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December 2008 Monthly Newsletter

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The stock market has plummeted; trillions of dollars have been lost. Why is this important to you and I? It is important because Jesus had more to say about money than He did about heaven or hell. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, whether neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt 6:19-21). This is God's way of telling His elect that we have put our trust in the wrong place.

First, we put our trust in the number of people we could attract to our religious meetings so, like David, we numbered Israel and brought a curse upon the work. Second, we have trusted in our economic might instead of the God who gave it to us. We have gotten our eyes off the treasures of heaven and fixed them on treasures of the earth. Now, before God can fulfill the promise of pouring out of His Spirit upon all flesh He must deal with the idol of our hearts. "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted. and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days" (James 5:1-3).

Prophetically, God has told us that something is going to happen to those who have heaped up treasures in the last days. Thank God He never stopped with the negative; He went on to say in verses 7 and 8, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coining of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh" (James 5:7-8). In no uncertain terms, in these verses. God is saying to His elect, get your eyes on the great harvest of the earth.

If we are not using the wealth and prosperity that God has given us for the reaping of the harvest of the earth, we have missed the purpose of God. If all we are doing is building bigger houses, bigger barns and bigger cars, then we have missed the whole point. The economic pressure of today is God's way of forcing His own to look at this area of ow- lives. God has a harvest that must be reaped or lost, and He has placed the responsibility for that reaping upon His elect.

There are two systems at work in these final days. There is the world system and there is God's system. Therefore, there is an earthly economy and there is a heavenly economy. Banks can fail, stocks can fall, companies and nations can collapse, but God can and will provide in the worst of times for the sake of the harvest. He is the Lord of the Harvest. -But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:19). There is a place in God, when our priorities are right, and our trust is in God's riches in glory by Christ Jesus, where God's provisions come forth supernaturally.

There is no question but what God is using these uncertain times to challenge His Church to trust Him, not only with our lives but also with our money. His message to us today is; stop trusting in earthly investments and uncertain riches, and step into faith. Deuteronomy 8:18 says it all; "But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day." Why does God give power to get wealth? -So that He might establish His covenant in the earth." God is not opposed to His people having wealth, but our priorities must be right; If we are trusting in our wealth, God is going to mess with our wealth.

God wants our heart. His word is, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." If our treasure is in the harvest, then truly we are laying up treasures in heaven. This is the hour of ingathering the time to prove that God is truly our source.

I have just returned from a five nation tour, Israel, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia. I was in these nations for a time of fasting prayer with hundreds of the disciples we have trained and sent into the harvest. I am a first hand witness that the harvest is plenteous and is ready to be reaped, and your sacrificial offering will guarantee that it will be reaped.

God bless you,

His bondservant
B. H. Clendennen