Are there promises that God has quickened to your heart that you have not seen fulfilled? Are you in the midst of a very dry period in your spiritual life? Does it seem that your prayers get no higher than the ceiling? Has there been a withering to little or nothing of an area of your spiritual life or ministry that in the past has been extremely fruitful? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then the prophet Isaiah has a word of instruction and help for you!
“Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD.
(Isaiah 54:1)
When we hear that something is barren, we tend to think of landscape such as the surface of the moon or perhaps parts of the desert in the southwestern U.S. Actually, those thoughts are accurate. In the Bible the word barren means “sterile, no forthcoming life” or it means “to be rendered useless and unfit for work.”
When the prophet Isaiah tells the barren to sing, to break forth into song, he is not suggesting that we burst out into a medley of our favorite Beatles hits or a rousing chorus of “Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” No, he is exhorting us to sing exuberant praise to the Lord in a ringing cry of exaltation, joy and rejoicing.
When we are in a battle against fruitlessness, breaking out and singing is an act of faith that releases the power of God. Worship and praise will lead the way to victory!
Many of us are reserved and we immediately think, “How could this ever work? Surely I have done something that has caused this unfruitfulness and I really should do penance for my mistake. Singing and shouting praise and worship is just too simple! The answer must be more complicated than this. And, frankly,” our minds tell us, “this just doesn’t seem too classy!” That’s just the point.
The breaking of the barren spirit is typified in the destruction of the walls of Jericho. In Joshua 6:20 we read, “And the people shouted with a great shout . . . the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up . . . and they took the city.”
The shout spoken of here is the shout of joy and rejoicing. It is the “faith song” of triumph over barrenness and resistance. There was nothing classy about what the people of Israel did. Their conduct defied good sense but they were obedient. Then when they were instructed to, they broke forth in a shout of joy that broke the back of the resistance that had held them back from possessing their inheritance.
The story of Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail is well known (see Act 16:19-40). “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. . . . Suddenly there was a great earthquake . . . and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed” (verses 25-26). The apostles were not having an “all-night sing” in the midst of their confinement, but they were praying and worshiping God. As they sang, God’s power was released and they were set free to continue their miraculous missionary journey.
Take a careful look at what the prophet Habakkuk says about barrenness and securing the victory through praise and worship.
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The LORD God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)
In other words, Habakkuk is declaring that when he was surrounded by barrenness, by faith he began to sing and rejoice. The prophet knew that praise and worship would bring the presence of the Lord and with it would come His strength. Further, the prophet understood that it would be the strength of the Lord that would establish the breakthrough and set him to walking in victory! Can you say amen?
A higher level of loudness on the decibel scale is not important or necessary. We are just to stay intently passionate and focused with our singing of praise and worship. “I will rejoice . . . I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
I think it is time for the choir known as the “Barren, Broken and Needy Chorale” to sing! Are you ready? Come, join me and let’s sing our song of praise and worship!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
THE OLD HAS GONE, THE NEW HAS COME
“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
This prophecy, written 700 years before the birth of Jesus, is the most well-known and most repeated Bible verse about His birth. Somehow the powerful truth of this verse has become all tangled up with pageants, nativity scenes and the commercialism of the “holiday season.”
Isaiah’s prophecy was looking forward to a climactic moment in history when our world would be changed forever. When a baby is born, the structure and makeup of the family is forever changed to include the new arrival, and so it would be when the Child was born.
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.” Everything changed when deity took on a human form and came as a baby. “The old has gone and the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Jesus came to institute a new kingdom that would be called “the kingdom of God.” One of the first public statements Jesus made is found in Mark 1:15: “The time has come,” He said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” This beginning of ministry statement underscores its importance to Him, to His mission, and to us.
“And the government will be upon his shoulder.” The kingdom that would be birthed with the Messiah would be like none other ever seen on this earth. The rule and dominion of the kingdom of God would rest on His shoulder, and not an earthly monarch’s. An old religious system was passing away and the new was coming.
The prophesy of Isaiah then presents five attributes of the Son of God who would rule His everlasting kingdom; five attributes of the Christ of Christmas.
Wonderful—this word is speaking of the miraculous nature of Christ’s life and ministry. Everything about His life, His ministry, would have a manifestation of the miraculous in it. I believe in miracles and I believe that miracles have a place in our life in Him. He is a “wonderful” Savior and I believe that we are to expect and anticipate His miracle-working power in our lives, too. Carol and I have seen His miracle power at work on our behalf this past year and we joyously give Him thanks! Truly He is a “wonderful” Savior!
Counselor—in some translations the words wonderful and counselor are put together as in “wonderful counselor.” The word counselor is expressive of great wisdom and the qualifications available to guide and direct all men’s lives. He invites all of us to “come to Me” and “learn from Me” (Matthew 11:28-29).
Mighty God—the term “mighty God” refers to a king, a conqueror, a hero. We know that Jesus was all of those and more. He is a king, a conqueror, and to all of us who love Him, He is a hero. There is no problem, no dilemma, no issue we will ever face that He cannot conquer!
Everlasting Father—the term “everlasting Father” has been somewhat controversial. Some have said, “No one is to be called Father except God and therefore it is wrong for Isaiah to have applied this title to the coming Messiah.” Those who said that are right except for one thing: Isaiah was not presenting this as a title for the Messiah, he was describing the fatherly nature that the Messiah would manifest throughout His life and throughout His eternal reign.
Prince of Peace—this is possibly the most recognizable term for the Christ of Christmas. Someday all the wars, all the pain, and all the tears of humanity will cease and there truly will be peace on earth. That won’t happen until Christ’s eternal kingdom is manifest on this earth, the devil is bound, sin is judged, the earth is swept clean of all evil, and the redeemed of God are the only inhabitants of this world. In the meantime, however, the Prince of Peace comes and establishes His reign in our hearts and lives. We can know His peace because it dwells in us.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27).
The world around us may be in turmoil but to the redeemed He is the Prince of Peace.
Have a happy and blessed Christmas. This is a season to celebrate! We celebrate the passing of the old and the birthing of the new! We celebrate the gift of God by giving back to Him through our gifts of praise and worship and by giving to others!
Merry Christmas!
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
This prophecy, written 700 years before the birth of Jesus, is the most well-known and most repeated Bible verse about His birth. Somehow the powerful truth of this verse has become all tangled up with pageants, nativity scenes and the commercialism of the “holiday season.”
Isaiah’s prophecy was looking forward to a climactic moment in history when our world would be changed forever. When a baby is born, the structure and makeup of the family is forever changed to include the new arrival, and so it would be when the Child was born.
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.” Everything changed when deity took on a human form and came as a baby. “The old has gone and the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Jesus came to institute a new kingdom that would be called “the kingdom of God.” One of the first public statements Jesus made is found in Mark 1:15: “The time has come,” He said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” This beginning of ministry statement underscores its importance to Him, to His mission, and to us.
“And the government will be upon his shoulder.” The kingdom that would be birthed with the Messiah would be like none other ever seen on this earth. The rule and dominion of the kingdom of God would rest on His shoulder, and not an earthly monarch’s. An old religious system was passing away and the new was coming.
The prophesy of Isaiah then presents five attributes of the Son of God who would rule His everlasting kingdom; five attributes of the Christ of Christmas.
Wonderful—this word is speaking of the miraculous nature of Christ’s life and ministry. Everything about His life, His ministry, would have a manifestation of the miraculous in it. I believe in miracles and I believe that miracles have a place in our life in Him. He is a “wonderful” Savior and I believe that we are to expect and anticipate His miracle-working power in our lives, too. Carol and I have seen His miracle power at work on our behalf this past year and we joyously give Him thanks! Truly He is a “wonderful” Savior!
Counselor—in some translations the words wonderful and counselor are put together as in “wonderful counselor.” The word counselor is expressive of great wisdom and the qualifications available to guide and direct all men’s lives. He invites all of us to “come to Me” and “learn from Me” (Matthew 11:28-29).
Mighty God—the term “mighty God” refers to a king, a conqueror, a hero. We know that Jesus was all of those and more. He is a king, a conqueror, and to all of us who love Him, He is a hero. There is no problem, no dilemma, no issue we will ever face that He cannot conquer!
Everlasting Father—the term “everlasting Father” has been somewhat controversial. Some have said, “No one is to be called Father except God and therefore it is wrong for Isaiah to have applied this title to the coming Messiah.” Those who said that are right except for one thing: Isaiah was not presenting this as a title for the Messiah, he was describing the fatherly nature that the Messiah would manifest throughout His life and throughout His eternal reign.
Prince of Peace—this is possibly the most recognizable term for the Christ of Christmas. Someday all the wars, all the pain, and all the tears of humanity will cease and there truly will be peace on earth. That won’t happen until Christ’s eternal kingdom is manifest on this earth, the devil is bound, sin is judged, the earth is swept clean of all evil, and the redeemed of God are the only inhabitants of this world. In the meantime, however, the Prince of Peace comes and establishes His reign in our hearts and lives. We can know His peace because it dwells in us.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27).
The world around us may be in turmoil but to the redeemed He is the Prince of Peace.
Have a happy and blessed Christmas. This is a season to celebrate! We celebrate the passing of the old and the birthing of the new! We celebrate the gift of God by giving back to Him through our gifts of praise and worship and by giving to others!
Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 16, 2011
INAPPROPRIATE EXPECTATIONS
Several years ago Carol and I spent an evening visiting with friends. Walking into our host’s living room I glanced at the television which was tuned to a 24-hour news station and saw what appeared to be the scene of an explosion in New York City. Crawling across the bottom of the screen were the words “explosion, injuries, death, possible terrorism.” The anxiety level of America skyrocketed for a few minutes. Eventually it was discovered that a steam pipe, nearly one hundred years old and buried ten feet underground, had ruptured with great force.
We live in a world that breeds fear and anxiety. No matter where you turn, it seems there is a catastrophe rising, or at least the newscasters say there is. The news media have such a negative outlook that virtually everything is viewed with the idea, “How can we sensationalize this?” Take the evening news for example; news people no longer just report the news, they also report the news they think is behind the news. This kind of spin takes an accident and elevates it to a disaster; it takes a spring thunderstorm and elevates it to an impending life-threatening, killer storm; it takes an obscure report by an unknown group of “experts” and projects it as though it is certifiable truth.
The Bible has very interesting things to say about the times in which we live. “Men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken” (Luke 21:26).
While the Scriptures do say there will be an increase of catastrophic events and life will become more and more difficult in the end times, this verse seems to say that men’s hearts will fail not because of the actual events but because of the “fear and the expectation” that a disaster of some kind may be coming. And if you watch the evening news and listen too much to talk radio, you may just feel like the whole world is going to hell in a hand basket, and it is happening “right now.” If it’s not the conservatives whining about the cataclysmic disasters that the liberals are creating, then it’s the liberals whining about the catastrophic disaster the conservatives have created.
The word fear in Luke 21:26 means to live in dread, to be terror-stricken. This kind of fear causes one to see unfounded evil coming from all directions. We get the English word phobia from the Greek word for fear; phobia means “an exaggerated and usually illogical fear of an event or item.”
So, what is God’s message for us in a moment like this? Psalm 46:1-3 is about as comforting and straight to the point as any passage in the Bible:
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling” (NKJV).
Refuge
The Hebrew word for refuge is sometimes translated to mean “fleeing to a shelter with the idea of tarrying there for protection” (see Psalm 57:1). The word is occasionally translated “trusting” (see Psalm 37:40). The primary idea is that a place is not a refuge unless you can trust it. The word is also sometimes translated “hope.” This would tell us that the word refuge embraces the idea of a place we can flee to with confidence that we will be safe.
Strength
The word strength that is used here has strong meanings. Among several, it means to be vehement or powerful, like the intense or power-filled wind that divided the waters of the Red Sea. It also means “to provide defense and refuge.” The Holy Spirit is often described “as a wind.” Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” You have more strength than you think because the Holy Spirit came to dwell in you at salvation and He brought His power-pack with Him.
God is not just a hiding place for us in times of stress; He is a calming strength for us to draw on.
Very present help
God is not just somewhere in our neighborhood, He is right there with us at all times.
I am a father of two children. My daughters know that I am available to help them whenever they need it; all they have to do is call. Several times during the last twenty years Carol and I have lived 1200 to 1500 miles away from our children. We could speak by phone and, if need be, get on a plane and be with our family within six to ten hours. Now that we live close, it would still be 15 or 20 minutes before we could get to their house in a time of urgent need.
Too often we relegate our understanding of God and how He works to what we understand in the natural, and that is a mistake on our part. You need to embrace the fact that God is there with you all the time. You respond to that, saying, “I don’t understand how that can be”—but you don’t need to understand! God is God and you are not. There are lots of things about God and His ways that we, in our natural minds, are incapable of totally thinking through and grasping. God said, “I will be a very present help in trouble.” Therefore, He is.
God’s promise to His people is that He will be a trustworthy place of safety, a mighty strength for us to draw on, and that He will be a very (meaning abundant) real presence in times of stress and trouble.
“God is . . . therefore we will not fear!”
We live in a world that breeds fear and anxiety. No matter where you turn, it seems there is a catastrophe rising, or at least the newscasters say there is. The news media have such a negative outlook that virtually everything is viewed with the idea, “How can we sensationalize this?” Take the evening news for example; news people no longer just report the news, they also report the news they think is behind the news. This kind of spin takes an accident and elevates it to a disaster; it takes a spring thunderstorm and elevates it to an impending life-threatening, killer storm; it takes an obscure report by an unknown group of “experts” and projects it as though it is certifiable truth.
The Bible has very interesting things to say about the times in which we live. “Men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken” (Luke 21:26).
While the Scriptures do say there will be an increase of catastrophic events and life will become more and more difficult in the end times, this verse seems to say that men’s hearts will fail not because of the actual events but because of the “fear and the expectation” that a disaster of some kind may be coming. And if you watch the evening news and listen too much to talk radio, you may just feel like the whole world is going to hell in a hand basket, and it is happening “right now.” If it’s not the conservatives whining about the cataclysmic disasters that the liberals are creating, then it’s the liberals whining about the catastrophic disaster the conservatives have created.
The word fear in Luke 21:26 means to live in dread, to be terror-stricken. This kind of fear causes one to see unfounded evil coming from all directions. We get the English word phobia from the Greek word for fear; phobia means “an exaggerated and usually illogical fear of an event or item.”
So, what is God’s message for us in a moment like this? Psalm 46:1-3 is about as comforting and straight to the point as any passage in the Bible:
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling” (NKJV).
Refuge
The Hebrew word for refuge is sometimes translated to mean “fleeing to a shelter with the idea of tarrying there for protection” (see Psalm 57:1). The word is occasionally translated “trusting” (see Psalm 37:40). The primary idea is that a place is not a refuge unless you can trust it. The word is also sometimes translated “hope.” This would tell us that the word refuge embraces the idea of a place we can flee to with confidence that we will be safe.
Strength
The word strength that is used here has strong meanings. Among several, it means to be vehement or powerful, like the intense or power-filled wind that divided the waters of the Red Sea. It also means “to provide defense and refuge.” The Holy Spirit is often described “as a wind.” Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” You have more strength than you think because the Holy Spirit came to dwell in you at salvation and He brought His power-pack with Him.
God is not just a hiding place for us in times of stress; He is a calming strength for us to draw on.
Very present help
God is not just somewhere in our neighborhood, He is right there with us at all times.
I am a father of two children. My daughters know that I am available to help them whenever they need it; all they have to do is call. Several times during the last twenty years Carol and I have lived 1200 to 1500 miles away from our children. We could speak by phone and, if need be, get on a plane and be with our family within six to ten hours. Now that we live close, it would still be 15 or 20 minutes before we could get to their house in a time of urgent need.
