Romans the eighth chapter is an amazing faith builder. The fact that it was written by one of the foremost faith builders and soul winner other than Jesus Christ makes it doubly more important for the Christian to read. Starting in the 35th verse, he asks "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Throughout the remainder of the chapter, he continues to tell us that NOTHING can separate us from His love. In verse 37, he tells us that in spite of ANYTHING we might face, we are more than conquerors through the One that loves us. Couple this chapter with 1 Cor. 13:8 where Paul declares that the agape love of God NEVER fails and you have an indestructible building block with which to build a strong and joyful Christian life.
As I stated in my previous log, these verses of scripture are merely words that are sweet and lovely until you begin to seriously enter His presence on a daily basis. You HAVE to get to know your Lover. Just knowing about Him and His love is NOT ENOUGH. It is imperative that you make a conscious decision that you are going to know Him and His love first hand by being in His presence. When you do, you begin a journey into the most wonderful of realm that the Christian can possibly experience. To KNOW and EXPERIENCE His love surpasses all the great beauty of the world that HE created. It's depths are certainly unfathomable.
As you delve into the presence of this King of kings and Lord of lords, all other loves begin to fade. Your doubt of His promises begins to be erased even though you see no actual proof that it is coming to pass. A certain swagger comes into your steps as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death on a daily basis. The things that used to confound you and cause you to tremble and quake no longer hold sway over you. A joy that is unspeakable and unflappable begins to carry you through the day. A deep, deep, deep seated knowledge that God has it all under control begins to invade your secret parts. You begin to walk in His love that You KNOW will never, never fail.
To the things that once confounded you and brought you anger and fear you say, "You're not so tough. Your days of moving against me are coming to a close. God said so." The people that used to get under your skin no longer cause you to cry and quake. You realise that God IS greater than they are and that their sway over you is only temporary.
It is then that you begin to realise, also, that nothing can separate your unsaved loved ones from His love either. Even though they walk in sin and cause you grief, an inner well of living water begins to spring up that cries out, "God, love them into submission and into a relationship with You."
The agape love of the Creator God never fails. Spend some time with HIM. Instead of talking your head off to HIM, give HIM some time to love on you. Worship HIM through the choruses that are dear to you. Wait upon HIM and just let HIM hold you for a while. As HIS love becomes real to you, your doubts and fears will automatically fade away. A quiet faith and trust in HIM will begin to prevail in your spirit. As your trust builds, you will begin to see His hand softly and gently moving those immovable hindrances that have caused you grief. Sometimes it will be people and sometimes it will be things. The most important thing you need to remember is that God is rearranging things so that He and you can love on each other better. THAT is HIS most important desire.
Pass this on. It is important to someone today.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Know the Father and You Know Your Future
This morning, I was meditating on the past two month's prayer message of abiding in Jesus and abiding in His word (John 15). From the depths of my spirit came the title of today's blog, "Know the Father and You Know Your Future." Everyone is interested in knowing what their future is, but is anybody interested in knowing our Heavenly Father.
There is a vast difference in knowing about somebody and actually knowing them personally. Many people claim to have a knowledge OF God and never really get to know Him. Because people only know OF God, He gets blamed for a myriad of things including: storms, death, sickness, poverty and every one of the ills of life. To begin with, those actions are not the handywork of our God. They are the byproduct of a selfish relationship with evil itself, Satan. Look for yourself at the first couple of chapters of Genesis and show me where God CREATED any of these malicious things. You would have to lie about it to tell me. It was when sin began to dominate man's actions that God's protective covering over man was taken away and hurtful things came. It wasn't God doing it at all. Man chose to live in sin and according to Dt 28, sin brought all the manifestations of evil. Thank God that His Son, Jesus Christ, died for our sins and paved the way for a new and loving relationship between man and His Creator.
1 John 4:16-And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. The Apostles and their followers began to turn the world around for the name of Jesus because they knew and believed how much God loved them. They didn't have great seminaries to go to. They did not have millions of books to read. They did not even have access to the jillions of Bibles that we have access to today. Outside of Jesus Christ, they did not have great examples to follow and mimick. What they did have, though, was a red hot prayer life. They spent hours at a time in God's Holy Presence. It was such an important part of ministry, that the early church had to create the office of deacons so that the Apostles could spend their time enhancing their relationship with God. They saw that as one of the most important parts of building the body of Christ.
How many of us can say today that we 'know and believe the love that God has for us?' Before we can go very deep into the subject, let's talk about something simple. For example, most of us have NO problem at all believing that we are going to Heaven one day to be with Jesus forever and ever. We believe in the New Jersulem, streets of gold and gates of pearl. None of us sit around and worry and fret about how will we get there, when will we get there, just exactly where is it or any other doubtful thought. We just KNOW AND BELIEVE that God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us so we could go to Heaven and be with Him. To us it is just that simple.
However, when it comes to believing God for revival, salvation for our loved ones, healing for our bodies, or finances to build the kingdom we come up with all of the vague ambiguities about how it might not happen. God might not like us. God might not want our loved ones saved. God might not want to heal us. God might just want to keep us poor and sick to teach us some lesson. Where is your scripture for all of this mullarky? Preachers and seminary professors, you don't have any scriptures for it. You may twist and tear and create your own doctrine, but the Word of God is explicit. However, today's blog is not to argue the Word of God. It is simply to provoke a relationship with Him.
