Prayer Point

New blog location

2011-12-16T10:52:00.001-08:00

You can find all the new updates for Prayer Point here at The Connecting Church website.

http://www.miltonsdb.org/Messages/PrayerPoint.aspx

How to recognize when God is talking to you, part 5

2011-11-18T14:40:00.001-08:00

Numbers 22:28-29 (NLT) “Then theLord gave the donkey the abilityto speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?”it asked Balaam. ²⁹ “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaamshouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”

The story of Balaam’s donkey emphasizes how hard headed we can be when theLord is trying to get our attention. When king Balak sent for Balaam to come and curse God’s people, theIsraelites, Balaam sought the Lord, and the Lord told him not to do it. Later, the king sent for Balaam again andpromised him great riches to come and curse the people. Balaam again sought the Lord who theninstructed him to go to the king but to only tell him what God had to say. On the way, the angel of the Lord stood inthe way and was ready to kill Balaam, but only his donkey could see it. Three times the donkey avoided the angel ofdeath, and three times Balaam beat the donkey for not obeying him. If fact, Balaam was ready to kill his donkeyeven though the animal had never done anything like that before. Then God gave the donkey the ability tospeak. Still, Balaam was clueless as towhat was going on. He argued with hisdonkey rather than realizing that God was the cause of the problems. God had to open Balaam’s eyes to thespiritual realm before he understood God’s message.

How often do we “beat the donkey” when in fact God is trying to get ourattention through difficult or uncomfortable circumstances? Maybe the Lord’s is trying to get ourattention about something in our life that needs to be healed or needs tochange. Maybe the Lord is trying to getour attention about a person to whom we need to minister. Maybe the Lord is trying to get our attentionabout the fact that the world needs to know He is God alone, and He has chosenus to be His instrument. May we learnfrom Balaam to recognize His voice before He needs to send a donkey to talk somesense into us.

How to recognize when God is talking to you, part 4

2011-11-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

Leviticus 25:18-19 (NLT) "If you want to live securely in the land, keep my laws and obey my regulations. Then the land will yield bumper crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it."

In our land today there is not a sense of "living securely". Even though the large majority still eat their fill, there is a sense of uneasiness and insecurity that is everywhere. There are questions about the direction that the country is going and the reality of tougher economic times. If, however, we were to analyze our current circumstances from the words of revelation which God gave thousands of years ago, we would understand our present situation. Living securely comes from dependence on the Lord's provision and work on earth. God is speaking to us today by being consistent with His word. We would be wise to spend some time getting to know His word better. Then we would be better able to interpret the times we live in. Indeed, trust and obey for their is no other way to live securely in Jesus.

How to recognize when God is talking to you, part 3

2011-11-04T07:45:00.001-07:00

Jeremiah 35:15 (NIV) “Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. Theysaid, “Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; donot follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I havegiven to you and your fathers.” But you have not paid attention or listened tome.”

There is a sayingthat goes, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” When we are looking to grow in our ability tohear God’s voice, it is crucial that we learn all we can about what He hasalready said that is written down in the Bible. This is where we begin to know His voice and recognize His prioritiesand the things that are on His heart and in His mind. The example of Israel is a lesson that weneed to learn, or we also will be doomed to repeat their hardness ofheart. How will it help us if God isspeaking to us and we are so wrapped up in our own will and wicked ways that wecan’t “hear” Him? We must go to the wordof God and allow the Spirit of God to teach us, convict us and transform us.

How to recognize when God is talking to you, part 2

2011-10-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

Acts 3:1-6 (NIV) “¹ One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time ofprayer—at three in the afternoon. ² Now a man crippled from birthwas being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put everyday to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³ When he sawPeter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴ Peterlooked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. ⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what Ihave I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

This is a little story with a lotof power! Even the Jewish leaders whowere opposed to Christ did not deny this was a miracle (see Acts 4:16). Yet because of the incredible nature of thismiracle we often don’t ask the right questions about what God was doing. What caused Peter to respond to this beggarand not another one? Why did Peter tellthe man to walk instead of asking God to heal him? This account doesn’t give us the answers,but we know from how Jesus interacted with the Father and how he taught hisdisciples to do the same that God was talking to Peter and John. Both Peter and John’s attention were drawn tothe beggar, first of all. They hadlearned to recognize the leading of the Spirit. Secondly, Peter knew that God had something else to give this man otherthan money because they didn’t have any! Then, Peter simply gave the beggar what hehimself had been given from the Lord. From this we learn that when God gets our attention concerning a person,however that happens, that he has something for them. Next, we must discern what that is and respondto the leading of the Spirit. We willcontinue to look at how to discern these things in the coming weeks.

How to recognize when God is talking to you

2011-10-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

Acts 16:6-7 (NLT) “Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area ofPhrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preachingthe word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders ofMysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia,but again theSpirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.”

It is crucial forChrist-followers to learn to hear the voice of the Lord and to be sensitive tothe leading of the Holy Spirit. Reading,understanding and obeying the written word is not enough, because we are to be“led by the Spirit.” (see Gal. 5:25) Since the Spirit isalways moving in one way or another, and since God the Father is alwaysworking, we must never again be duped by the false thinking that the writtenword alone guides our lives. We mustlearn to recognize the Spirit’s daily conversation with us. Then we will be able to take the next stepand apply it to our situation. We needsituational awareness in the Spirit.

To begin, let us learn torecognize those things around us that stand out. We are all wired differently and we havedifferent experiences which predispose us to notice things differently. However, when something stands out to us, aphrase a person has spoken, words that we are reading, the interaction ofpeople, cars, objects, animals, or whatever, let’s take the opportunity to askthe Lord if He’s trying to get our attention. Oftentimes the Lord is in these things and we don’t know it. The first step is to begin to recognize God’swork.

Time to Pray

2011-06-24T08:54:00.001-07:00

Luke 12:15 (NIV 1984) “Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”

“Time is money” goes the popular saying. If so, then time is one of our most precious possessions. The application for our lives, therefore, is to guard against greed with respect to how we spend our time. If we are to honor God with our bodies (see 1 Corinthians 6:20), then we most definitely must honor the Lord with our time. In fact, as servants of the Most High God, our time is not our own. It belongs to Him. So then, we have no excuse for our lack of prayer. Rather than focus on issues like being too busy or not having a gift of intercession, we need to get to the heart of the matter which is disobedience. The cure for sin (which is what lack of prayer is called) is repentance, and repentance is not finished until a lifestyle change is in place. Repenting for a lack of prayer does not happen overnight; however, we should not delay making the necessary changes. The Lord gave Jezebel time to repent (see Revelation 2:21), and he will give us time as well. However, we need to understand that the Lord is moving his people to a greater level of holiness. We need to heed this word and give prayer the level of importance in our lives that the Lord is asking of us. Do not delay. Make the necessary changes starting today!

A Harvest of Goodness

2011-06-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

James 3:17-18 (NLT) “17 But the wisdom from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.”

Popular wisdom thinks that the qualities James is talking about – purity, loving peace, gentleness, willingness to yield, mercy and sincerity – are either outdated or signs of weakness. Yet if we examine our own behavior as well as the behavior of those around us, how can we not conclude that these qualities come rather from an extraordinary strength of character? Instead of being signs of weakness, they are the result of diligently planting seeds of peace and wisdom. They come from heaven - from the Spirit of God. However, they do not magically appear in a person’s life once a person receives new life in Jesus. The law of the Spirit is the law of the harvest. Seeds must first be planted before the plants can be harvested. The seed is the word of God. The word of God is watered by prayer. If you are a child of God, you want to see a harvest of goodness in your life. Let’s ask the Lord of the harvest to create a harvest of goodness in our lives that will bring him glory.

Giving Birth To New Life

2011-05-13T09:52:00.001-07:00

In the beginning, before Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, there was the potential for child birth to not be the painful experience that it is. In Genesis 3:16 we see God’s response to Eve for her disobedience contains this punishment, “To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.’” This pain in the natural order of things is also reflected in the spiritual. New life, spiritual speaking, came at the cost of Jesus’ death on the cross. However, new life in Christ continues to come at a cost. The cost or the pain is not because new life must be “earned”. Only Jesus could do that, and he did it according to Hebrews 7:27 “once for all”. Instead, the pain of new birth comes to those who are involved in the process of sharing the gospel and discipling new believers. This pain comes in the form of persecutions and spiritual warfare. Our enemy, the devil, seeks to destroy life (John 10:10) and brings opposition to any who are involved in the harvest of souls into the kingdom of God. While we should not look to persecution or suffering as the litmus test of our involvement in advancing the kingdom of God, we should be prepared for it. If we are properly prepared we will be able to keep from being sidetracked from our mission to help bring others into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the Philippian church, “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.” (Phil 1:29, NIV) We must look at the pain, the trials, the persecutions and the sufferings we are undergoing in the light of God’s overall plan. When we see it from the Lord’s point of view, then we will be encouraged that our situation is productive and in fact, life-giving. Remember Paul’s words, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 2:12, NIV)

Have You Prayed About It?

2011-04-15T09:25:00.001-07:00

The words kept ringing in my ears. “Have you prayed about it?” They were the same words that I have spoken many times over the years, and the same ones that have been directed at me many times as well. Yet, for some reason, this time I stopped and wondered if I had, in fact, prayed instead of saying “Yes” and then going ahead with doing what I had already intended in my heart to do. Perhaps I realized that rather than allowing the Lord the opportunity to infuse his perspective and will into my heart, I had tuned him out. It grabbed at me almost like a new revelation. It was like I asked myself, “Hey, aren’t you supposed to have a different attitude about this situation?” If I had really stopped to interact with my Daddy, then I’d have been a lot more interested in what he had to say. Instead, if my innermost thoughts were put on display, my part of the dialogue would have gone something like, “Well Lord since you were so thoughtless as to let this happen to me, your favored child, I’m going to take this into my own hands and straighten things out.” Now, even though those words never came into my head, by my response to the situation, I was communicating the same thing.

I’m so glad that the Lord knows everything about us, including all of the thoughts in our own heart that we don’t even realize, and loves us anyway. He loves us enough to allow us to face situations which reveal the attitudes of our hearts. In my situation, He showed me that I wasn’t trusting Him to show me the BEST way to handle things. He showed me that I had not prayed about it, not really. The best way to go is to pray about everything before doing. We don’t have to pray long. It can be as short as, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” In addition, we don’t have to put the world on hold while we wait for the Lord to answer. Many times, we already know the answer because the Lord has been working in us ahead of time. The key is to grow in our trust that God really does know the best thing to do in every situation we face. So let me ask you, “Have you prayed about it?”

Asking For Workers

2011-04-08T09:21:00.001-07:00

Matthew 9:35-38 (NLT) 35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

The fact that Jesus told his followers to ask God for more workers for the harvest should cause all of the cells in our body to tingle. Too often we have been under the influence of unbiblical thinking that tells us that God will take care of things all by himself. After all, this way of thinking goes, God is all-powerful. Why is it then that Jesus tells us, “You have not because you ASK not.”? If God is all-knowing, he knows what we need. If God is all-powerful, then he can give us what we need. What is the use of asking then? Isn’t that unnecessary?

The Bible says, “The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to mankind.” (Psalm 115:16) In Genesis the Lord gave Adam and his descendants authority over the earth to rule and to take care of it. This authority was usurped by Satan, but Jesus, as a man, redeemed this right and authority for all who call on his name as Lord. Therefore, we who are in Christ have spiritual authority on earth. Jesus made this clear when he commissioned his followers to go and make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:18-20) Since God has given us this authority, he waits for us to ask for his intervention on earth. He waits for us to ask for workers to be sent to the harvest. Our job is really not that hard. We need to ask! Then we the Lord of the harvest sends us, we need to go. Nothing else should stand in our way.

Consumed With His Word

2011-04-01T09:56:00.001-07:00

Psalm 119:20 (NIV) “My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.”

What does it mean to be consumed with something? It takes your time and energy. All of your available thoughts are giving to meditating on it. Your very best creative abilities are given over to it. Those around you begin to use words like “obsessed” to describe your attitude towards it. All of these are appropriate for our understanding of this verse. However, the word for consumed in Hebrew goes beyond farther. It literally means “to break or to crush to pieces.” The New American Standard version captures this in its translation: “My soul is crushed with longing after Your ordinances at all times.” Commentators have written that our expression, “broken heart,” gives a similar meaning. The kind of breaking referred to in our verse is like a “grievous disappointment” or an “excessive longing” for God’s word that is like “when a thing vehemently desired is delayed.” If you’ve ever had a broken or crushed heart, you understand that it doesn’t just affect you in your spare time. It is front and center to your thoughts day and night.

Is it possible to be this consumed with His word? Is it possible to be so preoccupied with His commands that it invades your thoughts all of your waking moments? John Wesley wrote that this longing was specifically for “a more sound knowledge and serious practice of” His judgments (or laws). Somehow this kind of longing seems strangely absent from our experience in the Christian life. Yet, I believe that inside each Christ-follower this longing exists, however small that may be. When we get a glimpse of the glory and majesty of God as it touches us on earth, this longing grows larger. That is because our hearts were made to know God and to love him. To love him means that we know and follow his commands. God’s laws cannot create in us the desire to obey them, but once God takes control of our innermost being, then He begins this process of longing to know Him and to obey Him more and more. To this end I say, bring it on Lord!

Hearing and Doing

2011-03-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

James 1:22-25 (NIV) “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and,after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

There is a blessing in the follow-through of obeying God’s word. It is not good to stop part-way through doing what God says. John the Baptist told the Pharisees to “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” In other words, don’t stop the work of repentance until your behavior actually changes. The characteristic of those who are following Christ (as opposed to those who only claim to follow Christ) is their follow-through. You can’t be a follower of Jesus if your feet don’t do the walk. Jesus highlighted this in the parable of the two sons. One son said he would go work in his father’s vineyard but never got there. The other told his father that he wouldn’t work in the vineyard but later had a change of heart and did eventually go. The point that Jesus was making was that our actions, not our words, show whether or not we are doing what he tells us.

The commands of the Lord are not limited to what we read in scripture. Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice and the voice of another they will not follow.” Following Jesus’ voice refers to being in relationship with him. Now the Lord will speak through his written word to us, but he will also speak to our hearts in prayer and through circumstances and others by the Holy Spirit. Being doers of the word also includes his words, commands, directions and corrections to us in our relationship to him. The best way to obey is to do so immediately. Delayed obedience is not obedience at all and it makes obedience more difficult. We must take the example that James gives us to heart. Once we turn away from the mirror, the risk is that we will forget what we look like. So at the point that we see and understand Jesus’ word to us, that is the moment that we need to be doing the word. It is always a blessing to be a doer of his word.

Our Role of Intercession

2011-03-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

Daniel 9:1-19 (portions, NIV) “In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: ‘Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled...Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster…Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill…We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.’”