Too often we relegate our understanding of God and how He works to what we understand in the natural, and that is a mistake on our part. You need to embrace the fact that God is there with you all the time. You respond to that, saying, “I don’t understand how that can be”—but you don’t need to understand! God is God and you are not. There are lots of things about God and His ways that we, in our natural minds, are incapable of totally thinking through and grasping. God said, “I will be a very present help in trouble.” Therefore, He is.
God’s promise to His people is that He will be a trustworthy place of safety, a mighty strength for us to draw on, and that He will be a very (meaning abundant) real presence in times of stress and trouble.
“God is . . . therefore we will not fear!”
Friday, December 9, 2011
FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THE CHURCH OF THE LAST DAYS
Psalm 45 is a beautifully written, prophetic song that announces the wedding of the Messiah and His bride, the church.
The visual imagery of this psalm is rich and loaded with meaning about Christ and His bride. In the midst of this emotional song, the imagery stops, giving way to a powerful and sobering word from the Holy Spirit to the bride, the church of the last days.
“Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear” (Psalm 45:10).
This is a call to “pay attention.” The word “listen” is often translated “hearken.” In other words, listen up, for I have something important to say! The challenge to the bride is to reflect deeply on the new relationship that she is about to enter into.
“Forget your own people also, and your father’s house” (v. 10).
In preparation for her impending marriage, the bride must be free from her past, from anything that would separate her or stand between her and her Bridegroom. She is to forget the past and be wholly Christ’s. This is a message that has not been fully embraced by the church in the U.S., Canada and other western-influenced nations.
In order for the union between the bride and the Groom to form and so she can be wholly Christ’s, the bride has to break off from her past. The word “forget” means to cease to care, to stop holding on to the past. In other words, the bride is being told to get her priorities straight. She is not to care as much for the things of this world as she does for her Bridegroom! Jesus said, “A man shall leave [to leave behind] his father and mother [family] and shall be joined to his wife” (Matthew 19:5). Without the leaving/forgetting, there can be no true union!
Why would the Spirit emphasize this if He did not recognize the struggle that goes on in the church of this hour? Could it be that the Spirit foresaw the compromised spirit of the last days, the struggle of the Laodician church that in the name of relevance allowed its testimony to be compromised?
“So the King will greatly desire your beauty” (Psalm 45:11).
We hear a lot about the blessing of being a follower of Jesus but little about how much Jesus loves and desires to be with His bride. It seems almost carnal (worldly) to say that the Lord has a passionate love for His bride and is deeply desirous of spending time with her but He does. This is the reason He says to the church of Laodicia, “I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). He loves His bride and wants to be with her! (See also Ephesians 5:25-31.)
“Because He is your Lord, worship Him” (v. 11).
The Spirit is commanding the last-days church to worship Him, to be a worshipping church. The contemporary church has largely lost focus on this point. They have good musicians, good performers, but many have lost sight of the meaning of worship. The call of the Spirit is for the church to make a corrective move and find again the proper place of praise and worship. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). Praise and worship is not about me and my needs, my hurts, my confusion—it’s about Him! The word of the Spirit to the Bride is, “Worship Him!”
Worship precedes the presence of the Lord and the release of God’s promises to His people!
The Holy Spirit finishes this statement to the bride with a comment about wedding gifts to be brought before the ceremony takes place—and a warning!
“And the daughter of Tyre will be there with a gift; the rich among the people will seek your favor” (v. 12).
In Old Testament times the city of Tyre was the wealthiest commercial city of that period of history. I believe this Scripture is speaking of the transfer of wealth from the secular community to the church in the last days. Further, I believe this gift of wealth, coming before the wedding ceremony, is to fuel the bride’s efforts to finish the task of world evangelism (see Luke 24:47). It is not a transfer of wealth to enrich the church or to build another edifice, but to complete the one thing Jesus asked the church to do before He ascended into heaven. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone” (Mark 16:15, NLT).
With the transfer of wealth also comes a warning: “The rich among the people will seek your favor” (v. 12). Some wealthy nonbelievers will attempt to use the sudden infusion of wealth to the church as a way to influence the church, and the Holy Spirit is alerting the bride to this.
Why would the Spirit of God put this three-verse parenthetical statement in the midst of this beautiful, prophetic wedding song? It is there because it speaks of the bride’s finishing her preparation for the wedding. The bride will not be ready for her marriage unless she heeds the message of the Spirit!
The visual imagery of this psalm is rich and loaded with meaning about Christ and His bride. In the midst of this emotional song, the imagery stops, giving way to a powerful and sobering word from the Holy Spirit to the bride, the church of the last days.
“Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear” (Psalm 45:10).
This is a call to “pay attention.” The word “listen” is often translated “hearken.” In other words, listen up, for I have something important to say! The challenge to the bride is to reflect deeply on the new relationship that she is about to enter into.
“Forget your own people also, and your father’s house” (v. 10).
In preparation for her impending marriage, the bride must be free from her past, from anything that would separate her or stand between her and her Bridegroom. She is to forget the past and be wholly Christ’s. This is a message that has not been fully embraced by the church in the U.S., Canada and other western-influenced nations.
In order for the union between the bride and the Groom to form and so she can be wholly Christ’s, the bride has to break off from her past. The word “forget” means to cease to care, to stop holding on to the past. In other words, the bride is being told to get her priorities straight. She is not to care as much for the things of this world as she does for her Bridegroom! Jesus said, “A man shall leave [to leave behind] his father and mother [family] and shall be joined to his wife” (Matthew 19:5). Without the leaving/forgetting, there can be no true union!
Why would the Spirit emphasize this if He did not recognize the struggle that goes on in the church of this hour? Could it be that the Spirit foresaw the compromised spirit of the last days, the struggle of the Laodician church that in the name of relevance allowed its testimony to be compromised?
“So the King will greatly desire your beauty” (Psalm 45:11).
We hear a lot about the blessing of being a follower of Jesus but little about how much Jesus loves and desires to be with His bride. It seems almost carnal (worldly) to say that the Lord has a passionate love for His bride and is deeply desirous of spending time with her but He does. This is the reason He says to the church of Laodicia, “I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). He loves His bride and wants to be with her! (See also Ephesians 5:25-31.)
“Because He is your Lord, worship Him” (v. 11).
The Spirit is commanding the last-days church to worship Him, to be a worshipping church. The contemporary church has largely lost focus on this point. They have good musicians, good performers, but many have lost sight of the meaning of worship. The call of the Spirit is for the church to make a corrective move and find again the proper place of praise and worship. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). Praise and worship is not about me and my needs, my hurts, my confusion—it’s about Him! The word of the Spirit to the Bride is, “Worship Him!”
Worship precedes the presence of the Lord and the release of God’s promises to His people!
The Holy Spirit finishes this statement to the bride with a comment about wedding gifts to be brought before the ceremony takes place—and a warning!
“And the daughter of Tyre will be there with a gift; the rich among the people will seek your favor” (v. 12).
In Old Testament times the city of Tyre was the wealthiest commercial city of that period of history. I believe this Scripture is speaking of the transfer of wealth from the secular community to the church in the last days. Further, I believe this gift of wealth, coming before the wedding ceremony, is to fuel the bride’s efforts to finish the task of world evangelism (see Luke 24:47). It is not a transfer of wealth to enrich the church or to build another edifice, but to complete the one thing Jesus asked the church to do before He ascended into heaven. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone” (Mark 16:15, NLT).
With the transfer of wealth also comes a warning: “The rich among the people will seek your favor” (v. 12). Some wealthy nonbelievers will attempt to use the sudden infusion of wealth to the church as a way to influence the church, and the Holy Spirit is alerting the bride to this.
Why would the Spirit of God put this three-verse parenthetical statement in the midst of this beautiful, prophetic wedding song? It is there because it speaks of the bride’s finishing her preparation for the wedding. The bride will not be ready for her marriage unless she heeds the message of the Spirit!
Friday, December 2, 2011
PRAYING THE WORD
“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!” (James 5:16-17, NLT).
This passage says that Elijah was as human as we are, but when I pray I don’t see fire come down from heaven and burn up anything nor have I shut up the heavens for three and a half years. I haven’t even shut up a barking dog, for that matter.
Putting aside jesting, I do want my prayers to be effective. Let me rephrase that—I want my prayers to be more effective than they are now. The question is, how can this be accomplished?
One of the keys to a more effective prayer life is to learn to pray the Word. Before we talk about the practical side of doing just that, let’s talk about the Word for a moment.
The Word of God has an inherent power to bring about change (Hebrews 4:12). In the Old Testament, before there was much of the written Word available, the Word of God would come to the prophets and they would speak it forth. When the prophets spoke “the Word of God” as it was given to them, it would bring forth the change God intended and the Word would not “fall to the ground” (see 1 Samuel 3:19 and Isaiah 55:10-11).
In the New Testament we see the same power to bring change flowing through God’s Word. The apostle Paul credited the change in the Thessalonians to the Word of God.
“When you received the message of God [which you heard] from us, you welcomed it not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its superhuman power in those who . . . trust in and rely on it]” (1 Thessalonians 2:13, Amplified Bible).
It is the continuing power to bring change that makes it important for us to constantly be in the Word, to memorize it, to study it, to speak it forth, to meditate in it and to “pray the Word.”
Life is full of challenges, problems, opportunities and they will always be with us. The very first thing to do when you are faced with a health problem, a financial problem, or any other problem is to see what the Word of God has to say about it.
When I was diagnosed with throat cancer I put together a list of fourteen Scriptures that declare God’s desire to heal the sick. I read them daily, meditated on them—and I prayed them!
I did not get an instant healing but I did get my healing/recovery. It is now one year since the diagnosis and I am cancer free! I am deeply grateful for the attentive care of the best cancer doctors in the world but most of all I am thankful for the attention of a loving God, and to Him belongs all the praise!
Start praying the Word! As you pray about your challenge, bring the Scriptures into your prayer. You are not reminding the Lord of the Scripture or begging Him to bring it to pass; both of those are childish concepts. As you pray the Scripture or meditate on it, you are bringing yourself into line with God’s plan to bring the healing/answer you need.
As you pray Scripture, do not try to change the verses to fit your need. Let the power and authority of the Word come to you and do its work. If Hebrews 4:12 really means what it says, then we need to take the raw Word into us, stop trying to cook it to a “better flavor,” and let the Word do its work. Don’t try to work the Word. Know the Word, trust the Word, and let its superhuman power come to you.
Here are a couple of brief examples of how I pray the Word.
Psalm 23:1: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
After quoting this portion of the verse, I pray something like this: “Lord, You are the shepherd of my life, every part of my life! I am one of Your sheep and I follow Your leading. Thank You, Lord, for the incredible promise that because You are my shepherd I shall not want, I shall not lack. I thank You for Your provision and Your care that covers every part of my life. I praise and thank You and I receive Your care and provision because I know this is Your heart for me.”
Psalm 107:20
“He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”
My prayer would be something like this: “Lord, thank You for Your Word! Thank You that Your Word comes and brings healing and deliverance. Thank you, Lord, that Your word is at work in me right now bringing healing to broken places and setting me free from the bondage of sin. Thank You for the life and the power of Your Word. Thank You for my healing! You sent Your Word and healed me!”
A powerful (dare we say effective) prayer is one that is filled with the Word and with thanksgiving! God draws near to that kind of praying! (See Psalm 22:3.)
This passage says that Elijah was as human as we are, but when I pray I don’t see fire come down from heaven and burn up anything nor have I shut up the heavens for three and a half years. I haven’t even shut up a barking dog, for that matter.
Putting aside jesting, I do want my prayers to be effective. Let me rephrase that—I want my prayers to be more effective than they are now. The question is, how can this be accomplished?
One of the keys to a more effective prayer life is to learn to pray the Word. Before we talk about the practical side of doing just that, let’s talk about the Word for a moment.
The Word of God has an inherent power to bring about change (Hebrews 4:12). In the Old Testament, before there was much of the written Word available, the Word of God would come to the prophets and they would speak it forth. When the prophets spoke “the Word of God” as it was given to them, it would bring forth the change God intended and the Word would not “fall to the ground” (see 1 Samuel 3:19 and Isaiah 55:10-11).
In the New Testament we see the same power to bring change flowing through God’s Word. The apostle Paul credited the change in the Thessalonians to the Word of God.
“When you received the message of God [which you heard] from us, you welcomed it not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its superhuman power in those who . . . trust in and rely on it]” (1 Thessalonians 2:13, Amplified Bible).
It is the continuing power to bring change that makes it important for us to constantly be in the Word, to memorize it, to study it, to speak it forth, to meditate in it and to “pray the Word.”
Life is full of challenges, problems, opportunities and they will always be with us. The very first thing to do when you are faced with a health problem, a financial problem, or any other problem is to see what the Word of God has to say about it.
When I was diagnosed with throat cancer I put together a list of fourteen Scriptures that declare God’s desire to heal the sick. I read them daily, meditated on them—and I prayed them!
I did not get an instant healing but I did get my healing/recovery. It is now one year since the diagnosis and I am cancer free! I am deeply grateful for the attentive care of the best cancer doctors in the world but most of all I am thankful for the attention of a loving God, and to Him belongs all the praise!
Start praying the Word! As you pray about your challenge, bring the Scriptures into your prayer. You are not reminding the Lord of the Scripture or begging Him to bring it to pass; both of those are childish concepts. As you pray the Scripture or meditate on it, you are bringing yourself into line with God’s plan to bring the healing/answer you need.
As you pray Scripture, do not try to change the verses to fit your need. Let the power and authority of the Word come to you and do its work. If Hebrews 4:12 really means what it says, then we need to take the raw Word into us, stop trying to cook it to a “better flavor,” and let the Word do its work. Don’t try to work the Word. Know the Word, trust the Word, and let its superhuman power come to you.
Here are a couple of brief examples of how I pray the Word.
Psalm 23:1: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
After quoting this portion of the verse, I pray something like this: “Lord, You are the shepherd of my life, every part of my life! I am one of Your sheep and I follow Your leading. Thank You, Lord, for the incredible promise that because You are my shepherd I shall not want, I shall not lack. I thank You for Your provision and Your care that covers every part of my life. I praise and thank You and I receive Your care and provision because I know this is Your heart for me.”
Psalm 107:20
“He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”
My prayer would be something like this: “Lord, thank You for Your Word! Thank You that Your Word comes and brings healing and deliverance. Thank you, Lord, that Your word is at work in me right now bringing healing to broken places and setting me free from the bondage of sin. Thank You for the life and the power of Your Word. Thank You for my healing! You sent Your Word and healed me!”
A powerful (dare we say effective) prayer is one that is filled with the Word and with thanksgiving! God draws near to that kind of praying! (See Psalm 22:3.)
Friday, November 25, 2011
GO YOUR WAY
I recently finished a study with the Life Group that Carol and I lead for our church. Five or six months ago the group was discussing what our next study would be and when there was no clear consensus, I rather rashly suggested, “Why don’t we do a brief study on the book of Daniel?” I was thinking we could do three or four sessions and go on to something else.
It took twelve sessions to do a “brief overview” because Daniel is both a very rich and very complicated study. The first six chapters are historical and faith building. We meet Daniel and his friends and watch as God uses Daniel’s gifting to elevate him to leadership in Babylon. We are inspired and our faith is built as we follow Daniel’s friends into the fiery furnace. In chapter six we read the famous account of Daniel in the lions’ den—great, faith-inspiring reading.
The last six chapters of Daniel present his four prophetic visions. The prophecies describe different periods of world history before the first advent of our Lord Jesus. The final prophecy in chapter eleven starts in the period before Christ but then suddenly makes a leap to the final portion of the great tribulation and describes in some detail the character and behavior of the Antichrist before he meets his final end.
The prophecy of Daniel 11 is considered by many to be one of the most important in the Bible. Others consider it to be too accurate in detail to be a prophecy at all. The critics assail this chapter and suggest that with all the accurate detail of what Daniel saw several hundred years before the events occurred, it was written after the fact and inserted as a way to fool people into believing it was prophecy. Their criticism underscores the importance of this prophecy!
