O my Strength

O my Strength, I will sing your praises;

for you, o God are my fortress;

you are the God who shows me steadfast love.  Psalm 59:17 ESV

Recently, the Lord gained my attention through this powerful verse. David is under assault from the adversary. Yet the last verse, the “bottom line”, begins ‘O my Strength’! The Lord helped me commit the verse to memory over two days. Try it. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Let Him be your Strength. Repeat the three simple phrases of verse 17 one at a time, over and over again, out loud to Him throughout your day. Sooner or later, the Holy Spirit will have helped you memorize it. Instead of thinking of memorization in a worldly way as some nasty chore to accomplish in your strength; see it as an intimate encounter with the Lord as He helps you with His strength. Memorization through prayer declaration is what the Bible calls “hiding” His word in your heart. You are not repeating the verse to yourself, you are repeating the verse aloud to Him! The more often you repeat a brief passage to Him, you are letting the Holy Spirit plant it securely rooted in your mind so He can bring it back to you just when He knows you need it. He has created your brain, mouth, and ears to operate in such a way that the more you speak Scripture aloud to Him and over yourself, the more His Spirit makes His Word part of you making you more like Christ! So join me this month in hiding and declaring Psalm 59:17 to our loving Lord. Watch how our wonderful Holy Spirit leads and sustains you!

O my Strength!  I just love that declaration! The Lord is my Strength—not me. Isn’t that truth so freeing, so refreshing, so empowering? 

I remember one Saturday afternoon 14 years ago. I was standing in prayer at my seat in the church sanctuary. A prayer team from Texas was teaching on prayer and spiritual warfare to the church I was serving as pastor.  After the final session the leader, Vicky Porterfield, invited us to stand and wholeheartedly ask the Holy Spirit to give us all He wanted to give us. As Vicky came to my seat she put her hand over my forehead, barely touching me, and began to pray for me.  Suddenly, under her hand I felt a sweet, swirling, energy on my forehead and then a surge of power like electricity came up my arms and legs and dropped me in the pew. It was like I was a marionette puppet and somebody came with scissors and cut the strings holding me up. When I hit the pew, my tongue started moving against the roof of my mouth and, shocked, I shut it down! Then, speechless, I sat there as something like a slideshow began running through my mind. Suddenly I saw scenes from the book of Acts and from accounts in John Wesley’s journals of the Holy Spirit moving in the early Methodist revivals in England. I knew God had just touched me with just a very little of His power. In my mind I was crying out to Him, “My God, it’s all true!”  I sat there for one hour in silent awe. Then Vicky encouraged Kim and other leaders to help me get on the floor. For the next hour, waves of joyous laughter came over me.

But, what I remember most is what Vicky prayed over me, “Father, you know how long this man has loved you, yet been striving in the strength of his own power to serve you.  Father, that ends today!” Four days later in my quiet time of prayer, scripture, and journaling, I felt like I heard the Lord say these words in my heart, “Never again will you try to make things happen. From now on, you will wait on me to bring things to you from My unfolding hand. And when I bring them to you, you will step boldly into them. I made you to be My man of action, but you must let me lead.” Fourteen years later I still treasure the memory of that little “love pat” from God. I treasure the gift of tongues and holy laughter and all of it. I know that I know that there is so much more of God for us all to experience.

Most importantly, I am so grateful to our patient, merciful Lord for how He worked in my life in all the years previous to that experience to “set me up”. He gave me deep desire for Him while also allowing me to grow weary in self-striving. He led me to a time when His presence would come rest upon me, so I could come rest in Him. He ushered me away from striving in my strength to do big things for Him. He doesn’t want us to do things for Him; He wants us to do things from Him, by Him. There is a big difference. So many believers and churches are weary and heavy laden because we are doing things that He did not lead us to do; or we are doing things He called us to do in our own resources, not by His Spirit.

Fourteen years later I am still learning to let Him love me and lead me. How about you?

This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit” says the Lord of hosts.

                                                                                                                        Zechariah 4:6 NKJV

In Zechariah’s time, the governor Zerubbabel, was charged with the responsibility of overseeing the rebuilding of the temple. Yet, the Lord spoke a word to him that rings out for all times for all God’s people, especially 2013. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.”  The word “might” means force of arms or wealth. The word “power” means natural talents or abilities.