When you throw your questions and ifs and buts down and begin to fall in love with HIM, when you become so malcontent with just knowing ABOUT God and get down to the business of knowing Him personally, your questions begin to change. Your arguments begin to be pointed at the established religions instead of our Loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As you grow to love and actually KNOW, and BECOME ACQUAINTED with a very personal Savior, your questions melt away in the chasm of His love and grace. A boldness in the Word of God begins to form way down inside. You begin to doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs instead of the other way around.
As you throw yourself into the loving arms of Jesus and decide to stay there, you begin to wonder, "Why haven't I been told about this place in Christ before?" Actually you have. You have just always chosen to know about it instead of knowing it as a reality.
Let's ask the right questions. Can anybody or anything keep God from taking a believer to Heaven? Your answer would adamantly be something along the line of----Why that's the MOST absurd question I have ever heard. You would begin to quote scripture and declare God's love to be greater than any hinderance. You would berate your accuser as if he were the most illiterate individual on the face of this earth.
The next right question is, if the same God that is honor bound to take us to Heaven made any other promises, would HE hesitate in any way, shape or form in performing those promises? HIS LOVE would cry out a resounding, NO!
In the small book--A 12-MONTH GUIDE TO BETTER PRAYER--I have been challenged to (John 15) abide in Jesus and abide in His Word throughout the day and not just 10-15 minutes whenever I get a chance. It is making a difference in my approach to the One Who gave His life for me. I see many things differently from the lap of His love. His Word is becoming a stronger light on my future. Do I know which stocks to pick to make a fortune? No and that's not the point. The point is His Love has said that my needs were met according to His riches in glory. I have chosen to know and believe His Love for me. Therefore, I read His Word and know my future. How, where and when He chooses to bring those things to pass are up to Him and His love. As for me, my choice is to abide in His love------stay in His lap----never get out of arm's reach-----always stay close to hear Him say, "I love you."
Come join me in Daddy's lap.
There is a vast difference in knowing about somebody and actually knowing them personally. Many people claim to have a knowledge OF God and never really get to know Him. Because people only know OF God, He gets blamed for a myriad of things including: storms, death, sickness, poverty and every one of the ills of life. To begin with, those actions are not the handywork of our God. They are the byproduct of a selfish relationship with evil itself, Satan. Look for yourself at the first couple of chapters of Genesis and show me where God CREATED any of these malicious things. You would have to lie about it to tell me. It was when sin began to dominate man's actions that God's protective covering over man was taken away and hurtful things came. It wasn't God doing it at all. Man chose to live in sin and according to Dt 28, sin brought all the manifestations of evil. Thank God that His Son, Jesus Christ, died for our sins and paved the way for a new and loving relationship between man and His Creator.
1 John 4:16-And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. The Apostles and their followers began to turn the world around for the name of Jesus because they knew and believed how much God loved them. They didn't have great seminaries to go to. They did not have millions of books to read. They did not even have access to the jillions of Bibles that we have access to today. Outside of Jesus Christ, they did not have great examples to follow and mimick. What they did have, though, was a red hot prayer life. They spent hours at a time in God's Holy Presence. It was such an important part of ministry, that the early church had to create the office of deacons so that the Apostles could spend their time enhancing their relationship with God. They saw that as one of the most important parts of building the body of Christ.
How many of us can say today that we 'know and believe the love that God has for us?' Before we can go very deep into the subject, let's talk about something simple. For example, most of us have NO problem at all believing that we are going to Heaven one day to be with Jesus forever and ever. We believe in the New Jersulem, streets of gold and gates of pearl. None of us sit around and worry and fret about how will we get there, when will we get there, just exactly where is it or any other doubtful thought. We just KNOW AND BELIEVE that God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us so we could go to Heaven and be with Him. To us it is just that simple.
However, when it comes to believing God for revival, salvation for our loved ones, healing for our bodies, or finances to build the kingdom we come up with all of the vague ambiguities about how it might not happen. God might not like us. God might not want our loved ones saved. God might not want to heal us. God might just want to keep us poor and sick to teach us some lesson. Where is your scripture for all of this mullarky? Preachers and seminary professors, you don't have any scriptures for it. You may twist and tear and create your own doctrine, but the Word of God is explicit. However, today's blog is not to argue the Word of God. It is simply to provoke a relationship with Him.
When you throw your questions and ifs and buts down and begin to fall in love with HIM, when you become so malcontent with just knowing ABOUT God and get down to the business of knowing Him personally, your questions begin to change. Your arguments begin to be pointed at the established religions instead of our Loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As you grow to love and actually KNOW, and BECOME ACQUAINTED with a very personal Savior, your questions melt away in the chasm of His love and grace. A boldness in the Word of God begins to form way down inside. You begin to doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs instead of the other way around.
As you throw yourself into the loving arms of Jesus and decide to stay there, you begin to wonder, "Why haven't I been told about this place in Christ before?" Actually you have. You have just always chosen to know about it instead of knowing it as a reality.
Let's ask the right questions. Can anybody or anything keep God from taking a believer to Heaven? Your answer would adamantly be something along the line of----Why that's the MOST absurd question I have ever heard. You would begin to quote scripture and declare God's love to be greater than any hinderance. You would berate your accuser as if he were the most illiterate individual on the face of this earth.
