"Angels in the Fire" (July 28, 2013)

If God is working on you, you won't be able to escape it. You can't go from one place to the next or one person to the next to get away from what He's doing. What He has for you may be difficult, but it will take you to the next season and purify you. Take Jonah as an example of this....and avoid the process of running...get where you can receive from people who love you and take it as God speaking to you. Those who have your best interests at heart will be tender and guide in love and patience. He does all for your good!

If He calls you to go through the fire, there is purification in the process-submit to the refining process that the dross would be removed from your life.  Trust Him to send protection and strength to walk you through it!  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked into the fiery furnace - and there appeared a form in the furnace described as looking "like the sons of god."   Perhaps it was the Lord himself or perhaps it was an angel who was sent to protect these men (Dan 3:28) but the result was a revival in the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3).  At the moment where you feel completely alone in the fire, remember the promise of God to send His angelic hosts to your aid:  "Are not the angels all ministering spirits (servants) sent out in the service [of God for the assistance] of those who are to inherit salvation (Heb 1:14)."


Luk 22:42-43  Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done. And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him in spirit.

"Milk, Meat and Strife" (July 27, 2013)

Here is a frightening thought: we may have gone through years of learning and think we are living the Word through Jesus Christ, but if we are prone to involvement in strife, we are still babes! OUCH!

Even more disturbing, the word says we are "carnal" if strife originates from us or we entangle ourselves in it. Carnal, according to Strong's concordance, means satisfying the flesh, concerned with the temporary things of earth and governed by human appetites. In the recipe for carnality are strife, envy and division.

If we have our teeth sunk into strife and carnality, we cannot chew the meat of the Word and live the life of Christ! The digested Word of God becomes flesh on us, changes us from the inside out. We become Christlike and display His character as the nutrients of the Word take hold and grow us. However, if we can only swallow milk, we will stay in the immature state, regardless of how we see ourselves and how much we think we know of the Word.

Further, the Word says we are walking as "mere men" and nourished with pride when we promote one person as our leader by putting other leaders down, thus bringing strife into the Body of Christ. Paul was clear about this in 1 Corinthians 3:4: "For when one says, I belong to Paul, and another, I belong to Apollos, are you not [proving yourselves] ordinary (unchanged) men?"

Dear brothers and sisters, keep yourselves from strife, for we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; you are God's garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, [you are] God's building [Cor.3:9]. Strife insists that "I" have no faults and will have it my way. Strife is void of grace. Strife is unwilling to conciliate-overcome hostility and distrust. Strife misrepresents Christ!

Friends, I have been in strife and seen strife. A telltale concern people have in strife is that they cannot clearly hear the voice of God and confusion enters. If you see this in your life get before the Lord in repentance and seek His direction. Be willing to empty yourself of your desires and your right to be "right." Strife pushes on doors and insists that they be opened....peace waits on the Lord for His timing.

We have nothing to prove-but the grace and peace and love of God operating through us gives great proof of Christ in us! 

1Co 3:1-9 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.

To God be all glory and honor and praise!

The Greatest Weapon (July 25, 2013)

The Greatest Weapon!

The soldier of Christ must always be armed with the greatest weapon in His arsenal: LOVE! Without this equipment, the rest of the armor doesn't work properly, and in fact can become a weapon of the enemy!

I hear the word "love" tossed around and used in many unusual ways. Every culture could give a different definition of love, but God is the author of love and He Himself is the true definition: God Himself is love, so all that God does and is are representative of love.

Admittedly, I see that I would not have done the same things that God did in every situation in the Bible-that's because I have not matured in love. I can see how He is perfect and always has the perfect answer, but I sometimes see that "after-the-fact." This weakness of humanity is what should cause us to see that His ways are perfect and His love is endless and His motive is restoration to Himself!

Here is the basic, bottom line definition of love: thoughts, words and deeds which have as their motive restoration to God! This is what Jesus exemplified-perfect love and perfect restoration. In this definition we have to see that God does what the One loving deems perfect and not necessarily what the one being loved desires. Parents get daily glimpses of this as we raise our children.

If love is defined by motive, then I know I have much to understand and much sanctification to undergo before I am perfected in love. It pains me to think of my motives....they are not always restoration to God and they can often be very selfish. Thank God - He knows every motive and constantly pulls us back to His love through grace.

Keep pressing on, keep giving grace, keep taking your thoughts and desires to Him for purification and sanctification! Use the greatest weapon in your arsenal-love!

1Co 13:13 So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Nuggets of wisdom for the wounded heart.... (July 24, 2013)

 

 

Nugget 1    "Groundhogs Day Remedy"
If you see the same thing happening over and over in your life, it's time to evaluate yourself! Take your self before the Lord and ask for understanding and revelation and cleansing. Get empowered by Him to do the part you can do to get out of "Groundhogs Day." This may require repentance, renewing of the mind or apologizing to someone.....let God lead you! You may find that new doors are suddenly opened and you feel free and more joyful!