Daniel 12 opens with Daniel as a very old man—over 90 and probably in some kind of retirement. It says that he was by the river and I see him sitting in a comfortable chair out in front of his riverfront villa. Sitting there, Daniel had a vision and saw two angels with whom he conversed. A part of the conversation (12:8) was, “I’ve heard everything you’ve said but I don’t understand it. How is this all going to end?” Daniel, like most of us, wanted to know what was on the last page of the book! (One of my daughters almost always reads the last page of a novel first! To do this is almost sacrilegious!)
One of the angels said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end” (12:9). The angel talked briefly about the closing of the great tribulation and then spoke again directly to Daniel, “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days” (12:13).
The words, “Go your way” seem rather curt, dismissive, but they are not, as the angel really was instructing and reminding Daniel that he had a God-given life and a purpose that he was to fulfill. Daniel was being instructed not to get so captivated by the intricacies of prophecy that he had to have an answer and be absolutely clear on every detail.
One of the potential downsides to those who become oversaturated with end-time prophecy is that they lose sight of the primary purpose and focus of the church. We are not called to be end-time prophecy experts but to be watchful and aware and to let those understandings fuel our efforts to share the gospel with the whole world. The unalterable focus of the church is to reach out to the lost and needy with the gospel, and acts of service and anything that replaces that focus, including prophecy, is error!
The angel twice said to Daniel, “Go your way.” The angel was emphasizing, “You are never going to have a complete understanding of the end times—the books are closed for now—what you have is enough. You have a purpose in life that you are to pursue and fulfill. If you die before the end of time then you will be resurrected for your eternal inheritance. You won’t miss anything that’s really important.”
I believe we are to be aware of but not consumed by end-time prophecy. When we allow any area of teaching to consume us, we become a part of the “occupy movement.” This movement did not begin on Wall Street a couple of months back. No, it was birthed in hell and assigned to a religious spirit that took it to lazy churchgoing pew sitters who brought it into the church. The church has been loaded up with “occupiers” for decades—people who breathe the air, take up space, and contribute very little to the forward progress of the church. Occupiers are manifesting a form of unbelief because unbelief brings blindness and inactivity but generates lots of talk and criticism.
“Go your way” was the angel’s instruction to Daniel and is also the Holy Spirit’s message to us. Stay focused, stay active for Him, stay in love with Him and follow Him. He is not an “occupier” because He is always on the go, always moving ahead. And He says to us, “Follow me!”
It took twelve sessions to do a “brief overview” because Daniel is both a very rich and very complicated study. The first six chapters are historical and faith building. We meet Daniel and his friends and watch as God uses Daniel’s gifting to elevate him to leadership in Babylon. We are inspired and our faith is built as we follow Daniel’s friends into the fiery furnace. In chapter six we read the famous account of Daniel in the lions’ den—great, faith-inspiring reading.
The last six chapters of Daniel present his four prophetic visions. The prophecies describe different periods of world history before the first advent of our Lord Jesus. The final prophecy in chapter eleven starts in the period before Christ but then suddenly makes a leap to the final portion of the great tribulation and describes in some detail the character and behavior of the Antichrist before he meets his final end.
The prophecy of Daniel 11 is considered by many to be one of the most important in the Bible. Others consider it to be too accurate in detail to be a prophecy at all. The critics assail this chapter and suggest that with all the accurate detail of what Daniel saw several hundred years before the events occurred, it was written after the fact and inserted as a way to fool people into believing it was prophecy. Their criticism underscores the importance of this prophecy!
Daniel 12 opens with Daniel as a very old man—over 90 and probably in some kind of retirement. It says that he was by the river and I see him sitting in a comfortable chair out in front of his riverfront villa. Sitting there, Daniel had a vision and saw two angels with whom he conversed. A part of the conversation (12:8) was, “I’ve heard everything you’ve said but I don’t understand it. How is this all going to end?” Daniel, like most of us, wanted to know what was on the last page of the book! (One of my daughters almost always reads the last page of a novel first! To do this is almost sacrilegious!)
One of the angels said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end” (12:9). The angel talked briefly about the closing of the great tribulation and then spoke again directly to Daniel, “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days” (12:13).
The words, “Go your way” seem rather curt, dismissive, but they are not, as the angel really was instructing and reminding Daniel that he had a God-given life and a purpose that he was to fulfill. Daniel was being instructed not to get so captivated by the intricacies of prophecy that he had to have an answer and be absolutely clear on every detail.
One of the potential downsides to those who become oversaturated with end-time prophecy is that they lose sight of the primary purpose and focus of the church. We are not called to be end-time prophecy experts but to be watchful and aware and to let those understandings fuel our efforts to share the gospel with the whole world. The unalterable focus of the church is to reach out to the lost and needy with the gospel, and acts of service and anything that replaces that focus, including prophecy, is error!
The angel twice said to Daniel, “Go your way.” The angel was emphasizing, “You are never going to have a complete understanding of the end times—the books are closed for now—what you have is enough. You have a purpose in life that you are to pursue and fulfill. If you die before the end of time then you will be resurrected for your eternal inheritance. You won’t miss anything that’s really important.”
I believe we are to be aware of but not consumed by end-time prophecy. When we allow any area of teaching to consume us, we become a part of the “occupy movement.” This movement did not begin on Wall Street a couple of months back. No, it was birthed in hell and assigned to a religious spirit that took it to lazy churchgoing pew sitters who brought it into the church. The church has been loaded up with “occupiers” for decades—people who breathe the air, take up space, and contribute very little to the forward progress of the church. Occupiers are manifesting a form of unbelief because unbelief brings blindness and inactivity but generates lots of talk and criticism.
“Go your way” was the angel’s instruction to Daniel and is also the Holy Spirit’s message to us. Stay focused, stay active for Him, stay in love with Him and follow Him. He is not an “occupier” because He is always on the go, always moving ahead. And He says to us, “Follow me!”
Friday, November 18, 2011
A NEW SEASON
A few weeks ago during my early-morning devotional time, I had a very strong impression from the Lord. It was just three words: a new season. I pondered that phrase and then the Lord directed my attention to the first chapters of 1 Samuel and the birthing of a new season in Israel.
As a nation, Israel was at a very low point. Chapter 3:1 tells us there was no open revelation of the Word and there were only a few true prophets who would preach righteousness and repentance and bring the Word to the people. The priests were typified by Eli, who was passive and did little to turn the people away from their sin. Eli’s two sons, also priests, were blatantly corrupt. Israel was in a pathetic state with its sinful, immoral religious leaders. At this time, the center of national worship was in Shiloh.
Elkanah and his family lived a distance from Shiloh and each year they traveled there to worship and offer sacrifice. One of Elkanah’s wives was a godly woman named Hannah. Hannah’s husband loved her dearly but she was desperately unhappy because she had no children—and that broke her heart.
During one of the family’s visits to Shiloh, Hannah went alone to the tabernacle to pray. She poured out her brokenness and pain to the Lord and also made a vow that if God would bless her with a son, she would give him to the Lord for His service all the days of his life (1:11).
Eli, the priest, saw Hannah silently praying and rebuked her because he thought she was drunk. When Hannah corrected Eli’s misunderstanding, he quickly backpedaled and muttered a blessing.
Hannah wanted a son and Eli was so misguided that he did not recognize her desperate hunger. However, God used this occasion to usher in a new season for Israel and sweep out the corruption that had built up from the past. There is much for us to learn from this story, told largely in 1 Samuel 1 through 4.
Hannah represents the hungry saints who even now are praying into existence the new thing God is doing. Hannah recognized that she was barren and refused to accept it as status quo. She took her burden and sorrow to the Lord in prayer. She was persecuted by her husband’s other wife for being barren and chided by Eli for her intensity in prayer. However, these acts did not deter Hannah but seemed to strengthen her resolve to see God’s answer.
My dear friends, please understand that if you begin to pursue the heart of God for a new season in Him, you will be persecuted, not by the world but by the religious establishment. “He who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now” (Galatians 4:29).
Eli, who was simply going through the motions of being a priest, represents the old corrupt, broken-down religious system. He did not quickly recognize the voice of the Lord when He spoke. He was extremely passive toward sin even when it was being carried on within the tabernacle grounds. His sons were highly immoral to the point of forcing themselves on women who came to worship and sacrifice. ”They did not know the Lord” (2:12). Eli saw it all, knew about the sin, and did nothing.
Hannah was not the only one whose heart was broken and open to the Lord. There was a small remnant of faithful men and women of God. One of the men, most likely a prophet whose name we never get to know, came to Eli and prophesied what was about to happen. The prophecy established that Eli’s family (his house, including both of his sons), would be destroyed (see 2:31) and that God would raise up a new and faithful priest. “I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house . . .” (2:35).
God was about to sweep out the old and bring in the new!
Samuel represents the new thing God is doing. Into the religious and political confusion that was so clearly seen at this time comes a miracle of God in the person of Samuel. Samuel was a miracle child born to a barren mother and the renewal and joy that his birth brought to Hannah prefigures the renewal and joy that this godly man brought to Israel.
Dear friends, don’t be discouraged by the mess of the moment. God is still in charge and a new day is about to dawn. Thank God that there is a praying remnant in our land whose garments are white and unsoiled by sin. They are not deterred by the political and religious confusion that reigns in our land. The remnant is “pouring” itself out to the Lord in prayer. It was the broken-hearted prayer of one woman that God was waiting for and a new season dawned in Israel—and so it will be in our day!
A new day, a new season is coming!
As a nation, Israel was at a very low point. Chapter 3:1 tells us there was no open revelation of the Word and there were only a few true prophets who would preach righteousness and repentance and bring the Word to the people. The priests were typified by Eli, who was passive and did little to turn the people away from their sin. Eli’s two sons, also priests, were blatantly corrupt. Israel was in a pathetic state with its sinful, immoral religious leaders. At this time, the center of national worship was in Shiloh.
Elkanah and his family lived a distance from Shiloh and each year they traveled there to worship and offer sacrifice. One of Elkanah’s wives was a godly woman named Hannah. Hannah’s husband loved her dearly but she was desperately unhappy because she had no children—and that broke her heart.
During one of the family’s visits to Shiloh, Hannah went alone to the tabernacle to pray. She poured out her brokenness and pain to the Lord and also made a vow that if God would bless her with a son, she would give him to the Lord for His service all the days of his life (1:11).
Eli, the priest, saw Hannah silently praying and rebuked her because he thought she was drunk. When Hannah corrected Eli’s misunderstanding, he quickly backpedaled and muttered a blessing.
Hannah wanted a son and Eli was so misguided that he did not recognize her desperate hunger. However, God used this occasion to usher in a new season for Israel and sweep out the corruption that had built up from the past. There is much for us to learn from this story, told largely in 1 Samuel 1 through 4.
Hannah represents the hungry saints who even now are praying into existence the new thing God is doing. Hannah recognized that she was barren and refused to accept it as status quo. She took her burden and sorrow to the Lord in prayer. She was persecuted by her husband’s other wife for being barren and chided by Eli for her intensity in prayer. However, these acts did not deter Hannah but seemed to strengthen her resolve to see God’s answer.
My dear friends, please understand that if you begin to pursue the heart of God for a new season in Him, you will be persecuted, not by the world but by the religious establishment. “He who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now” (Galatians 4:29).
Eli, who was simply going through the motions of being a priest, represents the old corrupt, broken-down religious system. He did not quickly recognize the voice of the Lord when He spoke. He was extremely passive toward sin even when it was being carried on within the tabernacle grounds. His sons were highly immoral to the point of forcing themselves on women who came to worship and sacrifice. ”They did not know the Lord” (2:12). Eli saw it all, knew about the sin, and did nothing.
Hannah was not the only one whose heart was broken and open to the Lord. There was a small remnant of faithful men and women of God. One of the men, most likely a prophet whose name we never get to know, came to Eli and prophesied what was about to happen. The prophecy established that Eli’s family (his house, including both of his sons), would be destroyed (see 2:31) and that God would raise up a new and faithful priest. “I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house . . .” (2:35).
God was about to sweep out the old and bring in the new!
Samuel represents the new thing God is doing. Into the religious and political confusion that was so clearly seen at this time comes a miracle of God in the person of Samuel. Samuel was a miracle child born to a barren mother and the renewal and joy that his birth brought to Hannah prefigures the renewal and joy that this godly man brought to Israel.
Dear friends, don’t be discouraged by the mess of the moment. God is still in charge and a new day is about to dawn. Thank God that there is a praying remnant in our land whose garments are white and unsoiled by sin. They are not deterred by the political and religious confusion that reigns in our land. The remnant is “pouring” itself out to the Lord in prayer. It was the broken-hearted prayer of one woman that God was waiting for and a new season dawned in Israel—and so it will be in our day!
A new day, a new season is coming!
Friday, November 11, 2011
I WILL NOT LET YOU GO UNLESS YOU BLESS ME!
Genesis 32:22-32 is one of the more famous passages in the Old Testament. It is often referred to as the night Jacob “wrestled” with God.
This was not wrestling as we think of it today. We are too influenced by images of “professional wrestling” and to think that Jacob was going to put God in a headlock and force a blessing out of Him is ludicrous. God could have ended this wrestling match at any time—one flick of His little finger and Jacob would have been far into eternity. So what was going on here? And why did God allow this grappling to continue all night? The term wrestling means to get down in the dirt and grapple.
Jacob was afraid of his brother Esau and he had every reason to be. Jacob had taken advantage of his brother and stolen away the “birthright of the firstborn” that rightfully belonged to Esau. Under Jewish law the firstborn son would get double the inheritance of each of the rest of the children and Jacob took that for himself by exploiting his brother’s weakness. On top of that, Jacob then deceitfully took the blessing that their father had prepared for Esau. Prior to a father’s death, it was traditional for him to speak a blessing over each of the children and through trickery Jacob inserted himself into position to take Esau’s blessing. I would say that Jacob had plenty of reason to be afraid of his brother.
The brothers had been apart for twenty years when the day finally came for them to meet and Jacob was nervous and afraid. I am sure he was having some second thoughts about his “bad behavior” as a younger man—and then came the wrestling encounter with God.
I believe in persistent, prevailing prayer but we need to understand some things about what that means. We will learn more about that as we go through this story.
Verse 24 says that Jacob and God wrestled all night long and when He (God) saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He put his hip out of joint. Wait a minute! That’s not fair! There was no way Jacob was going to grab God’s arm and put His arm out of joint so why would God do that to Jacob?
The Bible says that even though Jacob was in pain, he was not about to quit. God said to him, “It’s coming to the dawn and I know you’re hurting, so stop this fighting and I’ll be on My way.” Jacob responded, “This is not over and I will not let You go unless You bless me” (v. 26).
This wrestling match was not about God’s triumphing over Jacob or Jacob getting God to yell “Uncle! I’ll give you what you want!” This match was about Jacob, a man I believe was disgusted with himself, afraid of what was ahead, sick over the mess he had made with his life and sick over what he had done to his brother.
God could have ended the match at any moment, as I said earlier, but He is the God of the second chance and He wanted to give Jacob a chance to come to the end of himself. Jacob continued to try to prevail even though he was hurt, because he was desperately hungry—but hungry for what? What was driving him?
God said to Jacob, “Let Me go, for the day breaks” (v. 26). Finally through the pain and weariness of the night-long battle came the answer God needed to hear from Jacob. Jacob’s answer was the beginning of the end of what the match was all about: “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
Why does Jacob request a blessing? He is insisting on something from God that he cannot provide for himself. He treacherously took Esau’s blessing but he can receive this blessing only by holding on in prayer, by prevailing!
Jacob had come to the end of himself and realized that what he had done through trickery and deceit had not achieved what he thought it would and unless God blessed him, he would not have what he was longing for.
God said to Jacob, “What is your name?” Did God forget who this despicable person was? Was He tired from the fight and suffering temporary memory lapse? Why would God ask Jacob what his name was?
