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God's Ways Are Not Our Ways

4/18/2018

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“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)


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A recent devotion was on Shiphrah and Puah who were women of courage and great faith. As soon as I finished that devotion the Lord spoke and told me to begin to study Daniel. As I began  reading I was overwhelmed with what the Holy Spirit was revealing. So what does the Lord want to teach us this week? He wants to take us on a journey.

As I reflected on what I have been reading I realized that human beings are great at giving advice and declaring ideas as “facts”. We tend to twist anything and everything to what we want it to be and declare that everyone else is wrong. It’s a common trick of the enemy, divide and conquer, Satan is very good at it.

So today we are going to look at the question that is always being asked, “What makes a man great?” Actually that is the wrong question to ask and that is why we never get the right answer. The question really is “Who makes a man great?”. Of course we know that the correct answer is God Almighty. But even those who call themselves believers today believe that man has deity in him and can provide his own path to heaven. It is no wonder that our society is in such destruction!

Men have always worshipped other gods rather than the One true God. Evil entered through the Garden of Eden and continues to increase and will continue to increase until the end when God casts Satan into the Lake of Fire forever. However, that does not remove the necessity of our search for biblical truth. There is ONE way to the Kingdom of God and that is through Jesus Christ. We cannot believe that there is any good in us apart from the Lord. “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” (Romans 3:10-12) Nor can we believe that we can live our life as our own, any way we desire, and still enter the Kingdom of God because of our morals or character or good works. Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) 

The first person we are going to study from the Book of Daniel, is not Daniel. Surprised? I was also. But as we proceed, if you allow the Holy Spirit to open your understanding, you will begin to understand more clearly why the question of “Who makes a man great?” is so important and how that is relevant to you and me. 

King Nebuchadnezzar was the longest ruling king of the Babylonian empire, he was a fierce warrior. When I think of him I don’t immediately think of righteous deeds or obedience to the Living God. He didn’t have “faith” in God, he had faith in himself and his mighty armies. 

This is a critical truth we believers need to understand. We have the “talk” down and love to brag about our faith and how God supplies our needs, but in reality a great deal of those needs are being met by our own efforts. We forget what the true definition of faith really is! ”Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) What are things hoped for? God’s promises! What is the conviction of things not seen? Receiving and believing without a doubt that God will deliver on those promises when and if it is in His plans! (We are not talking about name it and claim it, but standing on His promises and praying for His will to be done.) We may not see it in the flesh but that doesn’t mean that God is not at work implementing His plan. When we are in the midst of trials and tribulations can we joyfully praise God and rest in Him knowing that He will take us through them? “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.” (Isaiah 43:2) My dear friends, the way He takes us through them is usually not the way we would have ever imagined! “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9) Another truth, which is often neglected, is that those trials and tribulations we are experiencing could be for someone else to see God. And, probably one of the hardest truths to receive is that the Lord will often use non-believers for His purposes!

And so, we meet King Nebuchadnezzar. As a matter of fact, we meet him in verse 1 but it is verse 2 that we need to understand, “The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand…” (Daniel 1:2 emphasis mine). God had been speaking many years through His prophets that if the people would turn from their wicked ways, stop worshipping idols and return to Him as their Lord, He would protect them. But they refused to listen. 

Hear this clearly, God didn’t disown them but because He is a perfect God He cannot condone sin and there has to be judgment. And do not be quick to dismiss this as something not relevant to today. In the Book of 1 Corinthians the Apostle Paul rebukes the believing body for their not dealing with sin within the body. Let’s actually let the words of Paul speak to us, “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 5:1-5 emphasis mine) “and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, ‘MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.’ It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” (Hebrews 12:5-8 emphasis mine) The writer of this epistle was actually quoting from the Book of Job, verses 17-18. God is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. Dear readers, please remember that the WHOLE of Scripture cannot be divided nor separated, it is continuous and in complete agreement. 

King Nebuchadnezzar had, of course, taken the royal family and other of the nobles captive and once they were in Babylon he ordered that his officials pick out the “youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding, and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court;...” (Daniel 1:4) They were to be taught their literature and their language and they would be fed with the choicest of foods that the king had. They would be trained for a period of three years. Three is a very important number in Hebrew. When it applies to God is means holiness but it also means a period of testing and proving. These young men were being groomed to serve in the king’s court. This would be a time that would test them and the outcome would produce either good fruit or bad fruit. It would also reveal something even more important, it would prove to whom their hearts and very lives belonged. They would either be captivated and eagerly come into agreement with the ways of the Babylonians or they would remain loyal to the Living God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Remaining loyal to their God did not make them unfit for service, but because of their submission to God they would be vessels in which God would use to reveal His glory.

My dear friends, God has a divine purpose in everything under the sun and His desire is for us to hear the Holy Spirit reveal His plan through His Word so that He can apply it to our lives! But if we have not made Him Lord of our lives, we will miss the opportunity to serve Him and to develop an intimate personal relationship with Him.

As I was reading this over again this morning I could hear the Holy Spirit wanting to challenge us. Like these young men who were taken into service for training for three years, so are we “taken into service” in our schools today. Prayer has been removed, all references to the Bible or the moral code has been removed. History has been watered down and changed so that it doesn’t even accurately reflect the past. In its place there is an agenda to “dummy down” or “brainwash” the students into seeing “a bigger picture”, to be “progressive”, to be “open minded”. Tolerate is now being used in a new meaning that anything goes, there is no moral right or wrong. So, just like the Israelites, minds were being “opened up” to accept new “literature/history” and a new language. In Scripture it was an actual cultural language they were learning much like if we would take a course to learn Italian or French or any other, but today it is a new language of changing the meaning of words that have been used for centuries but now being twisted for others purposes.  Stay and linger here as long as you need until you have allowed the Holy Spirit to show you how you have been impacted by this truth.

Out of all these young men taken into the king’s program there were only four that had a deep relationship with the Lord that caused them to speak to the king’s guards to alter the program for them. This was a very dangerous move if you consider the circumstances, but it is also an extremely important lesson in faith. They trusted God, they were submitted to Him, they feared hurting Him more than they feared any retaliation from the king! 

In the Book of Isaiah we read about the coming Messiah and His righteousness. Let’s read it together and see how these same attributes of Jesus are in those who are truly His and will guide their path in every circumstance of their lives. “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,...”  (Isaiah 11:2-3) Daniel and his friends knew where their strength, wisdom and knowledge came from and thus trusted in Him to provide for their needs! “Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials,” (Daniel 1:9) “As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.” (Daniel 1:17) 

In the second year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign he had a dream that deeply troubled him. The way he chose to have his dream interpreted tells us much about him. Instead of relating his dream so that his magicians, conjurers and sorcerers could tell him its meaning, he insisted they tell him the dream! When they requested he tell them the dream his response is quite frightening, “The king replied to the Chaldeans, ‘The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.’” (Daniel 2:5-6) No amount of reasoning worked and finally the king gave the order to destroy all the wise men of Babylon (2:12).Even though this matter did not involve Daniel and his friends, they were included in the wise men of Babylon and would be killed. Daniel went to the king and requested time to seek the interpretation and it was granted. He, however, went to his three friends and informed them of the problem and instructed them to seek favor from the Lord that they would not be destroyed. God gave Daniel the interpretation and protected them all.

Don’t miss this next part, Daniel blessed God and thanked Him, for he knew it was not in himself to know these things but that the Lord had revealed them as a testimony and witness to His greatness! There is much we can learn by reading Daniel’s praise! “Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven; Daniel said, ‘Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for You have given me wisdom and power; even now You have made known to me what we requested of You, for You have made known to us the king’s matter.” (Daniel 2:19-23 emphasis mine) What a beautiful prayer! Daniel gave glory to the only One who has the power to reveal the truth.

When Daniel was brought into the king’s presence to give the interpretation, notice Daniel’s delivery, “Daniel answered before the king and said, ‘As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed.’” (Daniel 2:27-28 emphasis mine) “But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.” (Daniel 2:30 emphasis mine) Notice that Daniel was relentless in his presentation and understanding that God was the divine presence and his interpretation was from God and had nothing to do with his own ability. Daniel was totally submitted to the Lord and was a very humble man. 

While the dream in total was a picture of the end times there is a very significant portion we need to note. “You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.” (Daniel 2:37-38 emphasis mine) Nebuchadnezzar was not a believer, he had just conquered the people of God and taken them into captivity, yet...“You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all…” God can and will use whomever He pleases to bring about His will. While this situation had a lot to do with the discipline of the people of God because of disobedience it also has another aspect. God was making Himself known to Nebuchadnezzar as the One and Only God. 

The king’s response was, unfortunately, much like the response we make when God moves in our lives. We are grateful for the answer but do not worship Him or repent of our sin and turn to Him. “Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel,..” (Daniel 2:46 emphasis mine) Was God surprised by the king’s response? No, God knew what his response would be (just as God knew Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened each time Moses went to him asking that he allow the Israelites to go). But God’s plans are always more dimensional than we can see. He had placed Daniel in this position for a reason and now we find that Daniel was promoted. “Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.” (Daniel 2:48) You might, at this point, be thinking how great that would be and how God is a rewarder of those who follow Him. That is true. However, there is much more to be considered. With God’s blessings also comes much responsibility and also much opposition from the enemy. Daniel was able to have his three friends promoted as well but this also put all of them in the direct line of fire from the enemy. And, as we well know, the enemy uses those around us as his arrows of destruction. Those three years of “testing” while in training in the king’s court prepared Daniel and his friends for the Lord’s work as much as it educated them in the ways of the Babylonian ways and customs.

While it is true that Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged God’s greatness it did not change his heart. Instead of being amazed in what the Almighty God was doing in his life and revealing what would come in years ahead, his pride became great and he built a golden image to worship! Remember that in the dream Daniel revealed that he was the head of gold! The dream was not to magnify the king but to reveal to him forthcoming history. But like most of us, what he heard was what he wanted to hear, especially about how great he was and was to become! ”Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.” (Daniel 3:1) All the government and the people of the land were assembled. “Then the herald loudly proclaimed: ‘To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language,5that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.’” (Daniel 3:4-6) 

The only way to know the rest of the story is to read it as it is written by the Holy Spirit! “For this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews. They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king: ‘O king, live forever! You, O king, have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, and bagpipe and all kinds of music, is to fall down and worship the golden image. But whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire. There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.’ Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, ‘Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?’ Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.’ Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire. Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. For this reason, because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.” (Daniel 3:8-23 emphasis mine) 

Don’t rush through this account. The Holy Spirit is wanting us to see and understand what was really happening in this particular situation, but also to allow Him to examine our hearts and see if any pride has entered in that the enemy is using or is going to use against us. First of all, King Nebuchadnezzar only acknowledged God’s speaking through Daniel. Acknowledging there is a God does not save a person! This is a fatal mistake that many have fallen into today. The enemy has infiltrated the body of believers to such an extent that they are so worldly minded that the Scripture no longer is taken at face value. Notice what the following verse says and what it does not say.  “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” (Romans 10:9 emphasis mine) It does not say you will be saved if you acknowledge there is a God. It does not say that you pray a little prayer acknowledging that you need Him. It says that we verbally confess that He is Lord in our lives! We acknowledge that His death, burial and resurrection was to cleanse us of OUR sins (and it should have been us upon that cross) and we now turn from those sins and commit our lives to Him so that we will live according to HIS Word, not our desires! It isn’t enough to acknowledge, say a little prayer and then go back to living the same old way we’ve always lived! This is exactly what the king did. The Word is challenging us today to examine ourselves and see if we too may have fallen into this deception. “Examine me, O LORD, and try me; test my mind and my heart.” (Psalm 26:2) 

Most of us know the rest of this story but let’s stay here another minute. Remember when the king was addressing Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego? He said something that we need to take notice of, “and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?” Elohim, the Creator of the Universe gave him a dream of the end of times that even showed him his part leading up to that day! He was still the supreme being in his own eyes and knew that no one dared to defy him because he would kill them. Pride is an ugly master. It blinds our eyes and minds to every truth that is presented to us. It builds a soundproof wall around us that doesn’t allow the voice of truth to penetrate our mind. It keeps us in bondage to the sin that separates us from the Lord. Pride is what got Satan kicked out of heaven so it is the logical choice for him to use against us. Pride will kill us, spiritually and physically. If the Holy Spirit is convicting you of any pride in your life, take the time now to deal with them and repent. Then bless His holy name that HIs love for you is so great that He would give His life just for you to be with Him for all eternity!

Remember that question we just addressed, “and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?” Well, we are about to meet Him! The fire is so hot that it killed every one of those soldiers who were responsible for throwing the three young men into the blazing furnace, so no one was standing very close to that furnace, but something miraculous is about to happen! “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, ‘Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?’ They replied to the king, ‘Certainly, O king.’ He said, ‘Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!’’ (Daniel 3:24-25 emphasis mine) 

Now I don’t know about you but I really wonder what Nebuchadnezzar saw to make him exclaim that the fourth person in the furnace “is like a son of the gods”. But also notice that he still believed in many gods. And what did he think a god looked like that he would declare this figure was like a “son”? Was it because he was walking around in the fire with the three young men? I can have a vivid imagination at times and I imagine they were dancing around and singing “O Happy Day”! (Sorry, that was a side trip I had to share!) I honestly believe that the image was Jesus and that He was glorified in such a manner that the king just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. I also believe that since the king was able to draw near to the furnace to witness this phenomenon that there was a strong presence of the Lord all around.

Now I’m pretty sure I would be quite speechless if I was present! Can you even imagine? Really, stop and think about it a minute. What would your reaction be? Would it be pure excitement that the odds of such a thing happening? Or would you be overwhelmed that something and SOMEONE much greater than you was in your midst? This time the Lord God had Nebuchadnezzar’s full attention, at least for a few minutes. “Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!’ Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire.” (Daniel 3:26 emphasis mine) Notice that he is still thinking he is in charge and taking command of the situation. Oh how like the king we too can be at times. God is on the scene and we want to make sure we are still in control and command!

