1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV)
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
I think sometimes that we would rather talk about whether we should worship with hymns or modern worship songs than talk about the cross of Christ. What I mean is that we are so easily drawn away from the central message of the Gospel by so many other issues. Actually, I was surprised to learn that the debate still rages about the style of worship. Really? Is that what the academia of Christianity is still talking about?
The central message of the Gospel has to do with the invasion of the Kingdom of God on this earth. Jesus said it all the time, “if I cast out a demon by the finger of God then the Kingdom of God has come upon you”. The centrality of this powerful reign of God on earth is the cross of Christ. Through the cross we enter into – everything! All the promises, the forgiveness, the power, the ministry, the advancement of the Kingdom are all done to us and through us because of the cross. We take communion to remind us of the cross, of what a great sacrifice of love it was and what great benefits it brought to us.
So if I align myself with the cross and its proclamation, do I become a fool for Christ? Do I become foolish in the site of this world? Probably – yes. The question is, who do we want to be considered wise by? The world or God Almighty? To the world I may be considered weak and a fool, that is o.k., God considers me His son. It’s a good trade.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
March 30
Psalm 21:6 (NIV)
6 Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
There are several kinds of eternal blessings. Of course eternity is an eternal blessing. Living forever sounds great especially when you consider the alternative! The older I get the more I thirst to live forever. He truly has put eternity in our hearts.
There is another kind of eternal blessing, the blessing that runs from here to eternity. Those blessings that are from the very throne of God like joy that are an eternal reality. The joy in heaven cannot be accurately written about because of its immensity. There is a vein of this joy that we can experience on this earth and it runs all the way to eternity. The Psalmist talks about the king being glad because of the joy that God is giving him. The joy is found in God’s presence! Why all the talk lately about His presence? Part of it is found right here.
If we long for the eternal things rather than the temporal things, one of the things we long for is the joy of the Lord which is not like a fleeting happiness that is dependent of the circumstances. This joy is found in His presence and we will see more evidence of this as we read through the Psalms and as we get in His presence. What we need is found in Him and one of the things we MUST have is His joy because as Nehemiah tells us, “it is our strength.” You get the joy by being in His presence. It doesn’t come from “doing” anything, not even studying the Word of God. It comes from His presence.
Lest you end this devotion thinking that I just said that the Word of God isn’t effective, that is not what I said. When you use the Living Word of God as a text book, you hinder what God can minister to you through it. When you read and dwell IN it like you are looking for treasure and listening for God’s Word for you, His lesson for you, His life for you, then the Word will propel you INTO His presence.
6 Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
There are several kinds of eternal blessings. Of course eternity is an eternal blessing. Living forever sounds great especially when you consider the alternative! The older I get the more I thirst to live forever. He truly has put eternity in our hearts.
There is another kind of eternal blessing, the blessing that runs from here to eternity. Those blessings that are from the very throne of God like joy that are an eternal reality. The joy in heaven cannot be accurately written about because of its immensity. There is a vein of this joy that we can experience on this earth and it runs all the way to eternity. The Psalmist talks about the king being glad because of the joy that God is giving him. The joy is found in God’s presence! Why all the talk lately about His presence? Part of it is found right here.
If we long for the eternal things rather than the temporal things, one of the things we long for is the joy of the Lord which is not like a fleeting happiness that is dependent of the circumstances. This joy is found in His presence and we will see more evidence of this as we read through the Psalms and as we get in His presence. What we need is found in Him and one of the things we MUST have is His joy because as Nehemiah tells us, “it is our strength.” You get the joy by being in His presence. It doesn’t come from “doing” anything, not even studying the Word of God. It comes from His presence.
Lest you end this devotion thinking that I just said that the Word of God isn’t effective, that is not what I said. When you use the Living Word of God as a text book, you hinder what God can minister to you through it. When you read and dwell IN it like you are looking for treasure and listening for God’s Word for you, His lesson for you, His life for you, then the Word will propel you INTO His presence.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
March 29
John 20:27-29 (NIV)
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Doubt and belief. There was, in the written Word of God, the prophecy of what would happen to Jesus and that He would raise from the dead, but even those who followed Him closely didn’t get it. These guys DID believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but they didn’t interpret the Scripture correctly which especially in Thomas’ case, caused a GREAT doubt. Even after others told Thomas that they had seen Jesus and touched Jesus, Thomas remained resolute in his doubt. In fact he declared that he would NOT BELIEVE until he saw Jesus himself and touched him with his own hands.
Is this what we have become in the western church? Unless we experience it, see it, feel it for ourselves, we won’t believe? Just like in the days of Jesus, the Jews missed the fact of Jesus being the Messiah because they didn’t think He would come that way, some people are missing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit because they don’t think He would come that way. I am not saying that our church is experiencing an “outpouring”, but it sure is experiencing something of an increased presence of the Spirit! When any other ministry or persons have great signs and wonders in their life or ministry, do we have to see it to believe it? Do we automatically assume that it isn’t true or real even when we have people we know who have experienced it?
As I write I feel the presence of the Spirit on me. My body is quivering under His power. Is it true? I can tell you that it is true and more than that I encourage all of us to not be like Thomas. He is not our example. We are people who walk in the Spirit and live, move and have our being in Him. We are not doubters, we are believers! We will not succumb to cleaver schemes of the evil one or man to be draw away from God because we have the discernment of the Spirit. We will believe and press into what God is doing in our age. I encourage everyone to drink deeply and hold on to God!
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Doubt and belief. There was, in the written Word of God, the prophecy of what would happen to Jesus and that He would raise from the dead, but even those who followed Him closely didn’t get it. These guys DID believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but they didn’t interpret the Scripture correctly which especially in Thomas’ case, caused a GREAT doubt. Even after others told Thomas that they had seen Jesus and touched Jesus, Thomas remained resolute in his doubt. In fact he declared that he would NOT BELIEVE until he saw Jesus himself and touched him with his own hands.
Is this what we have become in the western church? Unless we experience it, see it, feel it for ourselves, we won’t believe? Just like in the days of Jesus, the Jews missed the fact of Jesus being the Messiah because they didn’t think He would come that way, some people are missing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit because they don’t think He would come that way. I am not saying that our church is experiencing an “outpouring”, but it sure is experiencing something of an increased presence of the Spirit! When any other ministry or persons have great signs and wonders in their life or ministry, do we have to see it to believe it? Do we automatically assume that it isn’t true or real even when we have people we know who have experienced it?
As I write I feel the presence of the Spirit on me. My body is quivering under His power. Is it true? I can tell you that it is true and more than that I encourage all of us to not be like Thomas. He is not our example. We are people who walk in the Spirit and live, move and have our being in Him. We are not doubters, we are believers! We will not succumb to cleaver schemes of the evil one or man to be draw away from God because we have the discernment of the Spirit. We will believe and press into what God is doing in our age. I encourage everyone to drink deeply and hold on to God!
Monday, March 28, 2011
March 28
John 19:8 (NIV)
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,
All through this chapter is an interesting story of a man in great authority, Pilate. He meets Jesus through and unlikely set of circumstances and then has the power of his death in his hands. Without getting into a discussion about the sovereignty of God, I would like to point out what Pilate did and didn’t do and why.
Pilate it seems became convinced of Jesus’ “kingship” so much so that even with the Jews dissenting, he had a sign over our Lord’s head reading King of the Jews in 3 languages. He didn’t want anyone to miss his acknowledgement. I think Pilate became fascinated with Jesus, and even may have believed that Jesus was someone very special if not divine. In another gospel Pilate’s wife comes and warns him to have nothing to do with the death of this man (Jesus) because of a dream she had. Yet Pilate is in a sticky situation. If he lets Jesus go then the Jews may revolt – but he could quench that quick enough. If he crucifies Jesus, I think it is clear that he goes against what he thinks is right. There is this battle within him and he clearly does not want to kill Jesus (have him killed). Yet there is something within him, as there is within us that pushes him over the edge and orders that Jesus be crucified – self. He feared the Jews more than he feared Jesus (God). He wanted to please the Jews more than he wanted to yield to what he knew was right. He wanted the calmest water to prevail so he crucified his own conscious and had Jesus killed.
We have got to decide, when the chips are down, are we going to be man pleasers, self pleasers or God pleasers.
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,
All through this chapter is an interesting story of a man in great authority, Pilate. He meets Jesus through and unlikely set of circumstances and then has the power of his death in his hands. Without getting into a discussion about the sovereignty of God, I would like to point out what Pilate did and didn’t do and why.