The next right question is, if the same God that is honor bound to take us to Heaven made any other promises, would HE hesitate in any way, shape or form in performing those promises? HIS LOVE would cry out a resounding, NO!
In the small book--A 12-MONTH GUIDE TO BETTER PRAYER--I have been challenged to (John 15) abide in Jesus and abide in His Word throughout the day and not just 10-15 minutes whenever I get a chance. It is making a difference in my approach to the One Who gave His life for me. I see many things differently from the lap of His love. His Word is becoming a stronger light on my future. Do I know which stocks to pick to make a fortune? No and that's not the point. The point is His Love has said that my needs were met according to His riches in glory. I have chosen to know and believe His Love for me. Therefore, I read His Word and know my future. How, where and when He chooses to bring those things to pass are up to Him and His love. As for me, my choice is to abide in His love------stay in His lap----never get out of arm's reach-----always stay close to hear Him say, "I love you."
Come join me in Daddy's lap.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven
Ecc 3:1-To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Solomon opened up the third chapter of Ecclesiastes with this statement and went on to list many events of our lives. These include: birth and death, sowing and reaping, laughing and crying, speaking and silence, war and peace and several others. The Bible has several instances where it seems as if God is looking at HIS calendar and HIS watch.
Let's look at how this holds true for Jesus' ministry.
In John 2:4-When Mary told Jesus that the wine was all gone at the wedding, He said, "Mine HOUR is not yet come." He did turn the water into wine on that day, but this statement indicates that He was waiting for a particular moment on that particular day.
In John 7-Jesus' brothers were urging Him to go up to the feast at Jerusalem and show His miraculous powers there. Here again, Jesus says, "My hour has not yet full come." Jesus DID go up to that feast but He waited for a specific moment from His Father.
In Luke 22:53, Jesus told the priests and scribes that had come to arrest Him, "When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness." In Luke the fourth chapter, the priests were so mad at Jesus that they lead him to the edge of the hill and intended on throwing Him to His death. However, Luke tells us that Jesus just walked through the middle of the crowd and went on to Capernaum.
Even the devils know that God is on a time schedule. When Jesus cast out the legion of devils from the man at Gadara, the devils cried out to him in Mt 8:29-And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
In Gen. 17:21, God told Abraham that Sarah would bear him a son "at this set time in the next year." In Gen 18:14, He said, "Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." Gen 21:2 reiterates God's SET TIME for this occurrence.
In Gen. 15:13, God told Abraham that his children would be afflicted for four hundred years in a strange land. In Ex 12:41, on the four hundred and thirtieth anniversary of their entering in to Egypt, God brought them out. The Word of God says, "on the selfsame day."
Let's talk about Jesus. God's Word required a pure lamb to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. Technically, Jesus could have died within minutes of being nailed to the cross. However, God required Him to suffer for six hours. Plus, there were several hours before that where He was beaten with fists, rods and a scourge. Jesus was humbly committed to God's complete time schedule and therefore, enjoyed God's complete blessing for His life. Were His enemies broken on that day or three days later at the resurrection? No. But, in 70 AD, the priesthood was devastated as well as the city destroyed just like God had said. All of it happened in God's timing.
When God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go, God could just as well have broken Pharaoh on that day. Instead, God's timing prolonged their suffering. Why? God could have come down in one fell swoop and destroyed every inhabitant. His people would have been free to pillage the entire town before leaving for the promised land.
We have to remember, in Gen 8:22, God instituted the 'timing' of seedtime and harvest, or reaping what you sow. These Egyptians had sown hardship and sorrow of heart into the lives of God's people. God's Word had faithfully declared seedtime and harvest. Instead of an immediate Exodus, God was obligated by His own Word to reap hardship and sorrow upon the Hebrew's captors.
God's Word is true and He is true to His Word. I have given you just a few examples of God's strict sense of timing. The hard and harsh things that you and I are going through right now DO have an end. I am in the middle of building a bee, butterfly and hummingbird habitat in my back yard. I looked on the back of the pack of seeds and it gives me a time table as to how long it takes for the seeds to pop up out of the ground and how long it takes before each different one comes to bloom. Guess what? None of the information says anything about "when I want to." There is a God-ordained timing element in each different seed. Just as sure as I can count on that pack of seeds to be right, I can count on God making His Word come out right.
Saints of God, it would behoove us to quit striving over 'when this' and 'why that.' God is well aware of what He has promised and is well able to bring it to pass. We have the option of accepting His timing, waiting patiently for Him (Ps 40:1), and praising Him until that day comes. Gal 6:9-And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. In Luke 21:19, Jesus encouraged His disciples, In your patience possess ye your souls. Let's quit giving our souls over to every harsh moment that seems bent on destroying us. Let's give our souls to our Keeper and steadfastly praise Him for the harvest of His goodness that we know is ours.
Pass this on. You'll never know who could use an encouraging word right now.
Solomon opened up the third chapter of Ecclesiastes with this statement and went on to list many events of our lives. These include: birth and death, sowing and reaping, laughing and crying, speaking and silence, war and peace and several others. The Bible has several instances where it seems as if God is looking at HIS calendar and HIS watch.
Let's look at how this holds true for Jesus' ministry.
