In the Scriptures in Isaiah 60, God is very interested in our owning and possessing what He has given to us ~ with no lease, no rent, and no borrowing. It completely belongs to you. What God is establishing here is complete ownership with no ties to the lender. This is extremely important because He that the Son has set free is free indeed. Borrowing is the foundational part of financial slavery.
When God dealt with this point in my personal family I knew it would take a miracle for such a thing to happen. Six years ago Sandy and I experienced complete financial freedom from any lender. But then, through temptation, we again entered into financial slavery ~ thinking I needed a credit card for the work of God. I realized that to be truly free it had to be spiritual freedom, and not just an intellectual money management process.
In 2015 God truly made my family and I completely free from any debt, and I realized this was going to happen to our entire church. To some of you this may sound impossible, but it is not only God’s will and possible, it is a miracle that every member of our church is going to experience if they will only believe.
Yes, it all relies on your ability to believe. When Moses was taking the people of Israel to the Promised Land, every child, dog and cat had to make the journey through the Red Sea. They all had to believe.
So it is today. Everyone in our church must believe that God can make them financially free from debt, because this miracle is all inclusive ~ and includes you and me. I know there may be questions that immediately come into your mind: “How is this possible?” “Where is the money coming from?” “Who’s going to win the lottery?” “Who’s going to give it to me?”
It is impossible for anyone of you to calculate the way God is going to do this supernatural miracle. When I was recently on vacation with my family in the Philippine Islands, Timothy Snodgrass and I prophetically poured water out into the ocean. The Lord then spoke to us and said that He will heal us, He will bring the youth that He promised upon us, He will bring revival, and He will bring financial prosperity to all of us. This is God’s word for you!
God’s Genius Is The Simple
When God says, “My ways are not your ways,” it is a revelation that very few really intelligent people have been privileged to see ~ or at least have had the humility to recognize God’s help in their activities. The reason I begin my observations with this statement is because God is so willing to allow anyone to steal His glory, without ever stopping or even hinting that He knows the intentions of their heart.
This is His great wisdom. Of course all of this unseen truth will be later exposed and shouted from the housetop as history records the events. But the real beauty is to see this incredible wisdom of God (which is so special that only the person right next to the miracle can actually observe it), and its full glory.
Now I want to share with you the experience of seeing God’s full glory first hand, and why I recognize it is His genius. Everything I work for intellectually, and also using my upmost skills, is to do something pleasing to the Lord. But what happens when God tells me to do absolutely nothing?
This kind of test was so great upon my intellectual development, that I literally prayed for 10 hours a day just to calm myself and still continue to do nothing. While I was just standing there, I was watching the situation around me get worse and worse, in levels of attacks and reasonings that were constantly stacking up against my forced lack of rationalizing activity.
Suddenly I found myself resorting to the mental simplicity of a little child and trusting in what my heavenly Father said ~ and in nothing else but what He said. This is the genius of the “simple”. What amazes me is as things become more complex around me (and absurdly ridiculous and unbelievable), the more simple becomes my belief that things actually are “possible”. It was at this incredible intellectual apocalypse that I stood there amazed at the Lord’s genius ~ which was displayed with such absolute perfection of wisdom.
The amazing conclusion I get out of this whole experience, is that the God of the universe (who has created the galaxies and all the wonders of outer space) constantly confounds scientists with every new revelation. This God is not teaching us His ways through complexities, but is instructing us through simplicity ~ in the most elegant simple way that even a child can understand.
Your miracle, the huge breakthrough that you’ve been waiting for, is found in simple obedience to His word. And usually He just wants you to do “nothing”.
So Fresh ~ But The Next Day Poison
The fresh icy froth was like fireworks dancing before the audience of my nose. Its freshness had reached its zenith as it was plucked from the bountiful tree and pressed into my glass. My thoughts raced immediately to Christopher Columbus, the great explorer who landed on exotic shores.
He must’ve experienced such freshness in the fruits and exotic delicacies that pleased his palate ~ much different when compared to the preserved food of his ship from Europe. It’s the freshness that is so breathtaking that you find in the whole new experiences in God. This desire for fresh experiences daily in Him has caused me to seek the path that I am on today.
To share or not to share, that is the question that troubles great leaders (and my present company even now) as I looked at the ice cold drink with the strong desire to preserve the remaining half of the luscious freshness in the refrigerator for tomorrow. As I closed the door I enjoyed self-satisfaction in our modern conveniences ~ that they are able to preserve such freshness to be enjoyed the next day.