Pilate it seems became convinced of Jesus’ “kingship” so much so that even with the Jews dissenting, he had a sign over our Lord’s head reading King of the Jews in 3 languages. He didn’t want anyone to miss his acknowledgement. I think Pilate became fascinated with Jesus, and even may have believed that Jesus was someone very special if not divine. In another gospel Pilate’s wife comes and warns him to have nothing to do with the death of this man (Jesus) because of a dream she had. Yet Pilate is in a sticky situation. If he lets Jesus go then the Jews may revolt – but he could quench that quick enough. If he crucifies Jesus, I think it is clear that he goes against what he thinks is right. There is this battle within him and he clearly does not want to kill Jesus (have him killed). Yet there is something within him, as there is within us that pushes him over the edge and orders that Jesus be crucified – self. He feared the Jews more than he feared Jesus (God). He wanted to please the Jews more than he wanted to yield to what he knew was right. He wanted the calmest water to prevail so he crucified his own conscious and had Jesus killed.
We have got to decide, when the chips are down, are we going to be man pleasers, self pleasers or God pleasers.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
March 27
John 18:11 (NIV)
11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
The question to us today is does God will us to go through suffering? If so, then as Jesus did we must endure it or “drink it”. Peter wanted to fight his way, or Jesus way, out of this situation, but Jesus said that the Father had decided that He (Jesus) should go through this suffering. We all know and agree that Jesus had to suffer, but how about us? As you read through the Word of God you will see that suffering was a part of many of the writer’s and saint’s life. The question is, does God want us to suffer?
This question is a western one. What I mean is that people who live in the west are the most likely to ask if we are to suffer for Christ or not. Why? Because we live in such freedom that we don’t see suffering as our lot. A cursory read of Paul or Peter however, should change our view as would an examination of many places in this world. There is suffering going on, martyrdom, kidnapping, assault, rape and much more against Christians around the world. The question shouldn’t be; does God want us to suffer, but what suffering does God want us to endure. We are not victims, nor should we act like ones. We should only endure what God has ordained us to go through and nothing more, but for us westerners, that is still a big leap.
One of the other reasons why it is hard for us is because when we came to Christ, we didn’t really die. We died to some things, but not to others. We hold on dearly to many things that we agreed at conversion – at second birth – to die to. Jesus had already died, that is why He could die physically. He was dead to His self will, to His own plan. If we actually died to our self, our self will, our self _________ (fill in the blank), how greatly would we be used?! We would become like Jesus, and walk the walk that Jesus walked. Isn’t that what we all long for?
11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
The question to us today is does God will us to go through suffering? If so, then as Jesus did we must endure it or “drink it”. Peter wanted to fight his way, or Jesus way, out of this situation, but Jesus said that the Father had decided that He (Jesus) should go through this suffering. We all know and agree that Jesus had to suffer, but how about us? As you read through the Word of God you will see that suffering was a part of many of the writer’s and saint’s life. The question is, does God want us to suffer?
This question is a western one. What I mean is that people who live in the west are the most likely to ask if we are to suffer for Christ or not. Why? Because we live in such freedom that we don’t see suffering as our lot. A cursory read of Paul or Peter however, should change our view as would an examination of many places in this world. There is suffering going on, martyrdom, kidnapping, assault, rape and much more against Christians around the world. The question shouldn’t be; does God want us to suffer, but what suffering does God want us to endure. We are not victims, nor should we act like ones. We should only endure what God has ordained us to go through and nothing more, but for us westerners, that is still a big leap.
One of the other reasons why it is hard for us is because when we came to Christ, we didn’t really die. We died to some things, but not to others. We hold on dearly to many things that we agreed at conversion – at second birth – to die to. Jesus had already died, that is why He could die physically. He was dead to His self will, to His own plan. If we actually died to our self, our self will, our self _________ (fill in the blank), how greatly would we be used?! We would become like Jesus, and walk the walk that Jesus walked. Isn’t that what we all long for?
Saturday, March 26, 2011
March 26
John 17:22-23 (NIV)
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
We have been given glory, the glory of the Godhead! The Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, work together in complete unity! If you were to ask one of them who created the world they would say the other two did, and it wouldn’t matter which one you asked. They are always for each other, promoting each other and doing what is good for the other. Jesus says in John 17 that it is all about the Father, but other places we read that it is all about the Son, especially His great sacrifice! Jesus said it will be all about the Spirit who is coming. Who is it about? All of them! They are one! As incredible a concept as this is, it shouldn’t be that hard to apply it to us.
First of all the world will know that Jesus is the Son of God BECAUSE of our unity! That is big! Secondly, our unity is supposed to be complete. There is a lot of talk about what that means, but what it doesn’t look like is arguing, backbiting, gossiping, judging and criticizing. In fact not only will they (the world) know Christians by their love for each other, but they will know that God loves us because we are unified! So how do we get there, how do we come to complete unity with so many denominations, churches, philosophies of ministry and doctrines? Use the glory! Jesus said, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.” God lives in us – unity lives in us! To think that it can’t be attained is to deny who we are. Use the glory!
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
We have been given glory, the glory of the Godhead! The Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, work together in complete unity! If you were to ask one of them who created the world they would say the other two did, and it wouldn’t matter which one you asked. They are always for each other, promoting each other and doing what is good for the other. Jesus says in John 17 that it is all about the Father, but other places we read that it is all about the Son, especially His great sacrifice! Jesus said it will be all about the Spirit who is coming. Who is it about? All of them! They are one! As incredible a concept as this is, it shouldn’t be that hard to apply it to us.
First of all the world will know that Jesus is the Son of God BECAUSE of our unity! That is big! Secondly, our unity is supposed to be complete. There is a lot of talk about what that means, but what it doesn’t look like is arguing, backbiting, gossiping, judging and criticizing. In fact not only will they (the world) know Christians by their love for each other, but they will know that God loves us because we are unified! So how do we get there, how do we come to complete unity with so many denominations, churches, philosophies of ministry and doctrines? Use the glory! Jesus said, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.” God lives in us – unity lives in us! To think that it can’t be attained is to deny who we are. Use the glory!
Friday, March 25, 2011
March 25
Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)
10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
God is very clear on His desire to bless and take care of His people. He wants His fame and glory to fill the earth and for everyone to see the wonder of blessing that He gives to His people. We are supposed to be different. We were meant to be amply supplied for and living in prosperity, safe from harm, mighty warriors, living in freedom and not under any bondage and have God walking among us! Wow, that is a great plan! That is God’s plan as outlined in Leviticus 26. Also outlined in that chapter is what will happen if you don’t keep covenant with God. It is basically the opposite of God’s plan, although it seems to come in different levels as if to leave room for repentance before it gets worse.
The fear of God is to fear what He said would come true will come true. It is to consider Him a God of His word. That is why it is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. When we fear the Lord, we are honoring His character by proclaiming that His word is true and we believe it.
There is another point to be made about this; to gain wisdom and understanding is desirable because you become prosperous, protected, peaceful, mighty and dwell with God Himself. How much more for us who have the Holy Spirit living inside of us? People often focus on the punishment or negative side effects of disobedience – (our disobedience isn’t not keeping the law, but among the most important things, it isn’t believing God – having trust that He will do what He said He will do and loving one another) – instead of the great blessing of walking in obedience! If the old covenant (the new covenant is better) had such grand blessings attached to it, how much more will our covenant with God (because it is better), give us the things that we long for!
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)
10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
God is very clear on His desire to bless and take care of His people. He wants His fame and glory to fill the earth and for everyone to see the wonder of blessing that He gives to His people. We are supposed to be different. We were meant to be amply supplied for and living in prosperity, safe from harm, mighty warriors, living in freedom and not under any bondage and have God walking among us! Wow, that is a great plan! That is God’s plan as outlined in Leviticus 26. Also outlined in that chapter is what will happen if you don’t keep covenant with God. It is basically the opposite of God’s plan, although it seems to come in different levels as if to leave room for repentance before it gets worse.
The fear of God is to fear what He said would come true will come true. It is to consider Him a God of His word. That is why it is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. When we fear the Lord, we are honoring His character by proclaiming that His word is true and we believe it.
There is another point to be made about this; to gain wisdom and understanding is desirable because you become prosperous, protected, peaceful, mighty and dwell with God Himself. How much more for us who have the Holy Spirit living inside of us? People often focus on the punishment or negative side effects of disobedience – (our disobedience isn’t not keeping the law, but among the most important things, it isn’t believing God – having trust that He will do what He said He will do and loving one another) – instead of the great blessing of walking in obedience! If the old covenant (the new covenant is better) had such grand blessings attached to it, how much more will our covenant with God (because it is better), give us the things that we long for!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
March 24
Leviticus 24:4 (NIV)
4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD must be tended continually.