In John 2:4-When Mary told Jesus that the wine was all gone at the wedding, He said, "Mine HOUR is not yet come." He did turn the water into wine on that day, but this statement indicates that He was waiting for a particular moment on that particular day.
In John 7-Jesus' brothers were urging Him to go up to the feast at Jerusalem and show His miraculous powers there. Here again, Jesus says, "My hour has not yet full come." Jesus DID go up to that feast but He waited for a specific moment from His Father.
In Luke 22:53, Jesus told the priests and scribes that had come to arrest Him, "When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness." In Luke the fourth chapter, the priests were so mad at Jesus that they lead him to the edge of the hill and intended on throwing Him to His death. However, Luke tells us that Jesus just walked through the middle of the crowd and went on to Capernaum.
Even the devils know that God is on a time schedule. When Jesus cast out the legion of devils from the man at Gadara, the devils cried out to him in Mt 8:29-And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
In Gen. 17:21, God told Abraham that Sarah would bear him a son "at this set time in the next year." In Gen 18:14, He said, "Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." Gen 21:2 reiterates God's SET TIME for this occurrence.
In Gen. 15:13, God told Abraham that his children would be afflicted for four hundred years in a strange land. In Ex 12:41, on the four hundred and thirtieth anniversary of their entering in to Egypt, God brought them out. The Word of God says, "on the selfsame day."
Let's talk about Jesus. God's Word required a pure lamb to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. Technically, Jesus could have died within minutes of being nailed to the cross. However, God required Him to suffer for six hours. Plus, there were several hours before that where He was beaten with fists, rods and a scourge. Jesus was humbly committed to God's complete time schedule and therefore, enjoyed God's complete blessing for His life. Were His enemies broken on that day or three days later at the resurrection? No. But, in 70 AD, the priesthood was devastated as well as the city destroyed just like God had said. All of it happened in God's timing.
When God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go, God could just as well have broken Pharaoh on that day. Instead, God's timing prolonged their suffering. Why? God could have come down in one fell swoop and destroyed every inhabitant. His people would have been free to pillage the entire town before leaving for the promised land.
We have to remember, in Gen 8:22, God instituted the 'timing' of seedtime and harvest, or reaping what you sow. These Egyptians had sown hardship and sorrow of heart into the lives of God's people. God's Word had faithfully declared seedtime and harvest. Instead of an immediate Exodus, God was obligated by His own Word to reap hardship and sorrow upon the Hebrew's captors.
God's Word is true and He is true to His Word. I have given you just a few examples of God's strict sense of timing. The hard and harsh things that you and I are going through right now DO have an end. I am in the middle of building a bee, butterfly and hummingbird habitat in my back yard. I looked on the back of the pack of seeds and it gives me a time table as to how long it takes for the seeds to pop up out of the ground and how long it takes before each different one comes to bloom. Guess what? None of the information says anything about "when I want to." There is a God-ordained timing element in each different seed. Just as sure as I can count on that pack of seeds to be right, I can count on God making His Word come out right.
Saints of God, it would behoove us to quit striving over 'when this' and 'why that.' God is well aware of what He has promised and is well able to bring it to pass. We have the option of accepting His timing, waiting patiently for Him (Ps 40:1), and praising Him until that day comes. Gal 6:9-And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. In Luke 21:19, Jesus encouraged His disciples, In your patience possess ye your souls. Let's quit giving our souls over to every harsh moment that seems bent on destroying us. Let's give our souls to our Keeper and steadfastly praise Him for the harvest of His goodness that we know is ours.
Pass this on. You'll never know who could use an encouraging word right now.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Psalm 1 Confession of Faith
Memorize Psalm 1 and use it as a faith confession throughout the day and in your worship. Here is the way that I like to confess it.
I am blessed of the Lord because I do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. I do not stand in the way of the sinner. I do not sit in the seat of the scornful.
I am blessed of the Lord because my delight is in the law of the Lord and in HIS law I meditate day and night.
Therefore, I am like a tree that God has planted beside the River of Living Waters. I WILL bring forth my fruit in God's season. My leaf shall not wither and everything that I do will prosper.
Even though I have memorized the whole Psalm, I don't bother with confessing the parts about the ungodly. They are going to have enough trouble as it is.
Be blessed in your confessions today.
I am blessed of the Lord because I do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. I do not stand in the way of the sinner. I do not sit in the seat of the scornful.
I am blessed of the Lord because my delight is in the law of the Lord and in HIS law I meditate day and night.
Therefore, I am like a tree that God has planted beside the River of Living Waters. I WILL bring forth my fruit in God's season. My leaf shall not wither and everything that I do will prosper.
Even though I have memorized the whole Psalm, I don't bother with confessing the parts about the ungodly. They are going to have enough trouble as it is.
Be blessed in your confessions today.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
In the Presence of Mine Enemies
Ps 23:3-He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Ps 23:4-Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Ps 23:5-Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
At this moment in time, it seems like I am surrounded by enemies. No, I am not in Afghanistan. No, I am not preaching on the streets of Mexico or the streets of America. I am not writing this to you from the deepest, darkest jungles of the Amazon or Africa. Those that have chosen to lift up their hands against me are not rapists, thugs, thieves, rebels, murderers or politicians. They call themselves Christians and they are supervisors at work and church leaders. Ironic, isn't it? They call themselves Christians but display characteristics that most sinners don't display. They lie, they steal, they discriminate and cast doubt upon my own Christian character. I do not have these problems with the sinners that I am around.