 

Nugget 2   Insecurity and inferiority are conditions of the heart....they cannot be solved by having more of anything (more admirers, more money, more beauty). These issues of the heart will follow you wherever you go unless they are laid at the cross. Gain relationship with the Maker, get understanding-He will bring the remainder of His plan to pass in your life. Long more for Him than for anything or anyone else and see what He does. He brings truth and freedom!

 

Nugget 3   Life is often a matter of perspective!  Start looking at life as though He is "able", not that you are "unable."  

 

 

 

 

When the beauty of the flower fades, then comes the fruit! (July 23, 2013)

When the beauty of the flower fades, then comes the fruit.

A flowering plant produces seeds out of the decay of the blossom. As a gardener I watch for the beauty of the flower to appear on my plants, but the true beauty and miracle comes as the flower fades and dies and the fruit begins its growth. There's wonder in all of the phases of plant growth, but the bean pod or strawberry or cucumber that begins to grow after the decay of the blossom is the evidence I look for to know that the plant has successfully reached maturity.

A plant that has a deep root will draw water and nutrients out of the soil, and the soil with good nutrients will continue to yield the needed food for the plant to produce its fruit. So it is with us....it's not a small matter to be deeply rooted and grounded in good soil that we produce beautiful and lasting fruit for Him.

Our growth process has to be continuous-if we cut off the water of the Word or pull up the root from good ground, the plant begins the dieing process.

Keep the branch in good soil, dear friends, and stay in the water of the Word! His word is life to our bodies and health to our bones. Don't allow the plant of your soul to become deformed, only having a form of Godliness but denying His power, by starving it of nutrients from good soil. Let the Master Gardener trim your dead branches so that new growth may come-be rid of the dead works of the flesh and a heart that searches for simple, fleshly pleasures.

Joh 15:4-5 Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

All for His glory!

"Know When to Walk Away...Know When to Run" (July 18,2013)

There's an old song entitled "The Gambler", sung by Kenny Rogers, with lyrics that profoundly apply to more than a hand of poker cards. "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run."

As I've pondered these lyrics I've seen that they apply to just about every situation in life. The wisdom to know when to hold on, when to let go,when to turn on your heel and walk away and when to run as fast as you can, has its source in God only!

Jesus held his tongue and stayed calm in the most dire of situations: "He was submissive and opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth (Isaiah 53:7)." Yet, at other times he spoke up and set people straight: "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? (matt. 3:7)."

As human beings we have learned responses and emotional responses.....but only those that proceed out of the heart of the Father are the right responses. At times our giftings can even get in the way of the right response! For example, having an apostolic anointing requires being able to lay foundations, set doctrine in place and correct sin in the church. If that gift becomes lopsided, one of the ways it can err is to become over-corrective or overbearing. This is but one example of why our responses need to proceed out of the heart of the Father.

While grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness (Titus 2:12) it is also a safety net for the way in which we handle everyday situations. Erring on the side of grace in any situation is much safer than allowing emotions and strongholds in our thinking to dominate relationships and situations. If we err on the side of grace we will more than likely have an opportunity to correct that error after we have taken it wholeheartedly before the Lord.

Flee immorality, give grace to the sinner, let the Spirit judge your motives!

All to the glory of God!

"Hopeless Situation or Opportunity?" (July 16, 2013)

Hopeless situation or opportunity?

Eph 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Have you ever prayed for God to resolve something, or supply something, and He answered the prayer in such a manner that you were stunned at what He brought about? He acted on your behalf far above your ability to understand the dynamics and intricacies of the situation!

When God says "exceedingly, abundantly" there has to be something ready to spill out into your life that's far beyond your ability to grasp....something that the Spirit does that has far reaching affects, something that stretches your faith and comprehension so far that you know it can only be God! What may seem like a hopeless situation to you is an opportunity for God to show himself strong to bring about His perfect plan-beyond the limits of human expectations!

Exceedingly abundantly can be restated as "far superior, preeminent, superfluous and advantageous!" And this is possible only to the extent that His power is working in us-as we are submitted and committed to the work of the Spirit in us, He will do it!

1Co 2:9 But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed] AMP

All for the glory of God!!!

"Uncorking the Grace Bottle" (July 11, 2013)

Take the cork off of the bottle of grace!

Let's take a new view of grace: it's not only the favor of God, or the mercy of God for our mistakes, nor does it stop at the amazing redemption purchased by Jesus Christ! Grace is constantly extended to and through us by connection with other members of the body because of the gifts that God has put in us. Additionally, when God's grace is extended to us through other members of the body in the form of His giftings, we advance in the sanctification process and others participate in our sanctification.

Here is a true to life example! Sister Susie is struggling with seeing everything in a negative light-she can't see where God is working, only where the enemy is working, and that is being highlighted in her thought life. She gets a brother in the Lord to pray for her and that brother, having the gift of discernment, sees the root of the negative attitude. She understands and has hope after he prays, then the brother directs her to a study where she can be renewed in her heart and mind to have the thoughts of God! The Body has participated in her sanctification through the grace given to each one of them.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 of the "gifts of the spirit"and the word used for "gifts" is a form of the word "grace." Paul recognized that God's apostolic gifting in him was God's grace extended to the body. 1Co 15:10 "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." Not only does God's grace get extended through the gift He's made of us, but that grace enables us to labor diligently to use the gift for the advancement of His Kingdom.