When Daniel realized that the prophecy given by Jeremiah was about to come to pass, the first thing he did was pray with fasting and great intercession. Even though God had spoken of it through Jeremiah, Daniel’s role of intercession was still necessary to bring it about. The Lord searches out those who are ready to agree with his will in prayer because “the earth He has given to the sons of men.” (Psalm 115:16) The Lord has limited his work on earth in order to partner with His children. We are in a time of increasing fulfillment of prophecy. The same role that Daniel was given has been passed to this generation. This is the ministry of intercession which is the ministry which Jesus lives for. (see Hebrews 7:25) As we engage the Lord with fasting, prayer and intercession, we will see the unfolding Kingdom of God on earth. Daniel pleaded with the Lord to forgive his people not because of their righteous acts but because of God’s mercy. This is our approach in prayer also. We need to pray not only for repentance and forgiveness of those who bear the name of Christ, but we also need to pray for the Jews to return to the Lord through his plan of salvation in Christ Jesus. Now is a crucial time for Christ-followers to be on their knees.

Ask and You Will Receive

2011-03-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV) “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
James 4:2-3 (NIV) “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
1 John 3:21-22 (NIV) “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.”

God’s word just blows me away time and time again! When I think about these verses I get the distinct impression that He is waiting, like on the edge of heaven, ready to shower down on us what we ask for! That’s amazing, and it goes against the notion that God is a stingy, meanie waiting to squash us when we blow it. The kind of God I read about is so much for us that He is ready to turn heaven over and shake it out when we get to the place where we’re not just asking selfishly. When we are following Jesus and keeping to his commands then we can have an overwhelming sense of confidence that God will give us what we request of him. Let me re-emphasize that our motives must be right, but when they are and when we are following his lead, then we get to experience the limitless resources of the Almighty God.

The scripture clearly teaches us that if we don’t ask, we won’t receive. This is because God has delegated his work on earth to mankind. The Bible says, “The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to mankind.” (Psalm 115:16) The way it is supposed to work is that we seek the Lord, we ask him to act in alignment with his will, and he responds to us based on our request for his intervention in our lives. Yes, the Lord knows everything that we need before we ask him, but we must make our requests known to him. As you hear yourself asking of God, listen to your words and ask yourself if that is really what you want. The kind of relationship we have with our God is revealed by our requests.

God Listens and Answers

2011-03-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

Acts 12:1-5 (NIV) “It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also…So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”

Have you ever wondered when you were praying if the Lord was listening to you? Sometimes it is hard to tell if God has heard us because we don’t see anything change right away. The immediate feedback we get from our conversations with the Lord sometimes just isn’t there. It is tempting at those times to become discouraged or just to stop expecting to see anything happen right away. However, we must remember what the Lord has taught us through the Bible. “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24, NIV) His heart toward his children is to listen and answer. Certainly, there are times when we will not get the answer that we want. These are the times where we learn to trust that our heavenly Father knows best. But regardless of the answer we receive, we must not allow circumstances to determine our faith. Our faith rests on the Word of God. We believe God whether or not we get what we want.

The early followers of Christ went through some difficult times of persecution. Some of them, like James, were killed. The Lord’s answer to the prayers of the church (we assume that they prayed for him) on behalf of James was in effect, “I’ll allow him to be killed for My sake.” Yet, the Lord’s plan for Peter was different. An angel of God came and unlocked the prison and set him free. In both of these cases, their prayers were answered quickly, although in very different ways. We must understand that God is not the kind of God who delights in keeping us in the dark about His answers. He listens and answers us, sometimes long before we ask. Here’s the key: We need to move from wondering if God will answer to an attitude of faith that instead looks for the answer that He is giving. He is not silent. He wants us to know His mind and His heart. Let’s be on the lookout for His answers to our prayers.

God's Power and Righteousness

2011-02-18T14:57:00.001-08:00

Romans 1:16-17 (NIV) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

The gospel is good news which is powerful. It is the power for salvation from the eternal consequences of sin. It is also the power of God for salvation from the daily effects of sin. The fact that the effect of the gospel lasts for all eternity therefore makes it more powerful than any forces of creation or human power since these do not last forever. Yet, how can words alone bring about the kind of power that these verses talk about? It is because they reveal the righteousness of God. This righteousness is not simply a description of God. It is the demonstration of God’s righteousness in human beings! It is the revelation that righteousness, or right standing before God, comes not from obedience to God’s commands, which is impossible, but from trusting dependence on Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection. It is also the revelation that righteousness, which is also right living before God, comes from trusting dependence on God throughout our lives.

That’s a lot to chew on. Let me break it down in an example. This morning I came to the place where I realized I was trying to obey God without depending on his help for a specific area in my life. Typically my approach has been in my self-talk, “I can do this. I can do this,” when the reality is that I can’t. To live by faith is to admit to him that without his help I am toast! Salvation is not only a one-time event but an ongoing reality in those who follow Jesus. If we are to be righteous (that is - doing what is right), we must live by faith or by trusting in the Lord to release his power in our lives to do the right thing. The danger that we face is when we trust Christ for eternal salvation (right standing before God) but do not trust him for daily salvation or deliverance from sin (right living before God). The first step is to daily admit in the middle of our temptations and struggles that part of us would really rather sin than do what is right. The next step is to ask him to give us power to do what He is asking us to do. The last step is to trust Him to come through with His power. When we trust Him in this way we will see that the gospel has power both today as well as for eternity.

Praying the Scriptures

2011-02-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

As we are learning to pray, one important aspect of our growth is praying the scriptures. In this we personalize the word of God to our situation and the situation of others. We proclaim the truth, agree with the truth and intercede according to the truth. Try praying through this adaptation of Colossians 1 by Teresa Neyman taken from: http://www.pray-the-scriptures.com/scriptprayers2share/prayingephesiansandcolossians/prayingephesiansandcolossians.html

“Therefore, from the day I heard of it, I will not stop praying, asking You, God, to fill me with the knowledge of Your will in all the wisdom and understanding which the Spirit gives; so that I may live a life worthy of You, Lord, and be entirely pleasing to You; being fruitful in every good work and multiplying in the full knowledge of You; I pray that You will continually strengthen me with all the power that comes from Your glorious might; so that I will be able to persevere and be patient in any situation, joyfully giving thanks to You, Father, for having made me fit to share in the inheritance of Your people in the light.

You have rescued me from the domain of darkness and transferred me into the Kingdom of Your dear Son. It is through Your Son that I have redemption - that is, my sins have been forgiven, for You have now reconciled me in Your Son's physical body through His death, in order to present me holy and without defect or reproach before you. And in my trusting, I remain grounded and steady, and won't let my self be moved away from the hope offered in the Good
News I have heard.” Through Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.

Perfect Peace

2011-02-04T18:30:00.001-08:00

Isaiah 26:3-4 (NIV ©2010) ”You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.”

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV ©2010) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

We must learn to live in the peace of God in the midst of trials, difficulties, persecutions, hardships and whatever else we face. Perfect peace is possible to maintain, but we must learn how to stay there. The first principle is that our minds must be steadfast. The only way to stay steadfast is to be founded on the Rock of Christ. His words must not only remain in our minds, but they must come out of our mouths as well. When all around us is in turmoil and when our familiar patterns and lifestyles are upset, we can depend on the words of God. We must drive a stake into the bedrock of His Word deeper than we have previously done. The storms of the world are increasing. There is no question about it. Look at the signs. In Australia after six months of massive flooding they were hit with a typhoon with the fastest recorded winds (170 m.p.h.) ever. These are signs for us to run to the fortress of the truth – the words of God.

We are called not simply to survive but to thrive in the midst of difficulties. The people of Israel were called to rule in the midst of their enemies, and we too have the same calling. Yet it is not our strength or diligence that we can depend on, but the strength of God. We trust in God; we depend on His working out all things for the good of those who love him. This is our heritage, our calling, our inheritance as children of God, and we should no longer accept anxiety and worry as our lot in life. No, we are called to live in peace. As we learn this, we will shine as lights in the world which is facing great darkness. We are the light of the world – because of Christ. The light of peace is a beacon in the dark. Let’s pursue peace while we have the opportunity to grow in it.

Still More Surrender

2011-01-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

Luke 14:26-33 (NIV) “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

Jesus had strong words at times for his followers. How are we to understand that Jesus required his disciples to “hate” their father and mother, and the members of their families? We know that since Jesus commanded to us to love even our enemies and to care for the members of our families, it is clear that he is using the word “hate” in a different way here. The jist of his command is for would-be followers of Christ to determine which relationship is most important in their lives. Unless we surrender the place that our most dear human relationships occupy in our lives to the One relationship that deserves our supreme devotion and attention, we can never become a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is a spiritual reality. Unfortunately, many who do not surrender the priority of these relationships to Jesus think that they are good Christians.

Why is this? Is it because this truth hasn’t been taught to Christians? Is it because Christians haven’t been listening or understanding the implications of following Jesus? Maybe it is because following Jesus can be difficult, and it is much easier to hold on to these things than to go through the process of surrender. Death to our self-centeredness is painful. Yet, if we would embrace the cross more readily, we will find that dying to our self is not as painful as we thought. The life on the other side causes us to forget the difficult road we have had to walk. The glory of the cross is that we get all of Jesus as we die with him. When we surrender all, we receive all of him. Let these words from this old hymn be your prayer today.

I Surrender All

by Judson Wheeler Van DeVenter and Winfield Scott Weeden

All to Jesus I surrender

All to Him I freely give

I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily live

All to Jesus I surrender

Humbly at His feet I bow

Worldly pleasures all forsaken

Take me Jesus take me now

All to Jesus I surrender

Make me Savior wholly Thine

Let me feel the Holy Spirit

Truly know that Thou art mine

All to Jesus I surrender

Lord I give myself to Thee

Fill me with Thy love and power

Let Thy blessing fall on me

I surrender all

All to Thee my blessed Savior

I surrender all

More Surrender

2011-01-21T08:28:00.001-08:00

Matthew 16:24-25 (NIV) “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.’”

Living in a land where the freedom to worship God without fear of persecution is all many of us have known, it is easiest to relate to a figurative understanding of Jesus’ words to take up our cross. When Christ-followers in America talk about taking up their cross, it is in reference to a difficult relational or financial or health situation. Rarely do we face the potential of losing our lives for the sake of Christ. It is just outside of our “world”. However, if we are to follow the teachings of Jesus, we must understand that the Lord was also saying that to follow him could mean the possibility of giving up our lives. What would we do if we were faced with the option of denying Jesus and saving our life or affirming our faith in him and losing our life? Even more, what would we do if we were told not to talk about Jesus or else we would be killed?

These questions are the kind that Christ-followers have had to answer throughout the centuries. Could it be that in America we are coming to a time where we may have to answer those questions also? In the first century, there is a story that has been passed on about the apostle Andrew which John Foxe recorded in his famous book, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs which was first published in 1563. According to Jerome, who was an early church father of the faith and the translator of the Bible into Latin, Andrew preached the gospel in what is now the Caucasus region by the Black Sea, Asia Minor and Greece. When many had come to Christ in Greece, the governor of the region, AEgeas, was confronted by Andrew with the claims of the gospel. AEgeas commanded him not to teach or preach the gospel, and threatened him with crucifixion if he continued. To this Andrew replied that “He would not have preached the honour and glory of the cross, if he had feared the death of the cross.” (Foxe, p. 8) Andrew was then sentenced to death. Foxe described in detail Andrew’s route to the cross.

Andrew, going toward the place, and seeing afar off the cross prepared, did change neither countenance nor colour, neither did his blood shrink, neither did he fail in his speech, his body fainted not, neither was his mind molested, nor did his understanding fail him, as it is the manner of men to do, but out of the abundance of his heart his mouth did speak, and fervent charity did appear in his words as kindled sparks; he said, ‘O cross, most welcome and long looked for! With a willing mind, joyfully and desirously, I come to thee, being the scholar of Him which did hang on thee: because I have always been thy lover, and have coveted to embrace thee.’ (Foxe, p. 9)

Rather than save his own life, Andrew was unwilling to stop telling people about Jesus Christ. Yet Andrew was not looking to die for Jesus because he had a death wish. At the time of his crucifixion he had been preaching Christ for 40 years! When push comes to shove, we must all answer the question of what is more important to us, saving our life or losing it for the sake of Jesus. If we don’t answer this question, then it matters not if we are ever faced with the threat of losing our lives for Christ because we will neither live for him nor die for his sake and the sake of the gospel. Jesus was pretty clear that surrender to him means all. He is worthy of our lives and any sacrifice that he asks us to make. Let us settle in our hearts that we will take up our cross for him, no matter if that is a real cross or a figurative one.

Surrender

2011-01-14T07:44:00.000-08:00

Mark 10:21-22 (NIV) “Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

Mark 10:28-31 (NIV) “Then Peter spoke up, ‘We have left everything to follow you!’ ‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.’”

Genesis 22:1-2 (NIV) “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.'"

Luke 14:33 (NIV) “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

Matthew 16:24-25 (NIV) “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.’”

I woke up this morning with the song “Surrender” in my head. The chorus of the song is simple “I surrender all to you, all to you” I began to think about how easy it is to sing that song compared to how challenging it can be to actually do what it says. Deep down we who follow Christ understand that it is not enough to just sing the words. The real test of our trust and our dependence on Jesus is when “surrender” happens in real life. Abraham was asked to give up his son. As if that weren’t hard enough to do, by giving up his son, he was also giving up his dream – a dream that had been given to him by God himself. Abraham decided to lay down his vision of the future and pin all of his hopes on the words spoken to him by God. Because of this act of faith, God gave him back his son and promised to bless Abraham with descendents that would be “as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” (Genesis 22:17) His descendents would bless all the nations on earth because Abraham surrendered to God and obeyed.

Christ-follower, what is your Lord asking you to surrender? Take this opportunity to sing, speak and meditate on the words of this song. Listen to the Spirit as He speaks to you and leads you in surrender.

Surrender by Marc James, © 2000 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire) (Admin. by Vineyard Music UK)

I'm giving You my heart
And all that is within
I lay it all down
For the sake of You my King
I'm giving You my dreams
I'm laying down my rights
I'm giving up my pride
For the promise of new life

And I surrender
All to You all to You
And I surrender
All to You all to You

I'm singing You this song
I'm waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear
I count it all as loss
For the sake of knowing You
The glory of Your name
To know the lasting joy
Even sharing in Your pain

And I surrender
All to You all to You
And I surrender
All to You all to You

Prayer and Fasting

2011-01-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

Mark 2:18-22 (NIV) “Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Isaiah 58:3-4 (NIV) “‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.”

Fasting combined with prayer is a kind of declaration that it is not “business as usual.” There is a sense of urgency when fasting is added to the life of prayer. It is an added intensity that is sometimes necessary for spiritual breakthrough. Jesus commented that a certain kind of demon only comes out through prayer and fasting. (see Mark 9:29) We can easily see that something extra is needed in order to bring about physical breakthroughs. For instance, in order to reduce their personal best times, athletes must increase or modify their training. In order for a business to compete in a tough market, they must streamline their processes and become creative in how to do more with less. Spiritual breakthroughs often operate in the same manner, and fasting is one tool that is used to push through for those breakthroughs.

There is a problem, however, when the act of fasting becomes “business as usual.” Regardless of how often a person fasts, if our approach in fasting is to see the act itself as the end goal, then we have misunderstood its purpose. The disciples could not fast while Jesus was with them because they were “feasting” on his presence. After Jesus left the earth, they began to fast because of their hunger for his presence and for what only He could do. We also should fast with the goal of feasting on His presence. When we fast as a matter of course or as one of the spiritual things we do, we are in danger of substituting religious activity for His presence. Yet, when our focus during fasting is on the Lord and to draw close to Him is our goal, we can experience tremendous spiritual breakthrough.