Does this sound familiar to you? If you are a sincere, born-again, love God with all your heart Christian you will at some time or the other face situations just like this. Why does God lead us in these UNrighteous paths? I thought that the Psalm said that He would lead us in paths of righteousness. Yet, He did.
A couple of years ago, I was agonizing over some ungodly situations and the third verse popped into my spirit. At first, I was angry and cried out to God. "I thought You said You would lead us in a righteous path. This is an ugly path. What's YOUR problem." As I wrestled with the Lord, He began to teach me. First of all, I had to understand that He could see farther down the road than I could. Second, I had to walk by faith and trust that where I was at was His plan for me. Third, and the hardest lesson of all, I was placed in that situation to see if I would act righteously or unrighteously. Would I portray a Godly attitude in this ungodly situation or would I act like a sinner. You might have guessed by now. I was doing one of my best impersonations of an ungodly person. I was huffy, arrogant, pouty and borderline obnoxious. God was running me through this gauntlet to bring these impurities OUT of me, not make them a showcase for everyone to see. Man that hurt. I really wanted God to slap the donkeyfazoo out of my enemies and here He was convicting me instead.
Well, here I am again. But, this time it is worse and coming at me from all sides. Does this sound familiar to you, too? As Joyce Meyers puts it, "New level, new devil." Why does bad stuff happen to good Christians? Why can't God just bring us into His revival power without having to drag us through the thorns, stones and muddy pathways? Why do we have to be surrounded by enemies?
Jesus was surrounded by religious persecutors throughout His entire ministry, but He won. Check out my previous blog. The persecutions DID have an end. God DID glorify Jesus with the fullness of His power. Think about all that Paul went through. He couldn't go anywhere without being derided, stoned, beaten, jailed and/or run out of town. But, in the middle of all of this, God chose to show up time and time again in His glory and power. Souls were saved by the thousands. Churches were built and thrived. In his darkest times, Paul wrote the letters to the churches that still reach the lost today.
Even knowing these things, the pressure can still get to us, can't it. The other day, I was agonizing over the ungodly pressures that I am going through right now. Let me share with you what God pressed into my spirit. As I was reaching out to Him for an answer to the question WHY, His answer was simple. Way down in my spirit came bubbling up, "The times when you are surrounded by enemies are the times when I want to prepare a table before you. I want to bless you in a manner that you cannot bless yourself and I want to show them. That's why I have gathered them together against you." Then, He reminded me of all that Jesus and Paul faced. He reminded me that the heroes of our faith as mentioned in the book of Hebrews had all walked in places where they were surrounded by doubtful situations. But, that was where and when HE decided to show up.
The heavy burden lifted from my soul and I am able to face these things with a joyful and thankful heart. Is it still hard? You bet. But, not as hard as it used to be. I have a deep settled peace that God has something good for me that will bring glory to His name. I am anxious for revival. I am anxious for the lost to come to Jesus. And, I am patiently waiting for Him to get through preparing my table. It is when we are surrounded by enemies that He desires to prepare one for us. As Jesus put it in John 14:1-Let not your heart be troubled.
Ps 23:4-Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Ps 23:5-Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
At this moment in time, it seems like I am surrounded by enemies. No, I am not in Afghanistan. No, I am not preaching on the streets of Mexico or the streets of America. I am not writing this to you from the deepest, darkest jungles of the Amazon or Africa. Those that have chosen to lift up their hands against me are not rapists, thugs, thieves, rebels, murderers or politicians. They call themselves Christians and they are supervisors at work and church leaders. Ironic, isn't it? They call themselves Christians but display characteristics that most sinners don't display. They lie, they steal, they discriminate and cast doubt upon my own Christian character. I do not have these problems with the sinners that I am around.
Does this sound familiar to you? If you are a sincere, born-again, love God with all your heart Christian you will at some time or the other face situations just like this. Why does God lead us in these UNrighteous paths? I thought that the Psalm said that He would lead us in paths of righteousness. Yet, He did.
A couple of years ago, I was agonizing over some ungodly situations and the third verse popped into my spirit. At first, I was angry and cried out to God. "I thought You said You would lead us in a righteous path. This is an ugly path. What's YOUR problem." As I wrestled with the Lord, He began to teach me. First of all, I had to understand that He could see farther down the road than I could. Second, I had to walk by faith and trust that where I was at was His plan for me. Third, and the hardest lesson of all, I was placed in that situation to see if I would act righteously or unrighteously. Would I portray a Godly attitude in this ungodly situation or would I act like a sinner. You might have guessed by now. I was doing one of my best impersonations of an ungodly person. I was huffy, arrogant, pouty and borderline obnoxious. God was running me through this gauntlet to bring these impurities OUT of me, not make them a showcase for everyone to see. Man that hurt. I really wanted God to slap the donkeyfazoo out of my enemies and here He was convicting me instead.
Well, here I am again. But, this time it is worse and coming at me from all sides. Does this sound familiar to you, too? As Joyce Meyers puts it, "New level, new devil." Why does bad stuff happen to good Christians? Why can't God just bring us into His revival power without having to drag us through the thorns, stones and muddy pathways? Why do we have to be surrounded by enemies?