It wasn’t because God forgot, it was because God wanted to hear Jacob finally admit who and what he was. The name Jacob means deceiver, supplanter, to takes by force or trickery. Jacob never hesitated in answering God, not for a second. Out of his mouth came, “Jacob,” to which God replied, “Not anymore; from now on your name will be Israel [Prince with God]” and He blessed him there (v. 28).
The whole night of wrestling had been about this moment when the old Jacob died and the new Jacob was born. Prevailing in prayer is not about getting God cornered so we can get what our miserable little hearts want. Prevailing prayer is about us, about our finally getting in line with what it is that God has in store for us. The silly idea that we can get in God’s face and demand of Him that He measure up to our standard is just that—a silly, childish idea that has found a home among the childish.
At the final bell, the end result of this wrestling match was more spectacular than Wrestlemania!
This was not wrestling as we think of it today. We are too influenced by images of “professional wrestling” and to think that Jacob was going to put God in a headlock and force a blessing out of Him is ludicrous. God could have ended this wrestling match at any time—one flick of His little finger and Jacob would have been far into eternity. So what was going on here? And why did God allow this grappling to continue all night? The term wrestling means to get down in the dirt and grapple.
Jacob was afraid of his brother Esau and he had every reason to be. Jacob had taken advantage of his brother and stolen away the “birthright of the firstborn” that rightfully belonged to Esau. Under Jewish law the firstborn son would get double the inheritance of each of the rest of the children and Jacob took that for himself by exploiting his brother’s weakness. On top of that, Jacob then deceitfully took the blessing that their father had prepared for Esau. Prior to a father’s death, it was traditional for him to speak a blessing over each of the children and through trickery Jacob inserted himself into position to take Esau’s blessing. I would say that Jacob had plenty of reason to be afraid of his brother.
The brothers had been apart for twenty years when the day finally came for them to meet and Jacob was nervous and afraid. I am sure he was having some second thoughts about his “bad behavior” as a younger man—and then came the wrestling encounter with God.
I believe in persistent, prevailing prayer but we need to understand some things about what that means. We will learn more about that as we go through this story.
Verse 24 says that Jacob and God wrestled all night long and when He (God) saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He put his hip out of joint. Wait a minute! That’s not fair! There was no way Jacob was going to grab God’s arm and put His arm out of joint so why would God do that to Jacob?
The Bible says that even though Jacob was in pain, he was not about to quit. God said to him, “It’s coming to the dawn and I know you’re hurting, so stop this fighting and I’ll be on My way.” Jacob responded, “This is not over and I will not let You go unless You bless me” (v. 26).
This wrestling match was not about God’s triumphing over Jacob or Jacob getting God to yell “Uncle! I’ll give you what you want!” This match was about Jacob, a man I believe was disgusted with himself, afraid of what was ahead, sick over the mess he had made with his life and sick over what he had done to his brother.
God could have ended the match at any moment, as I said earlier, but He is the God of the second chance and He wanted to give Jacob a chance to come to the end of himself. Jacob continued to try to prevail even though he was hurt, because he was desperately hungry—but hungry for what? What was driving him?
God said to Jacob, “Let Me go, for the day breaks” (v. 26). Finally through the pain and weariness of the night-long battle came the answer God needed to hear from Jacob. Jacob’s answer was the beginning of the end of what the match was all about: “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
Why does Jacob request a blessing? He is insisting on something from God that he cannot provide for himself. He treacherously took Esau’s blessing but he can receive this blessing only by holding on in prayer, by prevailing!
Jacob had come to the end of himself and realized that what he had done through trickery and deceit had not achieved what he thought it would and unless God blessed him, he would not have what he was longing for.
God said to Jacob, “What is your name?” Did God forget who this despicable person was? Was He tired from the fight and suffering temporary memory lapse? Why would God ask Jacob what his name was?
It wasn’t because God forgot, it was because God wanted to hear Jacob finally admit who and what he was. The name Jacob means deceiver, supplanter, to takes by force or trickery. Jacob never hesitated in answering God, not for a second. Out of his mouth came, “Jacob,” to which God replied, “Not anymore; from now on your name will be Israel [Prince with God]” and He blessed him there (v. 28).
The whole night of wrestling had been about this moment when the old Jacob died and the new Jacob was born. Prevailing in prayer is not about getting God cornered so we can get what our miserable little hearts want. Prevailing prayer is about us, about our finally getting in line with what it is that God has in store for us. The silly idea that we can get in God’s face and demand of Him that He measure up to our standard is just that—a silly, childish idea that has found a home among the childish.
At the final bell, the end result of this wrestling match was more spectacular than Wrestlemania!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
FEEDING ON HIS FAITHFULNESS
Recently I have been drawn to Psalm 37; each time I read it I am encouraged and then I return to my regular pattern of devotional reading. A day or two later I am drawn again to Psalm 37 and a few days later it happens again. There is something in this outpouring of King David’s heart that is pertinent for this hour and the Lord doesn’t seem to want me to get very far away from it.
This psalm was written because David was going through a difficult time. The psalm begins, “Do not fret because of evildoers.” The word fret means to be hot, to be furious, to be angry, and the psalmist is saying to us, “You must not let this happen! Do not allow the circumstances of life and the evil you see in the land fill you with anger.” God is telling us, “I am still in charge and you are to walk in My peace . . . so fret not!”
The psalm goes on to tell us, “Do not be envious of those who work evil, for they will soon be cut down like the grass. You are to trust in Him and do good works; be fruitful where He has planted you and (this is really important) feed on His faithfulness” (vv. 1-3).
There are at least two ways to look at the statement, “Feed on His faithfulness.”
1. Some commentators suggest that we are to see this as a commitment by God to provide for His people who have faith in Him.
Faith pleases God and He always responds to the faith of His people. Carol and I know this to be true and we have experienced it afresh in just the last months. But I also think the psalmist was challenging us to see this statement in another way.
2. I believe David was encouraging us to feed, literally to ingest, to have meals of faithfulness, by remembering and rehearsing God’s faithfulness to us and to all His people.
As we feed on His faithfulness and remember what He has done, we are released to believe for what He is going to do! So how can we feed on His faithfulness?
It’s easy to make the mistake of thinking this is something complicated—this idea of feeding on His faithfulness—and it is not. It’s really quite simple. I think it may be its simplicity that causes us to often ignore its great potential.
We learn God’s faithfulness and we feed on it by answering our calling to stay in fellowship with Jesus. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). As believers, Jesus is the center point of our life. As we enter into and stay in that fellowship, we are fed by the intimacy, by the communion, we have with Him.
His faithfulness is revealed to us when we feed on His Word because the Bible is packed full of powerful stories of God’s faithfulness to His people. You cannot read through Hebrews 11 and not have your faith stirred and encouraged. Read through the book of Acts, or Genesis and Exodus, the first six chapters of Daniel, and see if your faith is not fed and your understanding of God’s faithfulness expanded. This will build your faith.
His faithfulness is refreshed in us when we praise and worship Him. Praise is the response of the righteous for what God has done. Worship is the response of the righteous unto God for who He is, the admiration of His person.
We feed on His faithfulness when we give thanks for what He has done in our lives. Give Him thanks for His provision, thanks for all the answers to prayer, thanks for your salvation, thanks for His leading and guiding in your life. Thank Him for the infilling and empowering of the Holy Spirit. There is so much to give thanks for because God is so faithful!
It is as we feed on His faithfulness that we find ourselves “delighting in Him.” Delighting is an outflow of our feeding on His faithfulness.
Here are a few passages of Scripture that speak of His faithfulness.
“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9).
“His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).
“Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds” (Psalm 36:5).
“Your faithfulness endures to all generations” (Psalm 119:90). I love the way the New Living Translation puts this verse: “Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created.”
“God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
This psalm was written because David was going through a difficult time. The psalm begins, “Do not fret because of evildoers.” The word fret means to be hot, to be furious, to be angry, and the psalmist is saying to us, “You must not let this happen! Do not allow the circumstances of life and the evil you see in the land fill you with anger.” God is telling us, “I am still in charge and you are to walk in My peace . . . so fret not!”
The psalm goes on to tell us, “Do not be envious of those who work evil, for they will soon be cut down like the grass. You are to trust in Him and do good works; be fruitful where He has planted you and (this is really important) feed on His faithfulness” (vv. 1-3).
There are at least two ways to look at the statement, “Feed on His faithfulness.”
1. Some commentators suggest that we are to see this as a commitment by God to provide for His people who have faith in Him.
Faith pleases God and He always responds to the faith of His people. Carol and I know this to be true and we have experienced it afresh in just the last months. But I also think the psalmist was challenging us to see this statement in another way.
2. I believe David was encouraging us to feed, literally to ingest, to have meals of faithfulness, by remembering and rehearsing God’s faithfulness to us and to all His people.
As we feed on His faithfulness and remember what He has done, we are released to believe for what He is going to do! So how can we feed on His faithfulness?
It’s easy to make the mistake of thinking this is something complicated—this idea of feeding on His faithfulness—and it is not. It’s really quite simple. I think it may be its simplicity that causes us to often ignore its great potential.
We learn God’s faithfulness and we feed on it by answering our calling to stay in fellowship with Jesus. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). As believers, Jesus is the center point of our life. As we enter into and stay in that fellowship, we are fed by the intimacy, by the communion, we have with Him.
His faithfulness is revealed to us when we feed on His Word because the Bible is packed full of powerful stories of God’s faithfulness to His people. You cannot read through Hebrews 11 and not have your faith stirred and encouraged. Read through the book of Acts, or Genesis and Exodus, the first six chapters of Daniel, and see if your faith is not fed and your understanding of God’s faithfulness expanded. This will build your faith.
His faithfulness is refreshed in us when we praise and worship Him. Praise is the response of the righteous for what God has done. Worship is the response of the righteous unto God for who He is, the admiration of His person.
We feed on His faithfulness when we give thanks for what He has done in our lives. Give Him thanks for His provision, thanks for all the answers to prayer, thanks for your salvation, thanks for His leading and guiding in your life. Thank Him for the infilling and empowering of the Holy Spirit. There is so much to give thanks for because God is so faithful!
It is as we feed on His faithfulness that we find ourselves “delighting in Him.” Delighting is an outflow of our feeding on His faithfulness.
Here are a few passages of Scripture that speak of His faithfulness.
“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9).
“His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).
“Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds” (Psalm 36:5).
“Your faithfulness endures to all generations” (Psalm 119:90). I love the way the New Living Translation puts this verse: “Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created.”
“God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Friday, October 28, 2011
HOW TO SPEAK TO A MOUNTAIN!
The children of Israel wandered in the desert for years following their miraculous delivery from Egypt. Deuteronomy 1:32 says that in spite of all God did for them, Israel lived in unbelief—and their wandering continued.
“We skirted Mount Seir for many days” (Deuteronomy 2:1). Several things are helpful to know about this statement. First, the word “skirted” means they circled around outside the area of Mount Seir. Second, they had to go through the Mount Seir area to get to their destiny, the Promised Land. Third, the term “many days” is an awkward way of saying that this period lasted thirty-eight years. Thirty-eight years—and they didn’t possess what God had promised them because of unbelief!
“And the Lord spoke to me [Moses], saying: ‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward” (2:2-3).
Israel was avoiding possessing their “promised land” because fear and unbelief kept them from going through a dangerous area. Mount Seir was the region where the descendants of Esau lived. Esau and Jacob were brothers and the bitterness between them was well known. Jacob was afraid of Esau because he (Jacob) had taken his birthright and through trickery and deceit had stolen the blessing that rightfully belonged to Esau.
The descendants of Jacob were afraid of what the family of Esau (also known as the Edomites) might do to them if they entered their territory. Finally God said, “That’s enough waffling and unbelief. Turn north—and do it now!”
The use of the word mountain in Scripture often refers to opposition or an obstacle blocking our pathway (see Zechariah 4:7 and Matthew 17:20). In the wilderness wandering of the Jews, it was the obstacle of the mountain and its people (Esau’s family) they were avoiding.
In Matthew 17:20, Jesus responds to a question from His disciples about why they could not cast the devil out of a young boy by answering, “Because of your unbelief . . . I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Jesus was not talking about physical mountains but about obstacles, opposition, impossibilities that stand in the way of our possessing the future God has for us. We all have mountains that are standing between us and the possessing of the promises God has quickened to our heart.
I had a huge mountain in my life that for years I refused to deal with. In the mid-90s I began having pain in my right hip that progressively grew worse. Whenever I was asked if I was okay, my response was always, “I’m fine, no problem.” But I wasn’t fine and the problem was getting worse. The pain spread to my left hip so I asked my family doctor to take a look. He examined me, looked at my x-rays and then laughed, and said, “It’s called arthritis and it happens to a lot of us.” He gave me a prescription for Celebrex and I never brought it up to him again. However, the pain and discomfort kept getting worse and through it all I tried to never complain. If someone asked why I was so hobbled, my response was always kind of flippant: “Hey, no big deal. I’m fine.” I thought I was being a good and faithful soldier.
Finally, in the summer of 2006, my wife and my friend Bill Prather convinced me that I needed to see an orthopedic specialist, which I reluctantly agreed to do. The doctor really did a number on me! After viewing my new x-rays, he looked at me and said, “I don’t know how you even walk, as both hips are bone-on-bone. Unless you have something done, within months you will be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. You are in denial!” I felt like he yelled the final words at me; he didn’t, but I was stunned and angry!
When we got home I went into my office, sat down, and looked up to heaven. “So, this is what I get? I give You my life and . . .?” I caught myself in mid-sentence as I realized I really was in denial and the full impact of it burst upon me. What happened next is what we in Texas call “a come-to-Jesus meeting.” I sat in my office and cried and repented as I asked God to forgive me.
Denial is to know what is true and yet confess a falsehood. Denial is a form of unbelief and I was very guilty of it. It is not faith to say that a problem that exists does not. No, that’s not faith—it’s a lie! Faith is when you say, “I have a problem but I believe God for a full and complete victory.”
After I got my bad attitude straightened out, the Lord helped me understand that I had a destiny on the other side of the problem. And I spoke the Word to the mountain, “If you have faith . . . you will say to this mountain, Move . . . and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).
Where there had been no solution, the Lord sovereignly began to open doors and He brought in a harvest of miracles that resulted in surgery—completely paid for! On December 3, 2006, ten days after surgery, I arrived home in Dallas, walked off the plane free of any pain—and it has never come back.
The person who lives in denial brings upon himself a double jeopardy. First is the unbelief, and that births its own fruit. Second, you cannot speak to the mountain as Jesus taught us because you have said, “There is no mountain!”
I circled around in front of my problem in denial far too long. Finally, the Lord said, “That’s enough of that. Turn north—and do it now!”
So how do we speak to a mountain? We speak in the name of Jesus and on the authority of His Word and command it to get out of our way. We speak to the obstacle and say, “My future, my destiny, what God has promised me, lies on the other side of you. You can either get out of my way or I will climb over you—or tunnel through you—but no matter what, I’m going forward to my promised land.”
Face your mountain and speak to it in the name of Jesus!
“We skirted Mount Seir for many days” (Deuteronomy 2:1). Several things are helpful to know about this statement. First, the word “skirted” means they circled around outside the area of Mount Seir. Second, they had to go through the Mount Seir area to get to their destiny, the Promised Land. Third, the term “many days” is an awkward way of saying that this period lasted thirty-eight years. Thirty-eight years—and they didn’t possess what God had promised them because of unbelief!
“And the Lord spoke to me [Moses], saying: ‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward” (2:2-3).
Israel was avoiding possessing their “promised land” because fear and unbelief kept them from going through a dangerous area. Mount Seir was the region where the descendants of Esau lived. Esau and Jacob were brothers and the bitterness between them was well known. Jacob was afraid of Esau because he (Jacob) had taken his birthright and through trickery and deceit had stolen the blessing that rightfully belonged to Esau.