Are you thinking, however, that the king is finally beginning to “get it”? Is he finally recognizing God’s omnipotence? His authority? His supremacy? His divinity? Read the above statement carefully again, “you servants of the Most High God”, they are very revealing in what the king is thinking in his heart. Let’s continue on and take all the words into consideration. “Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.’” (Daniel 3:28-29 emphasis mine) 

Can you now see it? Can you now hear it? Can you now begin to understand how the words of people must be taken in context and we must allow the Holy Spirit to bring clarification and truth as to what the meaning is? The king sounds like he is acknowledging that the Lord God Almighty is the One and Only God of all of creation, but he is not. He has acknowledged that he is the “God” of these three young men and that He is indeed mighty and merciful and protected these young men because they trusted in Him. Even his next declaration was focused on himself as much as on the Lord! “It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. How great are His signs and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His dominion is from generation to generation.” (Daniel 4:2-3 emphasis mine) 

My heart is heavy as I write this. There are so many pastors, teachers, leaders and others in authority who will use certain aspects of God’s character to defend their stance on an issue but they pick and choose what part of God and His Holy Word they agree with. Hear these words of Jesus clearly, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30) While King Nebuchadnezzar declared that the Lord of the Hebrews was not to be defamed or blasphemed, he wasn’t testifying that he had denounced his worship of other gods. This, unfortunately, also fits a lot of the leaders in our pulpits and various ministries today. In these last days, God is challenging us to draw near to Him and seek His truth. My dear friends, it is critical that we are submitting everything to the Lord. Over and over again in the Scriptures the Holy Spirit is telling us that we must submit EVERYTHING to Him, possessions, money, family members, children, occupations, political affiliations. EVERYTHING in our lives are to be lined up with the written Word of God. Do your views line up with Scripture? If not, you have a problem, you are worshipping other gods. Maybe those other gods are even yourself, your pride. I don’t say that easily. The deception of lies that Satan has fed us have ensnared many and lead them down the broad path of destruction. 

These three young men chose the narrow path. They worshipped the Living God. They didn’t consider their lives worthy of living if they had to deny Him. Isn’t that what Jesus taught us when He was on earth? “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.’” (Matthew 16:24) “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25) “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:27) “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.’” (Luke 9:23-24) “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39) Look up these verses and notice that they are different situations in which Jesus was teaching but the message doesn’t change. There is only ONE way.

Despite all of the dreams and situations in which God was declaring His sovereignty, King Nebuchadnezzar still was not allowing God to change His heart. What I love about this next portion of the Scripture is the demonstration of God’s mercy and compassion. The king received another very disturbing dream that the magicians and conjurers could not give an interpretation of and Daniel was again summoned to bring understanding of what the Lord was doing. Listen to the king’s description of the heart of this dream. “This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watcher and the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men.” (Daniel 4:17 emphasis mine) Even the king understood that this God of the Hebrews had sent him another frightening dream and this one was to display His sovereignty over all of creation. Even Daniel was alarmed by the dream but the king insisted on his honesty in interpreting it. I encourage you to read Daniel 4:19-27 for yourself. I am just going to relay the interpretation here but there is much to the dream that each of us needs to hear. “this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules." (Daniel 4:24-26 emphasis mine) 

Seven periods of time represents seven years. Seven is a very important number, it represents sanctification, holiness of God, being set apart, brought to perfection or maturity. It truly amazes me of the specific details that God relates to the king. I truly believe His intention is to show us   how much He cares and that we have a choice to avoid the consequences!

Remember at the beginning of this devotion we looked at the three years of training and testing the captives were being given? They could choose the way of the Chaldeans or they could choose the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Choosing their God did not disqualify them from service, it would make them even more indispensable and full of wisdom and discernment! Because the character of the Lord is the light in Daniel he expresses compassion and wisdom in his response to the king of his dream, “Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.” (Daniel 4:27)

When the consequences of our actions are not immediately applied we often forget about them or become lax in our diligence. We tend to go about our business as we’ve always done. That’s basically what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. “Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’ Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.” (Daniel 4:29-33 emphasis mine) 

In Hebrew the number twelve often refers to government, specifically the twelve tribes of Jacob which will be twelve elders in the Kingdom of God. Here it is also referring to government. God is removing the king from his position, the “government of Babylon” no longer belonged to him. Vanity and pride lead us all to paths of destruction. If nothing else, the Lord wants to examine each of our hearts to show us where we are susceptible to this same deception and either have been led astray or could be led astray. Vanity will destroy us. Remember the words of Jesus both in His teaching while on this earth and in His teaching to the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says.” 

My heart overflows with joy when I read the outcome of God’s work in the king. It reminds me of the psalmist’s words, “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.” (Psalm 30:11-12) “Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O LORD, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away." (Psalm 36:5-11) 

“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.” (Daniel 4:34-37) 






Abba Father, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You alone are God, there is no other Name to which every knee will bow and every tongue confess that You  are God! Father, I pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit that hearts will be touched and that the words You have shared with us in the Scripture today will bring conviction upon each of us and that we would turn to You and seek Your face. You are the same yesterday, today and forevermore. Your desire is for us and Your truth has been declared for all to see and hear. The story of King Nebuchadnezzar applies to each and every one of us. We need not be in a position of great power. You know the path that You have chosen for each of us. Some have begun the journey on Your path and turned back because they felt that it was too hard. Others chose not to even try because they believed they had a better way. Many are like the five virgins who have never truly submitted to You to become Lord of their lives and are carrying lanterns without oil (the Holy Spirit) and therefore do not know Your ways or hear Your still small voice. They are unprepared for what lies ahead.  Holy Spirit have Your way in each one who reads this devotion.  Touch their hearts, turn the heart of stone into a heart of flesh, put Your Holy Spirit in them that they would be a witness and testimony to others. Father, gird our loins that we may not stumble or fall as we journey with You. Lead us in Your paths of righteousness for Your name sake! Thank You for Your amazing love! We bow our knee today and worship You! All this we pray in the blessed name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen!
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God's Order

3/23/2018

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“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” 
(Proverbs 14:12) 

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​A society without laws is a society in decline. While many of you may agree with that statement, I am guessing you are wondering what that has to do with Scripture. Well, as I was writing the next devotion, I got to the place where I realized God wanted us to better understand where we were going and why. A society without God’s laws is defeated and headed to destruction and distinction. It’s no different if it’s a nation, a country, a state, a city, a family or an individual; there is nothing of eternal value or worth.

A secular society, Satan’s society, deceives people into believing they are free thinking and compassionate when, in fact, they are the ones putting people into bondage because if you differ in your opinion you are labeled a danger to society. There is no free thinking or standard of right and wrong. All wrong is good and all good is wrong. Scripture clearly warns us of this issue even among those who say they are followers of Christ. They will choose to select what they will follow and discard the rest. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,” (2 Timothy 4:3) Let us also heed another warning, “For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.” (Luke 6:43) “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.” (Matthew 12:33 emphasis mine) Need a summary for these verses? “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” (Luke 11:23, Matthew 12:30 emphasis mine) We do not need to read very far into the Scriptures to see this very truth. All of the adult Israelites, except for Joshua and Caleb, who Moses lead out of Egypt died in the desert and would never see God’s Kingdom. Their hearts were hardened and even when they said they would be obedient they could not because their hearts did not have the love for God nor have a relationship with Him. Theirs is a good example for us to study and allow the Holy Spirit to examine our lives to see if there is any parallel to our way of thinking that may be leading us into deception. This is exactly what is happening in our society today and unless one is willing to seek God and His truth alone, we too will become stiff necked and turn our hearts away from God’s Holy Word.

I highly encourage you to read Exodus 19 and 20. I am just going to pull out the verses that, hopefully, will draw you to search out the text for yourself. The Israelites response to God’s presence revealed their hearts. When the Israelites arrived in Sinai, Moses went up into the mountain to meet with God. Listen to these words from the Lord to Moses for the people, “Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” (Exodus 19:3-6 emphasis mine) God then instructed Moses to go down and have the people consecrate themselves and on the third day He would come down on Mount Sinai before all the people. “So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.” (Exodus 19:16) 

God descended and gave the children of Israel the Ten Commandments. Have you actually read the Ten Commandments lately? They have become a great political debate because Satan has waged a great battle against the Lord. It is important that we look at them together. “Then God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’” (Exodus 20:1-17 emphasis mine) 

What do you notice about these commandments? Why are they so controversial? Why do those who call themselves believers have such a hard time aligning with them? Because of sin (which we are born with) there is an oppositional spirit in us. Unfortunately we do not understand that our rebellion against God puts us into alignment with Satan. Notice the first words the Lord spoke? ‘I am the LORD your God,...’ He also reminds them that He is the One who brought them out of the land of slavery. (Each one who has received salvation has been delivered from sin and slavery. They cannot be “saved” and not changed. ”Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) “and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—” (Colossians 3:10)) While they may have been grateful to some extent we must remember that as soon as they were out, and all the Egyptians were drowned and no longer a threat to them, they began complaining about how much better it had been in Egypt! Sin has corrupted our minds (just as it had the Israelites) and without submission to God we are always going to be opposing His will for our lives. God also distinguishes those who will receive His blessings. These commandments are for His people, those who are called by His Name, those who are in a personal and intimate relationship with Him, walking in obedience. Walking in obedience means that we are in agreement with ALL that God has commanded, not some...ALL! While we may fall short at times, our heart’s desire is for Him and to please Him, to be a vessel for His glory. Picking and choosing what we want to believe from the Scriptures is not an option. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) 

“All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.’” (Exodus 20:18-19 emphasis mine) In other words, “we don’t want a personal relationship with God but if you tell us what he’s said to you, we’re willing to try and do it”! They couldn’t hear God’s love for them and that He had set these things before them to protect them and teach them love for each other. They heard “rules”. They saw that God was almighty (but not Almighty) and distanced themselves instead of drawing near. My dear friends, this is what has happened to the church today. The people have chosen to follow man instead of the true Word of God. They have become political instead of prayerful and obedient. 

It is noteworthy to understand that the Israelites were traveling in a land of people who worshipped other gods and most were more interested in fighting them than making peace with them. They constantly encountered resistance but as long as they were obedient to the Lord He was their defender and defeated all their enemies. It was only when they were disobedient that they lost a battle. This is where we are today. How do you respond to God’s commands? We have just landed on a very important topic that the Lord wants us to meditate on to receive understanding! Remember this Scripture quoted above? “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” (Luke 11:23, Matthew 12:30 emphasis mine) Which are you?

The Romans were in political power when Jesus was on earth in His ministry. He did not take a stance against them. No, He dealt with the sin of the people who had set themselves as representatives of His Kingdom. He exposed the sin within the body of believers and told us to obey those in authority over us. He did not say to agree with the evil ways but to keep our focus on God. If there is an area you aren’t sure of, pray, ask the Lord for clarification and then listen for His response. Continuously be in the Word that He can speak to you through it. He will answer! “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26) 

In God’s plan there is an order and that order began with love of the Father. Without His love in our lives we are lost. We have studied creation of both the earth and man but we have not spent much time in studying God’s creation of law and order for our lives. Yes, we have studied surrender and obedience but we always come to a crossroad where without the full trust and love for Jesus Christ that we will choose the easiest path for ourselves regardless of what Scripture says. We have examples all through the Word and have studied many of them. One such man was the Apostle Peter. He was given the revelation that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God! He declared he would die for and with Jesus! But when the time came and he was tested, he failed, he failed miserably. I’m so glad that God’s grace doesn’t end there. Peter was restored by the love of Christ as He spoke into his life and loved him to walk him through the pain. Without the encounter of Peter and Jesus on the beach in Galilee, Peter would not have fulfilled the plan God had for his life. (John 21:15-17) It is only through a personal encounter with Jesus Christ can we be set free! Peter learned a very important lesson that day that he would never forget.

The Apostle Paul summed up this battle for us, “but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.” (Romans 7:23) He recognized the battle within our souls and the difficulty to choose rightly. We actually cannot choose rightly without the Lord directing our thoughts and or actions. We can “do what we deem to be good” but it is a subjective action; it may not be “good” in God’s eyes. But Paul also knew the truth of how to be set free! “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) 

Once sin entered the world it spread rapidly and the sins rapidly became more violent because without repentance there is no cleansing of our souls. A good example is garbage. Before it became garbage it was a useful product but once it was used the remnants of that item became rancid and began to create an awful smell or stench. Someone has to remove that garbage and cleanse the area for it to again become clean. That is a good picture of our souls!

Since this is being written before Passover let’s take a look at the distinction God made between His chosen, the Israelites, and any others who had chosen to depart Egypt with them. “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it; but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.’” (Exodus 12:43-49) 

In today’s society the Passover is not of major significance to most believers, They might recognize “Good Friday” but Sunday is all about the Easter bunny and an Easter basket, maybe attend a church service and have a family dinner. Jesus was the Passover Lamb! Most who say they are believers cannot even connect these events. And, therefore, even believers are celebrating a secular holiday but trying to dress it up a bit possibly. Can you see the problem? Are you beginning to understand a bit of how we got to this place so quickly?

Church leaders have fallen into a false deception that they need to look like the world, act like the world and invite the world to celebrate with them in their activities. However, what has happened is that the church ended up taking the ways of the secular society and losing the precious gift of the gospel that saves. The gospel is different from anything the world has to offer! It cannot be watered down and be effective because it is then only partial truth. Let me ask you a couple of questions. Does your church recognize Santa Claus? Does he show up at the church Christmas party and hand out gifts? Do you have a Harvest Festival? Does your church have an Easter Egg Hunt? 

Does your church teach that you are not to judge others and others do not have the right to judge you? There is a verse of Scripture that I rarely hear ever taught, and the subject has been coming up quite frequently lately. What do you do with this Scripture? “But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.” (1 Corinthians 11:31) In the Epistle of James he brings further light upon this subject, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:23-25) In other words, if we live according to God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will be active and bring conviction upon us when we step out of His will. Upon conviction we repent because we do not want to hurt the One we love and desire to get back into proper alignment with Him. Can you even imagine how that blesses God? Is that even important to you? If not, please take time to sit awhile with our Lord and Savior and allow Him to begin bringing light and life into your heart! 