Jesus was surrounded by religious persecutors throughout His entire ministry, but He won. Check out my previous blog. The persecutions DID have an end. God DID glorify Jesus with the fullness of His power. Think about all that Paul went through. He couldn't go anywhere without being derided, stoned, beaten, jailed and/or run out of town. But, in the middle of all of this, God chose to show up time and time again in His glory and power. Souls were saved by the thousands. Churches were built and thrived. In his darkest times, Paul wrote the letters to the churches that still reach the lost today.
Even knowing these things, the pressure can still get to us, can't it. The other day, I was agonizing over the ungodly pressures that I am going through right now. Let me share with you what God pressed into my spirit. As I was reaching out to Him for an answer to the question WHY, His answer was simple. Way down in my spirit came bubbling up, "The times when you are surrounded by enemies are the times when I want to prepare a table before you. I want to bless you in a manner that you cannot bless yourself and I want to show them. That's why I have gathered them together against you." Then, He reminded me of all that Jesus and Paul faced. He reminded me that the heroes of our faith as mentioned in the book of Hebrews had all walked in places where they were surrounded by doubtful situations. But, that was where and when HE decided to show up.
The heavy burden lifted from my soul and I am able to face these things with a joyful and thankful heart. Is it still hard? You bet. But, not as hard as it used to be. I have a deep settled peace that God has something good for me that will bring glory to His name. I am anxious for revival. I am anxious for the lost to come to Jesus. And, I am patiently waiting for Him to get through preparing my table. It is when we are surrounded by enemies that He desires to prepare one for us. As Jesus put it in John 14:1-Let not your heart be troubled.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Come Out A Winner
Romans the 6th chapter talks about us being buried with Christ through baptism. A portion of the 4th verse says "that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father." It didn't take a lot of self-control for me to be baptised. How much self-control do you think it took for Jesus to go to the cross for us?
He knew years in advance that He would have to. Before He started His ministry, He knew He would be rejected by the religious leaders. He knew that He would perform many miracles. He knew that He would pour forth the Father's great and abundant love. The mainstream media would consider Him lower than a common criminal. Yet, He did all of these things anyway. Why? Because the Father had given His Word that He would raise Him back up from the dead by the Father's sheer glory. Because Jesus shed His blood, He also looked forward to blotting out His people's sins so that fellowship could be restored.
In other words, the world could go ahead and give Him their worst and He would still come out a winner. His dreams of once again having intimate fellowship with mankind would become a reality. Everything He ever LOVED for would be brought to pass.
He asks us, also, if we would take up our cross and follow Him. No, we don't have to die. Even if it feels like it, it will not kill us to carry our cross. He did not promise us that it would always feel good. Most of the time it doesn't. A lot of the time, our cross is an embarrassing situation. People look at us when we're going through stuff and think of us as 'losers.' Sometimes there is pain and agony involved. So was the cross. Most of the time it looks like nothing good will come out of it. God never gave us a cross to make us look like 'dorks' or the castoffs of society. God asks us to carry OUR cross so that His glory could be manifest in our lives.
How different would things be in your family if you endured a little suffering and the glory of God did something nobody could have guessed would happen? What effect would it have on your lost loved ones? What about your church? If you started expecting good things to come from the bad circumstances you are facing right now and God showed up with His glory, would revival come? Would others be encouraged? Would the power of God begin to spread because of one spark of hope and then another spark of hope and then other sparks of hope? How different would our enemies view an all out move of the glory of God?
The glory of God is poured out when you and I lay our lives and our hurt feelings down to do the necessary things that honor Him. Jesus' sacrifice and suffering were nothing to be compared to the glory of God that showed up after His resurrection. We can (Heb 12:2) endure the cross and despise the shame when we purposely SET THE JOY of the glory of God before us instead of griping about what we are facing. Let's be like Jesus. He declared Himself to be THE winner as He went to the cross. After His obedience to the will of God, a God-thing showed up in Jesus' life. Saints lets carry on in the same manner to obtain the same outcome. The Glory of the Lord comes as we carry our cross. We go into it like a winner and we come out a bonafide winner.
He knew years in advance that He would have to. Before He started His ministry, He knew He would be rejected by the religious leaders. He knew that He would perform many miracles. He knew that He would pour forth the Father's great and abundant love. The mainstream media would consider Him lower than a common criminal. Yet, He did all of these things anyway. Why? Because the Father had given His Word that He would raise Him back up from the dead by the Father's sheer glory. Because Jesus shed His blood, He also looked forward to blotting out His people's sins so that fellowship could be restored.
In other words, the world could go ahead and give Him their worst and He would still come out a winner. His dreams of once again having intimate fellowship with mankind would become a reality. Everything He ever LOVED for would be brought to pass.
He asks us, also, if we would take up our cross and follow Him. No, we don't have to die. Even if it feels like it, it will not kill us to carry our cross. He did not promise us that it would always feel good. Most of the time it doesn't. A lot of the time, our cross is an embarrassing situation. People look at us when we're going through stuff and think of us as 'losers.' Sometimes there is pain and agony involved. So was the cross. Most of the time it looks like nothing good will come out of it. God never gave us a cross to make us look like 'dorks' or the castoffs of society. God asks us to carry OUR cross so that His glory could be manifest in our lives.