The descendants of Jacob were afraid of what the family of Esau (also known as the Edomites) might do to them if they entered their territory. Finally God said, “That’s enough waffling and unbelief. Turn north—and do it now!”
The use of the word mountain in Scripture often refers to opposition or an obstacle blocking our pathway (see Zechariah 4:7 and Matthew 17:20). In the wilderness wandering of the Jews, it was the obstacle of the mountain and its people (Esau’s family) they were avoiding.
In Matthew 17:20, Jesus responds to a question from His disciples about why they could not cast the devil out of a young boy by answering, “Because of your unbelief . . . I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Jesus was not talking about physical mountains but about obstacles, opposition, impossibilities that stand in the way of our possessing the future God has for us. We all have mountains that are standing between us and the possessing of the promises God has quickened to our heart.
I had a huge mountain in my life that for years I refused to deal with. In the mid-90s I began having pain in my right hip that progressively grew worse. Whenever I was asked if I was okay, my response was always, “I’m fine, no problem.” But I wasn’t fine and the problem was getting worse. The pain spread to my left hip so I asked my family doctor to take a look. He examined me, looked at my x-rays and then laughed, and said, “It’s called arthritis and it happens to a lot of us.” He gave me a prescription for Celebrex and I never brought it up to him again. However, the pain and discomfort kept getting worse and through it all I tried to never complain. If someone asked why I was so hobbled, my response was always kind of flippant: “Hey, no big deal. I’m fine.” I thought I was being a good and faithful soldier.
Finally, in the summer of 2006, my wife and my friend Bill Prather convinced me that I needed to see an orthopedic specialist, which I reluctantly agreed to do. The doctor really did a number on me! After viewing my new x-rays, he looked at me and said, “I don’t know how you even walk, as both hips are bone-on-bone. Unless you have something done, within months you will be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. You are in denial!” I felt like he yelled the final words at me; he didn’t, but I was stunned and angry!
When we got home I went into my office, sat down, and looked up to heaven. “So, this is what I get? I give You my life and . . .?” I caught myself in mid-sentence as I realized I really was in denial and the full impact of it burst upon me. What happened next is what we in Texas call “a come-to-Jesus meeting.” I sat in my office and cried and repented as I asked God to forgive me.
Denial is to know what is true and yet confess a falsehood. Denial is a form of unbelief and I was very guilty of it. It is not faith to say that a problem that exists does not. No, that’s not faith—it’s a lie! Faith is when you say, “I have a problem but I believe God for a full and complete victory.”
After I got my bad attitude straightened out, the Lord helped me understand that I had a destiny on the other side of the problem. And I spoke the Word to the mountain, “If you have faith . . . you will say to this mountain, Move . . . and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).
Where there had been no solution, the Lord sovereignly began to open doors and He brought in a harvest of miracles that resulted in surgery—completely paid for! On December 3, 2006, ten days after surgery, I arrived home in Dallas, walked off the plane free of any pain—and it has never come back.
The person who lives in denial brings upon himself a double jeopardy. First is the unbelief, and that births its own fruit. Second, you cannot speak to the mountain as Jesus taught us because you have said, “There is no mountain!”
I circled around in front of my problem in denial far too long. Finally, the Lord said, “That’s enough of that. Turn north—and do it now!”
So how do we speak to a mountain? We speak in the name of Jesus and on the authority of His Word and command it to get out of our way. We speak to the obstacle and say, “My future, my destiny, what God has promised me, lies on the other side of you. You can either get out of my way or I will climb over you—or tunnel through you—but no matter what, I’m going forward to my promised land.”
Face your mountain and speak to it in the name of Jesus!
Friday, October 21, 2011
DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD
One of the richest promise passages in Scripture is Psalm 37:3-5:
“Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.”
This is a promise on which you can center your life, your ministry, your family, your future. It is a passage to embrace and draw on for your whole life.
There is so much truth in this passage that one or two readings are not enough to begin to scratch the surface of what is here. I recently read a wonderful statement about truth and how we take it into our lives.
“Truth is something like the cluster (grapes) of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser’s feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must tread well the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must . . . tread the clusters of truth” (Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon).
Simply put, if we are going to get the richness out of these verses in Psalm 37, we must not hurry through them or rush away from them. We need to mark them and return to them over and over until, just as with the winepress, we get all the richness out of them.
When God informed Joshua that he was the new leader of the Jewish people, one of the instructions He gave to him was, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night. . . . For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).
God was not saying to him that he should literally eat the Word but that he should take it to himself and study it, think about it, spend time with it and let the Word speak to him. This is what meditating is—rehearsing or repeating the Word over and over as it slowly releases its riches to us.
It is always our choice to trust or dwell in the richness of the land, the territory that God has destined for us.
It seems impossible that it has been almost ten months since I began to receive treatment on the cancer in my throat. (Praise the Lord that all the current scans show no evidence of any cancer remaining in the throat or the neck! To God be all the glory!) Every morning for 39 days I had radiation on my throat. While the treatment lasted only 20 or 25 minutes, I had to remain completely immobile with my head secured to the table under the radiation equipment. A mask was fitted to my face and fastened to the table to ensure that my head did not move; it was slightly claustrophobic and made me look like Freddie Krueger!
I found there were two ways for me to get through this time without anxiety. The first was to worship. I would simply begin to praise and worship the Lord nonverbally. Any anxiety or apprehension would be overtaken by the presence of the Lord . . . it was glorious! I had some wonderful times with the Lord while the “death star,” as I called the radiation equipment, hovered over me.
The second way I got through these times was to recite passages of Scripture that I had memorized or thought I had. I would slowly work my way through a passage like Joshua 1:1-9, or Psalm 23 or Psalm 91. More than once I would get so caught up in rehearsing a verse or a phrase that the attendant would have to tell me the session for the day was over. These were rich moments as, in Charles Spurgeon’s language, I was crushing the grapes to squeeze more of the richness and flavor out.
Practically, what I have just described is the meditation that God spoke to Joshua about. It is my personal belief that one of the aspects of “delighting yourself in the Lord” is this very process. Delighting yourself in the Lord means that you are inclined toward the Lord. Those who do not value the Word of God never have time to read the Word, study the Word, or give thought to the Word, and so they almost never get to enjoy the release of the goodness, the richness of the Word.
I tried for too long to complicate my understanding of the phrase, “Delight yourself in the Lord.” I tried to make it far too complicated and esoteric. I finally came to realize what a mistake I was making and that I just needed to relax and enjoy the goodness of God; enjoy the blessing of being in Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit; enjoy the richness of His Word, the richness of fellowship with fellow believers, and the excitement of following His leading for my life. I am finally learning, after all these years, to delight myself in Him—and it is good!
“Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.”
This is a promise on which you can center your life, your ministry, your family, your future. It is a passage to embrace and draw on for your whole life.
There is so much truth in this passage that one or two readings are not enough to begin to scratch the surface of what is here. I recently read a wonderful statement about truth and how we take it into our lives.
“Truth is something like the cluster (grapes) of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser’s feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must tread well the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must . . . tread the clusters of truth” (Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon).
Simply put, if we are going to get the richness out of these verses in Psalm 37, we must not hurry through them or rush away from them. We need to mark them and return to them over and over until, just as with the winepress, we get all the richness out of them.
When God informed Joshua that he was the new leader of the Jewish people, one of the instructions He gave to him was, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night. . . . For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).
God was not saying to him that he should literally eat the Word but that he should take it to himself and study it, think about it, spend time with it and let the Word speak to him. This is what meditating is—rehearsing or repeating the Word over and over as it slowly releases its riches to us.
It is always our choice to trust or dwell in the richness of the land, the territory that God has destined for us.
It seems impossible that it has been almost ten months since I began to receive treatment on the cancer in my throat. (Praise the Lord that all the current scans show no evidence of any cancer remaining in the throat or the neck! To God be all the glory!) Every morning for 39 days I had radiation on my throat. While the treatment lasted only 20 or 25 minutes, I had to remain completely immobile with my head secured to the table under the radiation equipment. A mask was fitted to my face and fastened to the table to ensure that my head did not move; it was slightly claustrophobic and made me look like Freddie Krueger!
I found there were two ways for me to get through this time without anxiety. The first was to worship. I would simply begin to praise and worship the Lord nonverbally. Any anxiety or apprehension would be overtaken by the presence of the Lord . . . it was glorious! I had some wonderful times with the Lord while the “death star,” as I called the radiation equipment, hovered over me.
The second way I got through these times was to recite passages of Scripture that I had memorized or thought I had. I would slowly work my way through a passage like Joshua 1:1-9, or Psalm 23 or Psalm 91. More than once I would get so caught up in rehearsing a verse or a phrase that the attendant would have to tell me the session for the day was over. These were rich moments as, in Charles Spurgeon’s language, I was crushing the grapes to squeeze more of the richness and flavor out.
Practically, what I have just described is the meditation that God spoke to Joshua about. It is my personal belief that one of the aspects of “delighting yourself in the Lord” is this very process. Delighting yourself in the Lord means that you are inclined toward the Lord. Those who do not value the Word of God never have time to read the Word, study the Word, or give thought to the Word, and so they almost never get to enjoy the release of the goodness, the richness of the Word.
I tried for too long to complicate my understanding of the phrase, “Delight yourself in the Lord.” I tried to make it far too complicated and esoteric. I finally came to realize what a mistake I was making and that I just needed to relax and enjoy the goodness of God; enjoy the blessing of being in Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit; enjoy the richness of His Word, the richness of fellowship with fellow believers, and the excitement of following His leading for my life. I am finally learning, after all these years, to delight myself in Him—and it is good!
Friday, October 14, 2011
GOD ALWAYS HAS YOUR FUTURE IN VIEW
Carol and I were recently in Colorado Springs, CO, at the headquarters of Every Home for Christ to participate in the 65th Anniversary Celebration of this outstanding missionary/evangelism ministry. If you are unfamiliar with this ministry, here is a link to their website: www.ehc.org.
One statistic that never ceases to bless me is that the EHC offices around the world have recorded over one hundred million decisions for Christ since 1953 (yes, those number are correct)! These decisions represent individuals who have contacted one of the EHC offices and said, “I have invited Jesus into my heart . . . please tell me more!” The goal of the ministry is to take the gospel to every home on earth and they are aggressively pressing ahead to reach the last home!
I served as the Executive Vice President of EHC (it was known then as World Literature Crusade) from 1974 to 1982. The latter years when we were there were very turbulent, as the ministry was transitioning and being prepared for the years ahead. At times the upheaval became so severe that I wasn’t sure if the ministry could survive for more than a few more weeks or months. It was very emotional for me to address the gathered leaders at the Anniversary Celebration last month and realize that not only had the organization survived but it is stronger and more vibrant now than at any time in the past. To God be the glory!
You can call it change or you can call it growth but whatever you call it, it is important! President John Kennedy used to say, “Without change there can be no progress” and while that is true, it leaves out one important element: change is painful! Human nature is often very resistant to change because it requires us to step out into unfamiliar territory. We usually are afraid of what we don’t know, and because of that, we become resistant to it.
When the President of EHC asked me to speak at the Anniversary Celebration, he specifically asked me to share some of the things that, from my point of view, allowed the ministry to successfully navigate the transition period. The Lord put four things on my heart to share.
1. GOD CALLED EHC INTO BEING TO DO ONE THING
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). The calling and primary purpose for the existence of EHC was to fulfill this command. Staying faithful to the fundamental focus brings the full release of God’s provision and protection. Allowing secondary causes to become primary moves the organization or person out from under God’s full protection.
2. EHC WAS ESTABLISHED ON A BASE OF PRAYER
From the very beginning of the ministry in 1946, the founder called for friends, partners and staff to join him in continual prayer for this outreach to the lost. EHC has never lost that zeal or understanding that “God’s armies go forward on their knees.” The founder, Dr. Jack McAlister, developed a “World Prayer Map” that assists praying friends to go to every country in the world through prayer. The current president, Dick Eastman, has enhanced the prayer ministry greatly and EHC continues to move forward through the power of prayer.
3. FAITH PLEASES GOD
Every Home for Christ is and has always been a faith ministry, meaning that no one underwrites or guarantees that the needs of the ministry will be met—except God. Every day the staff prays and trusts God for what is needed. Faith pleases God and when He is pleased, His blessing, His protection, His provision flow.
4. WE WERE A COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS
“In a multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 24:6). How I thank God for the counselors He put into my life who made themselves available to all of us who were in the leadership of EHC during the years we were there. More than once the obstacles facing us were so overwhelming that it seemed impossible to survive. We prayed, trusted Him and reached out to our counselors, and God brought incredible answers to impossible situations!
Most of us are familiar with the story of Joseph and how God used Him to save the lives of his family and the future of the Jewish people. Joseph’s story is told in Genesis chapters 35 through 50. A favorite of his father, Joseph was not particularly humble or discreet as a young man, and his brothers hated him for it. Out of their hatred, the brothers decided to kill Joseph but at the last minute they changed course and sold him to nomadic traders on their way to Egypt.
The angry brothers thought they had seen the last of Joseph and I’m sure at that moment that Joseph thought he had seen the last of his family but God had a totally different picture in mind. God knew the future and while it would take years to fully develop, He was going to use Joseph’s troubles to bring deliverance to his family and to his nation.
Twenty years passed and finally in Genesis 45 we see Joseph reunited with his brothers. He told them he was not angry and they were not to be distressed at what had happened. Everything had been planned by God for the deliverance of their family and the future of the Jewish people. All through the whole episode, God had the future clearly fixed in His view.
In the natural I cannot see the future past the end of my nose, but God is not limited as we are. Stay faithful and tightly connected to Him, as He sees your future clearly! With that understanding in mind, carefully read Psalm 37:23: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He [God] delights in his [our] way.”
One statistic that never ceases to bless me is that the EHC offices around the world have recorded over one hundred million decisions for Christ since 1953 (yes, those number are correct)! These decisions represent individuals who have contacted one of the EHC offices and said, “I have invited Jesus into my heart . . . please tell me more!” The goal of the ministry is to take the gospel to every home on earth and they are aggressively pressing ahead to reach the last home!
I served as the Executive Vice President of EHC (it was known then as World Literature Crusade) from 1974 to 1982. The latter years when we were there were very turbulent, as the ministry was transitioning and being prepared for the years ahead. At times the upheaval became so severe that I wasn’t sure if the ministry could survive for more than a few more weeks or months. It was very emotional for me to address the gathered leaders at the Anniversary Celebration last month and realize that not only had the organization survived but it is stronger and more vibrant now than at any time in the past. To God be the glory!
You can call it change or you can call it growth but whatever you call it, it is important! President John Kennedy used to say, “Without change there can be no progress” and while that is true, it leaves out one important element: change is painful! Human nature is often very resistant to change because it requires us to step out into unfamiliar territory. We usually are afraid of what we don’t know, and because of that, we become resistant to it.
When the President of EHC asked me to speak at the Anniversary Celebration, he specifically asked me to share some of the things that, from my point of view, allowed the ministry to successfully navigate the transition period. The Lord put four things on my heart to share.
1. GOD CALLED EHC INTO BEING TO DO ONE THING
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). The calling and primary purpose for the existence of EHC was to fulfill this command. Staying faithful to the fundamental focus brings the full release of God’s provision and protection. Allowing secondary causes to become primary moves the organization or person out from under God’s full protection.
2. EHC WAS ESTABLISHED ON A BASE OF PRAYER
From the very beginning of the ministry in 1946, the founder called for friends, partners and staff to join him in continual prayer for this outreach to the lost. EHC has never lost that zeal or understanding that “God’s armies go forward on their knees.” The founder, Dr. Jack McAlister, developed a “World Prayer Map” that assists praying friends to go to every country in the world through prayer. The current president, Dick Eastman, has enhanced the prayer ministry greatly and EHC continues to move forward through the power of prayer.
3. FAITH PLEASES GOD
Every Home for Christ is and has always been a faith ministry, meaning that no one underwrites or guarantees that the needs of the ministry will be met—except God. Every day the staff prays and trusts God for what is needed. Faith pleases God and when He is pleased, His blessing, His protection, His provision flow.