Let me clarify something before we go any further. God’s laws or Torah Law was never meant to redeem a person or give them salvation. Salvation has always been through faith in God. “and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,’ and he was called the friend of God.” (James 2:23) But God set an order for us to obey which was for our own good and protection. Our response to His direction is either obedience or disobedience. Obedience without a relationship is an empty action, it creates resentment and hatred, it is sin, just as disobedience is sin. I am always reminded of the words of the Prophet Samuel to King Saul, “Samuel said, ‘Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.’” (1 Samuel 15:22-23 emphasis mine) 

Please understand that all of God’s commandments are for those who are His, not the unsaved, not the people of the land, but those who are His. We cannot expect the world to accept our beliefs and walk according to God’s values. That is impossible. Yet, those who are believers have become upset because the worldly values are opposite of ours. I completely agree that the worldview is wrong but it is only through prayer and the love of Christ can things change. With that said, Scripture also warns us that there will be a time when there will be an all out Satanic attack and destruction will come upon us. I honestly believe that is where we are today. We still have a window of opportunity to reach the lost but it is getting darker and darker. As we look at the church today I find it so hard to believe, and truly sad, that the church has fallen into such deception because God’s test is not complicated. It is straightforward and all telling. So, here is the question for you to consider regarding two areas of your lives. The first is the church you are attending and, secondly, your personal walk with the Lord. Is your church following a solid foundational teaching of Scripture? “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” (2 Timothy 3:16 emphasis mine) If the answer to this question is “no”, why are you still attending that church and opening up your minds to deceptive teaching? If your answer is “yes”, are you personally walking in the narrow way or are you picking and choosing which Scriptures you want to follow? “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) 

Does being in right alignment with the Lord and walking in His ways assure us of a carefree and untroubled life? NO! We live in a sin filled world. Scripture gives us example after example of the lives of those who were submitted to the Lord because He was their life! He was Truth! He was the only Way! He alone was where there was Life! Life was difficult. They were imprisoned, they were beaten, they were killed. The Apostle Paul puts it all in such good perspective, “and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:9-11 emphasis mine) The apostles understood that this was not their home! They were here to allow God to speak through them and be a testimony of His life. But their home was in the eternal Kingdom of God! Even Abraham understood this, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10 emphasis mine) 

We have the Holy Spirit living in us who will lead us to see God’s protection and guidance in our lives. ”Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) Read these Scriptures with me, “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) “The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deuteronomy 31:8) “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:13) 




Abba Father, I love You. This has been a challenging Word for Your church has sinned. It has gone astray and the shepherds have left the flock to die. There are a few who have received the truth but they are scattered. Thank You that You give us hope and encouragement in Your Word and remind us through Your servant Malachi that You hear Your small remnant who loves You and is wanting to be with You according to all Your ways. “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. ‘They will be Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.’ So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.” (Malachi 3:16-18) Father, as the light grows dimmer in this world we ask that You bind us together, those who worship You in spirit and truth, that we may share our delight in You with one another, encourage each other through these difficult days, and most importantly, glorify You! Open the hearts of any who may read this and may the Holy Spirit bring conviction upon any who have followed the false teachers and prophets and are being led down the path of destruction. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. You alone are my portion and I have promised to keep Thy Word. Teach me Your discernment and knowledge that I may not be led astray by the enemy and may my heart be blameless in Thy statutes that I may not be ashamed! I ask that You establish my footsteps in Thy Word and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. I also pray these things over each one of Your bride as they enter into the Word, that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened. I love You with all of my heart and pray these things through Your only Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior to whom You have given all glory and all dominion! Amen.
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Shiphrah and Puah

2/20/2018

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“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27) 
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Does the Word of God challenge you? Does it bring conviction into your heart? Does it stir up your love for God? Does it create a longing for a deep intimate relationship with the lover of your soul? The lover of our soul...wow! Think about that a minute. Our soul is the center of battle within us. It is where our carnal thoughts and desires reside, the thoughts and desires that are the opposite of the will and desire of God Almighty. And yet, He loves us and desires to have a relationship with us. For me, that is a very humbling truth. It reminds me that without Him I am an evil, unloving and hopeless being. It reminds me of His great sacrifice of sending His Son Jesus Christ to earth to become a man and then willingly be the sacrificial lamb whose blood washed away my sin when I believed that He was truly God’s Son and paid the ransom for my life.

I hear many people who say they are born again say that they don’t hear God and they haven’t a clue as to what God is doing in their lives or in the world around them. My first question would be to ask them how much time they are spending reading God’s Word and talking with Him? If it is no more than maybe a Sunday service that is a problem. “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”  (Romans 14:9 emphasis mine)

Today I’d like us to take a look at some women you may have easily overlooked. Even though these women didn’t have the written Word, they had FAITH! They had family testimonies that witnessed God’s miracles. They were heirs to the promises of God and they chose to enter into those promises. Let’s read the Scripture to fully understand the background and open our hearts to hear the Holy Spirit speak to us. “Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them. Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. ‘Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.’ So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.”   (Exodus 1:6-14 emphasis mine) I have underlined the phrase “let us deal wisely with them” so that we can see the outright deception of the enemy, he says one thing but does the complete opposite. If we are not wholly submitted to the Lord and His leading in our lives, we will be as the Israelites and become imprisoned to a life of slavery because we are not spiritually alert and listening to the Holy Spirit! There is no logic or reason to think that if you impose hard labor and punishment on a person that they would become loyal servants to you. You have made them slaves and by the harsh treatment you have produced hatred and resentment. That is, if you are rightly aligned with the Holy Spirit. If you are not, the enemy has great control over your mind and you begin to justify, just as the Israelites did, “at least we have food on our tables and a good house to live”. Can you realize the folly and deception in that? Take some time here to reflect on this, go back and read the Scriptures then allow the Holy Spirit to unveil any areas in your own life where you may have allowed the enemy in. I  would be remiss if I did not point out God’s faithfulness through all of these trials. God was always with them but they always weren’t in harmony and obedience with God. Like us, they had a choice as to how they would respond. The major thing that is missing here is worship! Did you notice? God was doing His part but nowhere do we hear that they were worshipping Him in the midst of their tribulation. There are times when we read the Scriptures that we learn a great lesson by what is not being said. Hopefully that will challenge us to allow the Holy Spirit to show us how we are responding to the circumstances of our lives.

 Let’s do a short summary to lead us to the circumstances they are now facing. Jacob’s son Joseph was hated by his brothers because they were jealous. Joseph received dreams and would share them with his brothers which just made them more jealous than they already were because he was their father’s “favorite”. He was the beloved son of Jacob’s wife Rachel. So when Jacob sent Joseph out to check on his brothers who were out shepherding their flock the brothers threw him into a pit then instead of killing him, as was their original idea, they sold him to slave traders and he ended up in the house of Potiphar in Egypt. Because of false accusations from Potiphar’s wife he was then put into prison. But God’s hand was upon Joseph and he prospered no matter his circumstances. He continued to worship God in spite of his circumstances. My dear friends, can that be said of you? This question is the question the Holy Spirit will be asking each of us as we continue in this study.

The Pharaoh experienced very unsettling dreams and Joseph was the only one who was able to interrupt them but he made it clear to Pharaoh that God was making the dreams known so that Pharaoh would know that He was the true God. Joseph was elevated to the highest position in the land, only Pharaoh was higher. Pharaoh put all things into Joseph’s care. So Joseph had storehouses built to prepare for a famine which would last for seven years. It was because of the famine that Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain for food, and eventually, learn that their brother Joseph was the ruler. With Pharaoh’s permission all of Joseph’s family were brought to Egypt and given the choicest of land, the land of Goshen. And there they prospered greatly for almost four hundred years.

This is where we begin with our text from Exodus 1.  They are in a foreign land and have become enslaved. Did this happen overnight? It did not. It increasingly got worse and worse. But they continued to prosper in number which was causing a panic among the Egyptian leadership! They feared the Israelites! That in itself is very interesting. The Israelites were not violent people, they didn’t have an army, they didn’t have chariots, they didn’t have weapons. So why were the Egyptians so fearful? For the same reason people are fearful today. When they can’t explain why something is happening they attack it. It doesn’t matter if it is good or bad. If it doesn’t fit their paradigm they do everything in their power to destroy it. And that is exactly what the Egyptians set out to do, destroy the Israelites not only physically but also emotionally and spiritually. Do you see the parallel to what is happening in the world today to believers? There is only one great distinction which needs to be pointed out at this point.

In the more prosperous countries of the world there is a steady growing hatred of fundamental Christian beliefs, specifically the Word of God as it is written. For many years now there are many who have taken it upon themselves to write a “new version”. They claim that the purpose is to make the language more “user friendly”, easier to understand. Unfortunately that is deceptive. What they have done is taken the Word of God and twisted it to convey their interpretation which is different from what was originally written. Some translations intentionally downplay the deity of Jesus Christ! I will not go into all the differences but this one example should challenge you to search out the truth and see if your translation is leading you astray. In the more progressive and prosperous countries the “sheep” are easily lead astray and have turned away from the Word of God and turned toward idols and false teachings. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,” (2 Timothy 4:3) So in these countries, those who are God’s children are actually decreasing in numbers! But in the more underprivileged and undeveloped countries they know the evil that has kept them oppressed and many are searching for truth and they are receiving Christ in record numbers! They are being delivered and begin living in the present, the reality of the Kingdom life! They do so knowing that this can easily be a death trap, they may very well be killed because of their faith. But they have met the One and only Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and have placed their lives in His hands. They too, like the Israelites, are growing in number under the affliction of the enemy. That my dear friend should stop us to reflect on our faith. It’s easy to “have faith” when there is no persecution, but that is NOT faith. Faith is exercised when confronted with challenges that cannot be solved properly by human strength. The answer must come from above.

The pharaoh didn’t stop just with inflicting more manual labor upon the workers. “Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; and he said, ‘When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.’ But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live”.  (Exodus 1:15-17) Shiphrah and Puah were ordered to kill all the male children that were being born! These two women were not unknown and secretly birthing the babies and hiding them. They were known by the pharaoh and singled out to carry out his edict! What do you suppose happened to the people who deliberately disobeyed the ruler? Think about it a minute. What would you do? What did these two women do? “But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live”. 

I believe that they had a heart for God and knew that disobedience to Him meant eternal separation from Him. No, works were not the criteria for salvation, but the works that are done BECAUSE of our obedience reveal the condition of our hearts. These women knew that the lives of each child was important to God and to them. Killing and murder were not God’s character!

The Apostle Paul confirms this in his letter to the Philippians, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;” (Philippians 3:10-15 emphasis mine) We understand Paul to be saying that as many are mature they are in proper alignment and agreement with God’s Word.

As I read the next Scriptures I almost wanted to laugh. Why? When God is in control and He is defending us, our words don’t always need to make a logical argument and win someone over. “So the  of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, ‘Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?’ The midwives said to Pharaoh, ‘Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.’” (Exodus 1:18-19 emphasis mine) Could this possibly the truth with every birth? Not likely. And the pharaoh could have easily taken an offense to their reasoning. More so, I would expect him to be highly angry toward the women and bring punishment upon them. But he didn’t! He just made another plan for revenge against the Israelites but he did not harm the midwives! And what was God’s response? “So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.” (Exodus 1:20 emphasis mine) “Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.” (Exodus 1:21 emphasis mine)

My dear friends I believe we need to stop at this point because the Lord has given us much to ponder on. We are living in a world of deception and violence and are facing much the same challenges as we are reading in today’s devotion. Can you see it? And, more importantly, are you in right alignment with God’s Word or have you turned your back to God’s Word?





Abba Father, I love You with all my heart! Your message today is both difficult and uplifting. It is difficult because it challenges us to evaluate whether or not we are walking in accordance with Your Word and not in accordance with the deception and lies of the enemy. It is uplifting because it reminds us of Your great love and protection over us. You told the apostles that they would be hated and brought before the judges, these weren’t the government judges, these were the very people who were supposed to be teaching Your Word! They would persecute them and kill them for preaching the whole truth! Yet, You told them not to worry about their defense because when they opened their mouths You would give them the words to speak. Thank You that You never leave us or forsake. Many are standing on a dangerous precipice today and I pray that they would cry out to You and listen and turn from the path of destruction. This I pray through the blessed name of Your Son, Jesus Christ! Amen.
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The Lord Looks At The Heart

11/25/2016

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“...for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."  (1 Samuel 16:7)

I don’t know about you but the above verse can bring great conviction to my heart or great comfort depending on each day. It’s easy for us to be comforted by this verse when someone may judge us unfairly or misunderstand our words or actions. But what if our words or actions were actually not loving or maybe even offensive? We can try and justify in our own minds that it was a momentary slip and try and move on but what does God see? Yes, He sees the entire person and knows us better than we know ourselves. And there’s the catch, He KNOWS the REAL intent of our hearts at that moment. Are we so sensitive to the Holy Spirit that we are convicted by our words and actions and easily brought to repentance?
 
God doesn’t expect us to be perfect but He does expect to DESIRE earnestly and pursue His path, His character and His ways. If we do not allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of our wrong actions our hearts will begin to grow hard and more and more ungodly behavior will begin to be acted upon and we will become deaf to the Holy Spirit. “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.”  (Proverbs 16:18) “When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.”  (Proverbs 11:2) “The naive believes everything, But the sensible man considers his steps. [16] A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, But a fool is arrogant and careless.”  (Proverbs 14:15-16)
 
Let’s go back to our opening scripture for a minute so we can lay a biblical foundation of what the Lord wants us to understand from His Word and how that applies to our lives. The people of Israel had just demanded that they be given a king to rule over them just as all of the heathen nations. Now let’s look at their thought process here for a minute. The Prophet Samuel had been God’s representative to the people and God was their ruler. Samuel was getting old and his two sons were not faithful to God and untrustworthy. “His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.”  (1 Samuel 8:3) and they said to him, "Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations."  (1 Samuel 8:5) Samuel was greatly upset and prayed to the Lord and the Lord responded. The LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.”  (1 Samuel 8:7) Samuel then prophesied to the people and told them what the king would require of them and warned them of the consequences of their request. PLEASE READ 1 Samuel 8:10-22. These passages will greatly enlighten you about government structure, and hopefully, give you a new understanding from God’s point of view. You will, hopefully, begin to understand why we are called to obey those in authority but not to look to a government to meet our needs, only God can fulfill our needs. Since this is not the topic of this devotion I do not want to get lost in this very important topic. Maybe God will have us look at it in the coming days.
 
Before proceeding I hear the Lord wanting to repeat Himself and give each of us a warning. “for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.”  Here is His Word I am hearing in my spirit: “I know your heart regardless of your words or actions. I cannot be deceived. I see and know everything, nothing is hidden from My sight. I am giving you an opportunity to repent and turn from your wicked ways. Do not be like the five foolish virgins who deceived themselves into thinking they were My inheritance. They were far from Me even though they looked and tried to imitate My bride; I knew them not! My Son will return soon and ONLY the true believers will be caught up with Him. Repent I say, repent! Return to Me!” (Job 21:27; Ecclesiastes 12:14; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Matthew 25:1-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Ezekiel 18:32; Joel 2:12)
 
We, like the Israelites look to men to lead us and not God. That has been the downfall of the Israelites. Even when God lead them victoriously out of Egypt with riches untold for building the Tent of Meetings/Tabernacle in the Desert, they never trusted God or developed a relationship with Him. They looked to Moses. When God appeared to all of them at Mt. Sinai, what was their reaction? Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die."   (Exodus 20:19)
 
There is one BIG difference I want you to consider in the people’s trust in the prophet Samuel and the people’s trust in the prophets of today. God had clearly called AND appointed AND anointed Samuel. He was serving the priest Eli who was getting old and whose sons also were not following God. God’s presence had not manifested for many years but at the right time God called Samuel and raised him up to be His chosen representative. When God calls and appoints a person as His, He also anoints them to be the vessel of His power. (Notice that God was not speaking in those days and people were discouraged, even Eli had not heard from God for many years. God’s timing is not our timing, it is always perfect.)
 
Fast forward to today. Everywhere you turn someone has decided they are a prophet or apostle and is always giving a Word from the Lord. The Words are conflicting and all over the place, they do not have the power or anointing that comes from God. Scripture tells us to “test the Spirits”. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  (1 John 4:1) Go to Scripture, search out what God has spoken, spend time in prayer and listen to hear His voice! All prophetic words today must line up exactly with Scripture, if they do not, if they have a life of their own, it is not of God.
 