The Lord calls every believer to rely on the riches, abilities, and leading of the Holy Spirit to do the work He assigns us. So many of us have good intentions to serve the Lord, yet rely on our own resources and abilities. The Lord wants us to let Him lead. He will show us how to use our resources and abilities as long as we are not placing our trust in them. He has so much more for us. Notice that He identifies Himself through Zechariah as the “Lord of Hosts.” This means He is the Commander of all Angel Armies. Whether you are a believer or not, please trust that He loves you more than you can possibly understand. If you have truly surrendered to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are more secure in His protective love than you can possibly feel; and He is calling you to renew His Church and reach the lost in ways that you can’t possibly do on your own. Do not settle for anything less than His love, power, and call on your life. Do not limit yourself by your own understanding or resources. You are very young to the Lord. He is just getting started with you. Do not hunker down. Do not settle in to your present circumstances. Come to rest only under His powerful, guiding Arm. Let Him love you and lead you by the Holy Spirit—with all the help of His Angel Armies!

Right now, ask the Holy Spirit to give you all He wants to give you. Open up to all His power and possibilities. You don’t have to have the same experience I had. You get to have what He wants for you! Of course you cannot do what the Lord is calling you to do! The end of your self-striving is the beginning of thriving by His Spirit. Ask Him to refresh your vision. Stop trying to take things into your own hands. Put your life afresh into His. Jesus says, “I only do what I see My Father doing; I only say what I hear My Father saying.” This describes the life of rest the Lord wants to give you and teach you. Seek out other Christians who are seeking the Lord with all their hearts and seeking to serve Him in the strength of His spirit, not their own power. Invite others around you to come rest from religious self-striving and launch into Spirit-led fruitfulness.

The Lord of Hosts is shaking the earth and awakening His people—even me, even you. Let go. Let’s go.

O my Strength, I will sing your praises;

for you, o God are my fortress;

you are the God who shows me steadfast love.  

Come rest in His love,

Richard Speight 

Fret Not

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him…do not fret—it only causes harm.” Psalm 37:7a,8b  NKJV

I awoke the other morning with worry on my mind. To compound the problem I got down on myself for worrying since I’m the “Come Rest guy.” In my weakness the Holy Spirit prompted me from deep within to simply cry, “Help me Lord.”  I didn’t feel much better, but then I sat down and opened my heart to the Lord in my daily scripture reading plan and found Psalm 37. The first three words were “Fret not yourself”. Wow, nailed by the Lord with His all-knowing love right away. I just stopped, known and loved, to thank Him.

He now had my complete attention so I slowly went through the rest of Psalm 37 line by line letting Him speak to my heart and writing down His counsel to me in my journal. In verses one, seven, and eight He gives three specific “fret not’s”. Throughout the rest of the Psalm He lays out His perspective on our sinful world and nine things He wants us to do with Him instead of fretting. The more I spend my time doing these nine with Him, the Holy Spirit is welling up inside me releasing His perfect love casting out all my fear. Worry is a choice to dwell in fear. Faith is a choice to dwell with Jesus. I can see right now that doing these nine things I won’t have time to dwell in fear, I will be too busy dwelling with Him!

Just a few days into this, I am already more at rest in Him and more fruitful as I’m focusing on His Psalm 37 counsel. One burden has already been lifted off my shoulders. He has been clear with me that I’m not the “come rest guy”—He is. He desires that my only identity is being His beloved child covered by His blood. His beloved imperfect child who gets to help others come rest in His perfect love.

If you are worrying about something, He wants to meet with you in Psalm 37 for a conversation and adjustments. I will have more to say to you as I practice His counsel in Psalm 37. For now, I invite you to open your heart to Him in Psalm 37. I’m not going to tell you the nine things.  Come to Him. Go on a treasure hunt with Him. Go learn from Him the three “fret not’s” and nine ways He wants you to follow Him to leave fretting behind.

Come rest from fear. Stop trying to carry the world on your shoulders. Start letting Him carry you on His. Learn from Him to be empty of fear and full of Him; so you can help others do the same.  Fret not.

Come Rest in His love,

Dick Speight

Stand Up Straight Under the Arm of the Lord

“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17 ESV

There are presently wars and rumors of wars spreading over the earth. Jesus, in Luke 21, said these days would come and told us to stand up straight and look up to Him.  Come rest in the Lord’s strong arms. Come receive His loving instruction on how He wants you to follow Him with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Surrender the heavy false yokes of fear, doubt, grudges, and other sin that are weighing you down. Come to Him and let Him take these things off your shoulders. Then take only the yoke of His Arm around your shoulders. His yoke does not weigh you down, He lifts you up so you can stand up straight. As you do this, the Holy Spirit will pour out of you splashing upon people around you. Then they too might come rest in His love.  We are about to experience both wonderful and challenging times on the earth. Come rest and stand strong, He is with us, even to the close of the age.