4. WE WERE A COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS
“In a multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 24:6). How I thank God for the counselors He put into my life who made themselves available to all of us who were in the leadership of EHC during the years we were there. More than once the obstacles facing us were so overwhelming that it seemed impossible to survive. We prayed, trusted Him and reached out to our counselors, and God brought incredible answers to impossible situations!
Most of us are familiar with the story of Joseph and how God used Him to save the lives of his family and the future of the Jewish people. Joseph’s story is told in Genesis chapters 35 through 50. A favorite of his father, Joseph was not particularly humble or discreet as a young man, and his brothers hated him for it. Out of their hatred, the brothers decided to kill Joseph but at the last minute they changed course and sold him to nomadic traders on their way to Egypt.
The angry brothers thought they had seen the last of Joseph and I’m sure at that moment that Joseph thought he had seen the last of his family but God had a totally different picture in mind. God knew the future and while it would take years to fully develop, He was going to use Joseph’s troubles to bring deliverance to his family and to his nation.
Twenty years passed and finally in Genesis 45 we see Joseph reunited with his brothers. He told them he was not angry and they were not to be distressed at what had happened. Everything had been planned by God for the deliverance of their family and the future of the Jewish people. All through the whole episode, God had the future clearly fixed in His view.
In the natural I cannot see the future past the end of my nose, but God is not limited as we are. Stay faithful and tightly connected to Him, as He sees your future clearly! With that understanding in mind, carefully read Psalm 37:23: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He [God] delights in his [our] way.”
Friday, October 7, 2011
BRINGING HOME THE ARK
One of the more shocking incidents (at least to me) in the Old Testament is found in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13-15. King David was bringing the ark of God back to Jerusalem . . . and Indiana Jones was not involved (that’s not the shocking part).
The Philistines had captured the ark but they quickly found that Jehovah was not going to allow it to be added to their motley collection of tribal gods taken in battle. The predicament the Philistines found themselves in was actually quite hilarious. In an attempt to debase Jehovah, the Philistines took the ark into the temple of their chief idol, Dagon, and placed it at the feet of Dagon to indicate its submission and inferiority. The next morning the Philistines found Dagon had fallen prostrate in front of the ark.
The Philistines tried the same thing a second time and when they came back to the temple, they found that not only had Dagon fallen prostrate again but this time its head and hands had broken off. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened to the Philistines because they kidnapped the ark. A plague broke out among them—but not just any plague, it was a plague of hemorrhoids. Now that will get your attention!
The embarrassment of Dagon (1 Samuel 5) and the plague was enough to make the Philistines decide to return the ark before a more severe calamity befell them. In their hurry to get rid of it, they dumped it in one of the outlying villages of Israel.
David was anxious to have the ark back in Jerusalem and at the center of Israel’s worship, and we read in 2 Samuel 6 how he and his army went to retrieve it. The ark was considered to be the most important item in the tabernacle and it sat in the Holy of Holies, deep inside the portable temple. On the top of the ark was the mercy seat and once a year, the high priest would go in and sprinkle the blood of a sacrifice there. The ark was a symbol of God’s presence, a visible sign that God was dwelling in Israel’s midst.
David and his men prepared a “new cart” for the ark to ride on and the journey back home became one of celebration with singing and music. How fitting! It was shaping up to be a new day in Israel—the ark was coming home and riding in style on a new cart. However, the travelling worship service was interrupted when the oxen pulling the cart stumbled and Uzzah, one of the cart drivers, reached out to steady it and without warning was struck dead. A simple helpful gesture—and he was struck dead!
David reacted in anger, frustration and fear. “How can I ever bring the ark home?” he cried, and then he had the ark sidetracked to a nearby property. What does this mean to us? What can we learn from this story?
David was passionate about bringing the visible symbol of God’s presence back to the mainstream of Israel. Not only was the ark a symbol but God’s presence seemed to linger on the ark, as the Philistines and Uzzah had discovered. David’s intention was righteous, but somehow something had gone wrong.
David had cried, “How can I ever bring the ark home?” His frustration and anger boiled over because it seemed impossible for the nation to ever again experience the presence of God. David’s dream was dying right before his eyes.
Why had this happened? Why had Uzzah been struck dead? Who was to blame?
The answer is that David and the leadership of Israel were to blame. They did not take time to find out how the ark was to be transported so they came up with their own idea and built a “new cart” for the ark to ride on. This smacks of arrogance and sounds rather like some today who blithely declare, “We have a better way! We understand what it will take to reach this generation—we know how to be more relevant.” And so they build what they declare is a new and better cart.
David’s mistake was that he tried to implement a new methodology when God had already clearly laid out how the ark was to be moved. 1 Chronicles 15:3-15 says that the ark was to be carried on the shoulders of the priests, and that was the only way it was to be moved . . . ever! Here’s how that translates to us: We are the priests of the New Covenant (1 Peter 2:9). Our shoulders represent our worship, our praise, our sacrifice of thanksgiving and that worship and praise will usher in the presence of the Lord. It is our worship that brings the presence of the Lord, not “the new cart,” not our surroundings nor our programs. It is the praise and worship of God’s people that He responds to. “But You are holy, O You Who dwell in (inhabit) the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3, Amplified Bible).
The mistake of David and the leadership of Israel continues to be repeated today. Instead of inquiring of the Lord to see how we should proceed, we get busy building a new cart. After all, we reason, it’s a new day and we should have a new cart! And so with big wheels and boards, we build ourselves a new cart, only to find at the end of the day that God had a plan all along and we didn’t take time to find it. The mistakes of the past live on.
“Bringing home the ark” means understanding what God wants and making the appropriate changes.
We can “bring home the ark!”
The Philistines had captured the ark but they quickly found that Jehovah was not going to allow it to be added to their motley collection of tribal gods taken in battle. The predicament the Philistines found themselves in was actually quite hilarious. In an attempt to debase Jehovah, the Philistines took the ark into the temple of their chief idol, Dagon, and placed it at the feet of Dagon to indicate its submission and inferiority. The next morning the Philistines found Dagon had fallen prostrate in front of the ark.
The Philistines tried the same thing a second time and when they came back to the temple, they found that not only had Dagon fallen prostrate again but this time its head and hands had broken off. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened to the Philistines because they kidnapped the ark. A plague broke out among them—but not just any plague, it was a plague of hemorrhoids. Now that will get your attention!
The embarrassment of Dagon (1 Samuel 5) and the plague was enough to make the Philistines decide to return the ark before a more severe calamity befell them. In their hurry to get rid of it, they dumped it in one of the outlying villages of Israel.
David was anxious to have the ark back in Jerusalem and at the center of Israel’s worship, and we read in 2 Samuel 6 how he and his army went to retrieve it. The ark was considered to be the most important item in the tabernacle and it sat in the Holy of Holies, deep inside the portable temple. On the top of the ark was the mercy seat and once a year, the high priest would go in and sprinkle the blood of a sacrifice there. The ark was a symbol of God’s presence, a visible sign that God was dwelling in Israel’s midst.
David and his men prepared a “new cart” for the ark to ride on and the journey back home became one of celebration with singing and music. How fitting! It was shaping up to be a new day in Israel—the ark was coming home and riding in style on a new cart. However, the travelling worship service was interrupted when the oxen pulling the cart stumbled and Uzzah, one of the cart drivers, reached out to steady it and without warning was struck dead. A simple helpful gesture—and he was struck dead!
David reacted in anger, frustration and fear. “How can I ever bring the ark home?” he cried, and then he had the ark sidetracked to a nearby property. What does this mean to us? What can we learn from this story?
David was passionate about bringing the visible symbol of God’s presence back to the mainstream of Israel. Not only was the ark a symbol but God’s presence seemed to linger on the ark, as the Philistines and Uzzah had discovered. David’s intention was righteous, but somehow something had gone wrong.
David had cried, “How can I ever bring the ark home?” His frustration and anger boiled over because it seemed impossible for the nation to ever again experience the presence of God. David’s dream was dying right before his eyes.
Why had this happened? Why had Uzzah been struck dead? Who was to blame?
The answer is that David and the leadership of Israel were to blame. They did not take time to find out how the ark was to be transported so they came up with their own idea and built a “new cart” for the ark to ride on. This smacks of arrogance and sounds rather like some today who blithely declare, “We have a better way! We understand what it will take to reach this generation—we know how to be more relevant.” And so they build what they declare is a new and better cart.
David’s mistake was that he tried to implement a new methodology when God had already clearly laid out how the ark was to be moved. 1 Chronicles 15:3-15 says that the ark was to be carried on the shoulders of the priests, and that was the only way it was to be moved . . . ever! Here’s how that translates to us: We are the priests of the New Covenant (1 Peter 2:9). Our shoulders represent our worship, our praise, our sacrifice of thanksgiving and that worship and praise will usher in the presence of the Lord. It is our worship that brings the presence of the Lord, not “the new cart,” not our surroundings nor our programs. It is the praise and worship of God’s people that He responds to. “But You are holy, O You Who dwell in (inhabit) the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3, Amplified Bible).
The mistake of David and the leadership of Israel continues to be repeated today. Instead of inquiring of the Lord to see how we should proceed, we get busy building a new cart. After all, we reason, it’s a new day and we should have a new cart! And so with big wheels and boards, we build ourselves a new cart, only to find at the end of the day that God had a plan all along and we didn’t take time to find it. The mistakes of the past live on.
“Bringing home the ark” means understanding what God wants and making the appropriate changes.
We can “bring home the ark!”
Friday, September 30, 2011
SEND IN THE HORNETS!
Several months ago I read an old newsletter by David Wilkerson in which he shared some of the story of going back to New York City in the late 1980s and beginning Times Square Church. In the article Pastor Dave told how he stood across the street from the building they were considering for the church and prayed a prayer that intrigued me: “Lord, send in the hornets!” I can honestly say that I had never heard that statement used in a prayer.
I did not spend much time thinking about it; I just tucked the unusual prayer away in my mind with the thought, “One of these days I’ll find out what that means.”
A few days ago I was reading in Joshua and came across this: “I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you . . .” (Joshua 24:12). Well, that did it. I knew I had to take a good look and see what this was all about.
God uses hornets? I quickly found that there are only three references to hornets in the Bible. There is the passage in Joshua, then Exodus 23:28-30 and Deuteronomy 7:20-23. These three portions of Scripture provide some wonderful insights into the way God assists us in taking possession of our destiny.
I really don’t know if the word hornet as it is used in these passages is referring to a literal wasp-like stinging insect or if it is being used metaphorically to refer to fear, terror or plagues that God has used on other enemies of Israel. Frankly, it does not matter at all and is not worth my getting overly concerned about. Whatever method God uses, it works.
When you take time to look at the three passages I have listed above, you will see a very interesting picture of how God prepares the territory that He wants us to possess and how He gives us time to “occupy” our new possession.
Allow me to make a few key points from these passages:
1. The battle is the Lord’s and He sends in the advance troops (the hornets) to begin driving out the enemy (see Exodus 23:28).
2. The advance force will find and destroy those pockets of the enemy who hide themselves from plain view, the ones we would probably miss in our rush to secure the territory (see Deuteronomy 7:20).
3. The third is a very key point for us to learn about possessing our territories, wherever and whatever they may be, and so I will elaborate a bit.
“And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you” (Deuteronomy 7:22). “Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land” (Exodus 23:30).
The cultural mindset of the American church is that we are to step out in faith and take possession of all that God has for us. So we do that, expecting to achieve full results—right now! After all, we are American/Canadian believers, aren’t we? We are the best of the best, the wisest of the wise. Isn’t that what you see on Christian television?
But God’s Word says, “You will get your full inheritance when you have increased!” (Exodus 23:30). It is imperative that we understand what the word “increase” means.
In the original language increase means to be fruitful, to bear fruit, to grow. What the Lord is saying to His people is that before we can advance, there must be a settling where roots go down and plants begin to grow and show fruitfulness. When increase is being seen in one portion, then advance can take place into others.
There is a powerful parallel between what we have been looking at in these passages and the truth that Jesus taught in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 and Luke 19. Simply put, the parable tells the story of a businessman/landowner. Before leaving on a trip he gave responsibilities to three employees. He instructed them to do their best with what he had entrusted to them and make a profit. When he returned, he found that two of the employees had indeed been industrious, done their best and returned what he had given them with the profits they had earned. To those two he made the same exact statement: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21, also Luke 19:17).
God will only clear ground for further expansion by sending in another wave of hornets when He sees that we are being fruitful with the territory already given to us. No increase/fruitfulness, no expansion.
How about you? Are you ready to pray for another wave of hornets? Do not be afraid—because they are not going to sting you. No! They are going to clear out new territory for you to possess!
I did not spend much time thinking about it; I just tucked the unusual prayer away in my mind with the thought, “One of these days I’ll find out what that means.”
A few days ago I was reading in Joshua and came across this: “I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you . . .” (Joshua 24:12). Well, that did it. I knew I had to take a good look and see what this was all about.
God uses hornets? I quickly found that there are only three references to hornets in the Bible. There is the passage in Joshua, then Exodus 23:28-30 and Deuteronomy 7:20-23. These three portions of Scripture provide some wonderful insights into the way God assists us in taking possession of our destiny.
I really don’t know if the word hornet as it is used in these passages is referring to a literal wasp-like stinging insect or if it is being used metaphorically to refer to fear, terror or plagues that God has used on other enemies of Israel. Frankly, it does not matter at all and is not worth my getting overly concerned about. Whatever method God uses, it works.
When you take time to look at the three passages I have listed above, you will see a very interesting picture of how God prepares the territory that He wants us to possess and how He gives us time to “occupy” our new possession.
Allow me to make a few key points from these passages:
1. The battle is the Lord’s and He sends in the advance troops (the hornets) to begin driving out the enemy (see Exodus 23:28).
2. The advance force will find and destroy those pockets of the enemy who hide themselves from plain view, the ones we would probably miss in our rush to secure the territory (see Deuteronomy 7:20).
3. The third is a very key point for us to learn about possessing our territories, wherever and whatever they may be, and so I will elaborate a bit.
“And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you” (Deuteronomy 7:22). “Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land” (Exodus 23:30).
The cultural mindset of the American church is that we are to step out in faith and take possession of all that God has for us. So we do that, expecting to achieve full results—right now! After all, we are American/Canadian believers, aren’t we? We are the best of the best, the wisest of the wise. Isn’t that what you see on Christian television?
But God’s Word says, “You will get your full inheritance when you have increased!” (Exodus 23:30). It is imperative that we understand what the word “increase” means.
In the original language increase means to be fruitful, to bear fruit, to grow. What the Lord is saying to His people is that before we can advance, there must be a settling where roots go down and plants begin to grow and show fruitfulness. When increase is being seen in one portion, then advance can take place into others.
There is a powerful parallel between what we have been looking at in these passages and the truth that Jesus taught in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 and Luke 19. Simply put, the parable tells the story of a businessman/landowner. Before leaving on a trip he gave responsibilities to three employees. He instructed them to do their best with what he had entrusted to them and make a profit. When he returned, he found that two of the employees had indeed been industrious, done their best and returned what he had given them with the profits they had earned. To those two he made the same exact statement: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21, also Luke 19:17).
God will only clear ground for further expansion by sending in another wave of hornets when He sees that we are being fruitful with the territory already given to us. No increase/fruitfulness, no expansion.
How about you? Are you ready to pray for another wave of hornets? Do not be afraid—because they are not going to sting you. No! They are going to clear out new territory for you to possess!
Friday, September 23, 2011
THE JOURNEY IS TOO GREAT FOR YOU!
Elijah had two incredible victories on Mount Carmel. First was the great battle between Elijah, empowered by the Spirit of the Lord, and the prophets of Baal and Asherah. Demonic activity abounded but the fire of God fell and a great victory was won. The second victory followed quickly after the first as Elijah entered into intercessory prayer and the drought of three years was broken.
