Romans 7:2
2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
Romans 7:4
4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
Bound. Do you like to be bound? Of course not right? However the only way to get “unbound” is to die. That seems a little extreme though. Yet it is the only remedy for us. Unless we die to everything, we cannot live for God in everything.
Romans 7:13 (NIV)
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
This ties in with our dying. In fact death was produced in us by sin so dying shouldn’t be that big of deal right? It is all about the control isn’t it? The point Paul is making – that God is making - is that you are already dead because of sin. The law was to make sure that you understood that you were dead and are dying and that you can’t be good! So if you will die to your own effort to “live” or be good, then you can rest in the death of Jesus and be raised again with Him to the life that He wants to give you! But the resurrection only comes after the death. If we want all God has for us, we must die to ourselves, to the things that drag us down, from our own ability to attain what we think is righteousness. Giving up – surrendering – is the only way to have victory. Why stay in a losing battle, give up your life and get God’s life in return!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
February 27
Exodus 21:2 (NIV)
2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.
Servanthood or slavery is a touchy subject in this society because of our frame of reference for slavery. Our reference is stealing someone from his homeland and forcefully bringing him to America to then be treated worse than cattle. Slavery or a bought servant came about from two main instances in Bible days. The first is when you had a war and won. When you won, you indentured the people to serve you. Sounds messy, but it makes sense to not let them grow in strength to come back and overpower you. You won the war so that gives you the right to make them servants. (Think about this spiritually).
The other way slaves were bought and sold is if they were in debt and unable to pay, or they were unable to make a living for themselves. There is so much to say about this but the point for today is that when you get into debt, you become a servant (slave). It is only recently that you were released from your obligations to do what you said you would do. Our society has gone nuts because people don’t have to “pay” for what they do. I am not talking about just money, I am talking about consequence. There are consequences to things and Americans have to start facing it. The problem for us is that we are already under spiritual consequences and we don’t even know it.
Romans 6:16 (NIV)
16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
We are not people who don’t understand the grave consequences of giving ourselves to the “stuff” of this world. Keep yourself from slavery friends – don’t sell yourself into servitude. God has such wonderful plans and promises for you. Don’t settle for anything less.
2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.
Servanthood or slavery is a touchy subject in this society because of our frame of reference for slavery. Our reference is stealing someone from his homeland and forcefully bringing him to America to then be treated worse than cattle. Slavery or a bought servant came about from two main instances in Bible days. The first is when you had a war and won. When you won, you indentured the people to serve you. Sounds messy, but it makes sense to not let them grow in strength to come back and overpower you. You won the war so that gives you the right to make them servants. (Think about this spiritually).
The other way slaves were bought and sold is if they were in debt and unable to pay, or they were unable to make a living for themselves. There is so much to say about this but the point for today is that when you get into debt, you become a servant (slave). It is only recently that you were released from your obligations to do what you said you would do. Our society has gone nuts because people don’t have to “pay” for what they do. I am not talking about just money, I am talking about consequence. There are consequences to things and Americans have to start facing it. The problem for us is that we are already under spiritual consequences and we don’t even know it.
Romans 6:16 (NIV)
16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
We are not people who don’t understand the grave consequences of giving ourselves to the “stuff” of this world. Keep yourself from slavery friends – don’t sell yourself into servitude. God has such wonderful plans and promises for you. Don’t settle for anything less.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
February 26
Romans 5:17 (NIV)
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Probably one of my favorite verses in the Bible, this verse clearly communicates that we are different than we were before we gave our lives to Christ. Just like death reigned, and I think that death has had a pretty good grip on humanity, we reign in life! I like hearing this when things are going o.k. or when things are going good. However when things are going bad, and I need it the most, I don’t want to hear this. There is something reigning in me and it isn’t righteousness! This should be something that we confess to ourselves over and over – I reign, I reign!