I don’t think it is an earth-shattering statement to say that we need spiritual breakthrough in our country this year. It seems like everywhere you look there are challenges to the advancement of the kingdom of God. Although I’ve not been led to fast very much even in the past couple of years, my spirit is heavy with the realization that fasting will be much more a part of the life and ministry of God’s people this year. It won’t be “business as usual”, and fasting will be a part of that. A couple of months ago I began receiving the word, “Intensity,” from the Lord concerning this year, and I have since been hearing that others have heard that from the Lord for this year as well. There is a time for a spiritual push, and I sense that we are entering into that period of time. As we fast, let us understand that Jesus is the goal and fasting is not. Fasting is simply a tool that can be used. It is not the only tool in our spiritual tool-belt. It is not the miracle tool that will solve every problem. Yet, it can be very effective. Let us also pray in faith and be encouraged because God is mighty to act in our corner of the world in supernatural ways. Jesus is the end goal of the Church, and He is coming soon!

The Message

2010-12-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

Colossians 4:2-6 (NIV) “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 (NIV) “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”

The apostle Paul let the churches know that he was praying for them in his letters. We have some of those powerful prayers recorded, and I will often adapt them to my context as I pray for those in my ministry. However, Paul also asked for the churches to pray for him and for his ministry team. The emphasis of his requests, as you see from the passages above, is on the message of Christ. Whereas the Lord uses different messengers and various methods for delivering the message, the message of Christ itself remains unchanged. This is the good news of eternal life through Christ alone to which Paul and multitudes of believers through the ages have dedicated their lives. An open door for the message was foremost on Paul’s heart, and it should be on ours as well.

Too often our times of prayer focus on our own needs or the needs of those whom we care about the most. While we should lift up our needs before the Lord and ask him to provide and heal, we cannot allow these concerns to distract us from the centrality of the gospel message. It is in the gospel that “the righteousness of God is revealed —a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (Romans 1:17, NIV) The ultimate as well as the immediate needs of the world are answered in the message of Christ. To live a life of faith is the core of how we were created. As we surrender to the Creator of our souls, we find fulfillment and purpose which flows from the purposes of God and we also receive the promise of eternity with God in paradise. Should we be content with putting band-aids on life-threatening injuries? Neither should we be content with praying for physical needs alone while a person’s spiritual life hangs in the balance. We should never forget the words of Jesus, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:17-18, NIV) We must never forget that those who do not believe that Jesus is the only way, the only truth and the only life are already condemned to perish into a Christ-less eternity.

This is why we must become savy pray-ers. We must be wise and have our spiritual senses sharpened, so that when opportunities come up, we can agree with God for the doors to be opened for the message of Jesus. Be careful that the world doesn’t mold you into spiritual dullness. We should be quick to recognize and pray for opportunities. They may not come in the package that we are expecting. In fact, many of the doors that the Lord wants to open do not look enticing to the natural mind. However, we must live by the Spirit and learn to listen to His voice. This is not only so that we don’t gratify the desires of the sinful nature; it is also so that we are on the top of our Kingdom game, so to speak.

Lord, let your kingdom come and your will be done. Open the doors for the gospel message in 2011. Amen.

The Mess and the Glory

2010-12-17T07:45:00.001-08:00

Luke 2:4-7 (NIV) “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

Why is it that the Lord was born in a mess? We tend to focus on the stable as being the most unlikely of places for a child, let alone a king, to be born, but we forget that the whole world that he was born into was a mess. The King of kings and Lord of lords, the holy and pure God Almighty, was born into the mess of sin which in every way was and is much worse than any pile of manure. Why is it that the Lord was so unconcerned about the mess? The Bible records one tiny mention of the manger but tells us about a multitude of angels, and shepherds and wise men and prophets who gave glory to God for the birth of Jesus! We may spend so much time focusing on our messes, our sins, our hang-ups that we don’t realize that the Lord is not put out by a mess! He knows full well what life is like on earth. He knows our hearts far better than we do ourselves, and He still chooses to be with us. “’The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ – which means, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:23)

What can we do that will be good enough to clean up for a visit from the King of the universe? There is nothing. Unfortunately, our eyes, our focus is on the mess instead of the glory so very often. What are we to do? Rather than focusing on the mess of our own lives and the lives of others, let us focus on the glory of the Lord. Let’s lift our eyes and our hearts off of the weight of sin and the effects of sin and be transformed as our vision is filled with His glory. This doesn’t mean that we ignore sin or the effects of sin. It doesn’t mean that we don’t correct bad behavior. It simply means that we should recognize the movement of God in the earth rather than be so quick to hang out in the manure. Instead of criticizing other believers who don’t measure up to our standards, let us recognize the good work that God is doing in them. Let us see the glory of God, however faint, pushing, working, exerting its influence and effect in their lives. It’s so easy to get put off by the mess. Instead we need to be like Jesus and jump into the messes of life in order to spread the glory of God around. Instead of being repulsed by the attitudes and actions of those who don’t know Christ, let us understand that the Lord himself sends us out just like he was sent – into the mess. We have good news! I encourage you to read out loud these words from Isaiah and to seek out the messes in which God has called you to shine His glory.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

Isaiah 60:1-3

Ask Me

2010-12-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

John 14:12-14 (ESV) “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

James 4:2-3 (NIV) “You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

When fundraisers ask people for money, a lot of time and energy and creativity goes into making the “ask”. How much time and energy and thought do we put into asking of God? On one side of the coin, there are those who don’t believe we should ask God for anything. After all, he provides for the birds and animals, and he knows what we need. Therefore, the thinking goes, he will give us what he wants to give. On the other side, there are those who ask God with motives that are either completely self-centered or strongly self-centered. God becomes a rich grandfather who gives us “stuff” because he loves us, and we just need to keep asking until he gives in. Both of these ways of thinking are clearly wrong based on Jesus’ teaching. Jesus tells us plainly to ask him, and he leaves the content of our asking open-ended. His only qualification for asking is that the Father would be glorified. This is the door that we need to walk through when we consider what to ask him, and it requires some careful thought and interaction with him.

So often we think we understand what would bring glory to God; however, as events play out we realize that we did not or that God’s plans took a few more twists and turns than we expected. Therefore, instead of assuming that we know what would bring him glory, we must pursue his heart and mind on the matter. We must ask the Lord to show us what would bring him glory and then listen to the Spirit and search the Word for his response. Many people don’t realize that it is hard work to listen to the Spirit. It takes self-discipline to calm our hearts and minds before him and allow him to speak to us. It takes diligence to pursue the Lord in the midst of life’s daily interruptions. Yet, we must pursue his mind on what would bring him glory because he has commanded us to ask. We don’t have because we don’t ask. If we don’t know what to ask, then how can we ask God? It takes character to search out the scriptures and to understand what the Lord is speaking to us through them. This character piece is called diligence. The Bereans were models of diligence because they searched the scriptures for truth. Could it be that we are not making the right ask of God because we fail to be diligent in our personal interaction with him through prayer and the Bible?

I am captured today by Jesus’ words, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do.” When I think of the kind of blank check that this promise represents, my pulse goes up and my mind starts to dream. However, there is another step we must take. We must count the cost of our requests to God. When we ask the Lord for something, often it will require us to make changes in our lives that we don’t anticipate and don’t want. Consider the scenario where we ask God for more money to provide for our family. The Lord may answer by having us cut our expenses or by providing more income-producing work for us. Rather than having money fall out of the sky, the Lord typically answers by providing opportunities for us to “reap what we sow.” With whatever we ask of God we must realize that his goal is to bring glory to himself. He is glorified as our lives and character reflect his character and nature. So when we ask of the Lord, let us be prepared to diligently seek out his heart and mind and let us be prepared for the changes, the adjustments that we need to make in order for God to receive all the glory.

Step Out

2010-12-03T12:40:00.000-08:00

Acts 8:26-30 (NIV) “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’ 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.”

The Lord gives his people instructions not just from the Bible but for the day. How can it be otherwise? How is it possible to have a relationship with someone when there is no communication? He speaks, and we respond. He searches us out, and we turn toward him. He calls, and we answer. Here is Philip, disciple of Jesus, responding to two different ways God speaks on the same day. God directed, and Philip responded. This is the way we need to be also. It says, “The Spirit told Philip.” How did Philip know that the Spirit was talking? Although we don’t have details, we can take a guess and say that he learned the language of the Spirit. Philip, through his interaction and relationship with the Lord, learned to tell when the Spirit was speaking to him.

If the Spirit of God lives in us, and the Bible is clear that the Spirit lives in all who belong to Christ, then we can understand and grow in our understanding of God speaking to us. However, we must take the next step and that is to do what God tells us! That takes faith, and faith is risky. What if Philip didn’t hear the Spirit exactly right? What if he made a mistake? That’s a risk we all must be willing to take. Think about what would have happened if Philip wasn’t willing to step out in faith! God provided a ready-made opportunity, yet Philip needed to act like a Christ-follower in order to be involved in what God was doing. He needed to step out in faith. This is what we need to do as well. We might not have the best clarity on what the Spirit is saying to us, but we must learn to respond with what we have been given. Philip didn’t know what was going on until he stepped up to the chariot. Likewise, we often don’t have a clue what the Lord is up to until we step out.

Today if you hear his voice, step out. Take a risk for the kingdom. Learn to not have everything under control before you begin to follow. Stop being in charge and let the Lord direct your steps. The results will be God doing his thing, and I for one want to see God doing his thing as much as possible.

God Talk

2010-11-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

Amos 3:7 (NIV) “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”

Numbers 11:29 (NIV) “But Moses replied, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!’”

Acts 2:17-18 (NIV) “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.”

Everything in creation points to the truth that the Sovereign Lord speaks. The heavens declare the greatness of God. The earth itself cries out with his very nature and character. How is it possible that the One who gave mankind mouths to speak would be unable to do so himself? The Bible, his self-revelation, points out clearly that he speaks, and he does it through his people. Learning to hear the “voice” of God is one of the great privileges of being his child. He is not distant. He is near to us. Romans 10:8 says that the word is near you. Where does this “word of faith” come from? Where does it originate? Whose idea was it? Yes, it comes from the mind and heart of the Lord.

In prayer, we must learn to speak the words of God. This begins by declaring the truth of the scriptures. We proclaim the character of God. We speak about his great acts throughout history and in our lives. We pray through the prayers of the Bible. The apostle Paul especially has some great prayers that we can adapt to our local church and for whomever else we pray. I’ve noticed in many years of praying with other believers that our words occupy so much of our conversation with the Lord. However, as the Lord instructed Joshua, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night.” (Joshua 1:8, NIV) It is the Lord’s words which need to fill our mouth more and more as we pray. This is not a formula for creating prayer success. It is the path through which we resonate with what our heavenly Father is doing in the world. It is the revelation of how important and powerful the written word of God is in our daily relationship with the Word, Jesus Christ. His “talk” to us on a daily basis comes into focus and life is breathed into us as we “hang out” in the scripture.

The Spirit of God and the Word of God are One. They resonate with each other. They cannot contradict each other. So this is how we know when prophecies originate from a spirit other than the Holy Spirit. Jesus warned us about false prophets in Matthew 24:24. He warned, “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders.” (NIV) If there are false prophets than there are also true prophets. The world is overwhelmed with false prophets and false Christs, but what is needs more than anything is God talk which comes through his messengers. We will be true messengers of God’s words as we remain true to his Word and as we walk in his Spirit. These are not words that we make up. We should not be worried about what to say because as the Spirit moves in us we will be given words to say. (see Luke 21:14-15) We have been blessed to live in an era of history where the Bible is more readily available than it has ever been. And yet, in relative terms compared to the ocean of words and communication that comes directly from the mouth of the evil one, we may truly be living in a time of famine for the words of God. Let us make up our mind to be so filled with the words of God that we will be able to pray and to speak the word of God. The Lord has given us this awesome gift. Let us recognize it for the truly valuable gift that it is and not allow the opportunity to grow in the word of God to pass us by.

Following Jesus

2010-11-19T12:42:00.000-08:00

Mark 1:16-20 (NIV) “16As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him. 19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”

Mark 2:13-14 (NIV) “13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.”

I was recently talking with someone about following Jesus. We discussed how following Jesus for the disciples was much different because of his physical presence with them. However, the level of dedication for the first disciples is the same for those of us who follow him today. Notice that when Jesus called them, they left what they were doing - not just for a day but for a lifetime. Likewise, when Jesus calls us to follow him, he requires us to leave our former life behind and take a different path. In order to follow Jesus, we have to be “all in.” We cannot be swinging back and forth between our former life and our life with Christ. To do that is not to follow Christ. It is only being fascinated with him. Jesus does not call gawkers but fully devoted followers. To tell people differently is not only doing them a disservice, it could be detrimental to their life on earth and their life in eternity.

If we decide to fully devote our lives to Christ it is because we trust him. We trust that what he taught and did on earth is true. We trust that we will have eternal life with him because we believe the Bible and we have put our faith in his death and resurrection as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. We trust that he directs our paths each day even when we don’t understand. Instead of living with doubt, we live in humble trust and dependency on the Lord. He is trustworthy down to the smallest detail. Jesus said that the Father has numbered the hairs on our head. If that is true, then we can trust him down to the smallest detail, and we can be sure that he has concern for the smallest detail of our lives. When we relax into that level of trust, then we can be sure that he will lead us to work with him in the advancement of his kingdom.

Yesterday I was praying for the people and ministries of my church when I felt drawn to go to a specific location in town. I asked the Lord if he really wanted me to go there, and the sense of being drawn did not go away. I realized that he did in fact want me to go. He was asking me to follow him. When I arrived there, I still did not know why I was there. I again asked the Lord why I was there, and he drew my attention to a nearby business. When I went inside and talked with the manager, it became crystal clear that the Lord had prepared this person for my visit. In one sense, I was expected. Our conversation confirmed that the Lord had prepared the way for our interaction. This kind of communication between the Lord and us is something that I believe should be a normal part of our relationship with him. The foundation for it is based on the fact that we have fully given our lives to him. The truth is that we trust the Lord with our daily life. What he says, we do, even when we don’t fully understand it. Without this level of trust and communication, we will miss out on many of the really cool things that the Lord has planned. We should not beat ourselves up when we are out of sync with the Lord and “miss it.” We simply need to turn back and pick up where we left off. Remember, when Peter blew it badly the night before Jesus died, the Lord gave him the opportunity to come back. Certainly, we need to feel remorse for our lack of trust. However, following the Lord is a new adventure every day. There is enough grace for everything we need today. This is also a matter of trust. So if you feel nudged today, take a step of faith and be a follower of Christ.

Moving Forward Through Prayer

2010-11-12T09:26:00.000-08:00

John 5:19-20 (NIV) “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.”

Jesus’ M.O. (Modus Operandi) was to do what he saw the Father doing. He only did what he saw the Father doing, and he didn’t do what the Father wasn’t doing. This is the example that he has given to us as “the first born from among the dead” (see Colossians 1:18). Jesus is the one we are to follow. Now this is not rocket science for Christ-followers. However, I think that in practice it is not common to find Christ-followers doing it. Jesus said that he does what he “sees” his Father doing and not what he hears about his Father doing or knows his Father to be doing. Why did he make this distinction? Well, I have a hunch about why, and you can let me know if you agree with my hunch.