1 Kings 18:46 says the hand of the Lord (an indirect reference to the Holy Spirit) came upon Elijah and he was so energized that he outran Ahab’s horse-drawn chariot on the way to Jezreel. Elijah was so supernaturally strengthened by “the hand of the Lord” after these great victories that he surpassed Ahab’s horses over a twenty-five-mile distance. The brother was pumped!
At Jezreel, the strangest thing happened. Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, sent a threatening message to Elijah: “By this time tomorrow, Elijah, I will see to it that you are dead!” (see 1 Kings 19:2). Elijah, who had just seen God bring about two incredible victories, reacted in fear and ran for his life (v. 3). On the other side of a “high moment” there will always be a “low” and Elijah was not prepared for it; the “low” threw him into fear.
I know what it is like in the days following a very powerful and supernatural time of ministry. Sometimes there were thousands of people in attendance and sometimes the crowds were tiny, but the ministry time was marked by the power and presence of God. You spend your days in a whirlwind of ministry and serving and then suddenly it’s all over. You head home for rest and suddenly the high is gone and you are extremely tired, feel wasted, and sometimes even get depressed! I know what that is like.
So Elijah ran! And he pushed away his servant, further revealing that he was in a “low” period. Elijah’s servant was the one person who had walked with him through every circumstance; he was faithful and loyal and he knew how to help him regain his composure. Yet, Elijah left him in a strange city (see 1 Kings 19:3).
Elijah went off alone into the wilderness where he sat down under a tree and began to complain and despair of life. Finally he lay down under the tree and went to sleep. An angel of the Lord awakened him and said, “Arise and eat!” Elijah sat up and saw freshly baked bread and a jar of water beside him so he ate and drank. Then he lay down and went right back to sleep. The angel of the Lord came a second time, awakened Elijah and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you” (1 Kings 19:7).
Commentators often say this statement about the journey is referring to what lay ahead, as Elijah would travel for forty more days before he reached Mount Horeb. This is correct, but I believe it misses a large part of the purpose of the angel’s ministry assignment to Elijah. I think the angel was referring to the “journey” as being the whole pathway of Elijah’s life from start to finish.
I believe the angel was saying to Elijah, “Stop trying to do this alone; you know better than this. You have run in fear as though God was no longer with you. You have complained and despaired as if God has let you down—and you know better than that! So get up off the ground and eat. God has not forgotten you or left you alone! See, He has supernaturally provided nourishment for you.” God not only reassured Elijah of His immediate presence but promised him that He would be there through the whole “journey” because otherwise the journey would be too difficult for him.
The act of eating is symbolic of receiving from the Lord. It is also symbolic of our need for daily communication with the Lord in prayer and in His communication with us through the Word. The apostle Paul used the very same symbolism in Acts 27. On his journey to Rome, the ship he was on encountered a severe storm. Paul said to everyone on the ship, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival” (Acts 27:33-34).
One thing I have found myself doing (or have been tempted to do) when coming down off the high of intense ministry was breaking the rhythm of my personal devotional pattern. Instead of spending time with the Lord daily, I would say to myself, “I’m just too tired for that right now.” Or in my negative frame of mind I would think, “I don’t know why I do that so much, anyhow.”
I wonder how often we have done just the same as Elijah and the people on Paul’s ship did. We try to handle everything on our own and the journey becomes too great for us. The apostle and the angel of the Lord have a message for us: “Arise and eat! This is for your survival.”
1 Kings 18:46 says the hand of the Lord (an indirect reference to the Holy Spirit) came upon Elijah and he was so energized that he outran Ahab’s horse-drawn chariot on the way to Jezreel. Elijah was so supernaturally strengthened by “the hand of the Lord” after these great victories that he surpassed Ahab’s horses over a twenty-five-mile distance. The brother was pumped!
At Jezreel, the strangest thing happened. Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, sent a threatening message to Elijah: “By this time tomorrow, Elijah, I will see to it that you are dead!” (see 1 Kings 19:2). Elijah, who had just seen God bring about two incredible victories, reacted in fear and ran for his life (v. 3). On the other side of a “high moment” there will always be a “low” and Elijah was not prepared for it; the “low” threw him into fear.
I know what it is like in the days following a very powerful and supernatural time of ministry. Sometimes there were thousands of people in attendance and sometimes the crowds were tiny, but the ministry time was marked by the power and presence of God. You spend your days in a whirlwind of ministry and serving and then suddenly it’s all over. You head home for rest and suddenly the high is gone and you are extremely tired, feel wasted, and sometimes even get depressed! I know what that is like.
So Elijah ran! And he pushed away his servant, further revealing that he was in a “low” period. Elijah’s servant was the one person who had walked with him through every circumstance; he was faithful and loyal and he knew how to help him regain his composure. Yet, Elijah left him in a strange city (see 1 Kings 19:3).
Elijah went off alone into the wilderness where he sat down under a tree and began to complain and despair of life. Finally he lay down under the tree and went to sleep. An angel of the Lord awakened him and said, “Arise and eat!” Elijah sat up and saw freshly baked bread and a jar of water beside him so he ate and drank. Then he lay down and went right back to sleep. The angel of the Lord came a second time, awakened Elijah and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you” (1 Kings 19:7).
Commentators often say this statement about the journey is referring to what lay ahead, as Elijah would travel for forty more days before he reached Mount Horeb. This is correct, but I believe it misses a large part of the purpose of the angel’s ministry assignment to Elijah. I think the angel was referring to the “journey” as being the whole pathway of Elijah’s life from start to finish.
I believe the angel was saying to Elijah, “Stop trying to do this alone; you know better than this. You have run in fear as though God was no longer with you. You have complained and despaired as if God has let you down—and you know better than that! So get up off the ground and eat. God has not forgotten you or left you alone! See, He has supernaturally provided nourishment for you.” God not only reassured Elijah of His immediate presence but promised him that He would be there through the whole “journey” because otherwise the journey would be too difficult for him.
The act of eating is symbolic of receiving from the Lord. It is also symbolic of our need for daily communication with the Lord in prayer and in His communication with us through the Word. The apostle Paul used the very same symbolism in Acts 27. On his journey to Rome, the ship he was on encountered a severe storm. Paul said to everyone on the ship, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival” (Acts 27:33-34).
One thing I have found myself doing (or have been tempted to do) when coming down off the high of intense ministry was breaking the rhythm of my personal devotional pattern. Instead of spending time with the Lord daily, I would say to myself, “I’m just too tired for that right now.” Or in my negative frame of mind I would think, “I don’t know why I do that so much, anyhow.”
I wonder how often we have done just the same as Elijah and the people on Paul’s ship did. We try to handle everything on our own and the journey becomes too great for us. The apostle and the angel of the Lord have a message for us: “Arise and eat! This is for your survival.”
Friday, September 16, 2011
NOT MANY FATHERS
“For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. So I urge you to imitate me” (1 Corinthians 4:15-16, NLT).
I have just returned from Jacksonville, Florida, where I participated in a memorial service for a dear friend, Paul Goodwin. Paul was a mentor to me and he was one of a very small group of men whom I consider to be my “spiritual fathers.”
I first met Paul and his family many years ago when he was pastor of Calvary Temple in Jacksonville. Carol and I were travelling doing advance work for a David Wilkerson crusade in Jacksonville and spent several weeks there in early 1968. Paul and I got acquainted at that time and our friendship grew over the next six years, as I was back in Jacksonville several times.
In late 1974 our family moved to Los Angeles where I became Vice President of World Literature Crusade (now known as Every Home for Christ). As I was getting familiar with the people who worked there, I noticed that a Paul Goodwin was on the list of men who represented the ministry throughout the U.S. and Canada. Indeed, it was the same man I had met a few years earlier. I immediately made contact with Paul and over the next couple of years our friendship deepened.
Paul was a mentor/father to me. He was a very loving, godly, Spirit-filled man who genuinely radiated more of the love of God than any man I have ever met.
Paul often stayed in our home when he was in Los Angeles and we loved to have him visit. One day our daughters came to me and said, “Dad, Paul is like an uncle—but he’s not—and he’s like a grandfather—but he’s not. So we wondered if we could just call him Grumple.” I told them it was fine with me but they should talk to Paul about it. Paul laughingly agreed and to this day our daughters refer to him as their beloved Grumple.
For many years I talked to Paul at least once a week on the phone and sometimes every day. He was always ready to encourage, pray with, counsel or occasionally even chastise me. Paul was always encouraging to me, both by example and by word. He walked with us through some extremely difficult times as the ministry we were in transitioned from what it was then to what it is today. President John Kennedy used to say, “Without change there can be no progress.” That’s a true statement but what he didn’t say was how painful change can be or how resistant human nature is to change.
One day the ministry was going through a particularly difficult period and the stress and tension felt overwhelming. I went into my office, closed the door and called Paul. I just wanted to hear a friendly voice and talk with someone who would encourage me, pat me on the head, and assure me that everything would be okay! Paul listened to my pathetic tale of woe and the moment I finished I got ready to be encouraged. Instead, Paul quoted a Scripture to me. If you read this blog regularly, you know how much I love the Word of God, but there are times when I don’t want somebody to “smack me upside the head” with it. The verse Paul quoted to me that day was Proverbs 24:10: “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”
For just a moment there was dead silence as Paul finished quoting the verse and then we both began to laugh. My first reaction had been a flash of anger and then I realized that Paul had done the right thing. I needed to hear that word right at that time. I needed to be told to get up off my butt and start acting like an adult and I knew this man loved me enough to tell me the truth—and he did. A true friend will tell you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear.
This blog began with the Apostle Paul’s words to the Corinthian church regarding his being their father in the Lord (v. 15). The next verse says, “Therefore I urge you, imitate me.” The apostle Paul was a good father to the Corinthian church and knew they wouldn’t go wrong if they followed his example (see also 1 Corinthians 11:1).
The apostle was so comfortable with the way he had identified with Christ that he was able to say to the Corinthians, “If you can’t do it any other way, then follow/imitate me as I follow Christ.” So it was with my friend Paul Goodwin. Paul displayed for me how to live as a Spirit-filled believer. In Jacksonville, Paul was known to many as the “Bishop of the Renewal Movement” and was loved by many of the renewal leaders in the region.
Early in his life, Paul and his wife Dee were missionaries to Jamaica where they built a great church and assisted in starting a Bible school. While in Jamaica Paul wrote a chorus entitled Sweet Jesus that will be familiar to many of you. Here are the lyrics to the chorus.
Sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus,
What a wonder you are;
You’re brighter than the morning star.
You’re fairer, much fairer
Than the lily that grows by the wayside;
Precious, more precious than gold.
You’re like the Rose of Sharon,
The fairest of the fair.
You’re all my heart could ’er desire.
Sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus,
What a wonder you are;
You’re precious, more precious than gold.
Rest in peace, my dear friend. We’ll all be there to celebrate soon!
I have just returned from Jacksonville, Florida, where I participated in a memorial service for a dear friend, Paul Goodwin. Paul was a mentor to me and he was one of a very small group of men whom I consider to be my “spiritual fathers.”
I first met Paul and his family many years ago when he was pastor of Calvary Temple in Jacksonville. Carol and I were travelling doing advance work for a David Wilkerson crusade in Jacksonville and spent several weeks there in early 1968. Paul and I got acquainted at that time and our friendship grew over the next six years, as I was back in Jacksonville several times.
In late 1974 our family moved to Los Angeles where I became Vice President of World Literature Crusade (now known as Every Home for Christ). As I was getting familiar with the people who worked there, I noticed that a Paul Goodwin was on the list of men who represented the ministry throughout the U.S. and Canada. Indeed, it was the same man I had met a few years earlier. I immediately made contact with Paul and over the next couple of years our friendship deepened.
Paul was a mentor/father to me. He was a very loving, godly, Spirit-filled man who genuinely radiated more of the love of God than any man I have ever met.
Paul often stayed in our home when he was in Los Angeles and we loved to have him visit. One day our daughters came to me and said, “Dad, Paul is like an uncle—but he’s not—and he’s like a grandfather—but he’s not. So we wondered if we could just call him Grumple.” I told them it was fine with me but they should talk to Paul about it. Paul laughingly agreed and to this day our daughters refer to him as their beloved Grumple.
For many years I talked to Paul at least once a week on the phone and sometimes every day. He was always ready to encourage, pray with, counsel or occasionally even chastise me. Paul was always encouraging to me, both by example and by word. He walked with us through some extremely difficult times as the ministry we were in transitioned from what it was then to what it is today. President John Kennedy used to say, “Without change there can be no progress.” That’s a true statement but what he didn’t say was how painful change can be or how resistant human nature is to change.
One day the ministry was going through a particularly difficult period and the stress and tension felt overwhelming. I went into my office, closed the door and called Paul. I just wanted to hear a friendly voice and talk with someone who would encourage me, pat me on the head, and assure me that everything would be okay! Paul listened to my pathetic tale of woe and the moment I finished I got ready to be encouraged. Instead, Paul quoted a Scripture to me. If you read this blog regularly, you know how much I love the Word of God, but there are times when I don’t want somebody to “smack me upside the head” with it. The verse Paul quoted to me that day was Proverbs 24:10: “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”
For just a moment there was dead silence as Paul finished quoting the verse and then we both began to laugh. My first reaction had been a flash of anger and then I realized that Paul had done the right thing. I needed to hear that word right at that time. I needed to be told to get up off my butt and start acting like an adult and I knew this man loved me enough to tell me the truth—and he did. A true friend will tell you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear.
This blog began with the Apostle Paul’s words to the Corinthian church regarding his being their father in the Lord (v. 15). The next verse says, “Therefore I urge you, imitate me.” The apostle Paul was a good father to the Corinthian church and knew they wouldn’t go wrong if they followed his example (see also 1 Corinthians 11:1).
The apostle was so comfortable with the way he had identified with Christ that he was able to say to the Corinthians, “If you can’t do it any other way, then follow/imitate me as I follow Christ.” So it was with my friend Paul Goodwin. Paul displayed for me how to live as a Spirit-filled believer. In Jacksonville, Paul was known to many as the “Bishop of the Renewal Movement” and was loved by many of the renewal leaders in the region.
Early in his life, Paul and his wife Dee were missionaries to Jamaica where they built a great church and assisted in starting a Bible school. While in Jamaica Paul wrote a chorus entitled Sweet Jesus that will be familiar to many of you. Here are the lyrics to the chorus.
Sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus,
What a wonder you are;
You’re brighter than the morning star.
You’re fairer, much fairer
Than the lily that grows by the wayside;
Precious, more precious than gold.
You’re like the Rose of Sharon,
The fairest of the fair.
You’re all my heart could ’er desire.
Sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus,
What a wonder you are;
You’re precious, more precious than gold.
Rest in peace, my dear friend. We’ll all be there to celebrate soon!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
THE BANQUET TABLE!
I absolutely love the 23rd Psalm. Over the years I have enjoyed the riches of this incredible series of insights that flowed out of David’s heart and spirit. Just when I think I have discovered everything possible, I turn the diamond just a bit and the light catches a whole new brilliance of God’s love and care and it just lights up my life. That happened again not long ago.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over” (v. 5).
This verse is a trilogy of blessing! A God-prepared table, an anointing, and an overflowing cup!
What is it that drives us to the dinner table in the natural? We get hungry and we eat to meet that need! What is it that drives us to seek God? Hunger in the inner man! What is God’s promise to the hungry? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”(Matthew 5:6). The word hunger means to crave ardently, to seek with eager desire, to be painfully hungry. God promises to meet those who earnestly, wholeheartedly, hungrily seek Him.
God tells us in Psalm 23:5 that He has prepared a table, a spread of spiritual food that is designed to meet and fulfill our deepest and most heartfelt needs. Each table, each meal is prepared for us alone! Go ahead, it’s all right! You can call it designer food because that is exactly what God had in mind for you. He designs each meal to feed and strengthen you!