The reason I reign is that I am righteous now because God gave me that gift! I am amazed at how many Christians consider themselves “sinners” and have the mindset that they can’t overcome things. “That is just the way I am”, or “I’ll never be able to change” are things people say that oppose the scripture that says that you are righteous and you reign in life. When tough times come, which they certainly will, let’s decide that we will be of the mindset to overcome since we reign in life and are more than conquerors.
Romans 8:37 (NIV)
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Probably one of my favorite verses in the Bible, this verse clearly communicates that we are different than we were before we gave our lives to Christ. Just like death reigned, and I think that death has had a pretty good grip on humanity, we reign in life! I like hearing this when things are going o.k. or when things are going good. However when things are going bad, and I need it the most, I don’t want to hear this. There is something reigning in me and it isn’t righteousness! This should be something that we confess to ourselves over and over – I reign, I reign!
The reason I reign is that I am righteous now because God gave me that gift! I am amazed at how many Christians consider themselves “sinners” and have the mindset that they can’t overcome things. “That is just the way I am”, or “I’ll never be able to change” are things people say that oppose the scripture that says that you are righteous and you reign in life. When tough times come, which they certainly will, let’s decide that we will be of the mindset to overcome since we reign in life and are more than conquerors.
Romans 8:37 (NIV)
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Friday, February 25, 2011
February 25
Romans 4:20-21 (NIV)
20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
Why did Abraham need faith to believe the promise of an offspring – a son – would be born to Sarah? Because they were well beyond child bearing years. It is not that they couldn’t have marital relations anymore, it was the fact that their reproductive systems were old. Basically Sarah was infertile and incapable of dropping an egg, after all she was in her 60’s when the first promise came, but she was 90 when she actually got pregnant. We don’t often think of these things when we come to passages like this, but we have to insert ourselves into the historical context. These people were old! I am sure that Abraham thought that he couldn’t produce “seed” although he could. When you add all of this up you see that they could NOT make this happen. It was an impossibility for them to make it happen – work for it – grit their teeth, pull up their boot straps and bring the promise about by their own effort. They were forced to either believe or not believe!
As I was reading I was struck by the fact that God inserts us into situations that we can’t solve so we must choose faith in order for the promise to be fulfilled. When we can’t do it is when we are forced to make a decision of trusting God. I will go one step further, I will put myself in situations to constrain myself to believe by asking God for big things! One of the ways we keep our faith (trust) small (limited) is to never believe for great things. We believe for what we can make happen.
Go to God today and ask Him to show you the great things He wants you to do. If you can accomplish it without him, it takes no faith and therefore is small and can turn into a fleshly thing because you can do it. God has greatness in each of us. He has great exploits for us! Ask Him what they are, fix your eyes on Him and believe that He will do this great thing. (That you couldn’t bring about if you tried).
20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
Why did Abraham need faith to believe the promise of an offspring – a son – would be born to Sarah? Because they were well beyond child bearing years. It is not that they couldn’t have marital relations anymore, it was the fact that their reproductive systems were old. Basically Sarah was infertile and incapable of dropping an egg, after all she was in her 60’s when the first promise came, but she was 90 when she actually got pregnant. We don’t often think of these things when we come to passages like this, but we have to insert ourselves into the historical context. These people were old! I am sure that Abraham thought that he couldn’t produce “seed” although he could. When you add all of this up you see that they could NOT make this happen. It was an impossibility for them to make it happen – work for it – grit their teeth, pull up their boot straps and bring the promise about by their own effort. They were forced to either believe or not believe!
As I was reading I was struck by the fact that God inserts us into situations that we can’t solve so we must choose faith in order for the promise to be fulfilled. When we can’t do it is when we are forced to make a decision of trusting God. I will go one step further, I will put myself in situations to constrain myself to believe by asking God for big things! One of the ways we keep our faith (trust) small (limited) is to never believe for great things. We believe for what we can make happen.