Imagine that you are entering a large room full of people whom you don’t know. As you scan the crowd you spot a familiar face. It is someone that you recognize out of the sea of faces. How do you respond? Chances are that your face lights up, you try to get their attention and you go to talk to them. I believe that this is the same kind of thing that takes place when we see what our heavenly Father is doing. In the midst of our day there are many things that we do, but when we see something that God is doing, it captures our attention. We are arrested by the things of heaven because they are so different from the stuff of earth. It beckons our attention and our presence because as Christ-followers we want to be part of heavenly-stuff.

Yet the trick is to recognize when the Father is doing his thing because often we are so caught up in doing our own thing that we miss it. This is the boastful pride of life which John tells us about in his first letter. (1 John 2:16) Our struggle is to let go of the mindset that we are the center of life and to hold on to the reality that the Lord is the center of the universe. This is the stuff of the world which must be purged from us by the renewing of our minds through God’s word. It is only at this point that we will “be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2, NIV) And yet, we may be very focused on studying the Bible and doing devotions and going to church and still fall prey to operating according to the principles of the world and not the truth and reality of God. What can get us out of the cycle of divided thinking – sometimes in tune with the Lord, sometimes not?

Back to Jesus. He was always in communion with the Father. He always saw what the Father was doing. If we are serious about moving forward, then we will hold on to the conviction that we too will only do what we see the Father doing. That means that we must get to prayer along with the word and determine that we will not move forward until we are able to see the Father and his work. I am on a quest to learn how to keep my eyes fixed on the Lord. For one thing, I don't like the alternative - bad things start to happen when I take my eyes off the Lord. Lots of things may sound good, but if I don’t see the Lord’s work, then I will stay away from it. And when I see the Lord doing something, then I know that I need to be a part of it regardless of the consequences.

To follow our example a little further, a different person who enters the room with lots of people will recognize different people. The same is true of the Lord. We may recognize the Lord doing different things at the same time through different people. This is where we need to stay close to the Lord ourselves and to not go beyond what he is showing us. He’s a big God, and when he shows us something it is because he is looking for our involvement. We must recognize God’s work as well as our own limitations. If we are to take this approach then I believe the results will be God-sized because His work is always amazing.Remember this too, the Father loves us and wants to show us what He is up to. Let’s take that truth into our next time of prayer.

The Ripple Effect

2010-11-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Mark 1:14-15 (NIV) “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Luke 4:18-19, 21 (NIV) “’The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”

Acts 1:8 (NIV) “’But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”

The kingdom of God is advancing, and there is nothing in this world that can stop it! When Jesus came to earth and began to preach the good news, it was like a stone dropping into the water. The waves of the advancing kingdom of God had begun. As I heard one preacher say, “The kingdom is where Jesus is King.” Although Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, the full extent of his rule in the hearts and minds of people has not reached its completion. His work of the sharing the good news and demonstrating the power of God is the ministry that his followers everywhere have been commissioned to be a part of. Jesus is the epicenter. Just as in the ripple effect the waves circle outward and everything is touched by the advancing waves, likewise the whole world will be touched by the advancing kingdom of God. It is an everlasting kingdom, and it will never end.

In order to be a part of the advancing kingdom, we must be Jesus’ witnesses. Without telling people what the Lord has done for us and is continuing to do in our lives, we end up pushing back against his mission of developing fully devoted followers of Christ. When Jesus said that we would be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, he wasn’t just speaking geographically. Where are the areas in our lives where we are reluctant or downright refuse to shine his light? Where is it difficult for us to be a witness with our words and our actions? These are the areas where we need to stop resisting the ripple effect of the kingdom. It’s time to ride the wave of the Spirit, baby! All of those who are filled with the Spirit are led by the Spirit. This includes our homes, our jobs, our school, our hobbies, etc. In every nook and cranny of our lives Jesus needs to be King. Let’s let him reign!

Jesus, you told us to pray for workers to be sent to the harvest field of your kingdom. Send me as your witness into the places that need the light of your word. May your kingdom come and your will be done through me.

The Main Thing

2010-10-29T07:31:00.001-07:00

Luke 10:38-42 (NIV) “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."”

The problem was that Martha was distracted by her preparations for the Lord. Incredible! She missed the fact that what she was offering to Jesus paled in comparison to what he was offering to her. How is it possible that Christ-followers up to this present time continue to miss this as well? It’s right there in the Bible! Jesus said to Martha and to us today that being distracted by him was better than all the other distractions and preparations that we do for him. He is the main thing. He is life, but just like the Pharisees, we so easily look to our doctrines and our religious activities for life. What could possibly keep us from gazing at Jesus, the author and distributor of life itself?! Why, as we go about the business of our day, do we not have to keep reminding ourselves to stay on task because we are so distracted by Jesus?

The easy answer is that we don’t know him very well. Oh, we may know a lot about the Bible, and we may have our understanding of Calvinism or Arminianism sharpened to a fine point. We may do a lot of church things and help lots of people. All of that is fine and good, but if his presence up and left us, would it make much of a difference? David pleaded with the Lord not to take His Holy Spirit from him. (Psalm 51) Surely if we knew the Lord better we would not be so in love with the things of the world. We would recognize how much more valuable time with the Lord is than anything else in life. Where are the Christians today who are pleading to spend more time with Jesus? Where are those who are calling out to Him and saying, “Lord, clear my schedule so that I can be with you!” Is it all just religion, or is there a desire rising from deep within somewhere that wants the main thing – to know the Lord? Where is the groaning of the Spirit within the spirit of believers that longs to be clothed with eternity? The last prayer of the Bible is, “Come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20) When does that become the prayer of the church? When does that stop being a nice table grace and become the main prayer of his people?

“Lord, we want to be with you. Come and be with us. Clear out our schedules. Blow away the distractions of this life and become our only distraction. Be the main thing of our lives. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.”

The Narrow Way II

2010-10-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Matthew 7:13 (NIV) “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Jesus said these words in the context of the sermon on the mount where he narrowed our understanding of the requirements of the law. For instance he said, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” (Matthew 5:21-22, NIV) When you take a step back from this and the other points of his sermon, it looks like an impossible standard to live up to, and this is precisely the point of Jesus’ message to us! The standard that he places before us is impossible for the natural person live up to. It is only the person who has been filled with the power of God through the Holy Spirit and who is living in that power that is able to fulfill the law or the requirements of God.

This “gate” is so narrow that it may cause people to despair of ever being able to enter it. The question becomes, “How can anyone enter the kingdom of God if the path is so narrow?” When a person reaches this stage in their understanding, it is a good sign! But just like any sign that points to a destination, it is not the end but only the beginning. In order to enter the kingdom of God, we must all pass through the cross where we come to know that all of our efforts in righteousness are futile. This is where we realize that Jesus’ standards of living are too high for us live up to. That is when we begin to search for the true path to eternal life. If we are wondering whether or not we are on the narrow path and if we’ve fallen off, the chances are good that we were never on it in the first place. It is not a path that human effort can walk on, but once you find it, you can’t slip off of it. The narrow way is not difficult to walk, but it takes everything that we have to find the entrance. The narrow way is not difficult to walk; it is impossible for the person who hasn’t given everything over to Jesus.

When Jesus says, “Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it,” does that leave you nervous that you might miss the road? If so, you might want to keep looking for the gate because the Lord wants his children to have confidence that they are walking on the narrow road. You may have found the gate but are still holding on to thoughts about how good you are or even about how bad you are. None of these things matter. All that matters is Jesus. He is the way. Once you find him, you will never want to go back. He is life, and life is the destination of all who travel the narrow way.

The Narrow Way

2010-10-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

Galatians 6:2 (ESV) “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

2 Thessalonians 3:6-10 (NIV) “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."”

James 5:13-16 (NIV) “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

The life that the Lord greatly desires us to have cannot be understood through the wisdom and intelligence that this world offers to us. The Lord very directly tells us that His ways are not our ways or the ways of the world. His thoughts are much higher than our thoughts. The Lord tells us that the default tendency of humanity is to look at the outside instead of the inside. God looks at the heart, and He is greatly pleased when our life flows from His work in our hearts rather than our pathetic attempts to look good and to feel good. Our human ways of thinking MUST be reformatted by God’s thoughts if we are to experience what He so much wants to give us. One of the ways that the Lord does this is by calling us to walk the narrow way. At times it seems like this narrow way is like the edge of a knife. We fall off of it into one extreme or the other so easily. In fact, that is exactly the truth. The only way we can follow the narrow way of the Lord is to keep our eyes focused on Him. It is not in ritual or rules that we keep the narrow way but in relationship.

For example, some people have a hard time receiving help from others. They have been taught to bear their own burdens, and that is certainly right to do. The apostle Paul is very clear that each of us need to work and not be idle. However, at some point our burdens become too heavy for us to bear, and we must allow others to help us bear those burdens. This is also right, and it fulfills the law of Christ! We must allow others to show their love for us by receiving and even asking for help in our time of need. Yet, there are also those who are just plain lazy and depend on others to bear their burdens for them when they are able to do so on their own. How are we to know when it is the right time to bear our own burdens and when it is the right time to receive help from others? The Spirit of God will show us as we learn how to depend on Him. We cannot make a rule that shows us how to do this. The unspiritual person needs rules to follow so that they don’t need to be dependent on following the Spirit. The spiritual person has learned how to keep in step with the Spirit.

Recently, I spoke with a Christian who had a chronic physical problem but would not allow me to prayer for her. I was shocked that a believer would not want to be prayed for, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is common among Christians. There is a subtle deception that we too easily buy into that says, “I can handle it myself.” If we are going to follow the way of Christ, however, we must take the initiative and in essence say, “I need help. I can’t do it myself.” If we are not coming to our brothers and sisters for prayer, we are not only keeping ourselves from the life and power that God wants us to experience, we are also keeping them from being a part of fulfilling their calling to serve and bear their brother or sister’s burdens.

Kingdom Keys

2010-09-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

Matthew 16:19 (ESV) I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Jesus gave us the keys of the kingdom because he intended for us to use them. What are these keys and how do we use them? Simply put, the keys open up the doors of heaven so heaven can come to earth. Jesus taught us to pray for his kingdom to come, so we know this is what he wants to happen. If we don't use the keys, then we are responsible for holding heaven back. If we use the keys in an unspiritual manner then we may be responsible (even unknowingly) for opening the doors of hell on earth. This should give us a healthy respect for the spiritual authority with which the Lord has entrusted us, yet we cannot be afraid of using the keys for fear of making a mistake. If the disciples at one time wanted to call down fire from heaven to kill those opposed to Jesus, then we know that we too will grow in our understanding of his kingdom and we press in to know the Lord. Opening the doors to heaven is something we should strive to know more and more about.

But can we really open up the doors of heaven? Yes and here's how. We open up the doors by our life and our words. This is called show and tell. As our lives become more like Jesus, heaven is opened and is poured out in our family, our church and our world. As we declare the truth of the kingdom, our words carry the life of the kingdom. When we seek first the kingdom of God, the life of God, which is the substance of heaven, fills us and our needs are miraculously provided. The kingdom of God is supernatural. We should be living in that every day because Jesus gave us the keys to the kingdom. If we are not using the keys if the kingdom, we are missing out on the power of God to impact the world around us. It is time to open the doors of heaven.

Mighty Warriors

2010-09-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

Luke 4:18-19 (NIV) “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

When Jesus read this scripture in the Nazareth synagogue 2,000 years ago, he declared that he was the fulfillment of prophecy which had been given through Isaiah hundreds of years before. His mission, instead of becoming the earthly king of Israel like so many people of his time thought, was to set the world free through his ministry and ultimately through his death and resurrection. Before he returned to heaven Jesus further revealed to the disciples that they were to carry on his mission in his absence. This great commission has been passed down from spiritual generation to spiritual generation to this very day. The anointing of the Spirit is available today for telling the good news of Jesus and for releasing those under spiritual oppression.

A person serving in the military receives a commission. They go through training and are assigned an area of specialty. They are given rules to follow, people to report to, and ways of doing things which are all for the grand purpose of the defense of their country. As followers of Christ, we have been given a commission also. Our citizenship is in heaven. We’ve been given the task of releasing spiritual prisoners and teaching others to follow Jesus. Our orders come from above. We need no earthly laws to give us permission to share the good news. We have been given our orders already. As we go about this task; however, we are not on our own. We work together with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We receive direction from the Holy Spirit, and we remember that Jesus promised us he would continue to be with us always.

It is an honor to serve in the defense of one’s country, yet it is the greatest honor to be in service to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. It is wrong to think, however, that our service to the King will be without difficulty and danger. We are in a spiritual war and many times those who are shooting at us are the very ones we’ve been sent to free. If we don’t learn how to battle on a spiritual level, we will easily find ourselves reverting to the tactics of the world. If we are to be mighty warriors for the LORD God Almighty, we must learn to obey Jesus in everything. We must learn that love covers over a multitude of sin. We must learn to walk by faith and not by sight. We must learn to give thanks in all circumstances and to rejoice always. We must learn to do this because the greatest battle is for the spiritual destiny of men and women, boys and girls. The need for mighty warriors is at an all time high. The devil knows his time is short and is releasing on earth increasing levels of evil. But the Lord Jesus is with us. We have a commission from our commander. He has called us to be mighty warriors so that we can join in his mission to set people free. This is the kind of call that is worthy of giving our lives for.

No one starts out as a mighty warrior. A mighty warrior is grown through learning how to pray and through saturation in the words of the God. This saturation process includes not only memorizing God’s word but also learning how to use it in real life, real time situations. It’s not just about speaking scripture but about living it out. It’s not enough to just tell someone about God’s great love and not be growing in love for people. This is because we are warriors of the Kingdom of God, and as Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21, NIV) We cannot fight for the Kingdom if the Kingdom is not reigning inside us.

Praying for our Country

2010-09-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NIV) “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

We are living in tumultuous times. There are plenty of examples to support this statement not only from the United States but around the world as well. However, rather than creating a list of events and realities, I wanted to describe the internal sense that I have as something like being stretched like in a child’s game of crack the whip. It’s like a piece of metal that is put under incredible stress due to an immense weight that it is carrying. As those who are called to pray for our world, the external signs as well as the internal witness of the Holy Spirit should be enough to catapult us into a higher dimension of prayer. Now is the time! Our country is at a crossroad, and God’s people need to step up in their spiritual leadership and pray until breakthrough happens. If we don’t listen to the call at this moment, then the tenuous ground that we are standing on may fall out from underneath us. The Spirit is calling us to pray, and God’s people are answering. Starting on September 20th a call has been issued through the Spirit to various intercessory prayer ministries to fast and pray and act. I invite you to visit www.prayandact.org and get off the sidelines. Don’t wait until the fourth quarter. Get in the prayer game for our country and its direction and destiny.

So why are we praying for our country? The bottom line is that we pray so that God’s kingdom will continue to advance in the hearts and lives of Americans and those around the world who are impacted through the ministries the Lord has raised up to reach them. God, our Savior, not only wants all people saved, he also wants them to come to a knowledge of the truth. The truth is that life begins at conception and every life is priceless in value. The truth is that marriage is between one man and one woman, and God’s plan is that it lasts for life. The truth is that God’s laws are higher than any man-made law, and our country will be blessed only if we acknowledge it. Let’s join together for the next 40 days and pray and fast for our country. Its destiny hangs in the balance. Do you see it? Then let’s agree together to pray for our nation.