Without a second thought the next day, I reached into the icebox and pulled out the still beautiful-looking fresh fruit juice and started to drink it. But as soon as the drink hit my palate my entire body screamed “Poison”! I immediately ran to the bathroom and spit it all out and then quickly rinsed, trying to make sure no remnant of what was left was still in my mouth.
Sandy, my delicate sweetheart, rushed into the bathroom and exclaimed, “Richard, what happened?”
“That pineapple juice that was so good yesterday just went bad and tasted like poison!”
Sandy, the experienced farmer’s daughter, then told me, “That was fresh pineapple juice, the real thing. It spoils in just a few hours and you can’t keep it until the next day.”
Sandy then explained profoundly, “It is just like manna in the wilderness. It turned to worms if the Israelites tried to keep it for more than one day.”
I have prayed about this experience now for a few days, mulling it over in my mind. I realized that fresh words of God are so important to be obeyed, consumed, and done in the appropriate time that they are given ~ lest they turn to worms and end up becoming poison in our lives. Many have asked me if there is a price to be paid to reach excellence in Christ Jesus, and I say “Yes, and the price is keep it fresh every day.”
You must obey what the Lord is telling you to do. Don’t think you can preserve it for a later time. Don’t think you can repeat it over and over again ~ which religious people love to do with their vain repetitions. The price of exploring God’s new exciting and exotic horizons is you must live a fresh new word every day.
I have been called with my family to the place of prayer. As soon as the Lord is done with me I will see you!
Behold, All Things Are New
By Richard Gazowsky
There is a fresh wind blowing this New Year. “Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.” Many years ago the Lord showed me this Scripture and said this was a transition that was going to happen in the church, and that we needed to be aware of how dramatic this transition would be.
We are not talking about a change in rulership, but a change in the entire structure of the house. David’s kingdom brought about some changes in the religious practices of Israel that were never repeated until the time of the apostles. What I’m talking about is the tabernacle of David. Only in David’s house was every person allowed access to the presence of God in the tabernacle of David.
The disciples at first to argued against Peter bringing in the Gentiles to worship directly before the presence of God, and having as much access to the Lord as the Jewish nation. The proof that the apostles accepted the Gentiles was the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning the tabernacle of David. Of course it’s constantly referred to in this teaching on the tabernacle that the kingdom of God is invisible and has no physical barriers. But every person ~ man, woman, and child of every nationality would have the same access to the presence of God.
Smart phones have given even the poorest person in the Third World equal access to talk to anyone in the world instantly. So it is in the spiritual world (that every man, woman and child is going to discover beginning with this year), that we all have access directly to God Himself. All of the miracles, all the blessings, and all of the promises in the Bible are accessible to every person in this new year.
What I am seeing in the Spirit might be hard for you to imagine because many of us feel that invisible barriers are blocking us from having full access to God’s path and are impossible to remove. But this is not true. You just wait and see what God is going to do ~ beginning this year!
I will not take time here to describe the hindrances that are put there by the “household of Saul,” but to only say if you see them they are going to be removed without any damage to the remnant of such households. The kingdom of our Lord and Christ must come so changes must occur, and this invisible kingdom is being released even as I speak. You will know it by the signs and wonders that have started to occur around you.
If what I have said excites your spirit, my advice to you is to begin this year in prayer, listening daily for that still small voice inside your spirit ~ the voice of the Holy Spirit giving you daily instructions. This is the action of the new kingdom of our Lord and Christ. Just obey the simple task that He tells you to do and you will enter into that kingdom daily.
I am writing this blog New Year’s Eve morning, excited about what’s just ahead around us ~ as the clock is about to strike 12 midnight!
“Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church”
The Scripture I am quoting in the title means nothing unless it is tested and proven in our church life’s experiences. Of course the “church” is not a building but a collection and family of people that constitute its role in the body of Christ. The testing of the storm waves upon the foundation of the church establishes in our spirits what you and I are at “A Place To Meet Jesus.”
When my mother Marilyn Gazowsky came to San Francisco in 1966 and founded this church, she did it to build a family of Christians that would serve God in purity in the city of San Francisco. At first she rented Grace Cathedral at 21st Street, which could seat nearly 1000 people. Her little church group met on the first three rows of the huge building and that began our church. We used this building for two years.
