in order, as all should, in the Church. God has a plan for mankind, a design.
When a man fails to be a covering for women and provide for his family, he is worse than an infidel, the Scriptures say, or an unbeliever who will not inherit eternal life. A woman who is not faithful to her home is just as evil. Both men and women should fear God, in their respective roles!
The Spirit knew that the woman's "gift" of gab can sometimes have a tendency to undo her. Getting carried away, or having a lack of self-control, can cause her serious problems, as that which happened in the Garden of Eden. She was fooled, but that doesn't make her any less than the man who knowingly sinned. They were both were guilty.
Paul dealt with many problems in the early days of the Church and unruly women was just one of those problems. In the whole counsel of Scripture, it is obvious that Paul did not think women were second-class citizens! Paul (or really the Holy Spirit) just knew that women needed to be corrected as well as the men, and this passage is an area where he addresses another problem in the Body.
Acts 16 tells of Lydia, a merchant woman, a seller of purple, receiving the Spirit of the Lord through the Apostle Paul. "And when she and her household were baptized, she begged, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.'" (v.15) And he did, and a new, notable church formed in her home.
After ministering in Thessalonica, Paul and Silas moved on to Berea where the Word of God was warmly and diligently received. "Many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women, as well as men." (Acts 17:12) There is a place for the obedient woman in the Church. There are many places in the Word where it speaks of women who prophesy. In fact, that is a sign of the last days, as Peter the Apostle quoted on the day of Pentecost! (Read Acts 2:17-18.) How can they do that and be silent?
The Lord Jesus wants to receive all of us as His Bride. Until men and women can receive each other in honor and respect and with their due equality, the Church will never be able to receive the perfect will of God, of being joined together with Him as One.
(c) Pam Clark Ministries, Email: pamclark[at]prophetic.net