John 15:8 (NIV)
8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The lampstand must continually be tended or, it must be paid attention to so that it continues to give off light. After all the lampstand’s purpose is to give off light – continually! However, if you don’t continue to fill up the lamp with oil, trim and replace the wick you won’t have any light emanating from the lamp – it will go out! We have to tend our lamps or our light will go out. Going to church isn’t tending your lamp although it could be a part of it. Tending your lamp is making sure you are filled with oil – the Holy Spirit – and that can only happen when you are intentional about it. That intentionality can be going to church if your purpose in going to church is to meet with God, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and let your light effect those around you. Church will never be a substitute for seeking God, reading His Word, spending time with Him and getting in His presence to be filled with the Holy Spirit, though it can be part of it.
The purpose of the lamp is to shed light and so when we are full we will be the light that we were made to be. It is to God’s glory for us to bear a whole lot of fruit. Jesus says that we should ask for it and God will give us what we are asking for – why? Because it glorifies God for us to love others, to heal others, to minister to others, to have peace in turmoil, to perform signs and wonders, to have great confidence, to cast out demons, etc… The only way we will bear this fruit is to be filled with God and tend our selves, making sure you have enough oil to shine the light and to simple ask for the fruit.
4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD must be tended continually.
John 15:8 (NIV)
8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The lampstand must continually be tended or, it must be paid attention to so that it continues to give off light. After all the lampstand’s purpose is to give off light – continually! However, if you don’t continue to fill up the lamp with oil, trim and replace the wick you won’t have any light emanating from the lamp – it will go out! We have to tend our lamps or our light will go out. Going to church isn’t tending your lamp although it could be a part of it. Tending your lamp is making sure you are filled with oil – the Holy Spirit – and that can only happen when you are intentional about it. That intentionality can be going to church if your purpose in going to church is to meet with God, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and let your light effect those around you. Church will never be a substitute for seeking God, reading His Word, spending time with Him and getting in His presence to be filled with the Holy Spirit, though it can be part of it.
The purpose of the lamp is to shed light and so when we are full we will be the light that we were made to be. It is to God’s glory for us to bear a whole lot of fruit. Jesus says that we should ask for it and God will give us what we are asking for – why? Because it glorifies God for us to love others, to heal others, to minister to others, to have peace in turmoil, to perform signs and wonders, to have great confidence, to cast out demons, etc… The only way we will bear this fruit is to be filled with God and tend our selves, making sure you have enough oil to shine the light and to simple ask for the fruit.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
March 23
How rich is John 14? I could preach on it for months! Today, two things struck me. First Jesus gave us an answer to the question of quenching anxiety;
John 14:1 (NIV)
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
When we consider God to be faithful, we will not be troubled in our hearts. God is faithful to the end and He is not a man that He could lie. What He says will come to pass and every promise He will fulfill. Read the scripture with a special eye towards finding promises fulfilled – it is amazing!
The second thing is the revelation of God only comes to those who love Jesus.
John 14:21 (NIV)
21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
Isn’t it amazing that we get to experience deeper and deeper revelations of Jesus? I can hardly believe that I have had so much revealed to me over the years, yet there is a plethora of understanding and knowledge (both experiential and practical) that I haven’t even touched! Jesus is desirous for us, His creation and daily delight to know Him, however He can’t reveal deep things to those who don’t love deep. Deep love will bring deep service (obeying His commands), but deep service will not bring deep love. As Lou Engle said this weekend, “I would rather partner with someone who loves deep rather than someone who serves deep.”
John 14:1 (NIV)
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
When we consider God to be faithful, we will not be troubled in our hearts. God is faithful to the end and He is not a man that He could lie. What He says will come to pass and every promise He will fulfill. Read the scripture with a special eye towards finding promises fulfilled – it is amazing!
The second thing is the revelation of God only comes to those who love Jesus.
John 14:21 (NIV)
21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
Isn’t it amazing that we get to experience deeper and deeper revelations of Jesus? I can hardly believe that I have had so much revealed to me over the years, yet there is a plethora of understanding and knowledge (both experiential and practical) that I haven’t even touched! Jesus is desirous for us, His creation and daily delight to know Him, however He can’t reveal deep things to those who don’t love deep. Deep love will bring deep service (obeying His commands), but deep service will not bring deep love. As Lou Engle said this weekend, “I would rather partner with someone who loves deep rather than someone who serves deep.”
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
March 22
John 13:8 (NIV)
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
I was just talking to somebody recently about people who never seem to worship with abandon (as opposed to singing songs) or people who purposely come late to church to miss most of worship. My thought is that people who are like this have a difficult time with connecting to God personally. What I mean is that they would rather “learn” about God and be challenged to live right than enter into deep heartfelt connected relationship. I honestly feel sorry for people like this because they miss out on what God intended from the very beginning! Jesus didn’t die so we could go to heaven – He died so we would have restored relationship forever with the Godhead which includes living forever! Some people’s souls have been so fractured that they can’t have intimate relationship with anyone including God, but God can heal them!
Jesus says something very profound here, unless you let me become intimate with you – touch your feet – you will have no part with me. I am not purporting that people who don’t worship, who have trouble with being intimate and deep with God are not saved, but I will say this, that they, at the very least, will miss out on all the benefits that comes from deep relationship with Jesus. Knowing about Jesus isn’t enough! It is only when you humble yourself enough to let God wash over you that you can become connected with Him. There is NO other way! God desires to wash your feet today – to hold you and to serve you! Did you get that? God wants to serve you! That doesn’t put us in any position except humble receptiveness of His grand love! Jesus is not my servant, but He must serve us to show His extravagant love. Let Him wash you today – let Him wash over you. Don’t settle with knowing God through His Word (the Bible) – which is awesome and powerful – but let Him ALSO touch you and heal you completely.
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
I was just talking to somebody recently about people who never seem to worship with abandon (as opposed to singing songs) or people who purposely come late to church to miss most of worship. My thought is that people who are like this have a difficult time with connecting to God personally. What I mean is that they would rather “learn” about God and be challenged to live right than enter into deep heartfelt connected relationship. I honestly feel sorry for people like this because they miss out on what God intended from the very beginning! Jesus didn’t die so we could go to heaven – He died so we would have restored relationship forever with the Godhead which includes living forever! Some people’s souls have been so fractured that they can’t have intimate relationship with anyone including God, but God can heal them!
Jesus says something very profound here, unless you let me become intimate with you – touch your feet – you will have no part with me. I am not purporting that people who don’t worship, who have trouble with being intimate and deep with God are not saved, but I will say this, that they, at the very least, will miss out on all the benefits that comes from deep relationship with Jesus. Knowing about Jesus isn’t enough! It is only when you humble yourself enough to let God wash over you that you can become connected with Him. There is NO other way! God desires to wash your feet today – to hold you and to serve you! Did you get that? God wants to serve you! That doesn’t put us in any position except humble receptiveness of His grand love! Jesus is not my servant, but He must serve us to show His extravagant love. Let Him wash you today – let Him wash over you. Don’t settle with knowing God through His Word (the Bible) – which is awesome and powerful – but let Him ALSO touch you and heal you completely.
Monday, March 21, 2011
March 21
John 12:10-11 (NIV)
10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
There is a universal spiritual law – kill the person that is making spiritual progress! Jesus clearly stated and warned us that people would try to kill us because we are bearers of the gospel of God Almighty! When we proclaim His gospel AND people start responding, then we go on the map of the enemy and he tries to kill us. Obviously not many of us westerns have died a physical death because of the gospel, but the enemy will try to kill us in many other ways.
The miraculous is a big area that the enemy has targeted and won significant ground. Why? Because, as the scripture says, many put their faith in Jesus because of the miraculous things He did. The enemy wants to kill healing, both physical and emotional/mental. The enemy wants to kill all supernatural activity and reduce us to nice people who do nice things for others. In fact, he would like us to not be so nice too! He would stress us out, give us worries, have us speak negatively and many other things to “kill” us. It shouldn’t surprise us, but it does, and I fear (concern), that it motivates us to take our foot off the gas pedal. Our motivation comes from God’s heart – we are not people who shrink back!
10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
There is a universal spiritual law – kill the person that is making spiritual progress! Jesus clearly stated and warned us that people would try to kill us because we are bearers of the gospel of God Almighty! When we proclaim His gospel AND people start responding, then we go on the map of the enemy and he tries to kill us. Obviously not many of us westerns have died a physical death because of the gospel, but the enemy will try to kill us in many other ways.