My dear brothers and sisters, I am not a prophet or an apostle sent by man. I would never claim to be. I am simply a bondservant that has been transformed by the blood of Jesus Christ! I have walked the broad path and experienced much destruction in my life but when I finally could no longer deny His drawing I stopped and began to seek Him and the rest is history. He transformed my life! There were many painful times of discipline of learning His ways,  along with the blessed times of experiencing His plans for my life. He is my King, my Ruler, my Lord, the One who guides my footsteps. There may be a government authority in the land but he is not God and will not replace God in my life. I will respect and honor the laws of the land and those in authority but God is the Head! This is the difference between the Israelites in our text and those who are truly bondservants of the Almighty God of Israel. This is also the same problem in our society today. Many who say they are believers are looking to our government to make them victorious, give them a good life, bring peace, jobs, education, etc. The ONLY peace and real authority comes from the throne above! The challenge today is for you to take this to the Lord and see where you stand. Are you looking to man...are you, too, looking for a king on earth to solve all your problems? Can you honestly say that God is your King and has rule over you? Are you a bondservant of the Most High?
 
Are you a disciple? A disciple is a student, not of facts, not of data, not of history, but a lover of the Almighty God of heaven and earth. A disciple is so in love with the One, Jesus Christ, who gave everything, His very life to save you and me, that he will not be satisfied with anything less than a personal intimate relationship with the Lord of lords and the King of kings. He will love to worship because it brings great pleasure to the Lord, not because it is a great tune or catchy words. But the words will be words of adoration and praise for the greatness of our God! A disciple is willing to learn humility, compassion, grace and mercy through the eyes of the all knowing God regardless of the cost. The disciple understands that without God he is nothing, there is nothing of value that he can do or give that can earn him salvation. A disciple seeks the truth, not to follow man’s interpretation. A disciple will realize that all that he has is not really his, it is God’s to use as He wills. The disciple’s life is not his own, it belongs to God and that alone is the blessing that fills him with unspeakable joy! The disciple does not seek recognition, fame, money, power. God, and God alone, is his sufficiency.
 
How are you doing? What blesses me the most as I consider my life as a disciple is that I will never reach the end, there is always so much more that the Lord has to teach me. There is so much more to life than what this world has to offer. Are you experiencing the Lord’s life?
 
My dear friends, the time really is getting shorter and shorter for us to be in right standing with the Lord. We would do well to take to heart these words of the Apostle Peter, “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, [18] but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”  (2 Peter 3:17-18)
 
I’d like to end our time together today with some words of wisdom from Scripture that, hopefully, will challenge you and draw you to desire His presence more fully in your life. Take the opening Scripture to prayer and be open and honest with the Lord and ask Him to search your heart and reveal what truly is there. King David penned these words, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; [24] And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”  (Psalms 139:23-24) He was known as a man after God’s own heart. I can see why, he desired to see God’s glory in every aspect of his life. The preparation David went through in order to be ready to serve as king was so incredibly difficult. He was stripped of everything that was familiar to him. He lost everything that he had. His life was in such danger that he was hiding in a cave with no way to provide for himself. Yet God provided for him faithfully and was with him through every trial and tribulation. God didn’t miraculously deliver him from his situations but brought him through each one victoriously.  Listen to these desperate words of David, “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also. [10] For my life is spent with sorrow And my years with sighing; My strength has failed because of my iniquity, And my body has wasted away. [11] Because of all my adversaries, I have become a reproach, Especially to my neighbors, And an object of dread to my acquaintances; Those who see me in the street flee from me. [12] I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel. [13] For I have heard the slander of many, Terror is on every side; While they took counsel together against me, They schemed to take away my life. [14] But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, "You are my God." [15] My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. [16] Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; Save me in Your lovingkindness.” (Psalms 31:9-16) Can you feel his pain, his heartache? Yet, he does not despair! [14] But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, "You are my God." [15] My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. [16] Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; Save me in Your lovingkindness.”

I leave you with a few words of wisdom from the Book of Proverbs which are life and breath and essential to a firm foundation based on living a life of faith.
 
“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. [21] Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. [22] For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body. [23] Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.”  (Proverbs 4:20-23)
 
“Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. [27] Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.”
  (Proverbs 4:26-27)
 
“In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And his children will have refuge. [27] The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, That one may avoid the snares of death.”  (Proverbs 14:26-27)
 
“Better is a little with the fear of the LORD Than great treasure and turmoil with it.”  (Proverbs 15:16)
 
“All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives.”
  (Proverbs 16:2)
 
 
 
Abba Father,
Thank You! I am overwhelmed again by Your words of wisdom and love. Thank You that You love us so much that You challenge us to truly seek You and to see through Your eyes the real condition of our hearts. For me that can be scary because I know that I am imperfect. Yet You never condemn me, You reveal Your truth so that I can be cleansed of the impurities that still tend to plague me. In repentance I find refreshing fountains of living water that rejuvenate my soul. You continually teach me to keep my eyes on Jesus and to walk by faith and not by sight. You are the lover of my soul! That is too great for me to know You love me. In my human condition I cannot fully understand the entire depth of that love but my desire is to grow more and more into those depths so that I am totally lost in Your presence. You are my joy! You are my strength! Without Your love and steadfastness I would surely stumble! Thank You for continually growing me into the person You would have me to be. I love You with all my heart! All this I pray in the blessed name above all names, the name of Jesus Christ! One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord of all! I proclaim that today to the glory of the Father! Amen.


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The Power Which Comes From God

9/24/2016

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“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, [13] which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. [14] But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
 (1 Corinthians 2:12-14)

“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  (1 Corinthians 1:18) Have you ever asked yourself if you are walking in the Spirit that is from God? Do you check yourself to see if you are walking in the spirit of the world instead? Dear brothers and sisters, we need to wake up and be honest with ourselves and with God! I don’t say that unkindly, I need to hear that as well. I hear the Holy Spirit remind me often that just because my physical residence is currently on earth it doesn’t mean that this is my home. Jesus laid it out quite plainly for us, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”  (John 15:19) This is sometimes very hard for us to get our mind around when dealing with life everyday. But even more so, I believe that in this time we are living in it is becoming more glaringly apparent that we must choose to lean on Christ with all of our strength because we are hated. It has nothing to do with our personality, our looks, our nationality, it has everything to do with our IDENTITY...an heir of Jesus Christ! There is no straddling the line, we are either with Him or we are against Him. It was the same when the Apostles walked the earth and just because we have not experienced it previously is no reason to remain in denial that we are now facing the truth of hatred in a way we have never experienced it before in our lifetime.
 
If you or I are more concerned about what others think of us, we are not fellow heirs with Christ. Sound harsh? No, it isn’t because the truth doesn’t wrap itself into a pretty package to make it more palatable.  Listen to these words of Jesus to His disciples, they have great application to you and me today. “Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."  (John 18:36) Twice Jesus states that this world is not His and that His kingdom is not in this earth. Yet, because we have been so fortunate in the United States to have built this country on biblical principles and morals and respect for God and country, we have come to expect it to always be so and feel entitled to our freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness while living on this earth. Unfortunately that does not line with up scripture. What was good has become spoiled and defiled. Greed and materialism, humanism and sin have taken root and have become a force of evil that is set to destroy anything, everything and anyone of God.
 
God warned the people of Israel through the prophet Isaiah with these words, “Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.”  (Isaiah 5:13) “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! [21] Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!”  (Isaiah 5:20-21) Those words are for you and me today. Even many who are believers have become so like minded with the world that they call evil good. And yet they believe they are walking in the Spirit of the Holy One. As we begin this journey we need to take a minute and allow the words of the Apostle Paul to speak to us and search us thoroughly. “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?”  (2 Corinthians 13:5)
 
Are you beginning to feel uncomfortable and ready to close down this devotional already? That is exactly what Satan wants you to do! I understand these are hard words. My heart is very heavy as I write them. Believe me, I have no idea where a devotion is going when the Lord gives me a scripture. I allow the Holy Spirit to lead me and I am always so deeply touched and challenged by His words. My dear friends, for this very reason, the whole purpose of this website is to draw us into intimacy with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Without intimacy and being sold out, falling in love with Jesus, we are standing on shaky ground and the storm that is coming will destroy us! "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. [26] "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. [27] "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."  (Matthew 7:24-27)
 
The Lord wants us to be reminded that He was not talking about physical buildings in this teaching, He was speaking of a life built upon Him, spiritual truth. Our houses are going to fall no matter what we do to protect our physical residences, but remember He was not talking about physical residences, He was talking about those who are His or not His. Again, we are to be reminded that our bodies are the temple of God, not a building. “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  (1 Corinthians 3:16) “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Romans 6:16)
 
When scripture speaks of the “power of God” what do you think of? Do you assume it is physical healings or instant deliverances? While those most definitely are part of God’s power, if that is the basis of our understanding of the power of God we are missing out on the true blessings and power that resides within us through the Holy Spirit.
 
We may be reminded of the apostles Peter and John and the accounts of people being healed just because they were touched by their shadows. Or maybe the lame man at the temple. (Acts 3:1-10) “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. [2] And a man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. [3] When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. [4] But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, "Look at us!" [5] And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. [6] But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene--walk!" [7] And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. [8] With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. [9] And all the people saw him walking and praising God; [10] and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”
 
We are going to break this down into small segments and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in understanding. First of all, this passage does not say that every person Peter and John came into contact with were healed. The power is of God, not man. Please remember that! According to this passage this man had been at the temple every day and Jesus saw him every day that He entered the temple. Jesus had not healed him. Why? Again, the power is of God and the timing is in God’s hands. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. [9] "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”  (Isaiah 55:8-9) Even the name of the gate was significant, the Beautiful Gate means at the right hour or season. This man’s healing came at the right hour, or season, in the plans of God. The man wasn’t aware of God’s plans and neither were Peter or John but all were following the plans of God for their lives and this day God chose to move in power for His purposes. Don’t miss this, the power of God, the Holy Spirit spoke to Peter and He had Peter and John stop and give their attention to this man...that’s the power of God at work in us. Peter and John obeyed and spoke as the Holy Spirit gave guidance and then Peter literally took the man’s right hand and raised him up to his feet. At that moment the man’s ankles were strengthened to hold him upright. If Peter had just spoken it wouldn’t have been enough, he had to allow the Holy Spirit to direct each move he made. Notice that he grabbed the man’s right hand. This, too, tells us that it is the power of God that is in Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Father. “So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”  (Mark 16:19) "But from now on THE SON OF MAN WILL BE SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND of the power OF GOD."  (Luke 22:69) "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.”  (Acts 2:33)
 
Please do not miss the man’s response. He went into the synagogue praising the Lord for what He had done! Was he grateful to Peter and John? Of course, but he knew that they were only the vessels God used, that it had been the power of God that had touched him and healed him.
 
Can we address a serious problem with healing in the church today? There are many who have developed “healing ministries” where they charge pretty high fees to attend their conferences to “teach” others how to heal people. Did Peter, John, Paul or any of the other disciples set up “healing schools” to teach people how to heal? This has gotten so far out of hand in our churches today that no one ever considers that the “healing spirit” may not be of God. Can God use false healers? Yes, God can use anyone He likes, but it isn’t God’s way to “teach” people what only He can do. What He can and will do is choose an obedient faithful servant who is an open vessel to do His will, but it is God’s will, not the person’s ability to do the healing. Now with that said, remember that there are imitators, Satan himself and his demons who will replicate and make it look like it is God at work. Why would they do that? People will then become interested in the process and thus be directed to the spiritual realm where they will become trapped in demonic practices. Please take this issue to prayer and allow God to open your eyes and ears that there will be no deceit. If you still question these words, read the book of Revelation. The antichrist will be killed and come back to life again in three days. Will God heal him? NO! Please test the spirits with spiritual truth! “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  (1 John 4:1) “And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. [2] And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. [3] I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;”  (Revelation 13:1-3)
 
I often am reminded of the woman with the issue of blood. “A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, [26] and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse-- [27] after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. [28] For she thought, "If I just touch His garments, I will get well." [29] Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.”  (Mark 5:25-29) Numbers are very important in Hebrew culture. Here we are told she suffered with her condition for twelve years. If that wasn’t important it wouldn’t be noted in the scripture. Twelve represents government. She had exhausted every available resource available to her from those in positions of power, as well as all of her financial resources and still had not received any relief but instead her condition had gotten worse. She was desperate, so desperate that she took the chance of going out in public among the people just to see Jesus. Remember, she was considered unclean. She was risking everything. When she saw the crowds she determined that if she could just touch the hem of His garment she would be healed. “came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.”  (Luke 8:44) This woman knew the Word of God and her faith gave her the strength to move forward. The garment Jesus wore was the prayer shawl and on each corner were the tzitzit. We’ll let scripture reveal the significance of this. "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”  (Malachi 4:2) “Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,”  (Luke 1:78) (Refers back to Malachi in which the Messiah was referred to as the “sun of righteousness”.) “and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.”  (Matthew 14:36) “Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.”  (Mark 6:56)
 
The tzitzit (tassels) hang from the corners of the prayer shawl and are known as wings and, again, we must know the Old Covenant to understand and apply it to the New Covenant (which in all truth fulfills the Old Covenant but never does away with it). “The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying, [38] ‘Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. [39] It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, [40] so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God. [41] I am the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the LORD your God.’ “  (Numbers 15:37-41) This lady with the issue of blood remembered God’s Word, applied it and received her healing. While her healing was instant it was a painful and distressing journey that she had endured for 12 years trying every avenue available to her. Does that sound familiar? Yes, we most definitely are to seek medical attention but at the same time we should be petitioning the Lord for understanding and direction. When she heard that Jesus was in town she wasn’t going to miss the opportunity for her healing, she knew it came only through the Messiah. Notice she didn’t go after any other person who wore the prayer shawl, she knew specifically what the scriptures stated. She also didn’t take one scripture out of context, but instead, had an understanding of all the scriptures which told her the whole truth. Do you seek God’s desire for your situation through scripture and prayer? Dear ones, we can’t rely on others to seek God for us, we must be in a personal relationship through the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
 
There are so many scriptures of healings that we could look at but is that the only “power of God”? Absolutely not! Listen to these words of Jesus that give us the truth of the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”  (John 16:7) "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. [14] "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. [15] "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”  (John 16:13-15)
 
Think about this a minute. It would be a great miracle just to have the Holy Spirit in this world, but the Holy Spirit actually resides in EVERY true believer! The power of God resides in each and every one of us. Sometimes we just take this fact for granted but let’s think on this a minute. When Jesus walked on this earth He couldn’t be more than one place at a time. Now read John 16:7 again,  "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” In verses 13-15 Jesus explains that the relationship that He and His Father had which was the “power” to do His Father’s will, is now given through Him to the Holy Spirit to you and me! We are talking about a living and personal relationship with the Creator of the universe! No one, except Jesus Christ, has seen God but you and I can talk to him every minute of our day! That is absolutely incredible! And Jesus Christ willingly gave His life so that you and I could have that same relationship with the Father that He had. Dear ones, that is the most precious gift in the whole world, it cannot be bought or duplicated. It is the also the demonstration of the narrow path that we are called to walk. "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. [14] "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  (Matthew 7:13-14) Those on the broad path do not have the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Which path are you walking on? Please do not base your answer on whether or not you have challenges in your life, base your answer on if the challenges you have were given to you from God as His cross to carry! "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”  (Luke 14:27)
 
Have you accepted the cross that has been given to you? And, I would be negligent if I didn’t say that your cross may seem to be much heavier than others. Hardships do not mean that you are not walking with the Lord. If you are walking in sin or disobedience you may be experiencing great hardship and when you repent and turn away from that sin you will be forgiven and your relationship with the Lord restored but the hardship may not be removed immediately. There may even be times that it will never be removed, remember that what is critical is that the Lord’s will be done. I’ve shared in the past about a situation in my own life and I will share it again here because it fits our topic for this week so well. Several years ago I developed some medical conditions that were overwhelming but not life threatening. My medical issues just seemed to spiral out of control. I was in ministry and took a leave of absence because the problems were getting worse and I needed surgery. I spent three months in much prayer to make certain that there was not any sin in my life that may have brought about any of the conditions I was experiencing. During that time I came into agreement with the Lord that I could no longer continue in the position I was in and I just assumed that I would find another position in another ministry after my surgery. That didn’t happen and the Lord made it clear that some of the medical conditions were not going to be healed and that I was not going to be returning to a job, not even part time.
 