The table finds its best expression, its fullest ability to satisfy your deepest longing and desire, in those moments when you quietly meet with Him in personal worship, in the Word, in prayer and in quiet meditation. In those moments you have the greatest access to the full spread of the table. In those moments God begins to feed you with exactly what you need to fulfill your innermost hunger and to grow your spiritual man/woman.
It is in those personal moments of intimate contact with Him that the full impact of His designed nourishment begins to flow into you. He prepared this table with you in mind: your needs, your struggles, your growth. He has prepared a meal just for you that will meet your exact needs and strengthen you to become that man, that woman of God that He has destined you to be.
Please listen carefully to what I am going to say now because I know that some will misunderstand. When you do not take the time to eat at your own table but rush to eat at others’ tables, it is not a mortal sin, it is just the wrong food at the wrong time and it brings less than the desired response.
Your spiritual nourishment is found at the table the Lord has set just for you. This nourishment will come because you step up to the table and partake of the meal that was meticulously designed with you in mind.
We need to be faithful to the church. Hebrews 10:25 has not been taken out of your Bible and Ephesians 4:12 is not going away. Jesus is still calling some to be pastors and still empowering pastors to equip us for the work of the ministry. We need to sit under our pastor’s teaching and inspiration; we need to be in Bible study; we need the fellowship of others on the journey of faith. These are the between-meal power snacks along the journey of our life of faith. But if you are counting on what you get at church, see on Christian television, hear on Christian radio, or read in the latest inspirational best seller to be your primary source of spiritual nourishment, you are eating at the wrong table.
There is a RESERVED sign and a name card on your table. The table is reserved for you and the name on the card is yours. There are only two chairs at your table, one for you and the other for Jesus. Your time at the table is meant to be an occasion of intimacy: eating, talking, listening and worshipping.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).
Dinnertime is coming, the table is set, and I can hardly wait!
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over” (v. 5).
This verse is a trilogy of blessing! A God-prepared table, an anointing, and an overflowing cup!
What is it that drives us to the dinner table in the natural? We get hungry and we eat to meet that need! What is it that drives us to seek God? Hunger in the inner man! What is God’s promise to the hungry? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”(Matthew 5:6). The word hunger means to crave ardently, to seek with eager desire, to be painfully hungry. God promises to meet those who earnestly, wholeheartedly, hungrily seek Him.
God tells us in Psalm 23:5 that He has prepared a table, a spread of spiritual food that is designed to meet and fulfill our deepest and most heartfelt needs. Each table, each meal is prepared for us alone! Go ahead, it’s all right! You can call it designer food because that is exactly what God had in mind for you. He designs each meal to feed and strengthen you!
The table finds its best expression, its fullest ability to satisfy your deepest longing and desire, in those moments when you quietly meet with Him in personal worship, in the Word, in prayer and in quiet meditation. In those moments you have the greatest access to the full spread of the table. In those moments God begins to feed you with exactly what you need to fulfill your innermost hunger and to grow your spiritual man/woman.
It is in those personal moments of intimate contact with Him that the full impact of His designed nourishment begins to flow into you. He prepared this table with you in mind: your needs, your struggles, your growth. He has prepared a meal just for you that will meet your exact needs and strengthen you to become that man, that woman of God that He has destined you to be.
Please listen carefully to what I am going to say now because I know that some will misunderstand. When you do not take the time to eat at your own table but rush to eat at others’ tables, it is not a mortal sin, it is just the wrong food at the wrong time and it brings less than the desired response.
Your spiritual nourishment is found at the table the Lord has set just for you. This nourishment will come because you step up to the table and partake of the meal that was meticulously designed with you in mind.
We need to be faithful to the church. Hebrews 10:25 has not been taken out of your Bible and Ephesians 4:12 is not going away. Jesus is still calling some to be pastors and still empowering pastors to equip us for the work of the ministry. We need to sit under our pastor’s teaching and inspiration; we need to be in Bible study; we need the fellowship of others on the journey of faith. These are the between-meal power snacks along the journey of our life of faith. But if you are counting on what you get at church, see on Christian television, hear on Christian radio, or read in the latest inspirational best seller to be your primary source of spiritual nourishment, you are eating at the wrong table.
There is a RESERVED sign and a name card on your table. The table is reserved for you and the name on the card is yours. There are only two chairs at your table, one for you and the other for Jesus. Your time at the table is meant to be an occasion of intimacy: eating, talking, listening and worshipping.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).
Dinnertime is coming, the table is set, and I can hardly wait!
Friday, September 2, 2011
PRAYING FOR GOD TO HEAL OUR LAND!
God made a promise when He appeared to Solomon immediately after the newly-built temple was dedicated in Jerusalem (see 2 Chronicles 7:14).
God said to Solomon, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this temple as a place for Myself, as a house where sacrifices can be offered. My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to every prayer made in the temple. At times I may cause the rains to stop, the crops to fail and sickness to come among the people. Should that happen, here is My word for you: ‘If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7:14).”
This Scripture is a clear call to God’s people on how to appeal to the Father, and His promise to come and heal the land. This passage is not a prayer, it is a promise!
Daniel was a man of God who knew how to keep his faith alive in extremely difficult circumstances. The Jews had been in captivity in Babylon for nearly seventy years and Daniel faced a troubling and uncertain future. His prayer for the deliverance of his people in Daniel 9:4-19 is one of the best models of prayer for us, as our nation and the world sinks into the madness of the end times.
The brevity of this blog allows me to touch only the highlights of this powerful, intercessory prayer. I would encourage all who are burdened for our churches, our nation and our world to take time to read, meditate on and pray over this passage of Scripture.
In the first verses of Daniel 9, we read that Daniel discovered in the writings of Jeremiah a prophecy that the Jewish people would be held in captivity for seventy years. I believe Daniel’s spirit leapt as he read this and realized how close they were to the fulfillment of the prophecy. But at the same time Daniel knew the Jewish nation was not living for and serving God. He knew that unless there was a change in the hearts of the people and they turned to the Lord, their freedom would be short-lived and God would put them right back into an oppressive situation.
Verse 3 — “I set my face toward the Lord God.” Daniel was determined to touch God with his prayer. To “set his face” means he was intent on achieving a specific result. He was going to pray through!
Verse 5 — “We have sinned and committed iniquity.” Daniel did not point fingers at others. He took ownership of the sin and iniquity of the people. I call this a “we” prayer and the use of “we” establishes that Daniel identified with his people; he did not point at them and say, “They are to blame, they have done wrong.”
Verse 6 — “We have not listened to the messengers [the prophets] you sent to bring your word” (my paraphrase). We heard the words but we did not do what Your word instructed us to do.
Verse 7 — “Righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face.” There is nothing arrogant or proud in Daniel’s prayer. This is the expression of the humility that God says He will respond to, the humility spoken of in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people . . . will humble themselves.”
Verse 10 — “We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord.” No excuses are being offered. “We are disobedient; we have taken the word of the Lord lightly and have not been obedient!”
Verse 12 — “He has confirmed His words.” Even in judgment God is faithful to His word—He promised that curses/judgment would come because of disobedience (Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28).
Verse 13 — “All this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God.” All that had happened to the Jews had not brought them to a place of prayer nor had they turned from their sinful and unfaithful ways. Are we any different? Will we ever learn?
Daniel then appeals for God’s intervention. Verses 16-19 are, I believe, the heart of Daniel’s prayer as he asks God for four things:
1. First, he asked that the Lord turn away His anger and wrath from Jerusalem (verse 16).
2. Second, Daniel asked that a new day of blessing would come for His temple: “Cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary” (verse 17).
3. Third, Daniel appealed to the Lord to open both His ear and His eye to the desolation of the people. Daniel appeals to the mercy of God and acknowledges the lack of righteousness among the people (verse 18).
4. Fourth, Daniel calls on the Lord to forgive His people and to take action to return them to their land, to the city of Jerusalem and to the temple (verse 19).
I need to say this before I chicken out . . . The church needs to get down off the Laodicean pedestal we have put ourselves on. The majority of the church in America/Canada is living in the lie of the pride of the Laodacean church: “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” (Revelation 3:17). The majority of the church of today sees no need for a visitation of God. They are neither hot nor cold but, in fact, are poor, blind and naked and are not in a place to contribute anything meaningful as the world descends into chaos.
The modern church is looking for the fulfillment of 2 Chronicles 7:14 without having to meet the conditions of the promise. We want the healing of the land without humility, without repentance, without prayer.
Daniel’s prayer is worthy of our attention. It is a model of how to pray for the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 to be fulfilled.
It is time for us to humble ourselves and ask God to forgive us for our failures and extend His great mercy to our land. And if we will, He will!
Friday, August 26, 2011
THE MYSTERY OF THE UNFRUITFUL BRANCH
John 15:1-8 is one of my favorite portions of Scripture. I find something very appealing and comforting in the picture that Jesus painted. His Father is the husbandman/vinedresser, Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and the vineyard is the Kingdom of God.
I must admit, however, that a couple of things Jesus had to say in the first three verses were a mystery to me. One statement seemed to be contradictory and harsh and the other did not seem to fit in the flow of the passage. So, like any good Spirit-filled believer, I just ignored those statements and pretended they were not there!
The first statement that bothered me was in verse 2: “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away.” I could not begin to count the number of times I have heard preachers say that this is God’s purging of unfruitful branches, that if you do not bear fruit, He will cut you off! I find this thinking to be contradictory to verse 5: “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.” How can one verse say that a branch in Him that does not bear fruit will get cut off and another say, categorically, if you are in Him you will bear fruit? To take both of those statements at face value could cause me to be more schizophrenic than I already am!
The second thing that troubled me was verse 3, which to me seemed like it was a parenthetical statement. The verse says, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” This is a powerful statement but what does it have to do with an unfruitful branch of the previous verse? It seemed to me that this very clear and strong word just somehow did not belong in this passage.
Let’s see if we can unravel this mystery!
Bruce Wilkinson is the founder of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries and is probably best known for his incredible book The Prayer of Jabez. In one of his other writings, Wilkinson tells the story of being at a pastors’ conference on the West Coast. After one of the sessions, he was approached by a man who had a question for him: “Do you understand John 15?” Bruce responded, “Not completely.” The man then told him, “I own a large vineyard in Northern California and I think I may have some insights that would be helpful.” The two men arranged a time to meet and talk.
Sitting at a table in a nearby restaurant, Wilkinson and the man began to talk about the life of a grower and the work involved. The vineyard owner explained, “New branches have a tendency to trail down and grow along the ground but they do not bear fruit down there. Growing along the ground, they get covered in dust and dirt, and if it rains they get muddy and often become mildewed. Also, these ‘on the ground’ branches become sickly and useless.”
“What do you do then?” Wilkinson asked. “Do you prune them, cut them off and throw them away?”
“Oh, no, these branches are much too valuable for that,” the owner explained. “We are constantly in the vineyard looking for branches that have grown down and are trailing along the ground. When we find one, we lift it up, take clean water and wash it off and then secure it back up on the trellis. Before long the branch is growing and bearing fruit again.”
As I read this account, I had a “revelation moment.” Suddenly I understood verses 2 and 3 of John 15 in a brand-new way. Isn’t that just like the Father and the Son to say to us, “You have been growing along the ground and gotten dusty, dirty and mildewed! I will pick you up, clean you off, and put you back where you belong! It won’t be long before you are fruitful because Life will be flowing through you!”
The old English phrase, “He takes away,” does not carry well into our time. The original language for this phrase means “to lift up, to elevate, to move from where it was” and does not refer to pruning or purging. Jesus does go on in verse 2 to say that He will prune branches that are bearing fruit. He will cut off old growth that is now dead, so that the branches can again bear fruit.
In verse 3 Jesus says, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” The word clean used here is the root word for cleanse as it is used in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Cleanse means to be free from the defilement of sin, faults and wickedness.
God is the Lord of the vineyard but not only is He the owner, but He is an active owner, the husbandman/caretaker. He is personally extending care to us; He lifts us up when we have fallen and He restores us! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We Pentecostals are far too cool to jump, dance and shout anymore but I think I feel a shout of praise coming on! Can I hear a witness?
Friday, August 19, 2011
POOR IN SPIRIT
During forty-five years in ministry, hundreds of thousands of miles travelled, and more than sixty countries visited, I have met some interesting people along the way. A few of those I would consider “giants of the faith” because of their worldwide fame; others are “giants” in the region where they live and minister. The vast majority of the people I met, however, are not well-known at all. Many are true heroes of the kingdom, men and women who faithfully and quietly labor because the Lord has given them an assignment.
I have noticed one quality in all those who have enduring ministries. Each, whether well-known or unknown, is a person who does not take himself too seriously. He (she) has adopted an attitude of humility and complete dependence on Him.
I am currently reading a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer entitled, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Bonhoeffer came from an aristocratic German family where great emphasis was put on education and intellect and he received his doctorate in theology at age 21. Rather than becoming a university professor, Bonhoeffer felt called into pastoral ministry. Underneath the intellectual prowess and verbal skill as a public speaker, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a humble man.
Few men have impacted the modern church more than Dietrich Bonhoeffer and few have paid the price for his faith that he did. In this post we are going to take a brief look at just one very important part of the life-changing elements in the Sermon on the Mount. Bonhoeffer has stated that the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) became central to his life and theology—that it changed his life.
The Sermon, as I call it, is one of the best-known “teachings” of Jesus Christ. The opening portion of the Sermon in Matthew 5:3-11 is popularly called “The Beatitudes.”
The first of the Beatitudes is, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Oswald Chambers declares that not only is Matthew 5:3 the first of the Beatitudes and the opening to the Sermon, but it is also the bedrock principle for all who come into Christ’s kingdom.
We must have a clear understanding of two important words in this verse. The first, “blessed,” is a grace word, meaning that it is tightly entwined with our understanding of grace. The use of the word in the Beatitudes speaks of God’s favor, His joy freely given to the person being described in the verse.
The second word, “poor,” as in being “poor in spirit,” does not mean to lack courage or to have a weak spirit but is to acknowledge spiritual poverty. The word expresses one’s unworthiness before God and utter dependence on Him. The word speaks of honesty, humility, contriteness. It is best to remember that although we have been invited to come boldly into His presence, we do so because He allows us to, not because of our own merit!
If I could paraphrase Matthew 5:3 I would say it this way: “The blessing and favor of God rests upon those who humbly acknowledge their spiritual poverty. Through their humility they continually express their total dependence on God and because of that, they will enjoy the fruit of the kingdom of heaven here and now!”
I do not relate well to the arrogance and strutting of some of the “Christian celebrities” on television. It can be confusing at times. They talk about all the things they are doing, how well they are doing, and the thought may creep in, “Well, I guess that’s the blessing of the Lord!” (And, honestly, isn’t that somewhat implied?) I know what it is like to have those kinds of thoughts, as I have tried to understand reservations in my spirit about these people.
Many of these “celebrities” have no anointing at all! What they are doing is operating in their natural talents and, admittedly, some of them are very gifted speakers and motivators. The naïveté of the American church assumes that excellent and persuasive preaching equals “the anointing”—and it does not!
God’s Word is very clear on three things about pride and humility:
1. God sets Himself against pride and the embracing of it. 1 Peter 5:5: “God resists the proud.”
2. The favor of God rests on the humble. 1 Peter 5:5: “[God] gives grace [favor] to the humble.”
3. God’s presence is with the humble and contrite. Isaiah 57:15: “I [God] dwell . . . with him who has a contrite and humble spirit.”
I know that some will be highly irritated at the message of this post. They will read the article and say things like, “David’s losing it, he’s regressing!” and they are probably right! I am regressing. I am trying my best to move away from a posture of arrogance and pride to a place of honest humility and contriteness. I would rather be unknown and have His presence in my life than be well-known and devoid of God’s presence after having pushed myself forward. I am trying hard (and not always successfully) to learn and apply what John the Baptist meant when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
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