The miraculous is a big area that the enemy has targeted and won significant ground. Why? Because, as the scripture says, many put their faith in Jesus because of the miraculous things He did. The enemy wants to kill healing, both physical and emotional/mental. The enemy wants to kill all supernatural activity and reduce us to nice people who do nice things for others. In fact, he would like us to not be so nice too! He would stress us out, give us worries, have us speak negatively and many other things to “kill” us. It shouldn’t surprise us, but it does, and I fear (concern), that it motivates us to take our foot off the gas pedal. Our motivation comes from God’s heart – we are not people who shrink back!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
March 20
John 11:33-35 (NIV)
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept.
Sometimes we think or have the attitude that Jesus (God) doesn’t have the same emotional make up as we do. While it is true that it isn’t tainted by a sinful nature it is not true that God doesn’t have feelings like we do. We are created in His image and our emotional self was created in the image of our Creator. This passage, if we let it sink in, will bring us to the rightful conclusion that God (Jesus) feels deeply. I think that we don’t realize how deeply He loves us and how heartfelt that love is. We get caught in the “big God in the sky” thinking that has removed the personhood of God, and with that His emotions. Even though Jesus knew that Lazarus would be raised, He was overcome by emotions and wept. Jesus (God) is deeply emotional and expresses that emotion with weeping!
In this particular instance, Jesus was weeping because everyone else was weeping. He saw how grieved people were at the loss of Lazarus and their heart sickness moved His heart to weep for them. He loved them so much that He was deeply moved by them. Are you getting this? Jesus is a deep lover that is moved deeply by His friends. We move the heart of Jesus!
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept.
Sometimes we think or have the attitude that Jesus (God) doesn’t have the same emotional make up as we do. While it is true that it isn’t tainted by a sinful nature it is not true that God doesn’t have feelings like we do. We are created in His image and our emotional self was created in the image of our Creator. This passage, if we let it sink in, will bring us to the rightful conclusion that God (Jesus) feels deeply. I think that we don’t realize how deeply He loves us and how heartfelt that love is. We get caught in the “big God in the sky” thinking that has removed the personhood of God, and with that His emotions. Even though Jesus knew that Lazarus would be raised, He was overcome by emotions and wept. Jesus (God) is deeply emotional and expresses that emotion with weeping!
In this particular instance, Jesus was weeping because everyone else was weeping. He saw how grieved people were at the loss of Lazarus and their heart sickness moved His heart to weep for them. He loved them so much that He was deeply moved by them. Are you getting this? Jesus is a deep lover that is moved deeply by His friends. We move the heart of Jesus!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
March 19
Psalm 103:19 (NIV)
19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Psalm 103:2-3 (NIV)
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases
If the Lord’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of our God really rules over all then He can overcome the guilt of my sin. His provision for my complete forgiveness is made because He is the ruler of His Kingdom which rules over all. We all believe this to a great extent, although some would say he needs a little work from us in order for us to be forgiven. (Which is not what scripture says – it is the blood of Jesus which makes complete and forever releases us from our guilt).
Going along with the same thought about God rulership, in the very same Psalm, in the very same verse, (of course it originally had no verses), in the very same breath a thought is written; “and heals all your diseases”. This doctrinal truth cannot be explained away with a passage from another book, nor can it be subjected to our experience to interpret its truth. It clearly says that he heals all our diseases. In the same breath that it says that He “forgives all our sins”, which we all believe, it says the same thing about diseases – they are inextricably tied together! The question is will we be found counting His Word faithful and true? You decide – believe or not, or should I say forget it or not.
19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Psalm 103:2-3 (NIV)
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases
If the Lord’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of our God really rules over all then He can overcome the guilt of my sin. His provision for my complete forgiveness is made because He is the ruler of His Kingdom which rules over all. We all believe this to a great extent, although some would say he needs a little work from us in order for us to be forgiven. (Which is not what scripture says – it is the blood of Jesus which makes complete and forever releases us from our guilt).
Going along with the same thought about God rulership, in the very same Psalm, in the very same verse, (of course it originally had no verses), in the very same breath a thought is written; “and heals all your diseases”. This doctrinal truth cannot be explained away with a passage from another book, nor can it be subjected to our experience to interpret its truth. It clearly says that he heals all our diseases. In the same breath that it says that He “forgives all our sins”, which we all believe, it says the same thing about diseases – they are inextricably tied together! The question is will we be found counting His Word faithful and true? You decide – believe or not, or should I say forget it or not.
Friday, March 18, 2011
March 18
As we are reading through the law I am taken by how important the role of the priest is. Not only did he offer the sacrifices but he was the one who examined everything and decided whether things needed to be thrown out, scraped off, set out for 7 days, in other words there was something wrong or “unclean”, and he was the one who declared people or dwellings or fabrics clean. That really is amazing! Without the priest performing his duties, nothing in question could be designated as clean and nobody’s sin could be atoned for. Did you get that? Nobody could be clean who was unclean and nobody could be forgiven without the work of the priest. That is so good!
Hebrews 4:14 (NIV)
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
Hebrews 7:17-19 (NIV)
17 For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” 18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
We can do nothing but offer what we have, our lives. The rest is done by the priest – Jesus. Do you see that Jesus is our everything? He declares us clean – forever! He declares us forgiven – forever! Give Him praise and give Him our lives!
Hebrews 4:14 (NIV)
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
Hebrews 7:17-19 (NIV)
17 For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” 18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
We can do nothing but offer what we have, our lives. The rest is done by the priest – Jesus. Do you see that Jesus is our everything? He declares us clean – forever! He declares us forgiven – forever! Give Him praise and give Him our lives!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
March 17
John 8:6 (NIV)
6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
They caught a woman in the act of adultery and brought her to Jesus to try to TRAP Jesus so they could accuse Him. Instead of saying something, the Son of God was silent for a while. His silence was broken when He said the famous line, "let him without sin cast the first stone."
When I read this I couldn't stop thinking about how Jesus said nothing. He was God, He had a good come back I am sure of it. Yet He said nothing. If Jesus says nothing, shouldn't I say nothing some of the time!? I don't know about you but my mouth gets me into so much trouble and wish I could find the off switch. Jesus hit the pause button here and that is what God wants us to learn. Hit the pause switch and listen to God before we answer people. I have a friend who is a great man of God, and he does this, pauses, thinks, listens and then speaks.
Help me Lord to tame my tongue. Let the fire it starts be the Holy Spirit fire and no other. Help me to wait, to pause before I answer, especially to those who are laying a trap for me.
6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.
They caught a woman in the act of adultery and brought her to Jesus to try to TRAP Jesus so they could accuse Him. Instead of saying something, the Son of God was silent for a while. His silence was broken when He said the famous line, "let him without sin cast the first stone."
When I read this I couldn't stop thinking about how Jesus said nothing. He was God, He had a good come back I am sure of it. Yet He said nothing. If Jesus says nothing, shouldn't I say nothing some of the time!? I don't know about you but my mouth gets me into so much trouble and wish I could find the off switch. Jesus hit the pause button here and that is what God wants us to learn. Hit the pause switch and listen to God before we answer people. I have a friend who is a great man of God, and he does this, pauses, thinks, listens and then speaks.
Help me Lord to tame my tongue. Let the fire it starts be the Holy Spirit fire and no other. Help me to wait, to pause before I answer, especially to those who are laying a trap for me.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
March 16
John 7:34 (NIV)
34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
Wait a second, doesn't Jesus say in Matthew, "seek and you will find"? What gives here?
I suppose there are a few ways to look at this, but I want you to see past "seeking" and look at the "seeker". Jesus in John 7 was talking to people most of whom had not made up their mind to believe that He was the Messiah and specifically the Pharisees who just sent the temple guards to arrest Him. In Matthew 7 Jesus is talking to seekers, followers who came to Him. In John 7 Jesus is talking to John Q Public or unbelievers primarily. Even if there were some believers there, what would this saying make them do? Follow after and seek harder - plead with Jesus - something! True worshippers can't be stopped with this saying. They are people who will follow Jesus no matter what!
I am in the category of seeking, not after Jesus as my Messiah, but Jesus as my everything! He is my everything and I want to know more, know deeper, understand greater and have His mind, His love, His power working through me uninhibited. For that I, we all must seek Him all the more. Not to "save" us, for that is done - but for Him to have all of us and for us to apprehend all of Him.
34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
Wait a second, doesn't Jesus say in Matthew, "seek and you will find"? What gives here?