Go to God today and ask Him to show you the great things He wants you to do. If you can accomplish it without him, it takes no faith and therefore is small and can turn into a fleshly thing because you can do it. God has greatness in each of us. He has great exploits for us! Ask Him what they are, fix your eyes on Him and believe that He will do this great thing. (That you couldn’t bring about if you tried).
Thursday, February 24, 2011
February 24
Exodus 14:13-14 (NIV)
13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
God wants glory! He has a plan to enable you to see His glory. In this case with Israel, it included Egypt having built up a strong army, hardening Pharaoh’s heart, hardening the official’s heart, enticing them to chase Israel down and bringing Israel to the brink of disaster! Many times in our lives we have to get to the brink of disaster or be at the “end of our rope” to turn to God, and especially to recognize that it is His glory that has delivered us from our trouble. When we are ready to be counted down and out and we are rescued, we understand fully that we were saved by God and God alone.
How about this – let’s be trained to recognize God in everything and everywhere, giving Him glory along the way and deflecting glory towards Him when we are part of what He just did. Did you get that? If we will learn to give Him glory and praise Him for the small deliverance or the fact that we didn’t need deliverance at all, maybe we won’t have to face so many “on the brink of disaster” moments. The point of the red sea deliverance was to show His glory to convince the people of God AND the Egyptians that He is THE God of the universe – the only true God who has the power to deliver from all things.
There is another beauty of the Father in this story as well. He took them via the Red Sea so they didn’t have to fight with the Philistines because they weren’t ready to be in a battle. They hadn’t been trained for war yet. What a great God we serve who will give us only what we can handle. Either way though it would have been His hand that delivered right? Just because we fought the war with our own hands doesn’t mean we take the glory since we are now trained to give Him the glory – for He trained my hands for war.
13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
God wants glory! He has a plan to enable you to see His glory. In this case with Israel, it included Egypt having built up a strong army, hardening Pharaoh’s heart, hardening the official’s heart, enticing them to chase Israel down and bringing Israel to the brink of disaster! Many times in our lives we have to get to the brink of disaster or be at the “end of our rope” to turn to God, and especially to recognize that it is His glory that has delivered us from our trouble. When we are ready to be counted down and out and we are rescued, we understand fully that we were saved by God and God alone.
How about this – let’s be trained to recognize God in everything and everywhere, giving Him glory along the way and deflecting glory towards Him when we are part of what He just did. Did you get that? If we will learn to give Him glory and praise Him for the small deliverance or the fact that we didn’t need deliverance at all, maybe we won’t have to face so many “on the brink of disaster” moments. The point of the red sea deliverance was to show His glory to convince the people of God AND the Egyptians that He is THE God of the universe – the only true God who has the power to deliver from all things.
There is another beauty of the Father in this story as well. He took them via the Red Sea so they didn’t have to fight with the Philistines because they weren’t ready to be in a battle. They hadn’t been trained for war yet. What a great God we serve who will give us only what we can handle. Either way though it would have been His hand that delivered right? Just because we fought the war with our own hands doesn’t mean we take the glory since we are now trained to give Him the glory – for He trained my hands for war.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
February 23
Exodus 13:3-8 (NIV)
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand… 6 For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the LORD…. 8 On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
This is not the only festival that Israel celebrates, but I am struck by their celebration and our lack of celebration. The why and the how are so meaningful and have the memory of their deliverance! May I suggest that we institute more festivals in our lives that are meaningful. It just seems like our Easter comes and goes. Maybe there is something to the going on for seven days. I will tell you this, that when we come together – on Sundays, Wednesdays or any other day, we should be celebrating our deliverance from slavery. It seems to me that God has us on this track as a church, when many churches (gatherings) come together to only learn. However as much as I am enjoying our celebrations, I think God wants us to be very purposeful in them and never lose focus on the “why” we celebrate. Maybe once a year, we should hold a seven day festival at our church and in our homes in honor of the Lord. I know that many people celebrate the Lord daily, but I am talking about a consecration to the Lord for a week. Something to think about.