At that point the cross I was carrying for the Lord was changing. I now had a couple of disabilities that would change my life in various ways. I knew that God never closed one door without opening another door so as I continued to pray I began to feel as if He was telling me to write. I had always journaled but write? Write what? My husband suggested a blog and I laughed because I knew nothing about setting up a blog. But the Holy Spirit continued to speak and made it clear that I was to write. As I was sharing this one day with my dear brother Esher he also said you need to set up a blog and we will put a link from the Song of Solomon Devotional to the blog. I prayed and the Holy Spirit confirmed. I began a new journey learning how to set up a blog and ended up with a website that was totally directed by the Holy Spirit! That is the power of God in us that empowers us to be and to do what God has planned for us! That is also the definition of grace. I was overwhelmed in God’s grace as I began this new path that He had set me on.
 
I can either think of the cross I am carrying as a burden or a blessing; I choose to look at it as a blessing. He has opened the door to reach even more hurting individuals than what I could ever meet in the former ministries. At a time in my life that many might think my service is over for Him, it is greater than it has ever been! That is the power of the Lord working in us daily!
God’s ways are not our ways and I am so thankful! He constantly reminds me daily of how much He loves me through His Word. There is power in the Words of Scripture, they are the very life breathed words of our Lord spoken through His chosen servants. No matter how many times I read Psalm 139 I am wrapped in God’s love. I’d like to share one of my favorite scriptures with you and pray that it ministers to you as much as it does to me. “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! [18] If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.”  (Psalms 139:17-18) God thinks of me (and you) more times a day than the number of grains of sand in the universe! Have you ever tried to count the number of grains of sand you hold in the palm of your hand? Impossible! And when you consider the countries in the Mideast that are desert lands of sand, and the ocean shores and the bottoms of the oceans and even the sand dunes in Arizona, it is totally overwhelming!
 
In my Bible study time yesterday I was in the Gospel of John and was deeply struck by the following scriptures. “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. [24] But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, [25] and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”  (John 2:23-25) Twice the Holy Spirit directed the Apostle John to tell us that Jesus knew what was in man, meaning He intimately knows every thought and intention of the person. Think about this seriously for a moment. Some of you may be thinking that you haven’t been given “a cross to carry for the Lord” or you have no desire to serve the Lord in ministry of any sort. First of all, please be reminded that scripture adamantly tells us that we are to do EVERYTHING as to the Lord! “With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men,” (Ephesians 6:7) “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,” (Colossians 3:23) Our life is a ministry to the Lord!
 
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. [11] Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:10-11)
 
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” (Ephesians 6:10) “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, [19] and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might”  (Ephesians 1:18-19)
 
Sadly my dear friends, a great many of those who say they are believers are in the exact place that those in scripture were in the Gospel of John. Listen to these words and then we can put together the pieces which may reveal the stronghold in many lives. “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.”  (John 2:23) But Jesus didn’t trust them, He loved them, but He knew the intimate thoughts of their minds. They were living in circumstances they didn’t like and they wanted a king who would deliver them from their circumstances, not a Lord who would reign over their lives. Let’s be honest here, what is it you want from Jesus? Is it to get you out of your circumstances or to give you the desires of your heart? Or, do you want Him to be Lord over your life to guide you in HIS path? Have you surrendered your life to Him? If not, do you have a desire to surrender your life to Him? If not, He will not entrust you with His heart to share with others or to carry out “a mission or plan” for Him. It can’t be both ways my dear ones, we must choose and if you don’t choose-you really have chosen and it is against Him. Please hear the Lord’s heart, He loves us so much that He speaks very clearly so that we have no excuse for not understanding. He even has given us the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and understanding to our minds that we know what the right answer is, but the final decision is ours. Throughout all of scripture we are given insight into the very depths of the heart of our dear Lord.
 
The prophet Isaiah revealed God’s ways and thoughts to His people and gave us such great insight so that we too could walk in unity and intimacy with Him and bring Him glory. “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. [2] The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. [3] And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; [4] But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. [5] Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”  (Isaiah 11:1-5) God was prophetically speaking of the coming Messiah. Notice in verse 3 that He said that the Messiah would delight in the fear of the Lord! Was the Messiah afraid of His Father? Absolutely not! In fact, it was the exact opposite. They would be so connected, so in love with each other that the Messiah would be obedient to the Father’s will because He didn’t want to ever hurt His Father! Does that describe your relationship with the Father? That my dear brothers and sisters is the “secret” to walking in obedience to the Lord. We are so in love with Him that we want to be a pleasing aroma. We take everything to Him in prayer and the Holy Spirit will reveal His will for us. It won’t always be the answer we may want to hear, but it is not about us, it is all about glorifying the Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth!
 
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) In one of my Bible studies a few months ago this verse came up and I learned that the translators of the Christian Bibles have actually translated this verse incorrectly and instantly the Holy Spirit confirmed this truth. While it is true that we need to be in scripture and prayer on a daily basis and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us, growing daily in our relationship, our minds were renewed when we accepted Christ as our Lord! “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  (2 Corinthians 5:17) The question is whether or not you received the “new man” or continued to walk in the “old man” and never grew beyond your initial salvation. Do you still have the need to be fed milk or are you walking in the obedience that comes through surrendering your life and allowing Jesus to be your Lord? Listen to the Apostle Paul as he admonishes those believers who have neglected the gift that they were given. “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,”  (1 Corinthians 3:2) “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”  (Hebrews 5:12)
“For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.”  (Hebrews 5:13) If this is you, rejoice that you have recognized the sin in your life and now can repent and begin to move in His power!
 
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? [4] Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, [6] knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; [7] for he who has died is freed from sin. [8] Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, [9] knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. [10] For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. [12] Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, [13] and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Romans 6:3-13)
 
“that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, [18] may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [19] and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. [20] Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, [21] to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”  (Ephesians 3:16-21)
 
 
Abba Father, You are sovereign over all! Thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your mercy, Your lovingkindness! You are great and greatly to be praised! Forgive us Father for walking in the ways of the world and falling in deception and being led astray by the lies of the serpent. Heal us O Lord our Father! We bow down before You today in repentance, asking for forgiveness and a desire to surrender our desires to You so that we may see clearly what You would have us see and how to talk in this evil world. You are the only Light and without You we cannot see. Let us not be like the five foolish virgins who did not have oil in their lamps and thus were not able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You are the Holy One of Israel and our lives are in Your hand, for good or for evil. We know that one day we will stand before You in judgment. Our desire is to hear “well done good and faithful servant”. We desire Your discipline and teaching so that we have the wisdom which is from above. We love and adore You! This we pray in the Holy Name of the blessed Messiah, amen!
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Victorious Living - What It Is And What It Isn't

7/11/2016

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“And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!’“
(Revelation 15:2-3)


I heard a statement the other day that I have to share with you because it so accurately defines the love of God to His children. “The question isn’t why does God let bad things happen, but the truth is that God is always there and walks with His children through the bad times.” So are you walking with God daily, through the good AND bad times? Have you invited Him into your circumstances? Do you lean on Him for understanding and guidance even when He is silent?
 
Depending on how you answered the above questions the answer to the following will be quite evident. Are you living victoriously? Maybe the more accurate question that needs answering is, are you living in such a way that the Lord would say you are living a victorious life because you are trusting that the Lord’s plans for your life are being fulfilled? Do you have faith in His absolute promises that He will bring you through even if you do not understand? “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20) Is He your Rock each and every day? Are you are living a victorious life because you desire more than anything that others who are watching you will be drawn the Lord? Is this what the Lord sees in you?
 
What might a victorious life look like? The biblical definition would be that one is living triumphantly over sin, he/she is manifesting the righteousness of Christ in their lives and the fruit of the Spirit is the result. What it DOES NOT mean is that a person is living in financial prosperity, perfect health, raising a perfect family or not experiencing daily trials. Some of you may be challenged (or even resistant) to hear this, but nowhere in scripture does it say that God’s intended victory for us is any of those things. We might experience one or more of those things but I would challenge you to be honest if they are from God. They could be blessings from Him, but they are not always. You might have achieved them in your own power. Let me give you an example through a conversation I had many years ago with a young lady. I had the privilege of ministering to women who had become addicted to drugs and alcohol. One day in a Bible study one of the ladies “testified” that God had blessed her and her son with abundant material possessions (TV’s, video game apparatus’, etc.) even when she was active in her addiction. This was definitely a false testimony and the truth had to be revealed. Those items had been purchased by drug money, they were not “blessings” from God. God does not bless sin!
 
When God blesses financially it is primarily for His Kingdom on earth providing for the spread of the Gospel to hurting people, orphans, widows, sending out missionaries, meeting needs of the elderly who need repairs where they live and so much more.
 
A greater truth that we need to receive into our lives is that God’s blessings and provisions are not manifested through great outwardly accumulations that give you or me prestige and stature. God does bless the work of our hands and He is not opposed to financial wealth. It’s the foundation of how that wealth came about and what it means to you that is important. Remember the rich young ruler? (Mark 10:17-21) Jesus didn’t have a problem with his wealth. The problem was that his identity (his self-worth) was attached to that wealth. That wealth was his idol, his god. He could not let it go. He had no desire to give it away to help the needy who didn’t have anything. And he wasn’t interested in following Jesus to learn the true path to eternity. He wasn’t interested in receiving his “treasure in heaven”, he already had his treasure! Are you getting the picture? In God’s eyes this is real serious and you will stand before Him and give the account of what you did with what He gave to you! “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10) “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:15)
 
Contrast this life of the rich young ruler with the Apostle Paul. Read his words carefully and compare them with the previous young man. “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13) “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.” (1 Timothy 6:8)  “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," (Hebrews 13:5) The above verses are what the victorious life looks like. It comes when our whole purpose for our lives it to please the Lord no man what the cost.
 
This seems to be a good resting stop for a moment so we can sit with the Lord and allow Him to search us and reveal to us how we are doing in this area of our lives. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” (Psalm 139:23-24) When King David prayed to reveal any “hurtful way in me” he was asking the Lord to reveal any areas of his life that were in opposition to the will of God for him! Was he hindering God’s work in him or in others around him? Was he misusing anything in his life that would give others a wrong impression of God? Was he considering his wants/needs before the desires of God?
 
There are many in scripture we can look to for an example of living victoriously in the       righteousness of the Lord and some who didn’t live victoriously. The first person I’d like to talk with you about is Leah. Have you ever thought about Leah, the first wife of Jacob? Remember the story? Jacob is sent to his mother’s brother, Laban, after he purchased his brother Esau’s birthright and then deceived his father Isaac and received Esau’s blessing. So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.” (Genesis 28:1-2) (Before you think too badly of Jacob you need to seek God’s wisdom regarding both Jacob and Esau. We will get back to them in a bit.)
 
Leah is that person who is easily overlooked. Scripture describes her in a very interesting way, “And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.” (Genesis 29:17) Her younger sister, Rachel, was the one who caught everyone’s attention. Jacob took one look at Rachel and fell in love. (Genesis 29:18) He was so in love that he agreed to work for her father for seven years in order to be able to marry her. (Seven in Hebrew refers to sanctification, setting apart, set apart for a purpose.) “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.” (Genesis 29:20) But on Jacob’s wedding day, Rachel’s father Laban, deceived Jacob and instead of giving him Rachel he gave him Leah. “Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her.” (Genesis 29:23) “So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, ‘What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?’ But Laban said, ‘It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years.’ Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.” (Genesis 29:25-28)
 
“And Leah’s eyes were weak”. What is the Holy Spirit trying to tell us? Much is revealed through the eyes, laughter, fear, tears, joy, emptiness, etc. According to the Hebrew dictionary it might also imply that she was lacking in mental or spiritual capacities. While it might be true that the culture in which Laban lived believed that the oldest should marry first, I sense that Laban felt that this was the only way he had to make sure she did marry, so he tricked Jacob. I can fully understand Jacob’s anger, but can you put yourself into Leah’s shoes? What might she be feeling?
 
I can guess that many reading this can easily begin to name the feelings that she must have been experiencing. Most importantly, God saw Leah and had compassion on her. “Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” (Genesis 29:31) (emphasis mine) Aren’t you glad that God sees us? He knows our every thought, every feeling, every hurt.
 
As I meditated on this situation the Holy Spirit pointed out something that I think we can all relate to. We have all experienced it, some of us have been the recipients of it, some of us have been the initiators of it; if we are truthful we have been both. What am I talking about? Notice that the scripture says that God opened Leah’s womb. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to four sons. Here’s the point, Jacob was not ignoring Leah, he was attentive. But there is a great difference between someone’s attention when they “favor” one person over another. The person is not being treated badly or even inconsiderately, but there may not be that compassion or tenderness or deep love that comes from an intimate relationship.
 
But God was trying to teach Leah something, the same thing He wants to teach you and me. Let’s look at the scripture and see what God was trying to teach Leah. “Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, ‘Because the LORD has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.’ “ (Genesis 29:32) Have you ever tried to win someone’s love? That is what Leah was doing. She was trying to be better than her sister Rachel so that Jacob would love her like he loved Rachel, or maybe even more than he loved Rachel. Jealousy is a terrible thing. It destroys not only relationships, but it destroys us.
 