We Are At War

2010-09-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV) “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Ephesians 6:10-12 (ESV) “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Has your experience in the past few weeks been characterized by an increase in tension in your relationships or a greater than normal struggle spiritually? Sometimes these things can be understood by the changes that our lives go through such as work changes and stresses or family changes such as school starting back up again or a child going through growing pains. At other times we recognize that the evil one is bringing about a well-timed attack through fears, lies, deception or his other weapons. Regardless of the source of increased stresses and challenges and difficulties, our best response is to be led by the Spirit. The Spirit may lead us to take authority over our household and forbid the work of the evil one in our family relationships. The Spirit may lead us to dig deeper into the word of God and strengthen our spiritual foundations. The Spirit may lead us to grow in our love for those who are wounded and whose response is to wound others. First and foremost, we must realize that all of our struggles have a spiritual component, and we must learn how to respond as Spirit-filled and Spirit-led people.

But beyond being trained to use spiritual weapons and learning how to be led by the Spirit, we must understand that we are in a spiritual war at all times. A war-time mentality is very different than a peace-time mentality. Normal peace-time actions can get a person killed in a war zone. Likewise, in spiritual war, if we are not prepared and ready to fight, we WILL get run over by the evil one. In my corner of the world I have been seeing an increase in spiritual attacks. In one sense this is a good thing because it teaches Christ-followers how to fight spiritually. How else do we learn how to use the sword of the Spirit? When you are in the middle of an attack against your identity in Christ or against your marriage and family or against the harmony of relationships in your church, that’s when the word of God becomes mighty to stand against the devil’s schemes. Let us not be frightened by the reality of spiritual battle on our doorstep, but let us resolve to grow up into the overcomers that we are called to be and is our destiny as Christ-followers. We are at war, yes, but remember that we are on winning side. Therefore, let us be confident and engage in this spiritual battle.

Take the Opportunity to Pray

2010-09-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

2 Thessalonians 3:6-9 (NIV) “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Titus 3:1-2 (NIV) “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.”

One of my mentors in ministry always used to say, “Strike while the iron is hot.” It is a simple phrase used to convey the truth that opportunities don’t last long, and we need to take advantage of them before they cease to be opportunities. Oftentimes, the opportunities that the Lord gives us are an inconvenience. We must make changes in order to take advantage of them. Sometimes these changes are very difficult to make. Other times the changes are not difficult to make, but they go against our tendency toward complacency and idleness. Even though they make not be difficult changes to make in the overall grand scheme of life, they so easily turn into missed opportunities if we allow idleness to rule.

The easiest opportunities to take advantage of are praying for one another and praying for circumstances we face each day. The scripture tells us to pray continually, yet those day in and day out opportunities to pray with a brother or sister in Christ just seem to slip through our fingers. Let us determine to be at the ready to pray. A five second prayer can be more powerful in the right moment than an hour of prayer at another time. Let us determine to pray continually about the challenges and joys we face daily. Let us determine to be an example of diligent pray-ers to other followers of Christ as well as those who don’t know the Lord – not doing it for show but as those who don’t allow our life of prayer to be idle as we depend on our heavenly Father at all times.

Spiritual Weapons Are Not For Show

2010-08-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

Matthew 6:31-33 (NIV) “So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Psalm 23:1 (KJV) “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

In spiritual warfare, either we learn to fight or we get pummeled! There is no neutral ground for Christ-followers. Since it is much more fun to be victorious in this spiritual battle, we’ve got to learn to use the word of God as a weapon. Scripture memorization is good; it’s just not enough to win the fights that we encounter with the evil one. We must go beyond memorization to application in the heat of the battle. This week the Lord gave me these two verses from Matthew and Psalms as my weapons in the fight. I have had these verses memorized for at least 30 years; however, I didn’t realize that they could be used as weapons until this week. They have been great encouragement for me in my relationship with the Lord – just not weapons.

So this is how it works. When the evil one comes at me with lies about the things I need to have or the opportunities I need to take because I have a right to them, I speak Psalm 23:1 out loud. “The Lord is MY shepherd, I shall not want.” I emphasize the “MY” because that reinforces in my mind that my Lord has always got my best interests in mind. When the evil one lobs deceptive thinking of temptation at me, I speak out loud, “I seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and HE gives me everything I need.” I personalize it because Jesus has changed my nature to be one that honors him, and I remind myself of whom he has made me to be.

When David went to fight Goliath, Saul tried to get him to use his armor and sword, but David refused to use them because he wasn’t used to them. Likewise, we have the sword of truth, and within the word of God there are passages which have special uses for each of us depending on how God has made us, what our weaknesses are and what circumstances we find ourselves in. We must interact with the Lord and his word to find out which weapons or which scripture passages we need to pick up and get good at using. We must become so used to using these verses that in the heat of battle those verses are what come out of our mouths. So, stop using the word of God for show and start preparing for battle.

The Power of Prayer and Petition

2010-08-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

James 1:5-8 (NIV) “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”

Anxiety is a tenacious opponent. It is always seeking access points into our hearts and minds. Yet, here we find good news – we have, like a giant guard dog, a protector against our incessant enemy. The peace of God stands like an impenetrable force against this malicious foe. How do we get there from here? Our first step is to recognize anxiety as the enemy that it is. Instead of accepting it as an inevitable part of our life, we need to treat it like a disease that we fight against. We need to realize that it is an intruder that is trespassing on ground that belongs to the Kingdom of God. We do not have to put up with anxiety. We need to put it under our feet where it belongs for those who have been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus! We live in the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace, and we have the authority to never again tolerate fear and anxiety! Anxiety deserves a whooping from every believer in Jesus!

But we also remember that we fight according to the Spirit, not the human nature. Our second step involves prayer and petition. Our prayers must be to God who is able to do more than we ask or imagine. In every relationship, task, challenge, frustration, impossibility that we have, God is able to be the difference. When we pray, we must pray with expectation. This is the difference between faith and doubt. We don’t come with the expectation that God will do what we want but that He will be the solution to the problem. He has many ways of working in the world, and it is not our place to tell Him how to do it. We have the authority to believe, and that is a mighty weapon against anxiety. Our faith is not in ourselves but in the One who tramples all of our enemies under His feet. Our petitions likewise are mighty weapons. Yes, they are weapons. To petition is to make our needs known to God. Since He knows what we really need already, this is more about coming to grips with what our needs really are. For instance, when we are in a stressful situation do we need to get out of the situation or do we need grace to see things through? As we seek the Lord for what our needs truly are, He reveals them to us. It is this communion with the Lord that causes us to ask God for help with confidence and with thanksgiving because we know that His power will be at work. Then our thankfulness becomes gratitude for having a heavenly Father who listens and responds to our needs.

Our final step is to allow God’s peace to break through the ceiling of our understanding. Because the peace of God is a supernatural phenomenon, our natural tendency is to fall back to our own understanding. That is a mistake because His peace super-cedes our ability to explain it. When Jesus walked on the water, the laws of gravity did not stop existing. He transcended those natural laws. In the same way, the peace of God transcends our human understanding. In this way we don’t deny the reality of life around us, we simply live by a power that anxiety cannot master. To live in a constant state of peace is our birthright as children of the Most High God. Let’s not settle for less. The Lord has given us these tools for our benefit. We need to use them, and we need to pass them on and encourage each other to use them. We will be hampered from the business of God’s advancing kingdom if we don’t shut down anxiety and maintain our diligence against it through prayer and petition.

The Nature of a Servant

2010-07-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

“I am a servant. I am waiting for the call.”
- Larry Norman

“Servants serve.”
- Pastor Bernie

“I am among you as the one who serves.” (Luke 22:27, ESV)
- Jesus

Servants take the initiative to serve. They don't wait for an invitation because it is in their nature to serve. When you take the time to observe a true servant a few things stand out. They see things that most people overlook. They are first to the task. While others talk, they do. While others cringe at doing ugly tasks, they roll up their sleeves and dive in. Servants are not concerned about the tasks that have been given to others; they are focused on the duties that they are responsible for.

If we could pull back the veil on God’s full glory just for a moment, our view toward serving Him would be forever changed. It is an honor to serve an earthly king, but to be able to serve the King of kings and Lord of lords should be our greatest honor. There is a time to count the cost of following the Lord, but if we are to be servants of the Most High, we must move beyond the counting stage of our relationship. When He speaks, we obey. When we see Him working, we join in that work. To draw attention to ourselves by focusing on what great sacrifice we have made in our service to God is the opposite spirit of a servant. In contrast, the nature of a servant was described so well by John the Baptist when he said of the Lord, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30, ESV)

Before we can serve together in ministry, we must first determine if we are willing to be a servant. This is where we give up our right to call the shots. This is when we tell the Lord, “Not my will but yours be done.” Many times people will say that they are having a hard time obeying the Lord. This is not the vocabulary of a true servant. “Yes, Lord” is the response of the servant. It is not enough to sing “Yes, Lord”; there must be immediate obedience to God’s commands. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” Either we love Him, or we don’t. Either we have laid down our lives and our will, or we haven’t. Let us be those who honor the Lord, who worship Him, both in spirit and in truth. This is the nature of a servant. Let us encourage each other to live as servants. Then we will be serving together as we together are built up in the reality of the nature of Christ.

Clean Hands…Pure Heart

2010-07-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

Psalm 11:7 (NIV) “For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.”

Psalm 15:1-3 (NIV) “LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman.”

Psalm 24:3-4 (NIV) “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.”

Uprightness is a condition that starts in the heart. Doing what is right does not happen by accident. No, that is the domain of wickedness. Our sinful, human nature defaults to actions of ungodliness rather than righteousness. Clean hands, which is a metaphor for righteous living, is always tied to a pure heart. The outside always reflects the condition of the inside. David, who wrote the words to these Psalms, was clear that he knew what was right because of God’s word. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” (Psalm 119:9, NIV) It is the Lord who initiates his righteousness in our hearts through his word. We can only live in his holy place because he has drawn us to him. We have a pure heart only through contact with God. Then he draws us to his sanctuary, so that we can live in the light of his presence all the days of our lives. His sanctuary is not a physical place as it was before the time of Christ. His sanctuary is where his presence dwells, and through the Holy Spirit we have access each day to the place where he lives.

We must never forget that the Lord loves justice; he loves what is right. We may have been given a pure heart through receiving Jesus by faith; however, the Lord is not pleased with our slander, our idolatry, our unrighteous living. If we are to dwell, to rest, to abide, to live in the holy place of the Lord, we must clean our hands. Our actions must come in line with the righteousness of God. Take this example from Israel’s past: Each time they began to worship the gods of the nations around them (e.g. Judges 10:6-8), he became angry with them and allowed the nations around them to oppress them. This caused God’s people to cry out to God and to turn back to him (Judges 10:10). Although the Lord’s relationship with his people is different with us because the Holy Spirit lives inside every believer in Christ (see Romans 8:9), let’s not assume that his character has changed. God is still not happy with sin, and he will work through circumstances in our lives to bring us into alignment with his character.

Moses, the man of God and the most humble person on earth, was not allowed to see the face of God. However, David says that upright men will see his face. Stephen, the deacon of the early church who was known as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5, NIV), testified that he saw heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. (Acts 7:56) Is it possible for us to see the face of the Lord while we are living? Is it possible that there is a greater revelation of the Lord as we grow in righteous living? I believe that there is. If we would have clean hands, we must adopt the same love of justice in our hearts that our Lord has. In this way when we are tempted to live in a different manner than the word of the Lord shows us, the conviction of the Holy Spirit will move us to change. Then, when we wander from the Lord, our own heart which has had the word of God written on it, will bring us back to him. Instead of external pressure bringing us back to the Lord, we will be moved to close the gap between us and the Lord. May we know the glory of his presence in such a way that our heart’s desire and our lifestyle are in agreement. “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4, NIV)

Government

2010-07-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Psalm 145:3-7 (NIV) “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.”

Psalm 145:10-13 (NIV) “All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.”

Isaiah 9:7 (NIV) “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”

In the Declaration of Independence there is a powerful statement which its author gave as justification for independence from England. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” The governments of this world derive their powers from the consent of the people; however, the Government of the Lord derives its power from the greatness, the majesty, the power, the righteousness and the glory of God. Because the nature of God is limitless, likewise the Government of God has no limit. The governments of the world have limited resources and abilities; the Government of God has unlimited resources and power. The governments of our world are facing enormous financial challenges which they don’t know how to solve; the Government of our God never lacks any good thing. The governments of this earth will all come to and end; the Government of God’s kingdom will never end.

Unfortunately for many, they have built their trust on the governments of this world instead of on the Government of God. This is not to say that governments shouldn’t be trusted or respected or depended upon to exercise their God-given authority. We must work toward righteousness, integrity and responsibility in our government. However, God’s kingdom and authority, his Government, is greater than any on this earth. Our faith and our hopes must be in the kingdom that will never be shaken. How do we do this? By knowing and trusting and letting our lifestyle reflect the truth that the Lord is faithful to his promises and loving toward all he has made. We must learn to grow more dependent on God’s promises than the promises of government. They are more sure. They last longer. They are in every way better. When the promises of our government are in default, we must remember that the promises of God’s kingdom are never in default. Jesus said, “So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33, NIV) When the time comes where these basic needs cannot be provided for by anything within our power, we must then be able to stand on the promise that our heavenly Father knows what we need. Our dependence first and foremost must be on the Lord. His kingdom is a mighty and powerful one. His ability goes beyond the combined understanding and power and ability of mankind. May we grow in our understanding and dependence on the kingdom which will never end.

Higher Ground

2010-07-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

Matthew 6:33 (NIV) “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Joshua 24:14-15 (NIV) “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Mark 8:34-35 (NIV) “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ’If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.’”

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”
- Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775

To follow Jesus Christ means to give up our life and to lay it at his feet. It is only by giving up our life to him that he can give us his life. This is the choice that we all have to make, and the consequences of this choice will be swift in the days to come. The clear teaching of scripture is that Jesus will be first in everything…whether that comes willingly or unwillingly. Our destiny as the people of God is to seek his kingdom first in everything. The choice that is before us is whether or not we will hold on to our own lives or whether we will offer our lives to our Lord for the sake of the gospel. If we view our lives as too dear to lay down at the feet of the Lord, the consequence, as Patrick Henry so eloquently put it, will be chains and slavery. We cannot view our lives as so dear that they cannot be sacrificed for the sake of the kingdom of God. To do so is to open the door to spiritual slavery. We must become those who are dedicated to spiritual freedom for ourselves and others regardless of the consequences that we face. We must determine, regardless of whether or not we face persecution, to move up to the higher ground of seeking first the kingdom of God in everything. As the cost of following Christ increases in the days to come, we must make the decision now as to how far we will go with him. Unless we are willing to go all the way to the cross, we will lose the life Jesus offers us.

Do not think that this is a message about working to earn God’s favor. It is rather a message that speaks to our faith in God and his instructions to us. Will we entrust our very lives to his word, or will we instead direct our lives according to what we see best? Jesus’ words are very clear that because of persecution that believers in Christ will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other. (see Matthew 25) Are we prepared to face this kind of persecution and instead of retreating move forward for the sake of the kingdom? In every age there have been those who have been killed for the sake of the gospel. Are we ready to face the kinds of trials that other believers around the world have faced and remain true to the Lord? We can only do so if we have in fact given up our life and taken up the life of Christ. Otherwise we may find ourselves fighting against God.