3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand… 6 For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the LORD…. 8 On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
This is not the only festival that Israel celebrates, but I am struck by their celebration and our lack of celebration. The why and the how are so meaningful and have the memory of their deliverance! May I suggest that we institute more festivals in our lives that are meaningful. It just seems like our Easter comes and goes. Maybe there is something to the going on for seven days. I will tell you this, that when we come together – on Sundays, Wednesdays or any other day, we should be celebrating our deliverance from slavery. It seems to me that God has us on this track as a church, when many churches (gatherings) come together to only learn. However as much as I am enjoying our celebrations, I think God wants us to be very purposeful in them and never lose focus on the “why” we celebrate. Maybe once a year, we should hold a seven day festival at our church and in our homes in honor of the Lord. I know that many people celebrate the Lord daily, but I am talking about a consecration to the Lord for a week. Something to think about.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
February 22
As we have read about all the plagues and the great wonders God performed in Egypt, it is a bit sobering to know that God will go to great lengths to get His people free. When our Father makes up His mind, He will not relent when it comes to His children – the ones who have made a covenant with Him. The Egyptians were in an unfortunate position. I am not talking about the officials, but the commoner. However we must realize that you are either on God’s side or you stand against Him. The Egyptians stood against the Almighty and His people. The request was simple and the evidence of destruction great! Let my people go! This is the kind of punishment that God brings on those people who won’t let His people go. (That should cause us to be careful not to enslave or control God’s people). I see this as such a story of love and the power of love! God’s heart is to win the heart of His people even though when Moses first went to them, they rejected him. These signs were for all the peoples of the earth as well! He was setting the Israelites free, but He was making His name known in all of the earth so all would come and worship Him! His heart, His love is for His people, but He has made a way for all to become His people.
Psalm 81:15-16 (NIV)
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. 16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Psalm 81:15-16 (NIV)
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. 16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Monday, February 21, 2011
February 21
Acts 28:3-5 (NIV)
3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.
He shook it off! I am not perplexed by that, but I am inspired to be like that. Aren’t you? Something really bad happens to you, like a poisonous snake bites you, and your response is to “shake it off”! How many times do things that are inconsequential drag us down and poison our souls? Forget about the big things like losing your job or crashing your car, (or getting that stupid flu that is going around – o.k., not that big but it was long), how about the small things of life? Think about all the relatively meaningless things that happen to you like a co-worker being rude or getting a parking ticket, we need to FOR SURE shake those things off. I would submit to you today that we need to shake everything off that tries to take our life! The plot of the enemy, if he can’t kill us, is to take the life out of us. This may indeed be an over simplification of what we are supposed to do – shake it off – but let’s remember what Jesus told the disciples to do when people didn’t accept them or their message, “shake the dust off from your feet”. Let it go, leave it behind, and keep moving forward.
3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.
He shook it off! I am not perplexed by that, but I am inspired to be like that. Aren’t you? Something really bad happens to you, like a poisonous snake bites you, and your response is to “shake it off”! How many times do things that are inconsequential drag us down and poison our souls? Forget about the big things like losing your job or crashing your car, (or getting that stupid flu that is going around – o.k., not that big but it was long), how about the small things of life? Think about all the relatively meaningless things that happen to you like a co-worker being rude or getting a parking ticket, we need to FOR SURE shake those things off. I would submit to you today that we need to shake everything off that tries to take our life! The plot of the enemy, if he can’t kill us, is to take the life out of us. This may indeed be an over simplification of what we are supposed to do – shake it off – but let’s remember what Jesus told the disciples to do when people didn’t accept them or their message, “shake the dust off from your feet”. Let it go, leave it behind, and keep moving forward.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
February 20
Acts 27:10 (NIV)
10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”
Acts 27:21-22 (NIV)
21 After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.
Thank God for these men that Paul was on board the ship! Before anything happened, Paul knew that something would happen. That is because the Spirit of God that Paul relied on.