Then, through a series of miracles, God provided us with a building that used to be Central Baptist Church at 150 Eureka St. Its sanctuary could seat about 250 people and within a few years we were having multiple services on Sunday morning in order to accommodate the crowds that wanted to come to church. Sister Marilyn was a dreamer and she asked me to tag along with her as she dreamed for a new, larger building in San Francisco.
Together we visited many buildings and finally one day Sister Juanita found the El Rey Theater on Ocean Avenue. The building at that time was rated to seat 2200 people in small theater seats. Many in our congregation felt the building was too big for us and we would never fill it. But Sister Marilyn believed. Then God gave her multiple signs that this building was to be our future home for the church in San Francisco. The year was 1977. The miracle happened and God gave us the building we now occupy.
Today we are facing a remodeling project that will affect the entire future of the city of San Francisco because the Lord is giving us a church building that will accommodate the families of San Francisco who desire to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. As I now hold in my hand the first rendering of the plans for our church, my heart is ecstatically rejoicing to God as I look at:
The new multilevel parking lot, the new gymnasium of the new school, the new youth auditorium, the new cafeteria and eating rooms, the new school classrooms, the new office complex, the new television studios and editing suites, the new green room, new space for the stage and truck ramps to load all the equipment for every performance that will be presented on our auditorium stage, and the appropriately accommodating men and women’s bathrooms that are placed strategically around the building.
I am well aware that something this wonderful may look impossible to our humble church in this great city of San Francisco. To the carnal mind it is inconceivable, but in God’s plan it is just normal business. You might hear things contrary to what I have just shared with you, but please listen to me as your pastor. Believe the report of the Lord. Everything that God has promised us SHALL come to pass.
Pastor Richard Gazowsky
The Place Of Perfect Peace
The Lord has been speaking to me about finding the place of perfect peace where your only trust is in the hand of God’s word. This place is so sacred because its only security is found in what He has spoken in your heart. And He said He would do it, though everything around you appears to be opposite and contrary to what God has said!
I was speaking with Brother Gershom Sikaala about the subject of finding this place of perfect peace, and he mentioned to me how in Psalms 106 David said for us to rehearse what the Lord has already done previously in our lives. This exercise is so vitally important to the character of your heart. Because when you entertain the memories of what God has already done, it secures you in the place of perfect peace of knowing what He is going to do in the problem and situation you are facing.
This is the place of perfect peace, the peace that passes all human understanding, where you stand only upon His word. I count the knowledge and revelation of this truth as the most valuable experience I have ever treasured in my heart ~ because it is the security of my thoughts and heart that is based only on His word. I pray that every one of you that is a part of “A Place To Meet Jesus” will also find this place of perfect peace in your heart.
We’re Walking On Water
I am sure one of the most memorable experiences that the apostles had with Jesus was the night they saw Peter walk on water. Of course the first shock was when they saw Jesus come to them in the midst of the storm walking on water Himself! Some of them thought He was a ghost, but Peter called out and asked if he could come and join Him walking on the water.
Even men today with their scientific minds and their ability to invent, would look at a situation like Peter was facing and say, “That’s just crazy! There’s no way you can walk on water!” Yet the miracles from 2000 years ago are just as big miracles if they happened today ~ and they are happening to you and I!
God has spoken to us and promised us as a church that certain things are going to happen in San Francisco. Many of these things look impossible and that there is no way they could occur. But as the pastor of this church and your leader, I have seen Jesus walking through the storm on the water, and I asked Him if I could come and join Him ~ and He said, “Come.”
I am sure Peter had incredible questions come to his mind as he looked at the stormy waves and sea around him. That’s why he started to sink and fear showed across his face. My message to you (and to me) is to not look at the storm around you, and enter into the bubble of peace that God is placing around you with His presence. Stay in that perfect peace and don’t think about tomorrow, or the next day, or the past. Think about right now. What God wants you to do should be your total focus of attention in the day. And when you hear His voice harden not your heart as they did in the day of provocation in the wilderness.
Every single part of your attention must be focused on today. Get His presence to cover you today and get His Spirit around you today. Everything is in this moment, the hour that is present at this time.
“Do you fear God’s goodness?”
By Marilynn Gazowsky
What a strange question to ask ministers. Fear the goodness of the Lord? No, not me.
Then let me ask you, as God asked in Jeremiah 33:8–9, “How would you see your fellow ministers all over the world if you saw them and yourself as God sees you?” The most prejudiced folks in the world are so-called religious people. We know what everyone must do, and who’s headed for hell if they don’t come on board our lifeboat. And if they make one mistake over a cup of coffee, we become the prosecutor, jury, and judge.