At this exact time, April 3—8, many years ago Joshua and all Israel were about to defeat the fortified city of Jericho. The walls came tumbling down because the Lord’s people sought, trusted, and obeyed the Lord’s instructions. This Friday, April 5 at 630pm at River of Life in Cedar Rapids we will gather at our Come Rest Ministries Awakening of Love and celebrate the fall of Jericho and seek the Lord for His instructions to fight spiritual warfare His way so many in our city and nation will be saved. Carol and Mark Blomberg will share music the Lord has led them to compose about trusting and obeying the Lord to defeat our modern “Jericho” so many will come rest in Jesus in these challenging times and be saved. Others are bringing friends who need healing.

I remind you of my friend Seth who just celebrated his 14^th birthday and passed the 4^th anniversary of being paralyzed in surgery upon his legs. I ask you to continue to pray for Seth. The Lord continues to give many of us faith, hope, and love for Seth to be completely healed. We don’t understand why the full healing has not been manifest yet, but the Lord tells us in Mark 11 to have faith to move a mountain we must not doubt and continue to trust to Lord, let go of any grudges we are holding in our heart against anyone, and believe we have received the miracle and it will come on the Lord’s timetable, not ours. When I was with Seth four years ago at the hospital in Minneapolis, I heard the Lord say in my heart, “Tell Seth to ask Me to heal him, trust Me to heal him, and work with Me.” Please pray that Seth will be healed and stand up straight under the Arm of the Lord! Please pray that Seth will follow the Lord’s instructions and also that we in the community of faith will follow those instructions as well. There continues to be great financial costs building up for the family. Their van just failed and had to be junked. With no reserves, they need the Lord to provide them a new van that can work with Seth’s wheelchair. Please agree with me in prayer that a new van will be given to them! We continue to believe for funds which will also send Seth to Project Walk in San Diego for more restoration, until the Lord heals him. Please prayerfully consider sending a financial gift to the Seth Jackson 2CAMiracle Fund.

Make the check out to River of Life Ministries, memo-Seth Jackson Fund and mail your check to:   

 River of Life Ministries

3801 Blairs Ferry Rd 
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402

No matter how immoral our culture becomes, no matter how many dictators rattle their sabers and launch their missiles---the Lord is saying to all of us, “Fear not. Stand up straight. Ask Me, trust Me, work with Me. Seek Me, find Me, follow Me, proclaim Me.” As we follow His instructions, the walls of the enemy will fall and many will come to Jesus and be saved forever!” Christ has died once for all. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

Come Rest in His Love,

Dick Speight

And the Wind Blows

Jesus replied, “ I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” …So don’t be surprised when I say ‘you must be born again’. The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”  John 3:3, 7-8

I received a phone call this week from a new friend in Athens--home of the University of Georgia. In preliminary small talk I joked that her Georgia Bulldogs were pretty rough on my Nebraska Cornhuskers in college football this season! She had initially emailed me through our website. She was traveling and a friend showed her a copy of our first book Come Rest. During her brief stay she read the first one-third of the book and was so deeply moved she wanted to order several copies for people in her church and city. The Lord had touched her so deeply she began quoting passages from the book to me! Wow! She then told me she believed my book carries the Lord’s word for His people at this hour in history. I thanked her for being His further answer to our prayer that He will take our books all over the world like seeds on His winds. How encouraging is our Risen Lord through the Holy Spirit! Isn’t it great when He taps you on the shoulder and reminds you He is alive, in control, and with you! You never know just when and how He is going to move; but always moving He is indeed.