I suppose there are a few ways to look at this, but I want you to see past "seeking" and look at the "seeker". Jesus in John 7 was talking to people most of whom had not made up their mind to believe that He was the Messiah and specifically the Pharisees who just sent the temple guards to arrest Him. In Matthew 7 Jesus is talking to seekers, followers who came to Him. In John 7 Jesus is talking to John Q Public or unbelievers primarily. Even if there were some believers there, what would this saying make them do? Follow after and seek harder - plead with Jesus - something! True worshippers can't be stopped with this saying. They are people who will follow Jesus no matter what!
I am in the category of seeking, not after Jesus as my Messiah, but Jesus as my everything! He is my everything and I want to know more, know deeper, understand greater and have His mind, His love, His power working through me uninhibited. For that I, we all must seek Him all the more. Not to "save" us, for that is done - but for Him to have all of us and for us to apprehend all of Him.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
March 15
John 6:12 (NIV)
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”
Jesus is not a waster of anything. You might think that because of the miraculous multiplication of food, that it really wouldn’t matter what happened to the left over. After all, the people were full. Here is where I look beyond the ‘don’t waste material things’ and see what Jesus is trying to teach us. Jesus didn’t say anything without it being purposeful, (I would like to be more like Jesus in that). Gather the left over. We could apply this to our ‘things’, or we could apply this to people – as in the left overs of the world. There is plenty of teaching on that subject, but today I think the meaning for us to get is this – you.
We are one of the great assets of the Kingdom of God. We have the ability to advance it – in fact, if we don’t advance it, who will? Jesus is communicating to us today about our high value and He is asking us not to waste our lives on the ‘stuff’ of this world. Gather the pieces that are left over so that nothing is wasted. I don’t know about you but I waste myself on things that I shouldn’t. I am not talking about how unfruitful watching a hockey game is or other recreation like that, but I am talking about having a purposeless lifestyle except to make a buck and please yourself. This story is about feeding others and then after the others are fed Jesus says gather up the rest of the miraculous supply because we are going to use it. It is valuable! You are valuable! We cannot live like we used to. We must grow up into a great maturity and live each day with His purpose. Don’t judge left overs by how many hours you have left at the end of your day, your life has more meaning than time. Talk to Jesus today about this, see what He says to you.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”
Jesus is not a waster of anything. You might think that because of the miraculous multiplication of food, that it really wouldn’t matter what happened to the left over. After all, the people were full. Here is where I look beyond the ‘don’t waste material things’ and see what Jesus is trying to teach us. Jesus didn’t say anything without it being purposeful, (I would like to be more like Jesus in that). Gather the left over. We could apply this to our ‘things’, or we could apply this to people – as in the left overs of the world. There is plenty of teaching on that subject, but today I think the meaning for us to get is this – you.
We are one of the great assets of the Kingdom of God. We have the ability to advance it – in fact, if we don’t advance it, who will? Jesus is communicating to us today about our high value and He is asking us not to waste our lives on the ‘stuff’ of this world. Gather the pieces that are left over so that nothing is wasted. I don’t know about you but I waste myself on things that I shouldn’t. I am not talking about how unfruitful watching a hockey game is or other recreation like that, but I am talking about having a purposeless lifestyle except to make a buck and please yourself. This story is about feeding others and then after the others are fed Jesus says gather up the rest of the miraculous supply because we are going to use it. It is valuable! You are valuable! We cannot live like we used to. We must grow up into a great maturity and live each day with His purpose. Don’t judge left overs by how many hours you have left at the end of your day, your life has more meaning than time. Talk to Jesus today about this, see what He says to you.
Monday, March 14, 2011
March 14
John 5:6 (NIV)
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
I think that Jesus is asking the same of us. We initially would say, “oh yea”! But if we got well, we would be well. Think about it. This question should therefore be thought provoking for our own lives. Jesus would ask us the same thing, “do you really want…”
John 5:19 (NIV)
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; the can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
If Jesus couldn’t do anything alone, how much more should we rely on the Father! O.k., that would be generally accepted by most if not all, but how about this, Jesus saw what the Father was doing. Did you get that? He SAW it! Jesus saw what the Father was doing. That is what we need to pray for – to see what the Father is doing! That means that at least some of the time we need to SEE the spirit realm. There are ways of seeing what God is doing because of the physical ramifications of the Father’s move, however, if we don’t have our eyes opened to the spirit realm, then we will surely miss many things that the Father is doing and thereby we won’t be able to do what the Father is doing.
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
I think that Jesus is asking the same of us. We initially would say, “oh yea”! But if we got well, we would be well. Think about it. This question should therefore be thought provoking for our own lives. Jesus would ask us the same thing, “do you really want…”
John 5:19 (NIV)
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; the can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
If Jesus couldn’t do anything alone, how much more should we rely on the Father! O.k., that would be generally accepted by most if not all, but how about this, Jesus saw what the Father was doing. Did you get that? He SAW it! Jesus saw what the Father was doing. That is what we need to pray for – to see what the Father is doing! That means that at least some of the time we need to SEE the spirit realm. There are ways of seeing what God is doing because of the physical ramifications of the Father’s move, however, if we don’t have our eyes opened to the spirit realm, then we will surely miss many things that the Father is doing and thereby we won’t be able to do what the Father is doing.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
March 13
John 4:10-11 (NIV)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
Even with living water, you have to draw it with something. I think this woman said something prophetic about God here. With God the well is deep and you need something to draw the water up to be tasted and for the need (or desire) of thirst to be quenched. In the natural realm you would have a bucket of some sort attached to a rope. What do you think you need in the spirit realm to draw and release the water? Faith! Jesus said faith moves mountains. The whole conversation with the woman in John 4 is a spiritual one that she didn’t get until Jesus told her about her life, which was discerned spiritually.
We have been busy about getting the water from the well while Jesus is trying to teach us about living water! We do need to pay attention to and believe for material water, (food, clothing, housing…) however our FOCUS has to be on the living water, which by the way, will be a pipeline for all that we could ever need.
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
Even with living water, you have to draw it with something. I think this woman said something prophetic about God here. With God the well is deep and you need something to draw the water up to be tasted and for the need (or desire) of thirst to be quenched. In the natural realm you would have a bucket of some sort attached to a rope. What do you think you need in the spirit realm to draw and release the water? Faith! Jesus said faith moves mountains. The whole conversation with the woman in John 4 is a spiritual one that she didn’t get until Jesus told her about her life, which was discerned spiritually.
We have been busy about getting the water from the well while Jesus is trying to teach us about living water! We do need to pay attention to and believe for material water, (food, clothing, housing…) however our FOCUS has to be on the living water, which by the way, will be a pipeline for all that we could ever need.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
march 12
John 3:8 (NIV)
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The Spirit of God can’t be pinned down and therefore neither can those born of the Spirit. We are like the wind, being blown wherever the Spirit pleases. This is deep stuff that Jesus is talking about. Jesus is talking about heavenly things but he uses the earthly things to explain the spiritual. Nicodemus can’t understand a thing Jesus is saying because he is thinking from an earthly – what can be seen perspective. Yet even the wind – an earthly thing – couldn’t be understood clearly in this day. They didn’t know where it came from or why it came, only that it came. How do you know that the wind is here except you see it’s effect on the place where it is. That is how we are like the wind – those who have been born again. You can see the effect that we have – that is how you know we are around. There is much more about seeing the spirit realm and believing, but let me just say this, you are a powerful spiritual force that people won’t understand. All they will understand is that when you are around things happen that are absent when you are absent. Determine right now to have an impact on your surroundings wherever you go and bring glory to the wind maker – star creator – the Father of all!
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The Spirit of God can’t be pinned down and therefore neither can those born of the Spirit. We are like the wind, being blown wherever the Spirit pleases. This is deep stuff that Jesus is talking about. Jesus is talking about heavenly things but he uses the earthly things to explain the spiritual. Nicodemus can’t understand a thing Jesus is saying because he is thinking from an earthly – what can be seen perspective. Yet even the wind – an earthly thing – couldn’t be understood clearly in this day. They didn’t know where it came from or why it came, only that it came. How do you know that the wind is here except you see it’s effect on the place where it is. That is how we are like the wind – those who have been born again. You can see the effect that we have – that is how you know we are around. There is much more about seeing the spirit realm and believing, but let me just say this, you are a powerful spiritual force that people won’t understand. All they will understand is that when you are around things happen that are absent when you are absent. Determine right now to have an impact on your surroundings wherever you go and bring glory to the wind maker – star creator – the Father of all!