We have tremendous promises from the Lord. If we seek his kingdom first, all these things that we need will be given to us. We have the promise of the glory of God covering the face of the earth and being placed on his people. We have the promise that the Lord will be with us in whatever situation we face, and if we face death that his love cannot be separated from us even then. It is time for the people of God to wake up and to walk in their destiny. It is time for us to become the purified bride that we are called to be. It is time to move forward to higher ground and to live above the Christian status quo. Spiritual freedom is what is at stake.

Prayer for Our Nation

2010-07-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NIV) “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth”

Psalm 33:10-12 (NIV) “The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.”

Daniel 7:14 (NIV) “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

All authority comes from the Lord, and the blessing of the Lord rests on those in authority who recognize that. For those in positions of authority who are not part of God’s kingdom but who nevertheless honor God, there is a blessing for the people under their authority. In 1 Timothy Paul’s instruction to pray for leaders is for the purpose of creating an atmosphere of peace. However, when a nation goes against the purposes of God, sooner or later the Lord will bring judgment on that nation. This judgment is both a correction as well as God’s mercy. The goal is for the people of a nation to turn to the living God and place their trust in Him, and God’s judgments can be the means for bringing that about. Ultimately, the Lord Jesus will regain all of his glory and every person from every nation will worship Him.

As we pray for our nation, the United States of America, we must pray for a return to the truth for our leaders. At the founding of our country there were those who, although they were not born again believers in Christ, honored the word of God and reverenced Him. Men like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson did not trust Jesus Christ for salvation, yet they did hold on to the truth that God was their Creator. We are far removed from this reality today. We must pray for a revelation of this truth in addition to the truth that Jesus Christ is the only way for salvation for our local, state and national leaders. We must begin to pray for a Nebuchanezzer-style revelation of the dominion and authority and power of Jesus Christ. We need to call on the Lord for our nation to return in repentance and humility and recognition that the blessings of our nation come from God alone.

Wake Up

2010-06-25T08:00:00.001-07:00

Isaiah 52:1-2 (NIV) “Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.”

Revelation 21:2-3 “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

In scripture, Jerusalem is often referred to metaphorically as the people of God. In the Old Testament this was the people of Israel; in the New Testament we see that all of God’s people, Jews and Gentiles, are included. This verse from Revelation shows that God’s people have been prepared, just like a bride is prepared for her wedding day. The purity of a bride symbolized by being dressed in white is the reason for God’s people being compared to a bride. This purity is made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus, yet in order to be prepared to come down from heaven, an awakening must happen in the people of God.
This call from Isaiah is a prophetic act which serves to rouse the church and wake it for action. Notice what needs to happen. First, there needs to be clothing with strength. The Holy Spirit gives us power to act for the Lord. Then, garments of splendor must be put on. This is the purity that comes not just from the righteousness given to us in Christ, but also from the right living that is a result of living in the power of the Holy Spirit. Once this movement towards purity happens, the church will not tolerate wickedness within itself. Shaking off the dust refers to removing the sinful, earthly nature, and rising up and sitting enthroned points to the glorious high calling of every Christ-follower. This is our destiny: to throw off every chain of sin which so easily entangles us and to be prepared for our eternal dwelling with the Lord.
Our prayer must become focused on crying out to the Lord for his bride to wake up and shake the dust and the chains of worldliness from her. Ours is a high calling. We have been given the nature of heaven in hearts. Now is the time for God’s people to rise up and live according to the calling we have received.

Fathers

2010-06-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

Acts 2:17-18 (NIV) “'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.’”

Malachi 4:5-6 (NIV) “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Ephesians 6:1-3 (NIV) “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ’Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise— ‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’”

The scripture teaches children to honor their parents, and there are blessings that come with that obedience. This honor for biological fathers can also be understood for spiritual fathers as well. In other words, we need to honor our spiritual fathers for the truth that they’ve passed on to us. The principle is this: we need to recognize what we have been given and be thankful for it and honor those through whom God chose to give it to us. The temptation for the younger generation is to think that the older generation doesn’t understand life in the now. The temptation for the older generation is to think that they’ve seen it all before. The truth is that the Lord doesn’t give a complete understanding to any generation so that they can be interdependent. It is when the children hearts are turned toward their fathers and the fathers toward their children, that a more complete picture of God’s work of revelation will be seen. This is why it is important to allow children to operate in their gifts as the Lord unfolds them. The grace of God will often come through an immature package, and those of us who land in the father category need to be reminded to look for the seed of the Spirit that is beginning to grow.

In a similar way, the younger generation must understand that they aren’t the only ones who have dreams. They need to realize that there is a wisdom and determination that has been honed in their spiritual fathers which can only come from living out life in the Spirit. The dreams that God gives to the older generation have teeth. They will not be relinquished because they have been refined by the fire of perseverance. In this way the Lord has planned for the fathers and their children to work in tandem to see the glory of the Lord revealed in their land.

Father, pour out your Spirit on the fathers and their children so that we will see your glory in our land!

Born of the Spirit

2010-06-11T08:38:00.001-07:00

John 3:5-8 (NIV) “Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 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."”

What an amazing statement, “So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Throw out your best laid plans you human beings. You haven’t got a clue! The Spirit moves wherever the Spirit wants to! We often think in terms of asking the Lord to bring revival, and I believe in praying those prayers. However, when the praying is done and the Spirit begins to move, how much of the movement of the Holy Spirit do we fight against? Maybe we should start praying for the Lord to transform our minds so that we can become truly spiritual beings that don’t fight against what He wants to accomplish through us! Paul wrote, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2, NIV) How can we flow with the Spirit if our minds are still so conformed to the pattern of this world that we can’t distinguish between the move of the Spirit and the move of the flesh? We’ve got some growing in the Spirit to do if we are to experience any true move of God. Death to self, here I come!

Yet, if Jesus said “everyone” we must believe that he meant it. Even the most brand new Christian has the ability to move with the Spirit. Let us not put any restrictions on the Lord and whom he wants to move through! It is his pleasure to confound our wisdom with his wisdom. He is not restricted in any way. If he formed a man out of clay, if he caused a donkey to speak, the Lord can certainly lead through a child or a babe in Christ. May we learn how to recognize the movement of the Spirit and get in the flow while he is moving.

Holy Spirit, lead on! We are ready to move with you! Bring a mighty awakening and revival to our land!

Praying for the Unbelieving

2010-06-04T08:06:00.001-07:00

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (NIV) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

2 Corinthians 4:1-4 (NIV) “Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Where do we begin with this ministry of reconciliation which the Lord has entrusted to us as his followers? We begin by agreeing with God’s will to be done and his kingdom to advance throughout the earth. We begin in prayer. Paul gives us a good starting point here by revealing that the evil one has blinded the minds of unbelievers. So our response is to ask the Lord to open their eyes to the light of the gospel. We pray for them to see Jesus and his glory through the eyes of their hearts. We ask God to reveal himself to them in such a way that they will understand who this God is that pursues them with an everlasting love.

We may ask: “Why do we have to pray this prayer? Doesn’t the Lord love all people and pursue them?” Yes, but we must understand the means through which the Lord works. He has given to his people the ministry of reconciliation. This ministry goes forward on all fronts. It can be compared to a battle, and in fact it is a very real spiritual battle. There is first of all the air war which is like our prayer. Military strategy dictates that the air war comes first. Yet sometimes we are tempted to stop at that point, and that is a great mistake. Military strategy also shows that the battle can’t be won without the ground forces. This can be compared to the sharing of the message of the gospel, person to person. The ministry of reconciliation includes both prayer and proclamation. He has given us the tools not only to pray for his power but also to deliver the message of reconciliation. May we have the courage and determination both to pray and to tell.

Is Prayer Supposed To Be Hard?

2010-05-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

James 5:17-18 (NIV) “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”
1 Kings 18:41-44 (NIV) “And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain." So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back." The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "”
Matthew 26:40-41 (NIV) “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping."Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."”

There are times when prayer is not easy. Sometimes even the thought of prayer makes you want to fall asleep. There is the truth that we must learn to live and rest in the power of God, but there is also the truth that we must use our strength as we work together with the Lord. The disciples knew how hard it was to pray because they kept falling asleep when the Lord asked them to watch and pray. Elijah knew what it meant to “pray earnestly”. Not only did Elijah pray earnestly for it not to rain, he also prayed earnestly for the rain to start. After the defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, Elijah climbed to the top of the mountain and “bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.” According to pastor and author Dutch Sheets, this position signified a type of prayer called “birthing prayer” or “travailing prayer”. Birthing prayer may be defined as, “A form of intercession that releases the creative power or energy of the Holy Spirit into a situation to produce, create or give birth to something.” (Intercessory Prayer, p.128) We see that Elijah did not simply pray a short prayer and expect the Lord to respond. He continued “earnestly” to pray for rain, and on the seventh time his servant returned with the news of success.

Although we may not know the reasons why some of our prayers are answered immediately and some require being persistent in prayer, we must be able to discern when each type of prayer is required. Now is such a time for God’s people to rise up and “watch and pray”. Let us be diligent to pray for God’s purposes to be accomplished in our nation and in our neighborhoods. It is so easy to fall off the pace and be distracted by all kinds of even good things, but now is the time for earnest prayers for spiritual breakthrough and awakening. Let us not grow weary but press in and find the renewal of our strength from God as we watch and wait in prayer. May we grow tired of the spiritual wasteland and grow hungry for the refreshing rain of the Spirit to fall down on our communities. Come Lord Jesus and awaken your people!

Prophecy

2010-05-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

Acts 2:17-24 (NIV) “'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”

As the Spirit is poured out, God says that his people, old and young, will prophesy. Dreams and visions from the Lord will be characteristic of God’s people. Prophecy will be one of the things that all of his people have in common. We may be tempted to shrink back from such a statement due to the abuse or misunderstanding of prophecy, but if we are going to believe God’s word, we must embrace the Spirit of prophecy. What does it mean to prophesy? Simply put it is to speak God’s words whether they are proclaiming truth or predicting future events. In addition to speaking, prophecy can include our actions as they in themselves can be a message from the Lord. Where does this prophecy come from? It is from the Spirit which is poured out on the servants of the Lord.

When we pray for the Spirit of the Lord to be poured out, we must recognize that this is the Spirit of prophecy. As the signs of the times indicate the approach of the day of the Lord, we must also recognize the voice of the Lord through his people whether they are young or old. In this we must keep to the standards of the unmovable truth of God’s written word and the testing and discernment of the prophecies that are spoken. These are biblical standards that are given so that we can be built up in Christ, and if these are not in place there can be great harm that can occur in people’s faith. However, to not embrace the voice of prophecy is to go against the clear leading of God in these last days. Even so, we must have wisdom in order to embrace God’s prophetic voice through his people. In response to the great pressure that is increasing throughout the earth, the Lord is raising up his army of prophetic people. We are in great need of every prophetic voice and prophetic act in order to proclaim to a world under darkness that Jesus alone is the way, the truth and the life, and the he is the light of the world. So pray for the Spirit to be poured out and get ready for dreams, visions and prophetic words that flow from the throne of God.

Father, we pray for your Spirit to be poured out on your people, that we would prophesy and that your word would be clearly heard in every corner of the world. Give us great wisdom and courage to speak your word with boldness, so that those who hear will call on the name of the Lord to be saved.

Resting In God

2010-05-14T12:44:00.001-07:00

Psalm 91:1-4 (NIV) “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”
Isaiah 26:3 (NIV) “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Walking in the peace of God is something that we grow into as we mature in Christ. This is reflected in our prayers. We may pour out our grief, our anxieties, our fears and everything else before the Lord just like we see David doing in the Psalms. Yet to truly walk with him is not to remain in the place of fear but to return to the place of rest “in the shadow of the Almighty.” The Lord is not worried about anything, and as we draw close to him, we take on this aspect of his character. When we lose our peace it is because we have taken our eyes off the Lord and are looking at the storm just as Peter did when he walked on the water. When we realize this, we must turn our mind and heart back to the face of God, and enter into the perfect peace that surrounds him. This peace is a shield for us. It is a guard against the deadly attacks of the evil one.

We must learn to recognize when we are not experiencing the rest and peace of God and be diligent to return to the place of trusting him in all things. It is so easy to become overwhelmed when we look at the problems that our world is facing. Sometimes the prayer list feels like a big rock that has us pinned down and we can’t seem to get out from under it. The antidote for anxiety is placing your trust in the Lord. God, in whom we trust, is our refuge. Perfect peace is available for the one whose mind is focused on the Lord. Let us remind ourselves that all of our hope and trust is in the Lord.

I place my hope and my trust in you, Lord. I receive your peace now. I find refuge in your shadow for you are my refuge and my fortress. I trust in you.

Ready For The Fight

2010-05-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

Psalm 3:1-8 (NIV) “O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him."
Selah
But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.
Selah
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.
Selah”

The sworn enemy of those who are devoted to Jesus is Satan and all the evil spirits which oppose the will of God. There will never be a truce between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. At times it appears that evil has such a strong upper hand that there will never be a complete victory, but the word of the Lord declares otherwise and we wait for the time when Satan, evil spirits and death and Hades themselves will be thrown in the lake of fire for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10, 14) But until that time we have been given a spirit to fight and to gain ground on that which has been stolen by the devil. Instead of cowering in fear before the manifestations of evil in our world, the Spirit of God has given us faith and the spirit of “power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7, ESV) This is because the One who is in us is greater than the tens of thousands which can be arrayed against us in the world. Instead of avoiding the fight, the Lord is pouring out on His people the spirit of battle-readiness. We understand that we don’t fight like the rest of the world fights. Our weapons are much, much stronger than what the world has to offer. Why would we lower ourselves to fight with inferior weapons? It is the Lord who fights for us. Indeed, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, ESV)

Let us remember that the Lord is our shield and our glory. Let us never shrink back from the fight that comes to our door. The battle is first to stay on our knees and to allow the truth of God’s words to guide us instead of the circumstances which surround us. Only those with spiritual vision will be able to see in the midst of the struggle that “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16, NIV)

Lord, teach us to always keep our eyes on you in the middle of spiritual battle, so that we may stay true to the reality of your word. Create in us the strength of courage and faith to do great exploits through the power of the Holy Spirit for the advancement of your kingdom on earth. All for the glory of Jesus Christ! Amen.

Walk in the Light

2010-05-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

1 John 1:5-9 (NIV) “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

The power of sin is taken away when it is brought out into the light. Light is God’s realm. Dark belongs to sin. To walk in the darkness is to hide our actions just like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden when they hid from God after they sinned. Fellowship with God depends on whether or not we walk in the light. In other words, an intimate relationship with the Lord is conditional. We can only have it if we decide to stop hiding our sin and learn to confess it. Yet, so often instead of bringing sin out into the open when we have the opportunity, we hide behind partial truths in order to keep it covered up. We certainly don’t lie by saying something that is not true; however, we intentionally deceive by not telling the whole story. None of us is exempt from this behavior. We have all hidden our sin in order to keep it from coming out into the light. However, we need to ask ourselves if keeping these things hidden is worth sacrificing an intimate relationship with God.