Have you ever tried to “win” God’s love? For some that may be that for once would you like to be the one who was recognized for all the hard work you do (fill in the blank _______________, setting up the meal at church, hosting the group Bible study, etc.) Or maybe you know that God has given you a talent or a message to give but no one is willing to open the door for you to use it?
 
I’ve been there, I completely understand your emotions. There are some people who take charge and there is nothing that is going to move them from their “positions”. But be at peace, God also sees, and the fact that they are in the spotlight does not mean that they are “favored”. God knows the heart. The lesson we need to learn is to keep our eyes on Him and not on our circumstances. Let’s continue and I think you will see more clearly the desire of God.
 
“Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, ‘Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.’ So she named him Simeon.” (Genesis 29:33) She’s still trying to “perform” her way into having her husband love her.
 
“She conceived again and bore a son and said, ‘Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.’ Therefore he was named Levi.” (Genesis 29:34)
 
“And she conceived again and bore a son and said, '‘This time I will praise the LORD.’ Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.” (Genesis 29:35) Leah finally turned her eyes to the Lord and began to worship Him for His goodness! Unfortunately this didn’t last very long because the rivalry between her and Rachel continued. So why did I choose for us to look at Leah today? Because she is the perfect example of one who found the “secret” of God’s blessing…..WORSHIP! It brings peace and contentment because our eyes are stayed on the Almighty One and not on our circumstances. This is God’s desire for us, this is His blessing! “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” (Hebrews 12:1-3) “My eyes are ever toward the LORD, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.” (Psalms 25:15)
 
Leah allowed Rachel to steal her joy! Have you allowed someone to steal your joy? I believe this is a major trap that the enemy has set before every believer and when we embrace it the roots run very deep and not only is our peace destroyed but it affects everyone around us. As I reflect on this situation I honestly can’t imagine the tension and contention that affected the lives of every person in that family daily. We see the outcome of that in each of the sons and their lineages. It amazes me how God is not afraid to show us the failures of His children. He does it because of His great love for us! He warns us to NOT follow in the footsteps of the path of destruction. There is only one way to avoid falling into these traps, and that is to worship the One and Only God, the Giver of Life, the Lord of lords, the King of kings! Can we stop and spend some time in worship? Remember, worship isn’t for us, it is for Him! Scripture tells us to give a “sacrifice of praise”. Have you ever wondered why it is a “sacrifice”? It takes a conscious action on our part to take our eyes off of ourselves and look up to Him who has our lives in His hands, if we will just let Him lead us! Here are a few scriptures to help get us started. “And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.” (Psalm 27:6) “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” (Hebrews 13:15) “This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.” (Isaiah 43:21) “Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” (Psalms 29:2)
 
As I reflect on this situation, does it remind you of the relationship Jacob had with his brother Esau? There is something very important, however, that we need to look at to really understand the depth of what God is trying to tell us here. Abraham was not willing that Isaac would have a wife from among the Canaanites so he sent his servant back to his family, to the house of his brother Nahor. Remember that Abraham’s family were makers of idols, they didn’t know the One true God. Rebekah was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor. Rebekah was barren for twenty years after her marriage to Isaac but when God opened her womb she became pregnant with twins. This is significant, even before they were born there was turmoil in her womb! “But the children struggled together within her; and she said, ‘If it is so, why then am I this way?’ So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.’ ” (Genesis 25:22-23) Two in Hebrews means that there are two different opinions or choices to be made between. We see that carried out here, the older one would serve the younger. Who was the younger one? Jacob. Esau would become a mighty nation but have we seen him serving Jacob yet? I don’t believe that will be fulfilled until the Millennial Kingdom. Why? Jacob became Israel. Jacob represents the flesh of man and Israel is the spiritual. Through Jacob and Leah. Judah was born and it is through his line that the Messiah was born. There is still much conflict today between these two tribes and it will not end until the people of Esau (Edom who were the Philistines and now are known as the Palestinians!) receive redemption and serve Messiah!
 
Many people really like to talk about how awful Jacob was in stealing Esau’s birthright. Let me ask you a question, did Esau have any say in this situation? Could he have changed the outcome? Here is what scripture reveals to us regarding this situation. “When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; and Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.’ Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, ‘First sell me your birthright.’ Esau said, ‘Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?’ And Jacob said, ‘First swear to me’; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” (Genesis 25:29-34) No one forced Esau to give Jacob what he asked! Did God cause Esau to respond in this way? No, it was Esau’s decision. Did God know what he would do? Yes, of course, but God did not cause it.
 
What is the point? Our choices decide the direction of our lives. Esau’s lack of regard for “his birthright” fulfilled prophecy. As to the blessing I find one verse very interesting in scripture that can easily be overlooked. “Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (Genesis 25:28) Is this why there was only one blessing to be given? Isaac didn’t call both his sons to his bedside, only Esau. Is this why Rebekah took matters into her own hands so that the Word of God (Genesis 25:22-23) was sure to be fulfilled?
 
Let me add another piece to this puzzle. Scripture tells us that Esau married a Hittite woman when he was forty years old and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah. “When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” (Genesis 26:34-35) Forty in the Hebrew means transition or change. Again, his self-focus and desire for personal gratification resulted in unfavorable circumstances for himself and everyone around him.
 
Despite the circumstances Isaac chose to only give one blessing. I could be very wrong but what I hear in my spirit is that God plans were not to be ignored by man! God said it, He meant it and He was bringing it all into right alignment with His plan. Because mankind 99% of the time chooses to see with natural eyes and make judgment with limited knowledge or biased emotions, we often miss out on the whole of what God is wanting to do. This is one of those examples. Need proof? Do you remember the blessing? “But Isaac replied to Esau, ‘Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?’ ” (Genesis 27:37) This blessing was not meant for Esau!
 
As I was typing the last two statements above, I heard the Holy Spirit quietly speaking and confirming what I have been sensing of God’s heart. This is exactly what is happening in the world today. People are walking in sin by discrimination and violence. People are acting out against other people because of skin color and religion. They are acting out of emotional feelings and not seeing the spiritual realm of the message of God’s SOON upcoming judgment on this earth because of the very things they are protesting! We see something, we make a judgment and then set our minds as if it were truth! God is nowhere in this process!
 
Want more proof? I could continue for several more paragraphs regarding this situation and the application pertaining to us, but you can read it yourself. However, let’s look at one more little detail in this story between Esau and Jacob that you may have forgotten. After Isaac sent Jacob away to Rebekah’s brother, Esau’s heart again was exposed to reveal much to us. “So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac; and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.” (Genesis 28:8-9) The continued choices of Esau continue to bring conflict and war and hatred and devastation to the masses and will not end until the battle of Armageddon!
 
Dear ones, you may be saying that your choices have no way of affecting the nations in this way, but how do you know? How do you know the harm the hatred or unforgiveness you have will not harm generations to come?
 
Have you personally, I mean one on one, came face to face with Jesus and was so convicted of your sin that you cried out for forgiveness and accepted his free gift of salvation? You are NOT grandfathered into God’s Kingdom because your parents are Christians or you attended church, it is a PERSONAL walk! There is a way that testifies of that salvation and it goes right back to where we started this devotion. Is sin still master over you or are you walking in liberty in the righteousness of Jesus Christ? Are you easily convicted of sin in your life and quickly repent of it? “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) “and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—” (Colossians 3:10) “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:24)
 
Please don’t misunderstand me, Jacob was not innocent in all these matters but on his way to Laban’s he met God and was changed. Not perfect, his trust was still weak, but his heart had changed to WANTING God to be his Lord! (Genesis 28:10-22) This change in Jacob was the catalyst of a new life that was submitted to the Lord God of Abraham and Isaac. Never perfect, and generational curses continued in his lineage, but his desire was to please God and bless Him. Through his submission to his Creator, he was faithful to his first wife Leah and through this unplanned and unwanted marriage was born Judah who God chose to be the line in which His Son Jesus Christ, the Messiah would be born in order to redeem the world!
 
Do not be like Leah who finally took her eyes off her circumstances to worship God, but quickly turned them back again to her rivalry with her sister Rachel. Be a Jacob who won’t let loose of God until you receive the blessing! A limp is nothing but a reminder of the holiness of God in your life! Rejoice and be glad that He wants to be your LORD! Your reward will not be on earth, the reward is our eternity with Him, to serve Him all the days. “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians  7:1)
 
You have seen the lives of individuals in God’s Word and what takes place when our eyes are on our circumstances and not focused on the Lord to please Him. Living victoriously is keeping your spiritual eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ! I pray you have been encouraged by the Holy Spirit to do so.
 
Worship is vitally important to God. For additional resources on worship please look on this blog and see all the things available to worship and praise our Lord.
 
 
Father, we worship You and You alone. Forgive us for our sin and the desires of our hearts that are opposed to Your plans and desires for us. Your ways are perfect and are not difficult. You so graciously sent your Son Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice to redeem us from our sin. Thank You for washing those who accepted His free gift to be white as snow! Our sins are as crimson but by His blood we have been washed clean. Help us to give you whatever we are holding onto today that is sin so that we might live in the fullness of Your grace and be a living testimony of You to others around us. We love You and praise You. This we pray through Messiah Yeshua, amen!

 
 

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What Is Truth?

6/3/2016

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Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)
What is truth? Each of us has asked ourselves that question. It is a question we should be asking often throughout the day so that we are not deceived. Unfortunately today I often hear people qualify truth to fit their personal need or perception. Biblical truth isn’t subjective, there are no shades of gray. And biblical truth is what the life of a believer is based on. The lack of obedience to the biblical truth is sin and separates us from God and leads us to the path of destruction. “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) The vital question is what do we use to base our answer on? Is it based on what we want to believe or what would suit the situation at the moment? Maybe you choose to believe something to be true but only saw a part of the situation. We’ve all done that, haven’t we? Or, maybe we choose to take sides in a situation based on wanting to support that person and believing their perspective without hearing the other side of the story. There is also a perceived truth that is far from the truth of scripture which we must be able to discern so that we do not stumble! “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)
 
See, there’s a huge problem when the “truth” depends on our perspective. There’s a problem when there is no solid foundation to base our beliefs on. When that is the case we all want to see things through our own experiences or ideas. That is very dangerous and exactly what we are seeing in today’s society. Without God as the foundation of our belief system, there is no right or wrong. How can one judge when there is not a “standard” to use as to what is truth, or put another way, what is right or wrong.
 
This is true in our personal lives, in the business world or in the government. Hopefully by the time we are finished we will be able to see how our denial or disobedience to God’s truth impacts not only our lives and those around us, but it also has a universal effect! There are a few questions we must answer before proceeding. What do you use as your foundation for truth? If you are reading this devotional I will assume you are a believer in Jesus Christ. If that is the case, do you believe that scripture is the authority in which you live your life?  (Notice that the question doesn’t ask if you believe scripture should be used to base your actions, but if you ARE using scripture to order your steps!) If you are not a believer, or may be searching for the truth, I pray that you will take what you read and ask God to make it real in your life. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” (2 Timothy 3:16)
 
There are no situations in life that scripture does not guide our actions. Look at our opening scripture carefully, Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) There is nothing confusing or unclear in what Jesus is speaking. He clearly states that He is the ONLY way into the kingdom of God. He is the truth, He is the One who is the Word (of truth). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” (John 1:1-4) Only through Jesus Christ do we have life. “even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),” (Ephesians 2:5) 
 
You may be thinking that many situations you are faced with are very secular in origin and wondering how scripture applies. Of course, you are not going to blurt out scriptures to everyone you run into when you see things out of alignment, that only brings an offense and division between you and the others. But if you are walking in the power of the Holy Spirit you will be given insight and the words to speak to bring revelation and agreement in many cases. There will be some situations where no amount of reasoning or truth will change the situation, so what then? We walk away and take it to prayer and leave it in the Lord’s hands to guide us when the time is appropriate. This applies to situations with other believers or non-believers. We never see Jesus arguing with others, but everything He said or did was to teach or fulfill scripture.
 
I seriously doubt that any of us ever thought that our situations are actually teaching times for us as well as others around us. We don’t have to use “words” to teach. Let me give a very quick example. Years ago my supervisor and I took a group of women to an event at our church. Tables were set up and hosted by table leaders. My supervisor chose to seat all of the women at one table then took a seat at the same table and I was the only one left standing. She “instructed” me to sit at  another table. Now, a few of the women we brought were also to sit at that table but my supervisor ignored all this and set me alone and kept all of the women with her. I never said a word but took my seat and proceeded to get to know the women at my table and had a very enjoyable evening. However, when the event was over and I drove the women back to the facility they were all very upset about how I had been treated, but they also had learned a great lesson by my actions and were able to apply scripture they had learned to the situation. I use this illustration because I’m sure most, if not all of us, have had situations that were very awkward or someone was making a point of excluding us. While it is a simple example the same principle can be applied to every situation we encounter.
 
Now let’s look at a passage in scripture which clearly illustrates a couple of things. The first is whether or not we apply what we hear taught in scripture and RESPOND correctly or whether we listen without any intent of understanding what is being taught and remain “in the dark” and place ourselves in dangerous situations, physically and spiritually. “While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head.” (Mark 14:3) The woman is not identified specifically here by name but we know her by the location. Mary of Bethany not only heard but understood that Jesus Christ was going to be killed on Passover. Her focus was Jesus. She was at His feet whenever He visited their home and she listened carefully to what He spoke. She applied the truth of scripture with His teaching and believed He was the Messiah and all that He spoke was truth. She was not a wealthy woman but took the one thing she had that was of worth and that was a bottle of pure nard which was valued at one year’s wages. She wanted to worship Messiah and respond to His teaching in the only way she could to convey that she believed not only WHO He was, but also WHY He had come and WHAT He must do and WHEN it would be.
 
Now let’s look at the others who were present. They had also heard Jesus speak the same things Mary had heard. Were they excited to join in and worship and show their love and adoration for the Messiah? NO! Their concern and total focus was on the money! They were angry and very critical of her because of her actions. They were without any spiritual understanding. “But some were indignantly remarking to one another, ‘Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.’ And they were scolding her.” (Mark 14:4-5) Unfortunately this is where the great majority of us are today. Unless we have spiritual understanding of the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal and teach us the application of prophetic teaching of the scriptures, we will be like the disciples and others who were in attendance and totally unprepared for what is happening in this world. We will be totally focused on OUR needs or OUR plans or OUR pursuits.
 
It all comes down to this, DO YOU HAVE A KINGDOM MINDSET? Are you more interested in the things of God or the things of this earth? Our actions and the way we live our lives (privately and/or publicly) will more clearly answer this question than any words will ever convey! Let’s look at the response of the Messiah and then what took place. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.” (Mark 14:6-11)
 
Notice in the previous scriptures when those in attendance were rebuking Mary and scolding her  she never opened her mouth, she did not respond or get angry. What was her response? She looked to Jesus as her defense. (I am reminded of Jesus’ words to the disciples in the previous chapter when He was explaining what was to come. He made a very interesting statement that goes very much against our human nature but one that is critical to our understanding of scripture. “When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 13:11)) As we know, the Holy Spirit was to be sent after Jesus was crucified and then ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father. (John 14:16) Here we see a clear teaching of the power that will encompass the Holy Spirit when we have the same spiritual mindset as Mary.
 