Many a servant of the Lord has already repented, made things right with God, and been granted his goodness ~ before we heard the blown-up gossip. And now we have got to bring the object of our complaint to the seat of judgment ~ when they’ve already been to the mercy seat. Now, who needs mercy? You and I who brought up things that God’s goodness has already erased.
Jesus called it one of the signs of the end time, Matthew 24:48–51 ~ “But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, [not with his mouth ~ but in his heart] ‘My Lord delayeth His coming;’ and begin to smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunken [he was overindulgent]; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.” And you know the rest.
Anyway, when one of us makes a mistake we sin against God, not ourselves. The judgment you mete out will be found returning to you again.
Imagine, God said to Jeremiah, “They will all fear the goodness of the Lord.”
America is on the brink of the greatest revival the world has ever known. And God has been cleaning our nation, purifying us, making us ready for His glory through the hard times. God begins the cleaning in His church, in us who love Him. He prunes and chastises His children so we can grow and produce more fruit and be carriers of His light.
Let’s repent and let God clean our hearts and be attentive and ready for what He’s about to do. His plans are intricately perfect, and His goodness is so good that that many will actually fear it! Can you believe His goodness is that good?
“And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against Me. And it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.”
It’s time to get ready, to prepare our hearts for the Lord’s great goodness; to repent and be made brand new ~ ready for what God has designed for us!
Pastor Richard Gazowsky
“Can I Follow You Mom?”
Just a wafer-thin boy, barely 6 or 7 years old, it’s hard to remember when he went to his mom, Sister Marilynn Gazowsky, who was working on her papers. “I just had a dream,” the boy said, “where everybody was caught up to the sky and I was left alone.” Sister Marilynn looked at her son, put her strong arm around him and said, “You’re blessed if God gave you that kind of a dream because it means you’re really special to Him.”As a little boy he knew that his mom was also very special because every time they went to a large meeting she was always on the stage, either speaking to the audience or leading the choir. Sister Marilynn was once sitting in a stadium with over 20,000 people, when the main speaker got up to the microphone and the first thing he said was, “I see that my good friend Sister Marilynn is here.” The little boy beside her was shocked when 20,000 heads turned to look at his mom. “My mom sure is special to everyone,” the little boy contemplated.
This kind of thing happened so often in his life that as he grew the older boy realized if he didn’t want to be seen he would not sit by his mom, because she was recognized everywhere she went. It was like a spotlight was on her all the time. After he had grown more mature, the young man realized that this spotlight was actually the favor of God, and as a man he was facing choices and decisions about how he would spend his career.
His mom wanted him to follow in her footsteps, but this seemed too big of a hurdle for him to cross. He thought his chances of being a successful minister in the city of San Francisco were nearly impossible. But Sister Marilynn had done something that changed the young man’s life forever. She taught him to pray and talk to God ~ and that’s what makes someone special.
It was the greatest lesson he could’ve ever learned, because he later chose to follow his mother’s pathway and pastor the church she founded in San Francisco. And that decision is something the young man has had to face every day of his life since. While Sister Marilynn has now gone to be with Jesus, he suddenly finds himself alone with that important decision. He is still saying, “Can I follow you, mom?”
Just A Word
I must be honest with you today. I am in the most stable condition and place that I have ever been in my entire life. It is the moment when all that you have to trust is only the word of God. If I look back in my own personal history, I realize the only events that I remember with pleasure are when God’s word over my life came to pass.
Last Sunday in church the Lord told me that at His moment He would give me a word for the congregation, and then He told me to sing a song. After that song you heard me give the word. I suddenly felt like I was the father of all of the single young women in our church and God’s word was calling their future husbands. You must know when God gives a word like this, it is surely going to come to pass!
So it is this week. Even though situations that surround us appear to point that everything is against us, it is at this point that we get to stand on God’s word alone. And believe me, standing on His word makes you the most stable person in the world! Jesus spoke to us and said, “My sheep know My voice and another they will not hear.” What this means is that God’s word puts you in a bubble of obedience to just what He is saying.
This bubble or cocoon protects you from all of the words from the outside that would come and try to poison, discombobulate, or confuse that word of God that you were standing on. I want to encourage you today to stand only upon His word. Let the bubble of His presence completely surround and protect you from anything that would try to distract or confuse you from listening to this word of God.
“Heaven and earth shall pass away but not one jot or tittle of His word shall pass away.” Amen and amen!
Pastor Richard Gazowsky
A Place To Meet Jesus 