John 16:13 (NIV)
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
We often forget about this wonderful benefit of having the Holy Spirit inside us to guide us and tell us the future. We are NOT fortune tellers, that is not of God, but we do have insight into the future at times, and for Paul this was one of those times. In fact, Paul again, after reminding them that he warned them (a powerful argument for listening to him the second time) he tells them how to overcome their present situation brought on by their disobedience. The Spirit again tells Paul of the future within the remedy of the current situation.
In 2002 I went on my first missionary journey to Argentina. I was super nervous about going and honestly I was afraid that I would not return alive. I found myself thinking about not going because I was afraid. My brother-in-law encouraged me to ask God about it, so I did. God gave me a guarantee that I would be back and He showed me what I was going to be doing in the future. From that time forward, I had great confidence and no fear.
10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”
Acts 27:21-22 (NIV)
21 After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.
Thank God for these men that Paul was on board the ship! Before anything happened, Paul knew that something would happen. That is because the Spirit of God that Paul relied on.
John 16:13 (NIV)
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
We often forget about this wonderful benefit of having the Holy Spirit inside us to guide us and tell us the future. We are NOT fortune tellers, that is not of God, but we do have insight into the future at times, and for Paul this was one of those times. In fact, Paul again, after reminding them that he warned them (a powerful argument for listening to him the second time) he tells them how to overcome their present situation brought on by their disobedience. The Spirit again tells Paul of the future within the remedy of the current situation.
In 2002 I went on my first missionary journey to Argentina. I was super nervous about going and honestly I was afraid that I would not return alive. I found myself thinking about not going because I was afraid. My brother-in-law encouraged me to ask God about it, so I did. God gave me a guarantee that I would be back and He showed me what I was going to be doing in the future. From that time forward, I had great confidence and no fear.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
February 19
Acts 26:12-13 (NIV)
12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions….”
This is the third time that is recorded that Paul shared his testimony. I am sure that he shared it hundreds of times. Everyone has a testimony. We need to have our testimony ready to go at a moment’s notice. Our testimony is our history with God. Paul’s testimony included his before with an emphasis on the change that was exhibited after his conversion. Paul also strongly emphasized the revelation that God gave him. That is the key in sharing our testimony. A changed life is good – even great – however the revelation of who Jesus is, is what people need to believe to be saved. Don’t be afraid to share your testimony and within that share who Jesus is – it is hard to argue with. The world is waiting for you – God has positioned you to bring His life to others. Go for it!
12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions….”
This is the third time that is recorded that Paul shared his testimony. I am sure that he shared it hundreds of times. Everyone has a testimony. We need to have our testimony ready to go at a moment’s notice. Our testimony is our history with God. Paul’s testimony included his before with an emphasis on the change that was exhibited after his conversion. Paul also strongly emphasized the revelation that God gave him. That is the key in sharing our testimony. A changed life is good – even great – however the revelation of who Jesus is, is what people need to believe to be saved. Don’t be afraid to share your testimony and within that share who Jesus is – it is hard to argue with. The world is waiting for you – God has positioned you to bring His life to others. Go for it!
Friday, February 18, 2011
February 18
Exodus 3:11 (NIV)
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
That is the million dollar question isn’t it? Who me, you want me to go? You want me to do that or go there? When God tells us to do hard things or things beyond our talents, gifts and abilities, we often ask him if He is out of His mind? Why? Because we don’t believe that God can overcome our shortcomings. That isn’t a statement about our ability or lack thereof, it is a statement about God’s ability or lack thereof. We are saying that we don’t believe that God could work through me. There is too much of that in the church today. People are waiting for the professionals to pray, preach and minister. When God chooses you, go for it! You have what it takes – you have God with you!
The other thing in relation to this is that we don’t ever hear God tell us to do things beyond ourselves! That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t believe in you, but that we are not listening. I think we turn God off because we don’t want to hear what He has to say. People of God – spend some time with Him – listen – He will tell you things that will blow your mind. You’ll love it!