One of the greatest needs of our time is for fellowship. We don’t just need people to hang out with but those with whom we can share lives. However, no amount of fellowship with others will make up for a lack of fellowship with the Lord. True fellowship with others begins with fellowship with God. That is because when we walk with God in the light we are able to reveal to others who we truly are. Hiding from God leads to hiding parts of ourselves from others. God’s priority in relationships is clear: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33, ESV) The kingdom of God is the kingdom of light. Transactions done in the kingdom of God are not done with secret intentions in order to deceive, but rather with an openness which is based in the love of truth.

Children of the Light

2010-04-23T10:02:00.001-07:00

Ephesians 5:8-17 (NIV) “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.”

To live as children of the light is to expose the deeds of the darkness. The fruit of the light of Christ are deeds of goodness, righteousness and truth. To live by the truth (Jesus is the truth) is to shed light on the evil lifestyles of those who do not live by the light. It takes courage to do the right thing because of the anger and hatred that is the fruit of those who don’t want their evil actions exposed. Our days are filled with evil; they are filled with darkness. But the light of Jesus Christ that shines through us has the power to give those in the dark the opportunity to see the Lord. We see that the world is in thick darkness, yet God’s strategy is to send out his people as shining lights in the world that point the way and open the eyes of people to the true Light. The power of the resurrection has been placed inside every believer in Christ! When we are living in the light, then those who are sleeping in darkness are exposed to the light. What an incredible opportunity! However, we forget so easily who we are and whose power is at work so powerfully within us. It is so easy to believe the lie that what we do doesn’t make a difference. It is so easy to become careless with how we live instead of living on purpose.

The apostle writes that we should “find out what pleases the Lord.” This is an active pursuit. To find out what pleases the Lord takes research and meditation and conversation. We cannot expect this to be done for us. We must pursue this ourselves. In order to “understand what the Lord’s will is” we may seek counsel from a pastor or friend in Christ or the writings of others. The Lord may use many different sources to show us what His will is, but we must have the motivation to search it out. Instead of being “very careful, then, how you live”, it is very easy to go with the flow the life takes us. But as one pastor has said, to not be careful is to be careless. As children of the light, we cannot afford to be careless with how we live. We don’t want to be worried and anxious on the other hand either, but we must carefully evaluate the time that we have to live and make sure that we are focused on the Lord’s will. If not, the clear implication from these verses is that we will miss opportunities that the Lord sends our way to bring others into the light of Christ.

It is foolish not to understand what God’s will is. We make great mistakes when we don’t take the time and the energy that is required to search out the will of God. This may take more time than we have during our regular devotions. There are times when we need to set aside stuff that we normally do in order to seek the Lord. The Lord gave the children of Israel three times a year where they were commanded to put aside the normal tasks of living and come to worship and seek God. As children of the Light, we also need to set aside time to seek the Lord. Many times when I ask people if they know how to hear the voice of God, they will respond that hearing God’s voice has always been difficult for them. Then I ask them if they are personally reading and studying their Bibles. The answer is almost always, “No.” It is not possible to know the will of God without searching the scriptures and seeking the Lord in worship and prayer. Only a baby continues to depend on its parents to feed and clothe them. If we want to grow up in Christ and find out what His will is for us, we must learn how to stand on our own two feet in regards to searching the scriptures and coming to Him in prayer. That doesn’t mean that we will know everything, but it does mean that we will have the tools to find out. We are the children of the light. Let us be careful how we live so that we can take advantage of every opportunity for the Lord.

Under Pressure

2010-04-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Matthew 24:3-14 “3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

It is important for us to understand the whole counsel of God even though some things may be difficult to hear. Jesus told his disciples these things so that we who are living today, along with all who have followed Christ throughout the centuries, would understand how history will come to its conclusion and how to follow the Lord in the midst of the difficulties that we experience. There are a few things we need to understand from these verses. First of all, deceivers who come “in my name” or in the name of Christ will draw people away from faith in Christ. Wars in which ethnic groups fight against other ethnic groups (NIV “nation”) and nations fight against nations (NIV “kingdom”) will happen. Famines and earthquakes will take place around the world. These, Jesus said, are the beginning of birth pains. Birth pains don’t start out intense, but as labor continues they get both more intense and closer together. A quick look back over the centuries since Jesus walked on the earth reveals that there have been deceivers, ethnic and political wars, earthquakes and famines all along. However, in the last century, the intensity of these “pains” arguably has increased. Political scientist Daniel Jonah Goldhagen notes in his documentary Worse Than War that over 100 million people have been killed in genocide since 1915. His conclusion is that these atrocities are instigated by leaders whose goals are political but who motivate people through inciting age old ethnic hatreds. Thus we see what Jesus predicted, ethnic and political war. What about earthquakes? It seems like there have been a lot more of them than usual in the last four months. Although the number of earthquakes is not unusual, the devastation caused by them has been. Fox New reports that “According to the USGS Earthquake Center… statistically, the globe is on track, so far this year, to be relatively average in terms of the number of larger quakes that hit annually. An average year will produce 17 quakes with a magnitude 7.0 or greater. What is different about the last four months is the number of deaths caused by quakes.” Truly, we are in a time where these “birth pains” are increasing in their intensity.

But if these are the beginning, what should we be expecting to come next? Jesus said that every nation will hate those who are believers in Christ. Although persecutions have happened since the time of the early church, this kind of persecution is specific in that the object of the hatred will turn from one ethnic group hating another ethnic group to all ethnic groups turning their hatred on believers. This is the time when rather than enduring persecution, people will turn away from the faith and turn toward betrayal and hatred. Although Jesus doesn’t address it in Matthew 24, at this same time the Bible declares that in the midst of great spiritual darkness, the glory of the Lord will rise on his people and that nations (i.e. ethnic groups of people) will come to the brightness of God’s glory over them. (see Isaiah 60) This is the time of great pressure which will usher in the age of the Kingdom of Jesus whose reign will never end. So how do we pray as we see these events unfolding before our eyes? Let us pray for the gospel to go forward, for believers everywhere to stand firm in Jesus Christ, and for the glory of the Lord to rise on His people. To God alone be the glory!

Raised With Christ

2010-04-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Colossians 3:1-2 “ 1If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Ephesians 2:4-6 “4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus rose from the dead because he was without sin. Therefore, death could not keep hold of him. Likewise, we are raised with Christ because our sin has been covered over by the blood of Jesus. We have spiritual life because death can’t hold on to us. Jesus was raised physically. We are raised spiritually because we are waiting for his return to be raised physically like he was. Only those who raised with Christ are able to see from the perspective of the heavenly places. It is impossible for those who haven’t been raised with Christ. They can only see from an earthly perspective. However, those who have been raised with Christ have the option to see from both perspectives. The choice to “seek the things that are above” and to “set your minds on things that are above” lies with those whose lives are “hidden with Christ.” This is like the choice that Peter made on the Sea of Galilee. He had the choice to focus on the Lord or the waves, and the waves won out. In one sense, we are amazed at the fact that Peter got out of the boat at all or even asked the Lord to come to him. Yet, Jesus gently rebuked him for his lack of faith! Oftentimes, we make excuses for failing to seek the things that are above, but the issue is not success or failure but rather perspective. Since we have been seated with Christ we have the option to set our mind on the things of heaven. There is nothing that can stand in our way except our own tendency to revert to focusing on earthly things. Remember that your life is in Christ in heavenly places and not in the gutters of earth. As the saying goes, “You can’t get blood out of a turnip.” Likewise, you can’t get life out of the gutter. Seek the things above. Focus your mind on the things above where your life resides.

Retuning

2010-04-01T10:47:00.001-07:00

John 8:47 “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

Belonging to God means knowing him and his voice. In salvation our hearts are tuned to God. When we are following God our hearts resonate with the same frequency as his. However, sheep go astray and need to be found and returned to safe pasture. How often does this “retuning” need to happen? For a musician the tuning process is a constant event. Once while I was watching a classical guitarist give a concert, he tuned one string during the song without missing any notes. The string had become out of tune, and he fixed it without breaking his stride. This process of retuning must also be continuous with respect to our relationship with the Lord. We must learn how to tune ourselves to his voice and Spirit without breaking stride. Although there are times each day when we need to focus on drawing near to the Lord and there are times when we need to get away from our normal routine for an extended period of time and be recharged, we must also learn to listen continually to the voice of our Shepherd so that we can stay in tune with his heart. Since he is our life, let us try not lose our connection with him for any length of time, but when we do, let’s not wait until the next meeting or devotion time or Bible study to tune up. Let’s keep in tune with our Shepherd as we are going.

Waves of Glory

2010-03-26T07:31:00.001-07:00

2 Corinthians 3:7-9 “Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

As I listen to what the Lord is saying to His people through various ministries around the country and as I reflect on what He is doing in the people of the Milton SDB church, I hear the growing sound of God’s glory descending to earth. It seems to me that the Lord is pulling back the veil that covers His glory and is increasing the intensity of it on His people. Moses put a veil on his face, but it seems that the Lord wants His people to radiate to the whole world the glory that He is putting in them. As I look at 2 Cor. 3:18, I see that the glory of God is the avenue to transformation, and I pray for the Lord to release more of His glory on us. As we with the unveiled faces of the new covenant in Christ are able to see and embrace this increase in glory, we will be transformed into the image of God in ever increasing ways. As the Lord comes with one wave of His glory and we embrace Him and allow His Spirit to transform us, we will be prepared for the next wave of glory which will be greater than the last one. The darkness is broken by the increase of light. Let us hunger for the glory of God to come down and rest with us. Let us arise as the glory of God breaks over us. Let us let the glory of God soak us completely and transform us into His image so that the world can see the light of His glory.

Heaven on Earth

2010-03-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

Matthew 6:10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 13:33 “He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."”
Revelation 11:15 “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

A kingdom’s reign and rule exists as far as the influence of the king. Right now, the influence of our King, Jesus the Christ, extends through His people all over the face of the earth. It is advancing in places where it has never been before, and it will continue to do so until as the scripture says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” The truth is that heaven is coming to earth! Nothing can stop the eventuality of this. This is God’s will, and He will accomplish it. If we are to be in God’s will, we must be living in the faith that His kingdom is coming. Not only that, the King is coming! Jesus is coming in His presence and power and all His glory! He is not only extending His influence through His people; He is coming to take possession of the kingdom of the world. We have little tastes from time to time of the glory of His kingdom, but soon the tasting will be over and the wedding supper of the Lamb will be here. Heaven is coming to earth.

Awake my soul and see the beauty of the King! Come Lord Jesus and take Your rightful place as Lord of all the earth! Awaken Your people to Your glory! May Your will be done on earth as in heaven and may Your kingdom come to earth.

Glory and Honor

2010-03-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

Revelation 7:12 "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
Revelation 19:7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”
Revelation 21:2, 22-23 “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband…I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”

The Hebrew word for glory is transliterated kabod and it means “weight”. The presence of God in His glory is “heavy” in the sense of the 60’s and 70’s lingo. God’s glory is so awesome that when God reveals it to humans the response we see is people falling at His feet. His glory is overwhelming like a mighty weight. However, when we say “To God be the glory”, the sense is not so much the presence of God in His glory but the honor or praise of God. These two different concepts are linked together in that when we honor God, His presence is welcome among us. The Old Testament temple is a great example of how these are linked also. In order to enter into the most holy place where the glory of God rested between the outstretched arms of the cherubim, the high priest needed to honor God and all His instructions. God and His house were treated as most holy. The greatest care was taken once a year when the high priest was allowed to enter the most holy place to make atonement for the sins of the people. Might we see the glory of God with greater “weight” in our world if we were to honor God in our lives as He deserves? May God alone receive the glory, and may we see the glory of God.

Glory

2010-03-05T22:21:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 6:3 “And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’”
Isaiah 60:1-3 "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”
Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The glory of God at the present time covers the whole earth; however, those who are under the thick darkness of sin are unable to recognize it. God’s plan for the knowledge of His glory to become known in the whole earth is to place His glory within His people. The children of light are called to share in the glory of Jesus. This is an amazing thing to think about that God would share His glory with sinful mankind! How does this happen? Isaiah said that the glory of the LORD rises upon you. His glory will increase on His people as His people make way for His glory. This glory is the presence of the Spirit within. The increase of the presence and power of the Spirit has come at different times and places throughout history. We call these experiences “revival”. At times the light of God’s glory has been so strong that people have been supernaturally drawn away from worldly pursuits and turned toward God. These have been like birth pains which have moved God’s people closer and closer to the day when the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord is rising on His people. The glory of the Lord is appearing over His people. The Lord wants us to share in His glory. Are we ready for Him to share it with us? Is that what we really want? The Lord will not share His glory with anyone who does not submit their ways to His way. Lord, we submit our ways to You. We pray ‘Your will be done’. Lead us by the Holy Spirit to reject everything that competes for Your glory.

Power II

2010-02-26T10:49:00.000-08:00

1 Samuel 16:13 “13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.”
1 Samuel 17:45-47 “45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."”

Now is the time for our Goliaths to fall. Yet we must not come in our own strength to fight against the enemies that wage war against our souls, or we will continue to get the same results – defeat! Prior to the defeat of Goliath, David was anointed by Samuel, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. We who live in the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ are anointed with the same Holy Spirit that came upon David! The Spirit’s power hasn’t lessened since the time of David. The Holy Spirit hasn’t been on vacation. One reason why we don’t see the power of the Spirit is because we come in our own power rather than in God’s power. The power of the Spirit is being released, but it is not for the purpose of accomplishing our own agendas. We also cannot use our own methods. Rather, the battle is the LORD’s, and we must keep to His battle plan. Human methods bring human results. If we are looking for results that only God can bring then we must operate in the power that only God can produce. When we pray for God to do things in our world, are we limiting our prayers only to the things that we think are possible? If so, we will never defeat Goliath. On the other hand, we must not pick a fight that the Lord is not in. The battle is the Lord’s, and just because we think that the Lord should be defeating this spiritual enemy or that one, doesn’t mean that He is leading us to do that. He is the commander-in-chief, and we must all learn how to march to the beat of His drum. Likewise, when it is time to fight, we must not shrink back. Now is the time for the warriors! Now is the time to pray in the power of the Spirit. Now is the time for Goliath to fall.

Power

2010-02-18T08:57:00.001-08:00

Psalm 121:1-2 “I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
Isaiah 40:31 “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Modern society is consumed with popularity poles and ratings, but the Kingdom of God is concerned with power. Specifically, it is focused on the power of God as it lives in and rests upon the people of the Kingdom of God. How do God’s people become empowered? The answer is through the Holy Spirit. But if the Holy Spirit lives inside every born again believer in Christ, then is our current experience of the power of God all we can expect? Is there more power that God can give, or is He all tapped out? Let’s gain some understanding from the above verses. First, our eyes must be focused on the Lord who is our power and strength. Rather than looking at our own meager resources and abilities, we must lift our eyes off of our situations and gaze into the eyes of our Power and Strength. Second, when the temptation comes to take our eyes off of the Lord, we must resist and grow stronger in our dependence on His power. It is not simply placing our trust in the Lord that is necessary, but as Hebrews 6:12 says, we must add patience to our faith in order to inherit His promises. Third, our attitude toward our own weaknesses, problems, hardships, persecutions, interruptions, life-altering difficulties, etc. must change. We must begin to see these as opportunities for the Lord to do His work. It is in the middle of the God-sized challenges we face that we can turn to the Lord and ask Him to do what we know only He can do. This is when we can start to pray prayers like, “Lord, show Your power!” “Lord, we need a miracle!” The Lord is not tired. His power is not tapped out. He is simply waiting to see our faith, our patience and our delight placed in Him. Lord, show us Your power!