Friday, March 11, 2011
March 11
I want to weave both the OT and the NT readings together today. In Exodus 40 it says 7 times that Moses did “as the Lord commanded”, and then this happened;
Exodus 40:34 (NIV)
34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
In John 2 we read about Jesus turning water into wine. Mary said to the servants, “do whatever he (Jesus) tells you.” When they did, the miracle of wine – the best wine – coming from ordinary water happened, and then it says this;
John 2:11 (NIV)
11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
It should be obvious that when we do as the Lord commands, it puts us in the best possible position for a miracle and for God to reveal His glory in us, through us or around us. Here is the kicker in these two accounts: God takes ordinary things, raw materials if you will, and makes them into something extraordinarily different and thus reveals His glory. The tent was made up of common materials of this earth, and the water was from the earth. The tent became the dwelling place of God Himself and the water was transformed (without the help of any earthly compound) into the best wine!
God’s plan in us is to take our base earthly compound and transform us into a revelation of His glory and dwell within us! Is that crazy or what? Sure He will perform miracles through us, but we need to get this first – WE are the miracle! We are the transformed people of His great power and love! We are not the same! So let’s believe, think and act like we are those transformed people, not just laying aside those fleshly things that we all could list, but putting on the mind of Christ and walking around like the transformed people that we are!
Exodus 40:34 (NIV)
34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
In John 2 we read about Jesus turning water into wine. Mary said to the servants, “do whatever he (Jesus) tells you.” When they did, the miracle of wine – the best wine – coming from ordinary water happened, and then it says this;
John 2:11 (NIV)
11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
It should be obvious that when we do as the Lord commands, it puts us in the best possible position for a miracle and for God to reveal His glory in us, through us or around us. Here is the kicker in these two accounts: God takes ordinary things, raw materials if you will, and makes them into something extraordinarily different and thus reveals His glory. The tent was made up of common materials of this earth, and the water was from the earth. The tent became the dwelling place of God Himself and the water was transformed (without the help of any earthly compound) into the best wine!
God’s plan in us is to take our base earthly compound and transform us into a revelation of His glory and dwell within us! Is that crazy or what? Sure He will perform miracles through us, but we need to get this first – WE are the miracle! We are the transformed people of His great power and love! We are not the same! So let’s believe, think and act like we are those transformed people, not just laying aside those fleshly things that we all could list, but putting on the mind of Christ and walking around like the transformed people that we are!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
March 10
John 1:51 (NIV)
51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
I do believe that we have to contextually interpret this scripture as we do others. This one seems to be specific to the disciples and even more specifically towards Nathanael. Here is the where the big however comes in, why couldn’t it apply to us today? Because why? Plenty of people through the centuries have seen heavenly things – ahh, but not you? So that is why it couldn’t happen – because it didn’t already happen? That is a pervasive and real doctrine of many Christians – but we are not of those. The only thing that the disciples saw that we can’t see is Jesus physically walking on the earth doing the “stuff” (advancing the Kingdom of God). We are not precluded from seeing an open heaven because Jesus isn’t here! As much as Jesus told His disciples that they would do greater things (John 14:12), and here that they would see greater things, I believe that applies to us as well. The hurdle for us, that is very doable, is that we have to seek it! It is the thirsty that get watered. When we give our lives to anything in the world we usually see results (business, fitness, scholastically…), how much more when we give ourselves to seeing an open heaven will we see heaven touching earth? Jesus clearly says, “ask and it will be given”. We have to ask ourselves, do we believe Jesus? If we believe, then we will expect to receive – we will plan on.
We are people of faith, vision and secure hope. We don’t waiver from believing for things that we have never seen. We are people who want an open heaven and believe that this promise applies to us today. We may not see them ascend and descend on the Son of Man, but we will certainly see the heavens open.
51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
I do believe that we have to contextually interpret this scripture as we do others. This one seems to be specific to the disciples and even more specifically towards Nathanael. Here is the where the big however comes in, why couldn’t it apply to us today? Because why? Plenty of people through the centuries have seen heavenly things – ahh, but not you? So that is why it couldn’t happen – because it didn’t already happen? That is a pervasive and real doctrine of many Christians – but we are not of those. The only thing that the disciples saw that we can’t see is Jesus physically walking on the earth doing the “stuff” (advancing the Kingdom of God). We are not precluded from seeing an open heaven because Jesus isn’t here! As much as Jesus told His disciples that they would do greater things (John 14:12), and here that they would see greater things, I believe that applies to us as well. The hurdle for us, that is very doable, is that we have to seek it! It is the thirsty that get watered. When we give our lives to anything in the world we usually see results (business, fitness, scholastically…), how much more when we give ourselves to seeing an open heaven will we see heaven touching earth? Jesus clearly says, “ask and it will be given”. We have to ask ourselves, do we believe Jesus? If we believe, then we will expect to receive – we will plan on.
We are people of faith, vision and secure hope. We don’t waiver from believing for things that we have never seen. We are people who want an open heaven and believe that this promise applies to us today. We may not see them ascend and descend on the Son of Man, but we will certainly see the heavens open.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
March 8
Romans 16:17 (NIV)
17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
I feel like I could just let this scripture ring and not comment. What an extreme view huh? Paul is urging people to avoid or severely limit contact with people who cause divisions (In some languages the equivalent of ‘causing division’ is literally ‘to cause two groups in place of one group,’ but more frequently the equivalent is expressed in terms of attitudes, for example, ‘to cause people to be angry at one another’ or ‘to cause people not to like one another’ or ‘to cause people to think of one another as enemies.’), or who turn people away from the solid teaching they have received. Paul must have been thinking about grace, works, sin and justification by faith, etc…, but something else came in my mind when I was reading. Some people, well meaning or not, turn others away from trusting God through criticism or doubt. They utter words against the miraculous and cause people to doubt God could or will come through for them. Paul is saying that we need to be on our guard against them! That is because you can’t always identify them easily or it may be that we easily fall into the same trap by causing people to dislike or distrust one another or to distrust God’s faithfulness to fulfill His entire Word.
We have to not only watch out for “those people”, who are out there, but we have to be alert to not fall into that ourselves. Speak well of others, build unity and encourage people to believe God’s Word in total. Reprove others who speak about others negatively in your presence. These sins that Paul mentions are some of the most harmful if not the most harmful sins. If we want to take the cities for God, we have to stop being divisive. It’s a big deal and needs to be stopped!
Titus 3:10 (NIV)
10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.
17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
I feel like I could just let this scripture ring and not comment. What an extreme view huh? Paul is urging people to avoid or severely limit contact with people who cause divisions (In some languages the equivalent of ‘causing division’ is literally ‘to cause two groups in place of one group,’ but more frequently the equivalent is expressed in terms of attitudes, for example, ‘to cause people to be angry at one another’ or ‘to cause people not to like one another’ or ‘to cause people to think of one another as enemies.’), or who turn people away from the solid teaching they have received. Paul must have been thinking about grace, works, sin and justification by faith, etc…, but something else came in my mind when I was reading. Some people, well meaning or not, turn others away from trusting God through criticism or doubt. They utter words against the miraculous and cause people to doubt God could or will come through for them. Paul is saying that we need to be on our guard against them! That is because you can’t always identify them easily or it may be that we easily fall into the same trap by causing people to dislike or distrust one another or to distrust God’s faithfulness to fulfill His entire Word.
We have to not only watch out for “those people”, who are out there, but we have to be alert to not fall into that ourselves. Speak well of others, build unity and encourage people to believe God’s Word in total. Reprove others who speak about others negatively in your presence. These sins that Paul mentions are some of the most harmful if not the most harmful sins. If we want to take the cities for God, we have to stop being divisive. It’s a big deal and needs to be stopped!
Titus 3:10 (NIV)
10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
March 8
Romans 15:18-19 (NIV)
18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
What a great portion of scripture! How did Paul lead the Gentiles? By what he said and by what he did. What did he do? He performed signs and miracles through the power of the Spirit. Will you say with me, will you pray with me today that we would live and expect the Spirit to do the same things? We would all agree that we should lead people to Christ in what we say and what we do, but will we contend for miracles? This won’t be as easy as praying here and there. This will have to be a concerted contention for the miraculous in our lives. We will need to read and know the Word and be convinced that the power of God is within each of us and that we have the mandate from God Himself to display His acts of mercy and compassion through great signs and wonders. Paul did not lead a “nice” life for Christ – he was a sold out Jesus freak and expected the power of God to manifest regularly. Choose today – nice Christian or sold out miracle working Jesus freak.