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
That is the million dollar question isn’t it? Who me, you want me to go? You want me to do that or go there? When God tells us to do hard things or things beyond our talents, gifts and abilities, we often ask him if He is out of His mind? Why? Because we don’t believe that God can overcome our shortcomings. That isn’t a statement about our ability or lack thereof, it is a statement about God’s ability or lack thereof. We are saying that we don’t believe that God could work through me. There is too much of that in the church today. People are waiting for the professionals to pray, preach and minister. When God chooses you, go for it! You have what it takes – you have God with you!
The other thing in relation to this is that we don’t ever hear God tell us to do things beyond ourselves! That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t believe in you, but that we are not listening. I think we turn God off because we don’t want to hear what He has to say. People of God – spend some time with Him – listen – He will tell you things that will blow your mind. You’ll love it!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
February 17 #2
Exodus 1:10-11 (NIV)
10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
I purposely waited hours before posting this word. I didn’t want to take away from the above word with a difficult and controversial word.
There is one more serious thing I would like to mention – that I must mention. Followers of Christ should be having more children. Not everyone needs to have eight, but one or two isn’t multiplying! We jest about this, but the reasons why we don’t have more children usually have nothing whatsoever to do with GOD’s will or God’s decision. We have decided that is enough. No condemnation here towards anyone, there is no point in that, but I do challenge the attitude of American Christians to only replace themselves with two children. That isn’t multiplying. Some are now too old to have more children and you should not feel guilty because guilt doesn’t belong in your soul if you are Christ’s. However, it is not too late for you to think about this and teach your children otherwise.
One of the problems with the American society is that we wait too long to get married and then wait too long to have children. Why? Because we want to live our lives FIRST! That is a generalization, but it is generally true. Please believe that the enemy of God is having babies at an alarming rate! Some religions, like Islam are very purposeful about this strategy. “We must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous”. The plan of the enemy is to wipe us out and not to multiply. Think about this and pray.
10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
I purposely waited hours before posting this word. I didn’t want to take away from the above word with a difficult and controversial word.
There is one more serious thing I would like to mention – that I must mention. Followers of Christ should be having more children. Not everyone needs to have eight, but one or two isn’t multiplying! We jest about this, but the reasons why we don’t have more children usually have nothing whatsoever to do with GOD’s will or God’s decision. We have decided that is enough. No condemnation here towards anyone, there is no point in that, but I do challenge the attitude of American Christians to only replace themselves with two children. That isn’t multiplying. Some are now too old to have more children and you should not feel guilty because guilt doesn’t belong in your soul if you are Christ’s. However, it is not too late for you to think about this and teach your children otherwise.
One of the problems with the American society is that we wait too long to get married and then wait too long to have children. Why? Because we want to live our lives FIRST! That is a generalization, but it is generally true. Please believe that the enemy of God is having babies at an alarming rate! Some religions, like Islam are very purposeful about this strategy. “We must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous”. The plan of the enemy is to wipe us out and not to multiply. Think about this and pray.
February 17
Exodus 1:10-11 (NIV)
Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
This is a great revelation! The Pharaoh and the Egyptians wanted to stop the Israelites from having more children and becoming too numerous. Their plan was to work the Israelites so much that they were too tired and too discouraged to multiply. They not only wanted to wear them out so they had no strength or time to procreate, they wanted to discourage and depress them so they wouldn’t have the mental capacity to procreate nor would they want to bring up offspring in this type of slavery. Are you getting this application? The enemy of our souls and our God uses this very ploy in America today! He keeps us so busy with all of life so we have no time to multiply and advance the Kingdom of God. Heck, most people are too busy to come to church once or twice a week, let alone share Christ with people over a meal! If our lives are not filled up with work, they are filled up with activities of some sort so that we just don’t have the time or the energy to multiply the Kingdom! The mental and emotional aspect of this is just as real today as it was back then, but it is a little different. The enemy has got us chasing our own tail of mental health between depression and anxiety so much so, that we are occupied with being healthy and therefore have no strength or conviction to reach out to others to heal them!