How different would things be in your family if you endured a little suffering and the glory of God did something nobody could have guessed would happen? What effect would it have on your lost loved ones? What about your church? If you started expecting good things to come from the bad circumstances you are facing right now and God showed up with His glory, would revival come? Would others be encouraged? Would the power of God begin to spread because of one spark of hope and then another spark of hope and then other sparks of hope? How different would our enemies view an all out move of the glory of God?
The glory of God is poured out when you and I lay our lives and our hurt feelings down to do the necessary things that honor Him. Jesus' sacrifice and suffering were nothing to be compared to the glory of God that showed up after His resurrection. We can (Heb 12:2) endure the cross and despise the shame when we purposely SET THE JOY of the glory of God before us instead of griping about what we are facing. Let's be like Jesus. He declared Himself to be THE winner as He went to the cross. After His obedience to the will of God, a God-thing showed up in Jesus' life. Saints lets carry on in the same manner to obtain the same outcome. The Glory of the Lord comes as we carry our cross. We go into it like a winner and we come out a bonafide winner.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Know Your Adversary and Know the Truth
1 Pet 5:8--Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1 Pet 5:9--Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
John 8:32--And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
We all can agree that life is filled with battles. Some are big, some are small. Some we win, and some we lose. If you were to ask any great General or Conqueror, they would tell you the same thing. The greatest edge you could have in facing your enemy is to know as much about him as possible. Know his strengths. Know his weaknesses. Know where he is vulnerable. The simple key to victory is to attack where he is weak and vulnerable. Never attack his strength. The battle is easier and victory is swifter when you attack your enemies weakness and vulnerability.
Most of us spend our fighting time, fighting the wrong enemy. We fight each other. After all, it was our spouse, our children, our parents, our boss, our political leader that attacked or offended us first. This could be very true, but it is all a ruse by our real enemy. Let's take a look at some insight from the second greatest soul-winner outside of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul. Eph. 6:12--For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. Even though it was people that came against the work that he was doing, people that put him in jail, people that beat and whipped him, Paul realised that the real culprit behind it was satan. Satan, through fear, anger and jealousy got someone else to do his dirty work. Like a magician's trick, it was all slight of hand.
People are not your REAL enemy. They don't have any idea that, as Peter said, the "roaring lion" was looking for someone to devour. A "roaring lion" on the African plain is an old and toothless male. His teeth and his strength are about gone. He cannot chase and tear his prey. He has to hide in the bushes and let the female lioness chase the prey his way. Then, his job it to jump up, roar and scare the prey into stumbling so the lionesses can catch and kill it.
Peter was another soul-winning, miracle working church founder that gives us insight into the weakness and vulnerability of our enemy. He calls the devil a toothless and weak and almost useless "roaring lion" whose only strength is to scare the prey. If the prey kept its head and refused to be afraid, it would keep on running and outrun the lionesses. The prey would always win. There's a message there somewhere. If we would learn to abide in the words of Jesus (John 15), the truth would make us free.
Peter also described satan as our "adversary." The Greek word for adversary is defined as an attorney at law. That's a far, far cry from someone that we commonly think of as a powerful wizard. In any courtroom, you have two attorneys that argue a case for or against the defendant. As we have seen in the movies as well as in real life, it is the job of the attorney to sway the jury and/or judge to his particular point of view. There favorite tactics instead of presenting the truth are to instill fear, doubt, anger and prejudice to the jury. Does that not sound like our enemy? He always encourages everything but love. There's a message there, but it will have to wait for another blog. Remember, the prosecuting attorney and the roaring lion have NO POWER over the accused. They ONLY instigate someone else to condemn and do the dirty work to a righteous individual.
Here is a very real weakness of our enemy that leaves him extremely vulnerable. When you get this one down pat, you will have greater success than you have ever had. Are you ready for this? The devil is not as smart as WE have made him out to be. WE are the fear-mongerers. We have been the ones that have boldly declared the devil's exploits. We have been pawns in his hand as we do so. Think, for a minute. Then, when it dawns on you, think for a long, long time and let this notion be your inspiration to greater prayer.
The devil knows the Word of God. He quoted it to Jesus when Jesus was in the wilderness. Logically, if the devil knew the Word of God, he, surely, knew that Jesus would die to pay for our sins. Surely, he knew that if Jesus died and paid the price, that the entire world would be free from his grasp and safe in the covenant of Almighty God. Instead of trying to kill Jesus, why didn't the devil PROTECT Jesus. Jesus' shed blood is the destruction of all satan's power and curses. If Jesus' blood had never been shed, satan would have retained his world-wide domination. As Jesus healed, He said (John 5:14) go and sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee. Since there was no protecting blood shed, all satan had to do was follow Jesus around and bring sin back into the lives of those that Jesus healed. The devil had it made as long as Jesus was alive. However, he was too stupid to see it. His own anger, jealousy and rage became his own undoing. What a lesson for us.