18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
What a great portion of scripture! How did Paul lead the Gentiles? By what he said and by what he did. What did he do? He performed signs and miracles through the power of the Spirit. Will you say with me, will you pray with me today that we would live and expect the Spirit to do the same things? We would all agree that we should lead people to Christ in what we say and what we do, but will we contend for miracles? This won’t be as easy as praying here and there. This will have to be a concerted contention for the miraculous in our lives. We will need to read and know the Word and be convinced that the power of God is within each of us and that we have the mandate from God Himself to display His acts of mercy and compassion through great signs and wonders. Paul did not lead a “nice” life for Christ – he was a sold out Jesus freak and expected the power of God to manifest regularly. Choose today – nice Christian or sold out miracle working Jesus freak.
Monday, March 7, 2011
March 7
Exodus 32:21-24 (NIV)
21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” 22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Besides being one of the funniest lines in the Bible, “I threw it in the fire and out came this calf,” we see here that there was a question of accountability and fault, and Aaron deflected it like a master and threw it back on all the people. Then he deflected it towards some sort of spiritual power that made the calf. In other words, he lied his face off to get away from any responsibility of his own multiple sins. The problem with that is he didn’t get away from it far enough, in fact, 3,000 people died that day and a plague was to kill many more. There were far reaching actions of Aaron’s sin and the people’s sin before the Lord. We may think that we would never cast an idol like that or that we would have waited, but let’s humbly remember that Moses was gone for over a month and gold, stone and wood idols were the gods of that day. We have different gods and should keep our pride in check. Think about it.
The final point today is this:
Exodus 32:20 (NIV)
20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
We have got to understand that this is the norm. When we worship other gods, we take them into ourselves. We don’t hold the fire and not get burned, we get burned on the inside! Church – stay as far away as possible from the idols of our society, (our labor, effort and wisdom, beauty, money, fame, power and control, sex, inebriants, etc…), or else that will corrupt you from the inside, because you will drink them. Instead, serve the Living God who loves you so and gave everything for you and gives everything to you!
21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” 22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Besides being one of the funniest lines in the Bible, “I threw it in the fire and out came this calf,” we see here that there was a question of accountability and fault, and Aaron deflected it like a master and threw it back on all the people. Then he deflected it towards some sort of spiritual power that made the calf. In other words, he lied his face off to get away from any responsibility of his own multiple sins. The problem with that is he didn’t get away from it far enough, in fact, 3,000 people died that day and a plague was to kill many more. There were far reaching actions of Aaron’s sin and the people’s sin before the Lord. We may think that we would never cast an idol like that or that we would have waited, but let’s humbly remember that Moses was gone for over a month and gold, stone and wood idols were the gods of that day. We have different gods and should keep our pride in check. Think about it.
The final point today is this:
Exodus 32:20 (NIV)
20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
We have got to understand that this is the norm. When we worship other gods, we take them into ourselves. We don’t hold the fire and not get burned, we get burned on the inside! Church – stay as far away as possible from the idols of our society, (our labor, effort and wisdom, beauty, money, fame, power and control, sex, inebriants, etc…), or else that will corrupt you from the inside, because you will drink them. Instead, serve the Living God who loves you so and gave everything for you and gives everything to you!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
March 6
Exodus 31:13 (NIV)
13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
The Sabbath was set up between Israel and God and is part of the Old Testament. However, that doesn’t mean that we can forget about it and not experience death. It is true that we are not “bound” by the law, but have freedom in Christ, which means we have freedom to choose right! The Sabbath rest, and the special Sabbaths bring life to us through rest, relaxation and recreation and also through remembrance and consecration. The special Sabbaths are a time to celebrate and we should have those celebration times. That point I will save for another time as we focus on the Sabbath. Instead of me telling you the rules for our New Covenant Sabbath, I will point out two timeless truths.
First the Sabbath will be a sign. There is within the Sabbath day a sign to God, can you guess what it is? Spend some time thinking about that. The second thing is “so you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy”. When I read that today the Lord was saying to me that I have to cease from my work so I can trust in His work for my salvation and His ability to provide my provision. Who is the Lord? He is the one who can bring about all things – who has given us all things. Does He need help? Not on the Sabbath He doesn’t.
13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
The Sabbath was set up between Israel and God and is part of the Old Testament. However, that doesn’t mean that we can forget about it and not experience death. It is true that we are not “bound” by the law, but have freedom in Christ, which means we have freedom to choose right! The Sabbath rest, and the special Sabbaths bring life to us through rest, relaxation and recreation and also through remembrance and consecration. The special Sabbaths are a time to celebrate and we should have those celebration times. That point I will save for another time as we focus on the Sabbath. Instead of me telling you the rules for our New Covenant Sabbath, I will point out two timeless truths.
First the Sabbath will be a sign. There is within the Sabbath day a sign to God, can you guess what it is? Spend some time thinking about that. The second thing is “so you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy”. When I read that today the Lord was saying to me that I have to cease from my work so I can trust in His work for my salvation and His ability to provide my provision. Who is the Lord? He is the one who can bring about all things – who has given us all things. Does He need help? Not on the Sabbath He doesn’t.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
March 5
Romans 12 is one of the spectacularly rich chapters in the Word of God that touches nearly every area of life. It talks about sacrifice, worship, church body life, gifts, grace, humility, love, zeal and many other things like how to overcome evil. We have our children memorize this entire chapter several times in their lives because it is so rich.
Romans 12:17 (NIV)
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil…
Romans 12:21 (NIV)
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The thing about overcoming evil is it is hard! Christianity isn’t for wimps! It is a way of life that self sacrifice and self control is given and demanded in order to demonstrate the Kingdom of God. Let’s be honest, I want to fight fire with fire many times. When someone cuts me down, I have on my tongue within milliseconds a response to make someone feel like a jerk and never do it again. It comes natural to me – it’s a gift. However the gift of my Father is mercy and self control to which I MUST yield if I am to “win”, and I love winning! The win is only through being good to people who are being evil toward you. That means we don’t give them back “what they deserve”. That means that we don’t talk about them behind their back (man is that hard), not even to your spouse! That means we don’t avoid them or complain or anything else but figure out a way to bless them. If we can’t figure anything else out, just bless them audibly.
There is a promise in the Bible that is still true today; “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” If people are being evil to me and rendering curses with backbiting, gossip, judgments or outright harmful to my face evil, God will unleash curses against them – even if they are Christians! There will be a removal of protection from evil and evil will have it’s way to some extent. I need to pray for those people and not act in an evil fashion toward them! If I do, I may be in the same boat they are in! Don’t get caught in that boat, but learn the Kingdom way to overcome evil – with good!
Romans 12:17 (NIV)
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil…
Romans 12:21 (NIV)
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The thing about overcoming evil is it is hard! Christianity isn’t for wimps! It is a way of life that self sacrifice and self control is given and demanded in order to demonstrate the Kingdom of God. Let’s be honest, I want to fight fire with fire many times. When someone cuts me down, I have on my tongue within milliseconds a response to make someone feel like a jerk and never do it again. It comes natural to me – it’s a gift. However the gift of my Father is mercy and self control to which I MUST yield if I am to “win”, and I love winning! The win is only through being good to people who are being evil toward you. That means we don’t give them back “what they deserve”. That means that we don’t talk about them behind their back (man is that hard), not even to your spouse! That means we don’t avoid them or complain or anything else but figure out a way to bless them. If we can’t figure anything else out, just bless them audibly.
There is a promise in the Bible that is still true today; “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” If people are being evil to me and rendering curses with backbiting, gossip, judgments or outright harmful to my face evil, God will unleash curses against them – even if they are Christians! There will be a removal of protection from evil and evil will have it’s way to some extent. I need to pray for those people and not act in an evil fashion toward them! If I do, I may be in the same boat they are in! Don’t get caught in that boat, but learn the Kingdom way to overcome evil – with good!
Friday, March 4, 2011
March 4
Romans 11:33 (NIV)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
The unsearchableness of God is great! Sometimes it is so hard to understand certain things and Romans 11 fits into that category. It messes with your head and challenges your preconceived notions. How God does things, why God does things and what God is doing in the grand scheme of things is incredible! For me, this reminds me that I am not going to figure everything out. Even though we have been given the understanding of mysteries, there is so much to God that is unfathomable. I suppose that we will take an eternity and still not get it all.
This is frustrating and comforting at the same time. It is frustrating because we want to figure it all out. We want to be able to publish books to answer all the questions of humanity. There are certain things that are cut and dry – God is love – but there are other things that are at the very least hard to search out if not unfathomable. However there is a comfort in knowing that God is bigger than us! His ways are not fully understandable! He is greater and grander than us! Isn’t it comforting that God isn’t limited by what we can think? He has your life in His hands, aren’t you glad His hands are bigger than yours? Think about it.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
The unsearchableness of God is great! Sometimes it is so hard to understand certain things and Romans 11 fits into that category. It messes with your head and challenges your preconceived notions. How God does things, why God does things and what God is doing in the grand scheme of things is incredible! For me, this reminds me that I am not going to figure everything out. Even though we have been given the understanding of mysteries, there is so much to God that is unfathomable. I suppose that we will take an eternity and still not get it all.