Jesus uses Mary’s action to teach (again) what He has been telling them all along and to remind them that He is going to die. She becomes a teaching example of the proper response we are to have when we hear the Word. Her response reminds me of the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders around the throne in Revelation. “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, ‘HOLY, HOLY, HOLY THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.’  And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ‘Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.’ ” (Revelation 4:8-11)
 
There apparently was not one person in that room, other than Mary and Jesus, who had a kingdom mindset because there was, again, no response. In fact, look at Mark 14:11 again, Judas Iscariot got up and left to go speak to the chief priests to see how much money they would give him to betray Jesus!
 
Dear friends, can we stop here a minute and again read these sections again and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us? Allow Him to ask the following questions and search you. Who are you serving? Are you truly interested in the Kingdom of God so that you can be a vessel in this world to reveal the glory of God? Or, are you interested in the Kingdom as a place you will go when you die? Don’t rush past this point, stay here as long as you need to so you, too, will be filled with the same worship and adoration as Mary and are willing to submit your whole being to the authority of Jesus Christ!
 
Jesus obviously did not take lightly what Mary had done, notice again Mark 14:9, “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” I don’t know about you, but I have never heard a sermon or teaching on this act of worship in any church I’ve attended! Yet Jesus commands us to tell about it. Why? It definitely is not to give Mary the glory or attention. The point is Jesus! Are we listening to JESUS and responding to what we hear in an appropriate way? Or, are we like the disciples who were still spiritually bankrupt and had no understanding of what the Messiah was teaching and what was about to happen? They were more concerned in their agenda than the Messiah’s.
 
Truth is truth whether or not we choose to receive it. By refusing to receive the truth and acting upon it, we are placing ourselves in total opposition to God. Following this meal at the home of Simon the leper (another testimony of who Messiah was because Jesus had obviously healed him of his leprosy or they could not have been in his home), they ate the “last supper” before Passover and Jesus again explained to them what was going to happen before He went to the Mount of Olives so He could pray. Listen to Jesus’ warning to the disciples, And Jesus *said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.’ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” (Mark 14:27-28) Don’t you think this would have caught their attention and caused them to begin to understand the situation? I would have thought that at least one of them might have realized that they missed something along the way and would have asked some questions. They didn’t believe He was going to be killed, but here He was talking about being raised and meeting them in Galilee! But they still were not listening with understanding and Peter basically responded like he did the first time when he had actually heard (not understanding) Jesus say He was going to die. However this time he boasts that he won’t fall away and Jesus tells him in verse 30, "...Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” (Mark 14:30)
 
Did you ever wonder why the rooster would crow two times and Peter would deny Him three times? Numbers are very significant in scripture. Unfortunately, the teaching of numbers I received in church doesn’t line up with the interpretation in scripture according to Judaism. (Even though the scriptures are written in Greek it is all based on Jewish customs, tradition and lifestyle.) The number two here means that there are two divergent choices or opinions laid out. Is that true in this situation? Yes, Peter’s choices were to identify himself as one of the disciples or to deny that he was one of the disciples; he chose to deny that he knew Jesus. The number three means a revealing of something. What was revealed? That Peter was walking in the flesh, or in other words, in his agenda and did not seek out the truth to have understanding that Jesus had been teaching. When we walk in our own understanding we will never stand against the enemy, he will defeat us every time. But when we walk in the spirit we walk in victory because it is not us who is doing the battle but the Holy Spirit residing in us. What a perfect example for us to learn this valuable lesson. As soon as Peter heard the crow the second time he remembered his conversation with Jesus and the fulfillment of His words. His spiritual condition was revealed to him and he was devastated.  Dear ones, until we are brought to the end of ourselves we will continue a downward spiral. Peter hit bottom.
 
Now you can better understand what the Apostle Paul was talking about when he wrote, “for we walk by faith, not by sight— “ (2 Corinthians 5:7) “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:10-12) Peter learned a valuable lesson that night, do you know what it was? Without prayer (the armor of God) we cannot stand. The next portion of the scripture reveals this truth to us.
 
They went to the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus took Peter, James and John further into the garden with Him and asked them to “keep watch”. What did they do? They fell asleep! Not once but twice! And what happened next? Peter denied Him. Did Peter mean what he had previously told Jesus that he would die for Him? Yes, but the problem was he was walking in the flesh and was not as we would say “prayed up”. Neither Peter nor the other disciples had taken the teachings and prayed for understanding. Stop here and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal if you may be in the same place right now. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
 
But what do the scriptures tell us about Jesus? He often went out by Himself early in the morning or after He had sent the crowds away to be with His Father. He didn’t do anything apart from His Father. (John 6:38, 14:10) “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;” (Ephesians 5:1)
 
The point here is what does our Father want to do with your life? Have you asked Him? Are you even willing to ask Him? Are you willing to be obedient to that path regardless of where it might lead? If the foundation of our lives is not FIRMLY ROOTED in God’s Word, we will stumble and fall. We will not allow God to fulfill His design and plan for our lives. “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” (Psalm 139:16) “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) And, worse of all, we will not glorify the Lord so that others may experience His testimony and receive salvation.
 
Along with the Apostle Paul, I pray, “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” (Colossians 1:9-12)
 
I want to share a very disturbing dream I had this week. There were two large vessels for transporting people, the vessels resembled a boat of some sort. There were people on both vessels and two young women came up the ramp and the driver of the one boat spoke. He said to them “this is the vessel to hell or you can choose the other vessel where there are twenty seats still open on the vessel to heaven”. The women chose the vessel going to hell. I was in the spirit and this vessel began a rapid descent down a river. Everything was black around us but we could see that we were passing luxurious houses along both sides and the captain of the vessel was stating that those people would be on the vessel the next day also going to hell. I was jolted awake and had a very heavy feeling that I could not shake. Brothers and sisters, this is exactly why the Lord has called me to write His words on this website. While many (and probably most) reading these devotionals are saved, they may not be living according to God’s word and will experience much loss at the judgment seat. “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:15) “...work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,” (Philippians 2:12-15)
 
If you are not saved or have friends and family that are not saved I pray that you will ask the Lord to open doors that you may share. Your responsibility is to be the light and sow the seed and praise God that it will be received. You may not see the results, the important thing is that you allowed the Holy Spirit to speak through you to the lost and hurting.
 
I am going to end this devotion with several scriptures that I pray you use in your personal study time with the Lord. The Holy Spirit will bring conviction to you if you are lacking in any of these areas. I am so very grateful that our Father loves us so much to meet each of us where we are and continues to teach us how to walk the next part of the journey!
 
Our first scripture is a good challenge as to who are we following, God or man. “Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; for why should he be esteemed?” (Isaiah 2:22) Who do you spend more time with and pattern your life after?
 
When we are not in the Word and spending time to receive understanding and revelation, this next verse is clear of what the outcome will be. “Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude is parched with thirst.“ (Isaiah 5:13) Before you dismiss this scripture too quickly please realize that when we are removed from the leading of the Holy Spirit we are “exiled” into another existence that does not produce fruit or blessings!
 
“For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:18-19) The very sad truth that the Apostle Paul was speaking of was people who were stating they were believers but were not and they brought much destruction to the believers. Unfortunately, not everyone who quotes the Word of God is of God. Is your foundation firm enough to discern the truth? We are faced with this same apostasy/false teaching today and unless you KNOW the TRUTH because of understanding of scripture you will begin to follow those who will teach to “tickle the ear”. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,” (2 Timothy 4:3)
 
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21) There is nothing new under the sun! These words were given to the Prophet Isaiah for the children of Israel and they are are pertinent and timely today as they were then. Remember that because of the Israelites disobedience over and over again, they were given over to exile. We are in that exact same place today! Unless the people of God begin to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and stand up for the TRUTH we too are going to lose our freedom. We may even be too late for the country as a whole, but it is never too late for someone to believe and receive salvation so that they are not lost forever in their sin!
 
The Apostle Paul reminds us of another great deception. The Pharisees and scribes are a great example of this. They were the leading spiritual leaders yet the problem was not that they didn’t know truth but they chose to not obey truth and instead followed their own traditions. We see much of this today as well in the different denominations and churches. “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;” (Colossians 2:8-10) Are you filled with God’s discernment to be sensitive to the truth?
 
“It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread.” (Isaiah 8:13) Are you more concerned with disappointing your boss or your friends than you are God? Godly fear is to “fear” to hurt the One we love. Jesus had it! “And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear;” (Isaiah 11:3) Jesus walked this out by seeking His Father and being obedient to all that He told Him to say or do. While we will never be perfect, as Jesus was perfect, is it the INTENT of our heart and DESIRE to please the Father in all things?
 
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21) Our citizenship is NOW in heaven, we are a sojourner on this earth. Does your life reflect this truth? Again, are you kingdom minded or earthly minded?
 
“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.” (Isaiah 26:3-4) I love this verse because it reminds me that if I keep my focus on Jesus that He is faithful and I can have peace no matter the storm going on around me. That doesn’t mean that we don’t need to pray or to be inactive. He is our Rock and will hold us steady through the storm! “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.” (Isaiah 43:2)
 
I believe that this passage of scripture reveals the most accurate description of the life of a believer. Is this you? Have you walked away from the “old life”? Have you surrendered your anger or foul mouth and abusive language over to the Lord? Is the Holy Spirit able to convict you of sin in any of these areas? Again, are you committed to walking in the new creation in which you received upon salvation? If there is no evidence of this in your life, I would encourage you to stop and allow the Holy Spirit to search you. Repent of the things that He reveals that are out of alignment and be willing to consecrate yourself to the Lord.  “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—“ (Colossians 3:1-10)
 
Last, but certainly not least, I pray that the desire of your heart and mine would join with the Apostle Paul in having the following the reality of our lives.  “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;” (Philippians 3:7-15)
 
 
Abba Father, I worship You and thank You for Your truth. You hold my life in the palm of Your hand. I am humbled by Your great love and mercy. Thank You for Your grace that convicts me and calls me to Your righteousness. I, too, submit to You and ask that if there is any different attitude in me that is not of Your truth that You will reveal it to me so that I may repent and receive forgiveness. I love You and long to be with You physically but am beyond grateful that You should be with me spiritually each and every day of my life. Help me to keep my eyes focused on You, the author and finisher of my faith. All this I pray through the blessed name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Obedience Through Love

7/11/2015

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I’m sure you’ve noticed by now my love of the Old Testament. It was through these scriptures that the Lord showed me many years ago how my life was pretty much the same as the Israelites. The only difference was that I did love God and was in a relationship with Him, which the Israelites did not have or want. But what God showed me was that even though I loved Him I did not understand having Jesus as Lord of my life. Romans 14:9, “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”  I was expecting God to do all the work and I would reap the benefits! Unfortunately due to the lack of solid biblical teaching in our churches today, that is where a majority of believers sit. I think that is why this passage lays so heavily on my heart because it is not pleasing to the Lord. Have we forgotten the following words? “For it is written, ‘AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.’ So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:11-12)

When the Lord calls us to Himself and we respond by confessing our sins, repenting and ask Him into our lives, He literally promises the same thing to us today that He promised to the Israelites in the verses below. However, many hear verse 20 and sit and wait for God to do all the work and never grow in their relationship. Even though you may think that some of these passages do not apply to your walk with the Lord today, bear with me and we will see why they actually do. Specifics of situations may change, but application to the situations never change.

Before we take a few minutes to reflect on each verse (that is why I’ve laid them out separately), let us be reminded of how Jesus Christ has fulfilled these promises for us. Then look at the promises Jehovah made to them! God’s promises are not power and control, they are for our protection!

As I read these passages I am reminded of the greatness of our God and how little faith we truly have in Him today. We have forgotten the meaning of that divine relationship of what it truly means to be an heir to the throne. “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” (Colossians 2:13-15) We forget our heavenly position of being seated in Christ Jesus now! “and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:6) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” (Ephesians 1:3)

“that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:16-21)

Now let’s walk through Exodus 23:20-33:
“Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

21“Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him.

22“But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

23“For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.

24“You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces.

25“But you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst.

26“There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

27“I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

28“I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you.

29“I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

30“I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.

31“I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

32“You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.

33“They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

God literally laid out His plan to the children of Israel as to what and how He was going to take them into the promised land. Many believe that Jesus was the angel who was sent to go before them. “Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him.” (verse 21) The Apostle Paul confirms this fact in the following verse, “Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.” (1 Corinthians 10:9)

Note that God warns them that He was specific about their part of the plan. I found verse 22 to be a key to the whole plan. God wasn’t looking for someone going through the motions, but one who was willing to be obedient out of love for Him.

Why did the Israelites fail to enter the promised land? They had no desire to be in relationship with their Lord, therefore they didn’t “love” Him. They chose to follow Moses, not God. “Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” (Exodus 20:19) Notice they said they would “listen” to Moses, not obey, they didn’t trust Moses either!

We are of the same nature as the Israelites. We cry out to God to get us out of our circumstances and when He does, we still aren’t happy with the way He did it! Our rebellious nature doesn’t trust anyone, especially God. Why is that? Because to trust God means that we need to put aside “our ideas and plans”.

There is no doubt their lives as slaves were not good. They wanted to be free from bondage. However, as soon as they began the journey they began to complain because of what they did leave behind that they came reliant on. What was that? Food and shelter. So their hearts remained on what they didn’t have any longer instead of rejoicing and having a heart of thanksgiving for deliverance from slavery and bondage.

Instead of seeing God as The Deliverer and Defender, they remained stuck in their minds that they were in the desert without the foods they had become accustomed to. Their bodies may have been in a different location but mentally they were not set free. In their minds, they replaced the slave masters in Egypt, with the thought of Moses being their slave master. They kept accusing him of bringing them out to the desert to die! The sad reality is that their words condemned them and they allowed them to actually become reality! Our words are sharp swords, they shape our future! What are you shaping? “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21)

Are you believing what God says? God speaks to us in so many ways, through His Word, through the Holy Spirit, through written words, through music, and through others. Of course, everything must line up with the written Word in scripture. God never acts contrary to His nature.

Are you currently so focused on your present circumstances that you can’t even hear God’s promises to you? Our words, our complaints become idols in our lives. The words of our mouths reflect our heart condition. Are our words uplifting God’s sovereignty in our lives or are we actually in partnership with the devil denying God’s promises over us? The more we “hear” either positive or negative, the more we reflect what we are hearing because we begin to identify and get comfortable in that condition. There is even a greater concern with this state of being, scripture is clear that when we grumble and complain about our circumstances, we are actually grumbling ABOUT GOD! (Exodus 16:8) (Matthew 25:40)

What’s the alternative? Develop an attitude of gratitude and with thanksgiving acknowledging God’s blessing in our lives. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:6-8) “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18) That’s what the Israelites never did. The Lord actually called them “stiffnecked”! I picture someone standing erect and immovable, as a building.