Love and Obedience

2010-02-11T12:58:00.001-08:00

1 John 5:3-5 “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
1 John 4:7-8 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Romans 5:5 “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

The Bible says that God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts by a factor of the height of the heavens above the earth. However, we have hope because He wants us to know His thoughts and all of His ways, and He patiently waits for us to turn to Him in anticipation of when He can pour out on us all that He has in store. May we get enough of a glimpse of the love of God for us that we throw down at His feet everything that we value and hold so dear. Nothing can compare to one look from His face toward us. One touch from His hand can wipe away a lifetime of defeat and bitterness and walking in the ways of the world. One word from His mouth can move heaven and earth. May we be those who seek Him, not satisfied with anything less than His presence and power in our lives. What a privilege it is to be among those who obey the Lord! Yet, how often do we struggle with obeying His commands! Our response to our failure to obey might be to try to work harder next time or to repent with tears and promise not to fail again. Disobedience is not, however, a discipline problem but a love problem. To love God is to obey Him. Only those who know God through Jesus Christ have been given this love because love originates with God, not mankind. In fact the Spirit pours out God’s love in our hearts. This love is so powerful that obedience to God’s commands becomes easy. That’s right! Obedience without love is not possible. Love is the fire of obedience to God. If you are having a problem obeying the Lord in an area of your life, begin to talk to Him about your love. Let’s do that now. Lord, show us where our love for You has grown cold and old. Re-fire our hardened hearts and pour out your love in us in a brand new way today!

Led By The Spirit

2010-02-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

Romans 8:12-14 “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
Galatians 3:2-3, 5 “I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?…Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?”

Nothing that originates from human effort can achieve the grace and pleasure of God. There is nothing good that exists in the sinful nature of humanity. It is by the Spirit of God that we are able to have an overflowing, real, eternal and grace-filled life. But the old habits and comforts of our lower nature pull, drag, coerce, beg, coax and manipulate us into attempting to experience this "life" by our own efforts. Like a well worn path our sin-bent nature steers us away from the grace of God. Like ruts in a dirt road we find ourselves, without even realizing it, back in the grooves of human understanding, human effort and human sin. All of our attempts to get out of the ditch lead us nowhere. And yet…the Spirit leads us in the paths of righteousness. The Spirit empowers our brand new spirit. The Spirit calls us to follow with a sweet voice that no power on earth or heaven can overcome. One word from Him can move heaven and earth. Let us recognize where we are attempting to “attain our goal” by our own efforts and turn back to the way reserved for the children of God - being led by the Spirit.

Praying in the Spirit

2010-01-29T10:18:00.000-08:00

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Ephesians 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Galatians 5:16 “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
Romans 8:4 “in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”

To be “in Christ” is to come under the protection of Jesus’ blood (his sacrifice for sin) and to be free from the penalty and power of sin. The “righteous requirements of God’s law” are completely met in those who live “according to the Spirit,” and we know that those who are “in Christ” have the Spirit of God living inside of them. (Romans 8:9) So what then does it mean to “pray in the Spirit” if the Spirit lives inside those who are doing the praying? The answer is found in Romans 8:4. To pray in the Spirit is to interact with God as people who are no longer attempting to meet the requirements of the law as a pretext for God to listen to us. We misunderstand what it means to pray in the Spirit if we come to God in prayer with thoughts such as these: that He will answer us because we have been good this week or because we have suffered and therefore deserve Him to answer us or because we have jumped through the hoops or the ACTS or the methods of prayer or because our prayers are eloquent. There is nothing in ourselves that we can do to get leverage on God so that He will answer our prayers. Human effort to get on God’s good side so that He will listen to us is an affront to the cross of Christ. That is the effect of the sinful nature. When we come to God in prayer, we are there because of the blood of Jesus Christ. We can speak to the Lord because we are in Christ. To pray in the Spirit is to live out the reality of being in Christ.

Hunger

2010-01-20T12:34:00.000-08:00

Deuteronomy 4:29 “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Jeremiah 29:12-14 “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."”
Psalm 27:8 “My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek.”

All of the problems of our world can be attributed to the root cause of the absence of God. Sin separates our world from God and “bad stuff” is the result. The solution to our problems is the presence of God filling every part of our world. The Bible prophesies that the presence of God (it describes it as the Kingdom of God) will ultimately overtake the entire world and usher in the restoration of peace and the overcoming of every human problem from sickness to injustice to lack to moral depravity. At the end of the age Jesus will return in great glory and power, but right now the people of God have been given an incredible opportunity. We can know God. We can find God. We can experience God. This is not just the knowledge that comes from salvation through Jesus Christ which is the beginning of our relationship with the Lord. We can also understand the depths of God and know Him intimately and be familiar with His ways, His thoughts and His glory. Knowing the depths of God is something that He wants for us. However, it can only happen when we hunger in our soul for Him. We know that the Lord is a jealous God. In other words, He won’t take second place in our lives. If we want to know Him intimately then we must seek Him. This is not the kind of seeking that takes place in our spare time. When we stop seeking to be filled by other things, when we realize that our souls will only be satisfied by the presence of the living God, when we turn our hearts to seek the face of God, then we will begin to find out what life was really meant to be like. Lord, give us hunger for You.

Hope

2010-01-15T07:02:00.000-08:00

Psalm 25:4-5 “Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”
Psalm 33:18-19 “But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.”
Psalm 62:5-6 “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”
Isaiah 40:31 “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Hope is one of the most precious commodities of the earth. In many ways it is more rare than diamonds or precious gems. Among believers it can also be a rare commodity, and this is unfortunate because hope should be the currency of the Christ-follower. Regardless of the circumstances we face on earth, we have the truth of God in our hearts and minds and his amazing promises to us. The eyes of the Lord are on those who hope in him to deliver them from death and famine. Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. Even when we come to the end of life we have a better hope for the future in eternity than we do on earth. We shall be with the Lord seeing him face to face forever. As those who know Jesus here on earth we should be the most hopeful people on the planet. We should radiate with it. Hope should be how we communicate to each other and also to our Father in heaven. Even in the midst of such terrible tragedies as we see this week in Haiti, we can have hope. Not because of the circumstances but because of the reality of the God of hope that we serve. Let us go before him boldly with hope and ask for deliverances from death for those in Haiti and those facing tragedy around the world. Let us be the people of God in prayer, not coming to God in despair, but in hope.

Opportunity II

2010-01-06T08:03:00.000-08:00

Joel 2:12-14 “"Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.”

The work of deep repentance is not an effort to clear the guilt we may be feeling from our failure to follow God’s commands. Jesus took our guilt on himself in his body on the cross. Rather than trying to work off our guilt by tears or by doing some kind of penance, we deal with guilt through confessing our sin to God. Instead, repentance is a conscious effort to uncover the hidden motives and behaviors that separate us from the Lord. There is real work involved here as we fast and as we mourn for the loss and the pain our sin has caused. This again is not for the purpose of getting back on God’s good side but for the purpose of coming into agreement with what God thinks about our sin. Fasting and weeping is God’s tool designed to work out the slow creep of the hardening of our hearts. Sin creates a callousness, a familiarity with sin. God’s design is a broken, contrite and soft heart. This is what the Lord highly values in his people. Isaiah 66:2 says, “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”

Repentance is an opportunity we must take; do not wait for it to present itself to you. The word from Joel says, “Even now”. Now is always a good time to start. We don’t repent for the sake of repenting but for the sake of drawing close to the Object of our love and affection, Jesus. Even now, take this opportunity and make the most of it. As it says in Ephesians 5:16, “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” The antidote for the evil of our days is repentance and returning to the Lord.

Prayer and Opportunity

2009-12-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

Ephesians 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer”
Colossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

The consequences for the lack of being faithful in prayer are missed opportunities. A quick look through the New Testament on the subject of prayer shows constant requests for God’s people to pray. Either we dismiss these requests for prayer as irrelevant or we conclude that lack of prayer means missed opportunities for the advancement of the Kingdom. About two months ago the Lord impressed me to put a single word in a frame on my office wall. Opportunity. Since then I have been hearing the same word used in conjunction with this coming year. What kind of opportunity is the Lord referring to? I believe it is an opportunity for the Kingdom, but that opportunity may not look like what we may expect. Many times opportunities are packaged in seeming failures. The cross is perhaps the best example of this. Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem is another which at first seemed like a tragedy but ended up being God’s strategy to share the gospel in Rome.

The Lord is the one who is bringing the opportunities; our job is to watch for the opportunities and be faithful to pray. We need to pray with the eyes of the Spirit so that we can see these opportunities as they unfold and pray along with what God is doing instead of praying against His plan. Let us take advantage of the opportunities God is bringing our way in 2010.

Faithfulness in Prayer

2009-12-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

Psalm 89:8 "O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you."
Psalm 25:10 "All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant."
Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness"

Because God is faithful those who follow Him will also grow to be faithful as well. As we follow the Lord we cannot help but to become more and more like Him. The Spirit of God creates and grows faithfulness in us. This process is not so much like a gift that you receive but rather like a plant that you cultivate. Although the Spirit of God lives inside believers in Christ, there must be an agreement with the purposes and the Spirit of God in order for this characteristic to have the right conditions to grow. Here is the process. As we recognize the faithfulness of the Lord and our eyes are opened to see how consistent He is in keeping His word, we begin to yearn inside for this same kind of faithfulness. Our born-again spirit resonates with the Holy Spirit and we crave the reality of being faithful in our lives. We read about someone like Anna in the New Testament who was faithful in prayer and in her commitment to praying for the messiah to come, and we respond with a longing to be faithful in our prayer life. It is at this point that we are confronted with making tough choices on whether or not we will be faithless or prove ourselves to be faithful. Truthfully, most of the time we fail. Failure is the thing that we all have in common. What we don't all have in common is the spirit of not giving up. Faithfulness in prayer is grown by continuing to pick ourselves up after our failure to pray and determining to return to the Lord and be more faithful. This 'spirit' is not based in human ability or desire. Instead it is based on the response to the Holy Spirit who continues to call us to remain faithful in prayer.

Purity of Heart

2009-12-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
Psalm 24:3-5 “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.”

If we are to see God and what He is doing in our world, we must have pure hearts. A pure heart doesn’t start with thinking pure thoughts, rather it starts with turning away from impurity, confessing it before God, and allowing the Lord to create in us or to reveal in us HIS purity. We are pure because of the presence of Purity in us. We enter into this first of all through the blood of Jesus which purifies us from all sin. We shed the practice of impurity as we draw close to the Source of purity. Every believer in Jesus has a cry that comes from deep within, “Create in me a pure heart!” That is because the way to seeing God is through a pure heart. Once your eyes are opened to the beauty and magnificence of the Lord, you want to see more of Him. You want to know God in a more complete way. Don’t be fooled into “working hard” at being pure. The hard work of purity is to allowing the Lord to uncover every area of your life that is impure. When you ask the Lord to create a pure heart in you, you are asking for the truth to be applied to your life. If you want to see God and His work in the world, you must allow the Truth to penetrate your heart and replace the impure with the pure.

Pray For Those Who Persecute You

2009-12-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

Matthew 5:43-45a "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
Acts 7:59-60 “While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Revenge is the currency of this world, but the children of the “Father in heaven” operate by a different set of standards. Love and sincere prayer is the response to persecution for those who are following their heavenly Father. There are a few reasons for this. One is that our heavenly Father loves even those who are willfully disobeying His commands. This kind of love is what Jesus communicated to his disciples both in word and deed, and this love is the commodity that the Holy Spirit continues to instill in believers today. A second reason is that we know that the whole world is under the influence of the evil one. We know that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph.6:12) Therefore, we realize that any persecution we face has its origin in the work of these spiritual forces of evil. Since the ultimate fight is not against people, we must take the fight to the heavenly realms where it is won. Our weapons of spiritual warfare are powerful. When we pray for those who persecute us, we are acting in line with the Spirit of God. Do not underestimate the power of God which is released when we pray for our persecutors.

Prayer...Untapped

2009-12-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

The untapped resource of prayer is nothing less than the unlimited power of God. This power is not for selfish use, however. Our human, earthly nature looks at prayer as a means to effect change according to our own agenda. Yet prayer, powerful and life changing prayer, is for the purpose of putting God's agenda into effect. How can we, mere mortals, move God's agenda forward? Simple. He told us to pray, "Your kingdom come; Your will be done." The power of God released through prayer is done in partnership. God is always working. Our role is to draw close to Him, see what He is doing and agree with His work in prayer.

We have only begun to see the power of God released through prayer. As God's people move toward Him, we will see His mighty power tapped for the ultimate purpose of the life of Jesus overcoming death.

Fill This House with Glory

2009-12-03T10:36:00.001-08:00

Haggai 2:6-9 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty. 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."
Exodus 33:18 “Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory.”

When we pray and ask the Lord to show us His glory we do so based on the prophetic fulfillment of His word. The Lord is in the process of revealing His glory in, to and through His people. The end point of this prophecy is that all nations will see His glory. The present point of this prophecy is the opportunity for God’s people to be drawn into an ever increasing knowledge of God’s glory. Like a moth to a flame, as we get ever increasing glimpses of God we will be seeking to know and experience His glory in ever increasing intensity. First, let us invite God to show us His glory. This prayer is an invitation for the Lord to clean house. He is holy, and the greater revelation of His glory belongs to those who seek Him and allow Him to cleanse themselves from all unrighteousness. Lord, show us Your glory. We want to see Your face.

Not my will, but Yours be done

2009-12-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

Matthew 6:10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Luke 22:42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
Hebrews 10:7 “Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.'”
We talk about becoming like Jesus in Christian circles. WWJD – we want to do what Jesus would do. We sing songs about becoming more like Jesus. We understand that spiritual maturity means that we become more like Jesus. What does it mean to be like Jesus? It means that we lay down our will and do God’s will. It begins as we say just like Jesus said, “Not my will, but yours be done.” It grows as we conform less and less to the world around us and more and more to the will of God as revealed in the Bible. It won’t be complete until the character and nature of Jesus lives inside us, and we actually do God’s will instead of our own. When we pray for God’s will to be done on earth do we mean in our own life as well? To what extent are we willing to do God’s will over our own? How inconvenienced are we willing to become in order to do God’s will? Let us hold on to the vision of our lives being committed to God’s will like Jesus’ was. He went to the cross. We must also go to the cross. Not my will, but Yours be done, Lord.

Prayer Point

2009-12-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

To be able to come before the Creator of all and communicate in prayer is one of the greatest privileges given to human beings. It is in prayer where we can get aligned to His thoughts and ways and leave behind deceptive ways of thinking and acting. The opportunity before us, to know God and to be a part of His work in the world, has no limit. This focus is what we will be aiming for as we take steps to explore the depths of God's mind and heart in relation to the earth. I invite you to seek God and to apply your heart to learn from Jesus, the master, on how to pray.