This is frustrating and comforting at the same time. It is frustrating because we want to figure it all out. We want to be able to publish books to answer all the questions of humanity. There are certain things that are cut and dry – God is love – but there are other things that are at the very least hard to search out if not unfathomable. However there is a comfort in knowing that God is bigger than us! His ways are not fully understandable! He is greater and grander than us! Isn’t it comforting that God isn’t limited by what we can think? He has your life in His hands, aren’t you glad His hands are bigger than yours? Think about it.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
March 3
Exodus 25:9 (NIV)
9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.
At first I thought that Moses had some creative license as to how to make the articles of the tabernacle. The descriptions were not super detailed and I was thinking that it was wonderful that God gave man so much creativity in making His temple. Then I came upon this verse:
Exodus 25:40 (NIV)
40 See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
That is when I noticed that God showed it to him. Verse 9 had said the same thing but I hadn’t caught it until I started writing. God showed it to him! I believe there was some craftsmanship and handiwork that went into the tabernacle or tent and all of it’s articles, but it was to be done as God had told them and showed them.
There are a few steps within our lives that we go through in reference to how we live and interact with our Champion and Architect. The first way is that we ask God to bless our day. We plan it for the most part and ask His blessing on it. The second is that we do get direction from the Lord for our day but most of what we talk to Him about is the big stuff and not the small stuff. Next, we surrender our days in complete, but the pattern of our lives, (the way we used to do things), takes over a lot of the time. This happens because we are not purposeful and because even though we received instructions on our day, we didn’t really see it as God sees it. The final step is to sit before the Lord and be so entrenched in His will, we not only see what He wants, but we cannot see it being done any other way. We receive the pattern of our days from Him and we fear Him enough to know that the accomplishments that need to be done, that are there for us to do, that are within our reach, will never be done without paying close attention to detail.
Will you aspire with me to seek His face before we do anything else, get clear direction from Him, and fear and respect Him enough to carry out things just as He shows us?
9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.
At first I thought that Moses had some creative license as to how to make the articles of the tabernacle. The descriptions were not super detailed and I was thinking that it was wonderful that God gave man so much creativity in making His temple. Then I came upon this verse:
Exodus 25:40 (NIV)
40 See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
That is when I noticed that God showed it to him. Verse 9 had said the same thing but I hadn’t caught it until I started writing. God showed it to him! I believe there was some craftsmanship and handiwork that went into the tabernacle or tent and all of it’s articles, but it was to be done as God had told them and showed them.
There are a few steps within our lives that we go through in reference to how we live and interact with our Champion and Architect. The first way is that we ask God to bless our day. We plan it for the most part and ask His blessing on it. The second is that we do get direction from the Lord for our day but most of what we talk to Him about is the big stuff and not the small stuff. Next, we surrender our days in complete, but the pattern of our lives, (the way we used to do things), takes over a lot of the time. This happens because we are not purposeful and because even though we received instructions on our day, we didn’t really see it as God sees it. The final step is to sit before the Lord and be so entrenched in His will, we not only see what He wants, but we cannot see it being done any other way. We receive the pattern of our days from Him and we fear Him enough to know that the accomplishments that need to be done, that are there for us to do, that are within our reach, will never be done without paying close attention to detail.
Will you aspire with me to seek His face before we do anything else, get clear direction from Him, and fear and respect Him enough to carry out things just as He shows us?
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
March 2
Exodus 23:29-30 (NIV)
29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
God thinks so differently than us! We think, let’s get rid of all of our enemies, kick them out of the land and be done with them and the battle. God is thinking that isn’t such a good idea – He wants the enemies in the land for a while and for us to engage in battle for a long time. If God gave us the physical victory in a moment, we would be free from battle. That seems so good! However, the Word tells us that the land would become desolate and the wild animals would take over and overpower us. If God gives us everything in a moment then our lives would not be taken over by Him, they would be free of enemies, until another type of enemy comes in and rules. Are you getting this? God in His mercy keeps us engaged in the battle so after we have conquered with His strength and power areas of our lives that were enemy territory – those areas that we couldn’t seem to control and they got us into trouble of one sort or another – then we can actually occupy, or better yet, the Spirit can occupy those areas so we continue to walk in victory. The battle keeps us sharp!
These wild animals that would be too numerous, what do they represent for us? Many things I suppose, but one thing is clear – they become too much for us. Oh how I have wished that I would just be done with the inner struggles and battles, but I suppose if I was done with them, I would have the outer struggles that would take over. With the inner struggles being won little by little, I stay in the struggle, I stay in hope, I stay on my knees, and the wild animals have little chance of occupying any territory giving to and won for my Jesus.
Maybe we should take a moment and thank the Lord for the daily battles and daily consecration and that we haven’t been taken over by exterior spiritual forces.
29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
God thinks so differently than us! We think, let’s get rid of all of our enemies, kick them out of the land and be done with them and the battle. God is thinking that isn’t such a good idea – He wants the enemies in the land for a while and for us to engage in battle for a long time. If God gave us the physical victory in a moment, we would be free from battle. That seems so good! However, the Word tells us that the land would become desolate and the wild animals would take over and overpower us. If God gives us everything in a moment then our lives would not be taken over by Him, they would be free of enemies, until another type of enemy comes in and rules. Are you getting this? God in His mercy keeps us engaged in the battle so after we have conquered with His strength and power areas of our lives that were enemy territory – those areas that we couldn’t seem to control and they got us into trouble of one sort or another – then we can actually occupy, or better yet, the Spirit can occupy those areas so we continue to walk in victory. The battle keeps us sharp!
These wild animals that would be too numerous, what do they represent for us? Many things I suppose, but one thing is clear – they become too much for us. Oh how I have wished that I would just be done with the inner struggles and battles, but I suppose if I was done with them, I would have the outer struggles that would take over. With the inner struggles being won little by little, I stay in the struggle, I stay in hope, I stay on my knees, and the wild animals have little chance of occupying any territory giving to and won for my Jesus.
Maybe we should take a moment and thank the Lord for the daily battles and daily consecration and that we haven’t been taken over by exterior spiritual forces.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
March 1
Psalm 119:128 (NIV)
128 and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
It seems that many have been lulled to sleep and accept wrong or tolerate it. I myself found myself fast forwarding a TV show because of objectionable content. My question to myself and all of us is, why just fast forward it? Let’s turn it off! Why just fast forward or tolerate it? We don’t hate wrong paths.
It is easy in this society to let the lines of right and wrong blur and for us as Christians in the name of tolerance accept the practices of evil. Of course we condemn murder, rape, child abuse, but there are the not so subtle and subtle things of our lives and of others that we “tolerate” instead of hate. Our hatred, like God’s hatred of wrong or evil is based in His love for right or good. He loves good because He wants our lives to be good! He loves us so much He wants the best for us! I think God loves us more than we love us. Either that or we don’t consider His precepts right. For most of us we believe what God says is true, right and just, but we may have the attitude that it “isn’t that big of a deal”, when the very thing we are accepting is causing us a death that will reverberate through our lives and even the lives of our family.
This week, ask yourself if you hate the wrong paths you see, hear about or do. Talk to God about it – He loves you more than you love you!
128 and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
It seems that many have been lulled to sleep and accept wrong or tolerate it. I myself found myself fast forwarding a TV show because of objectionable content. My question to myself and all of us is, why just fast forward it? Let’s turn it off! Why just fast forward or tolerate it? We don’t hate wrong paths.
It is easy in this society to let the lines of right and wrong blur and for us as Christians in the name of tolerance accept the practices of evil. Of course we condemn murder, rape, child abuse, but there are the not so subtle and subtle things of our lives and of others that we “tolerate” instead of hate. Our hatred, like God’s hatred of wrong or evil is based in His love for right or good. He loves good because He wants our lives to be good! He loves us so much He wants the best for us! I think God loves us more than we love us. Either that or we don’t consider His precepts right. For most of us we believe what God says is true, right and just, but we may have the attitude that it “isn’t that big of a deal”, when the very thing we are accepting is causing us a death that will reverberate through our lives and even the lives of our family.
This week, ask yourself if you hate the wrong paths you see, hear about or do. Talk to God about it – He loves you more than you love you!
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