So, let’s walk through this passage of scripture and see the truth of God at work in our lives. “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:9) The situation of the Israelites is no different than what you and I are navigating today, different places, different eras, same problems!

There is a double application in these scriptures. First of all we need to acknowledge our need of a Savior, that’s the first deliverance. However, even after becoming a believer, our old nature must also be delivered of the old ways of thinking and behaving on an ongoing basis. My prayer is that you will be honest and open to the leading of the Holy Spirit to speak to you and free you.

One of the first things I noticed in these passages was that God actually laid out His plan to establish trust with the Israelites so they could join Him in the journey with hearts of thanksgiving. That never happened, they remained in bondage. Why do I even point this out? One of the things I hear most often from believers (not just new believers) is that they don’t understand why God doesn’t give them a roadmap of what He is doing in their lives.

We have the evidence staring us in the face, it doesn’t develop a trusting and loving relationship with the Lord Jesus because we continue to think we know a “better way” and try to run ahead of where we need to be.

Let’s begin to extract some of God’s promises from these passages. First of all, God assures us that we never go on our journey alone. In the desert God sent an angel to lead them, today God has sent the Holy Spirit to lead us and to bring to remembrance everything we have heard. (John 14:26)

God also assures that He knows EXACTLY where He is leading us! ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’ (Jeremiah 29:11) “...Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.” (Isaiah 46:11)

God is reminding the Israelites, and us today, that we are in His presence! Standing in the presence of the Holy One of Israel is daunting and glorious at the same time! We must never forget that He sees our every move and calls us to obedience for our protection. When we are rebellious we are sinning, intentionally sinning! Sin takes us out of God’s protective covering and leaves us vulnerable to attacks of the enemy, the sin nature within (Romans 6:12) and from the enemy, Satan, without (Ephesians 6:11). Outside of God’s will, He cannot fight for us because we have told him literally to “back off”! We are also telling Him the same thing by not responding to His will in how to live the surrendered life daily. In other words, your “no response silence” is spiritually deafening!

But when we walk in obedience God is our defender and goes before us to fight off the enemy’s attacks. You will note that God repeats Himself, reminding them He will totally destroy the enemy. However, we need to understand the whole plan and the importance of each day’s journey. God is telling them what He WILL do for them, but they also have to become a partner, be in covenant with Him. It requires obedience to His Word, which comes through being in relationship and worshipping Him! Rather than thinking only of ourselves, we place Him at the center of our lives.

A scripture that really stood out to me years ago that illustrated this so well, opened up my understanding of what that relationship looks like, even before Jesus’ ministry. “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight...” (Exodus 33:13)

“You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces.” (Exodus 23:24) The Lord continues and tells them that they are to serve Him only and He will bless them. Go back to the beginning and read again the promises that God reminded them of at this time. (For a more detailed description go to Deuteronomy 28 and read the blessings and curses.)

God’s provision was amazing! He gave them water out of a rock, on another occasion He sweetened bitter waters to make them drinkable, He provided manna (delivered fresh every morning!), their clothes never wore out, neither did their shoes! All of this to teach them trust and to show them His great love for them!

Here’s a challenge, what has God done for you to praise Him? There are so many things I could not list them all! But I do know that I would be dead if He didn’t have His hand on my life. When I realized that I was so humbled! I have experienced the great blessings and I have experienced the consequences of disobedience. I never want to go there again! The arrogance and pride that drives us to be disobedient cannot co-exist with the Almighty God. We have the choice to choose life or death. Let’s read these passages together, they lay out the solid foundation and the shifting sand, which do you choose today?

“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, (TV, sports, work, hobbies, computer games, addictions, etc.) I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)


Abba Father, thank You for life in Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank You for the wakeup call today and reminder of Your lovingkindness which never ceases. Thank You that You love us too much to leave us as we were. And, thank You, that You give us free will to choose You. You are not a task master that desires to keep us in bondage. You sent Your Son to set me free! Help me Lord to be more like You. Thank You that greater are You in me than he who is in the world!  (I John 4:4) and if You are for me, who can be against me? (Romans 8:31) We know that all things work together for good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose (Romans 8:28), so I bow down in worship. Here I am Lord, send me. I pray that through Christ I will lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles me, and run with endurance the race You have set before me (Hebrews 12:1). I love You! Amen.




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Affliction

1/23/2015

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“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
What do we do when we are thrown a curve ball? Are some things easier to accept than others? Maybe so, but our flesh nature never likes change; it wants what it wants, when it wants it! We often do not even take the time to ponder what is going on, or more importantly, what God might be saying to us in the midst of situation.

This happened to me last night, not only to me but to over 500 other believers. The whole room basically shut down. I suspect many did not even hear the word spoken last night because of the disappointment. For the past year we have all been attending a Saturday night service at our church and loving it. This service was in addition to two services on Sunday morning.

For me, this service was an answer to prayer. We had actually been attending Saturday night services at the only other two churches in our part of town for the past 6 months, but neither was feeding us. Many of you know of some of the medical challenges I experience and this was the perfect answer. My husband does not like big gatherings, so for him, it was an answer to prayer. For others, it may have been the only way they could attend church if they worked on Sunday. Because of the smaller gathering, it was more comfortable to invite non-believers so that they would not be overwhelmed. There could be dozens of reasons, but in the end, it really doesn’t matter. Why would I say that? The decision was not ours to make. Our decision is whether or not we will truly take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (II Corinthians 10:5)

I can only imagine the myriad of emotions going through the room. My mind immediately went to the throne to ask what this meant for me; however, it didn’t stop many of the thoughts entering my mind as to why this wasn’t going to be very good for me. “For me”. Did you catch that? God did, and His response was to have me look around the room and He filled my heart with compassion for the others in the room. God’s Presence was always in this service, many had come to salvation this past year, where were they in trusting God? How strong was their relationship with Christ? How would they handle the change?

As I kept God as my focus, ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.’ (Jeremiah 29:13), God spoke to my heart and reminded me, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) Yes, it would be challenging, but He has already overcome! I needed to focus on Him to overcome the challenges in my body and pave the way to victory.

As I continued to listen to the pastor’s teaching, the Spirit began to make alive the reason I was to trust Him to continue to stay in this church, despite the change. When I got home I prayed and journaled and asked God to confirm what I was hearing because my heart’s desire is to be in alignment and agreement with Him. Here’s what happened when I submitted, without any hindrance or hesitation to the Holy One. I had 3 dreams that were basically the same, confirmation of 3 witnesses, and then the first devotion I opened this morning poured out His heart to me and gave me the scripture that titles this writing. I’ll share just a few excerpts that He spoke to me. “I am leading you along the high road, but there are descents as well as ascents.” “Disruptions to your routine highlight your dependence on Me.” “Trusting acceptance of trials brings blessings that far outweigh them all.” Lastly, “Breathe deep draughts of My presence, and hold tightly to My hand.” These are taken from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, January 18.  I sought God’s direction only and I found Him and He answered, glory hallelujah! ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3) God is so faithful and just waiting for us to turn to Him.

What is your affliction today? What is your trial or challenge? You may be thinking that my situation is nothing compared to what you are going through, and I would agree. This situation is lighter for me, but it may be the Grand Canyon for someone else who is new to the faith, who is just learning to stand on His foundation, so that the shifting sands don’t damage or destroy the ground he is standing on. I believe that is why the Lord wanted me to share this situation because we all are navigating something, and regardless of how important you think that situation may be, it’s never too small for Jesus! He wants to be in charge of EVERY part of our lives. But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” (James 4:6) If I had refused to turn my thoughts to Christ, it would have become a great stumbling block for me to follow my flesh because I would then have stepped out of the covering of God! I believe humility is a life long walk to achieve, but I believe that God’s will is for us to strive for humility in every area of our lives.

So the question is, have you turned it over, truly turned it over to God? Verbal declaration is great, but we need to be careful that it isn’t only that, verbal. “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” (John 6:27) (emphasis mine)

Let’s tie that in with something else Jesus spoke to His disciples: Jesus *said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” (John 4:34) What is our work? TO DO THE WILL OF GOD! On that we will be sealed for the day of eternity!

Unless the Word is in us and has become a part of us, we are walking in our flesh. Notice that John 6:27 tells us we need to work for the food that endures to eternal life. How do we do that? We eat of the Word! We meditate on His Word. “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” (Joshua 1:8) That same Word that God spoke to Joshua, He speaks to you and me today. Do you believe it? It’s never too late to take that step, I pray that if you struggle in this area, you will look up and see Jesus looking upon you with His arms outstretched, calling you to Himself. If you need help in knowing where to start, please don’t hesitate to click on the Contact button above and we will be happy to lead you to some resources that will be a great encouragement to you and lead you on a journey of a lifetime!



Father God, I thank You that I can share what You have shown me, taught me and delivered me from in this journey on earth. Oh how I long for that glorious day when I shall see You face to face! I pray for those reading this devotion today. Touch their hearts and speak into them to look up to You.  Place within them the truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set them free from the law of sin and death! (Romans 8:1-2). In these last days it seems that the enemy has gathered all of hell to come against those who are called by Your name. But I know that greater are You in us than he who is in the world, (I John 4:4). Lord, thank You that You cry every tear with us and one day we will have no more tears as we reside in eternity. Until that day, thank You for holding our hand and leading us in the direction of Your plan for each of us. You alone know that struggle within us, even better than I can understand in my own life. (Psalm 139:1-4) You think of me more times a day than the number of grains of sand in the universe, (Psalm 139:17-18), so I know beyond a doubt that You are for me and not against me, so I look up and praise You! Take my life and let it be a testimony of Your grace and forgiveness! Amen.
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Believing In Christ

1/14/2015

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“...This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”John 6:29

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Until you are in a situation and are faced with the choice of acting in your own power or believing and waiting for the power of the Holy Spirit to work in your behalf. Oftentimes, when we wait for the Lord to move in our behalf, we totally miss His hand because His ways are not our ways and we get discouraged and angry and frustrated because we just want the situation fixed. All the while, Jesus wants to mold (or fix/change) us.

It is much easier to believe (in our own understanding) of something than to “believe in” something or someone. Because of our lack of understanding, and the lack of teaching/discipleship, many have no idea that “believing in Jesus Christ” is taking a step out of the earthly realm and moving into a spiritual realm. There is a great lack of teaching that believing in Jesus Christ is exchanging this life for the life of Christ.

The deceiver in this earthly realm has been able to deceive us so that we don’t even have an understanding of the words we use. First of all, we need to understand fully what “believe” means. This word is taken from a word which means to have faith in, upon, or with respect to; entrust, commit, to trust in, to have faith in. That means that if I entrust or commit myself to something, I am no longer the one who is in charge. I am no longer the commander of the ship! Someone else is in control of what will happen to me. A clearer example might be that when you or I get on an airplane, we trust in the pilot to know how to fly the plane and that he will get us to our destination safely. If we decide the flight is taking too long, we cannot go into the cockpit and take the flight controls, we have to trust that the pilot knows what he is doing.

The key word in the above passage is “in”; “that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” It is rather easy to say we believe Jesus is the Son of God, but to believe in Him to handle the direction of our lives is something else, it is the testimony of our faith. Jesus is the pilot and we are to put our trust in Him to get us to our destination. After all, we don’t even know what our destination is, so how are we going to get there without Him leading us?

The Scriptures are the very breath of God. It is a testimony of who He is and His love for us. He tells us in His Word that He is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. I’ve heard many say that the miracles, or the gifts of the Spirit, or the five fold ministry is not for today. That would mean that God is not the same, He has changed. If that is where you are today, I would like to encourage you to further study His word and allow Him to open the eyes of your heart. We cannot choose what we are going to believe in Scripture, it’s all or nothing! All scripture is God breathed! “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Believing in Christ and trusting in Him cannot be separated. It is a daily walk of faith that develops our testimony. Just as a baby has to develop the muscles to learn to crawl and walk, so must we. At first a baby is afraid to take that first step because they have never done it before, but they know it is possible because everyone around them is walking. It is the same with us, we have read the testimonies in the scriptures and have the knowledge of God’s faithfulness, so the next step is to experience that faithfulness in our own lives. And the only way we can do that, of course, is by stepping out in faith.

I pray that the Spirit is drawing you into the spiritual realm for revelation unspeakable as we understand the miracle of Christ’s birth and our rebirth! All of this would be more than enough, but there is an even greater reason that God is so adamant that we know and understand His Word. It is found in this passage: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

God has laid this Word on my heart so that we are assured of our salvation and our calling. Whether or not He returns soon, each day is critical in carrying out His plan! As I studied this verse, this word of assurance was even stronger on my heart. What does overcoming the world really mean? That’s a pretty big picture, and while it may sound great to quote to someone going through struggles, it can also cause a lot of confusion and questions.

We are admonished several times in the Scriptures to make sure of our calling. Is there evidence that you are regenerated, that you have a new life and a new spirit in Christ? That is what is meant when scripture talks about being born of God. Is there evidence that Christ lives in you and you in Him?

When we think of overcoming the world we need to recognize who is the ruler of the world presently. Adam and Eve gave up the deed of ownership in the Garden of Eden. The Apostle Paul gives graphic detail so as to not have any misunderstanding:


“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

As evidenced in these verses, we formerly lived in the lusts of the flesh, but when we are “born” of God, we are regenerated and have a new life and new spirit, so that former person is dead and a new man is now living. That new man is not under the authority of the ruler of this world, the prince of the power of the air, Satan. Why? Because we are now seated in Jesus Christ at the right hand of God. (Ephesians 2:6) And Philippians 3:20 tells us that our citizenship is in heaven. Hallelujah!

Now what are the things of this world that we have overcome? Worthless cares, evil and immoral actions both physically and spiritually, temptations and irregular desires that are not of God, to name a few. When we are “in Christ” we are looking to Him before we can even begin to carry a burden or make a move that is not ours to take. This is already done! The Apostle Paul explains it to us: “and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;” (Colossians 2:10). That makes me want to shout and dance! And then fall on my face in worship! He is so great and wonderful!



Father God, I love You. Your ways are so much higher than my ways! Forgive me for taking things into my own hands and not trusting You! Thank You that You already have the road mapped out for me, all I need to do is put all my cares upon Jesus and allow Him to lead me! As I think on that, I realize that nothing can touch me that hasn’t touched Jesus because He is before me. And I know that He will protect me and that if it is a difficult way, He will be there to walk with me and teach me what I need to learn to continue the journey with Him. Oh Lord, how I look forward to that day when I walk that glorious shore with You! I love You more each day. Amen!
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