Finally, know your own strength to be victorious in battle. Our strength lies in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Our strength lies in our abiding in His Word. When His Word is our constant thought supply instead of the roarings of a toothless, weak lion, we begin to possess a power greater than we ever imagine. Meditation on His Word instead of our enemies slander brings a quiet strength and a Rock-solid resolve to our faith. Our prayers become effective, James 5:16. We remain calm under fire. We know the vulnerability of our enemy and refuse to fear. We become bold. Proverbs 28:1 says The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion. We become as bold as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. When we are surrounded by screams of anger and jealousy, we are bold enough to stand our ground and let them scream. The roaring of the enemy will not move me. I, and the problems that I face, will be moved only by the Word of God.
Pass this lesson on. Someone else needs it just like you and I.
1 Pet 5:9--Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
John 8:32--And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
We all can agree that life is filled with battles. Some are big, some are small. Some we win, and some we lose. If you were to ask any great General or Conqueror, they would tell you the same thing. The greatest edge you could have in facing your enemy is to know as much about him as possible. Know his strengths. Know his weaknesses. Know where he is vulnerable. The simple key to victory is to attack where he is weak and vulnerable. Never attack his strength. The battle is easier and victory is swifter when you attack your enemies weakness and vulnerability.
Most of us spend our fighting time, fighting the wrong enemy. We fight each other. After all, it was our spouse, our children, our parents, our boss, our political leader that attacked or offended us first. This could be very true, but it is all a ruse by our real enemy. Let's take a look at some insight from the second greatest soul-winner outside of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul. Eph. 6:12--For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. Even though it was people that came against the work that he was doing, people that put him in jail, people that beat and whipped him, Paul realised that the real culprit behind it was satan. Satan, through fear, anger and jealousy got someone else to do his dirty work. Like a magician's trick, it was all slight of hand.
People are not your REAL enemy. They don't have any idea that, as Peter said, the "roaring lion" was looking for someone to devour. A "roaring lion" on the African plain is an old and toothless male. His teeth and his strength are about gone. He cannot chase and tear his prey. He has to hide in the bushes and let the female lioness chase the prey his way. Then, his job it to jump up, roar and scare the prey into stumbling so the lionesses can catch and kill it.
Peter was another soul-winning, miracle working church founder that gives us insight into the weakness and vulnerability of our enemy. He calls the devil a toothless and weak and almost useless "roaring lion" whose only strength is to scare the prey. If the prey kept its head and refused to be afraid, it would keep on running and outrun the lionesses. The prey would always win. There's a message there somewhere. If we would learn to abide in the words of Jesus (John 15), the truth would make us free.
Peter also described satan as our "adversary." The Greek word for adversary is defined as an attorney at law. That's a far, far cry from someone that we commonly think of as a powerful wizard. In any courtroom, you have two attorneys that argue a case for or against the defendant. As we have seen in the movies as well as in real life, it is the job of the attorney to sway the jury and/or judge to his particular point of view. There favorite tactics instead of presenting the truth are to instill fear, doubt, anger and prejudice to the jury. Does that not sound like our enemy? He always encourages everything but love. There's a message there, but it will have to wait for another blog. Remember, the prosecuting attorney and the roaring lion have NO POWER over the accused. They ONLY instigate someone else to condemn and do the dirty work to a righteous individual.
Here is a very real weakness of our enemy that leaves him extremely vulnerable. When you get this one down pat, you will have greater success than you have ever had. Are you ready for this? The devil is not as smart as WE have made him out to be. WE are the fear-mongerers. We have been the ones that have boldly declared the devil's exploits. We have been pawns in his hand as we do so. Think, for a minute. Then, when it dawns on you, think for a long, long time and let this notion be your inspiration to greater prayer.
The devil knows the Word of God. He quoted it to Jesus when Jesus was in the wilderness. Logically, if the devil knew the Word of God, he, surely, knew that Jesus would die to pay for our sins. Surely, he knew that if Jesus died and paid the price, that the entire world would be free from his grasp and safe in the covenant of Almighty God. Instead of trying to kill Jesus, why didn't the devil PROTECT Jesus. Jesus' shed blood is the destruction of all satan's power and curses. If Jesus' blood had never been shed, satan would have retained his world-wide domination. As Jesus healed, He said (John 5:14) go and sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee. Since there was no protecting blood shed, all satan had to do was follow Jesus around and bring sin back into the lives of those that Jesus healed. The devil had it made as long as Jesus was alive. However, he was too stupid to see it. His own anger, jealousy and rage became his own undoing. What a lesson for us.
Finally, know your own strength to be victorious in battle. Our strength lies in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Our strength lies in our abiding in His Word. When His Word is our constant thought supply instead of the roarings of a toothless, weak lion, we begin to possess a power greater than we ever imagine. Meditation on His Word instead of our enemies slander brings a quiet strength and a Rock-solid resolve to our faith. Our prayers become effective, James 5:16. We remain calm under fire. We know the vulnerability of our enemy and refuse to fear. We become bold. Proverbs 28:1 says The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion. We become as bold as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. When we are surrounded by screams of anger and jealousy, we are bold enough to stand our ground and let them scream. The roaring of the enemy will not move me. I, and the problems that I face, will be moved only by the Word of God.
Pass this lesson on. Someone else needs it just like you and I.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Let's take a look at Luke 10:29 for just a moment. "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all...
-
When I was pastoring in Tennessee, we would make trips to Florida to see my relatives on special occasions. The children were small an...
-
PUJOLS More Than Just The Game By Scott Lamb and Tim Ellsworth There are some ...