Ask the Lord right now if you have been sucked into to these traps! Make the change dear ones!
Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
This is a great revelation! The Pharaoh and the Egyptians wanted to stop the Israelites from having more children and becoming too numerous. Their plan was to work the Israelites so much that they were too tired and too discouraged to multiply. They not only wanted to wear them out so they had no strength or time to procreate, they wanted to discourage and depress them so they wouldn’t have the mental capacity to procreate nor would they want to bring up offspring in this type of slavery. Are you getting this application? The enemy of our souls and our God uses this very ploy in America today! He keeps us so busy with all of life so we have no time to multiply and advance the Kingdom of God. Heck, most people are too busy to come to church once or twice a week, let alone share Christ with people over a meal! If our lives are not filled up with work, they are filled up with activities of some sort so that we just don’t have the time or the energy to multiply the Kingdom! The mental and emotional aspect of this is just as real today as it was back then, but it is a little different. The enemy has got us chasing our own tail of mental health between depression and anxiety so much so, that we are occupied with being healthy and therefore have no strength or conviction to reach out to others to heal them!
Ask the Lord right now if you have been sucked into to these traps! Make the change dear ones!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
February 16
Genesis 49:28 (NIV)
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
Have you noticed that this “blessing thing” is super important? In fact, what was said in the blessing happened in life! We all know that God’s blessing is an incredible and powerful edict, but do we really understand the power of our blessing? First I speak as a father and then I speak as a priest (who is also a King!).
What a staggering ability we have as fathers to bless our children! As I was reading today I couldn’t stop thinking that I don’t have to wait to bless my children until I am on my death bed. I can pronounce blessings on them that will be fulfilled in their future! Of course we cannot, as Jacob did not, speak on our own. We must speak what our Father is speaking because we are representing Him. However, I think we need to look freshly at this awesome ability and use it!
All of us who have given our lives to Christ are priests according to the Word of God. We have the power of blessing! We can speak things and have great effect on people. When we say, “God bless you” as a purposeful declaration, we have put a mighty and effective favor on that person. It doesn’t mean that everything will be hunky dory, but it invokes the hand of the Almighty towards that person. We can speak a specific blessing over people as well, but it must come from God since He is the one that will bring it to fruition. You have a blessing to give – start pronouncing blessing on people! Call peace on those who God has given peace, joy to those who need joy, healing on the sick, and whatever the Spirit puts in your minds!
Proverbs 18:21 (NIV)
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
Have you noticed that this “blessing thing” is super important? In fact, what was said in the blessing happened in life! We all know that God’s blessing is an incredible and powerful edict, but do we really understand the power of our blessing? First I speak as a father and then I speak as a priest (who is also a King!).
What a staggering ability we have as fathers to bless our children! As I was reading today I couldn’t stop thinking that I don’t have to wait to bless my children until I am on my death bed. I can pronounce blessings on them that will be fulfilled in their future! Of course we cannot, as Jacob did not, speak on our own. We must speak what our Father is speaking because we are representing Him. However, I think we need to look freshly at this awesome ability and use it!
All of us who have given our lives to Christ are priests according to the Word of God. We have the power of blessing! We can speak things and have great effect on people. When we say, “God bless you” as a purposeful declaration, we have put a mighty and effective favor on that person. It doesn’t mean that everything will be hunky dory, but it invokes the hand of the Almighty towards that person. We can speak a specific blessing over people as well, but it must come from God since He is the one that will bring it to fruition. You have a blessing to give – start pronouncing blessing on people! Call peace on those who God has given peace, joy to those who need joy, healing on the sick, and whatever the Spirit puts in your minds!
Proverbs 18:21 (NIV)
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
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