In John 3,Nicodemus, an elder Pharisee, came to Jesus by cover of night. He called Jesus, “Rabbi” showing he came sincerely to be taught. Jesus told him he must be born again by the Spirit, basically blowing Nicodemus’ mind with a truth that could only be realized after Jesus was falsely arrested, cruelly beaten, and unjustly condemned. Nicodemus even stood up and protested the rigged trial that fateful night. But nothing could stop the travesty of human sin and rebellion from playing out because it was all actually the Father’s will. For in that conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus there was no preliminary small talk. After He told Nicodemus the Holy Spirit brings rebirth like the wind, He then said, “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” 

In our murderous, lustful world which so often mocks our holy God--there is not one of us without sin. But, thank you Father for sending Your Son to suffer and die for us all. Thank you Jesus for agreeing to sacrifice Yourself for the sins of the whole world—even me. Thank you for your Blood Covering which dispels all darkness. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to propel the bold preaching of Your Gospel; for inspiring people to pray for me, witness to me, love me toward the day You helped me receive You in my heart—the day you saved me as a youth from a destiny of hell. That day You began patiently and mercifully leading me until the day as a pastor at age 42 I realized my religious striving in the flesh and repented of the man-pleasing ways of the worldly church. That night, under cover of night and the radiant light of Your merciful patience I submitted myself like a child to Your Word; I came and rested at Your feet, and the Winds of Your Spirit have been blowing me away ever since.

Thank you Jesus! You are Risen and Returning soon. We hear You repeating Your last call to the earth before Your return, “ Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”  Lord help us keep speaking and living more fully your Great Invitation to all the earth, one person at a time. Lord, forgive the small talk of my sin nature and actions. Holy Spirit propel me like the wind to declare your big talk—your Gospel.. Help the corrupt to come to you and be grow in Your generous stature like Zacchaeus. Help the sexually immoral receive your forgiveness and freedom from sin's bondage like the woman caught in adultery. Help the religious leaders seek you like Nicodemus and see and serve you like Paul. Help me and everyone else more deeply and continually rest from sin and bear Your real fruit.

Come Holy Spirit. Come quickly Lord Jesus.

Come Rest in His Love,

Dick Speight

Arise and Eat

I awoke recently in the middle of the night and felt the Lord wanted me to sit down and read scripture. The adventures of Elijah came to my mind in 1 Kings 17 and following. I never cease to be amazed through Elijah. Yes, I love God’s mighty power and provision through Elijah with the ravens, the widow & son, and the wonderful defeat of the prophets of Baal However, I am most amazed by what happened after the great victory of God’s fire coming down from heaven. As soon as Queen Jezebel heard Elijah and His God had defeated her prophets she sent a message vowing to kill Elijah. Upon receiving the threat, Elijah was immediately afraid and runs for his life into the wilderness. Amazing! Immediately after God proving His power through Elijah—he is frightened by threat. How strangely comforting.

No matter how much we may walk with the Lord, He knows how weak Elijah, you, and me are and how easily we can frighten under threat. Elijah, down on himself, sits under a broom tree and asks the Lord to take his life because he was obviously no better than his fathers. However, though Elijah gave up on himself, the Lord did not.  As he sleeps an angel of the Lord brings him hot food and cool water, wakes him up, and says, “Arise and eat.” Elijah does so and goes back to sleep. A little later the angel awoke him again saying, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” The Lord knows life is often too much for us. Yet even in the midst of Elijah’s fright, despair, and exhaustion, the Lord invites Elijah to simple obedience. When he trusted and obeyed the Lord he gave the Lord opportunity to strengthen him for a journey to Mt. Horeb in a history changing encounter with the Lord’s still small voice. There the Lord gives him both new wisdom and new assignment that changed the world.

I don’t know what you are going through right now, but the Lord does. No matter how dark things may ever be, cry out to the Lord. Tell Him how you feel. Let sleep restore your body. Arise and eat. Regardless how you feel, trust the Lord is with you and so are His angels. The word “angel” means “messenger”. God sends you messengers who sometimes are supernatural and sometimes are human. Humble yourself. Tell the Lord you know the journey ahead will be too much for you without His help. Let Him and His people help you. Feed on Him through reading scripture with a trusting heart and fellowship with others who are stronger in faith than you are right now. Drink of the Spirit through praying with a trusting heart and worshiping with others who love the Lord. Eat moderate amounts of healthy food. Drink plenty of water. Stop doing what you know is wrong. Keep doing what you know to be right. Wait on the Lord to make things clear before you make big decisions. Choose to come out of a cave of isolation and listen for His whispering voice. You and I are no different than Elijah. One moment we are strong in faith in Him and witness His power. the next moment we are weak and can frighten and give up easily. Yet He knows better than you that you are His mighty man or woman in the making! Never give up, always give your Lord the opportunity to love you and lead you. Pass this word of amazing grace along to others who need it—Arise and Eat!

Come Rest in His Love,

Richard Speight