We can stop up the grace of God by denying others the gift in us, by dragging our heels in the sanctification process, by walking in jealousy and envy, and by refraining from fellowship with the rest of the Body. The Body is amazingly connected and in need of every part at all times! Where one is gifted the other is in need of that gift.

Recognize the grace of God in your life and give Him glory! Labor by His grace, give to others through His gifts of grace, receive from others through His gifts of grace. For the benefit of His grace in and through us, to GOD BE ALL THE GLORY, none to us!

"Bad People??" (July 5, 2013)

Bad People???

Have you ever been through a church split, a disagreement with a Christian friend or witnessed ungodliness in a trusted ministry? Most Christians I know have experienced at least one of the above - at least once in their Christian walk.

I've been through enough of this myself and have wondered how God could continue to use that ministry or person after "what they did to me (and others)." They must be "bad people" and since they hurt others God shouldn't use them anymore. Sounds like a healthy attitude, right? I'm being real with you!

Paul, Moses, David, Peter, etc.,etc.,etc.,were all considered 'bad people' at one time or another by other Christians. The amazing thing about God is that He chooses and uses 'bad people' even when we don't trust them and even IF we don't consider them to be good anymore. And in a show of His omnipotence, God even uses jack-asses to get His word across!

Now there are definitely some difficult things going on which cause us to have to make a choice to turn away from some relationships, but the point I'm making is that we, too, are being sanctified, just like the 'bad people.' But we cannot keep a root of bitterness and distaste against others, we must be reconciled in love and repent of our heart attitudes, words and actions so that we don't let that root take hold and bring distress into our lives and the lives of our family members. God does not excuse us from the call to repentance if the other person sinned, too-we are responsible to repent for our sins, no matter what the conditions that caused them.

Since every human being was conceived and raised in sin, we know that strongholds in our thinking and behaviors have grabbed ahold of us and affect how we view one another. I believe this is one of the reasons God has told us not to judge the motives of one another....our judging comes out of our ways of thinking, which are sometimes not sanctified! 1 Cor 13:7 "...love is always ready to believe the best in others."

I heard a clear directive from the Lord to go to the past to make the future better. What He was saying to me is that I can change the present and the future by rectifying the past. There were specific people that I needed to go to and repent of my attitudes and actions, regardless of what theirs were, in order to set things right and open doors to the future. God gave me a new revelation of His love before I did this, inspiring me to move forward with the goal of reconciliation in love. What a marvelous outcome He provided....not because everything is all sweet and we now live in a Candy Crush type world....but because He lifted off years of heartache and distress through repentance and forgiveness. The root which takes hold concerning these past situations can cause a distorted understanding of some parts of His word. You see, when we have allowed a root to be established in this way we will look for ways to justify it, either by misconstruing His word or bringing others alongside of us to agree with us. However, 10,000 people in agreement can never negate the Truth of God!

Matt 18 (21 to end) talks of the unmerciful servant who has his debt forgiven then harshly refuses to forgive others. What great forgiveness we have received-let us extend it to others freely, just as it was extended to us!

"He's Coming for a Pure Bride" (July 2,2013)

 

"He's Coming for a Pure Bride"

We, as a body of believers, are known as the Bride of Christ. As such, we have been given the benefits of the engagement [betrothal] typically bestowed upon a traditional Jewish bride in Biblical times.

The Father of the groom typically chose the bride-to-be for his son-a Biblical example of this is seen in Genesis 24, where Abraham sends his servant, Eliezer, to find a bride for Isaac. Once the bride was selected a bride price was established: 1Corinthians 6:20 "you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body...": our bride price is the life of the Groom.

Betrothal is the next step-the bride and groom are legally bound to one another and cannot separate without a legal divorce. An example of this is seen with Mary and Joseph-although the time had not come for them to be physically living together, they were legally bound to one another. Jeremiah 2:2 and Hosea 2:19-20 speaks of Israel's betrothal to God. Next, a written contract is drawn up and the bride gives her consent. This agreement requires the bride to verbally say "I do" to the contract-Romans 10:8-10 speaks of our verbal confession of Christ and agreement to live for and through Him.

At this point gifts were given to the bride as as symbol of love, loyalty and commitment, and the cup of the covenant was shared between the bride and groom. The gifts were a down payment or promise by the groom to fulfill the marriage contract. Eph.1:14 calls the Holy Spirit "the earnest of our inheritance" to come. The word "earnest" literally translates as "engagement ring" in the Greek language. Our promise to live life as the bride of Christ is enabled by this down payment out of the full inheritance. What a marvelously loving God we serve who pours out the Holy Spirit upon us,enabling us to live for Him, being sanctified day by day, that the Groom would be wed to a pure bride.
The cup of the covenant is then shared-the groom drinking first and then the bride. Luke 22:20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you [the bride]."

The final steps to the marriage contract include the brides mikvah, or water immersion as a ritual cleansing, the departing of the groom back to his father's house to prepare the bridal chamber before the formal wedding ceremony, the brides time of preparation and consecration while the groom is with his father, the return of the groom at an unknown time and the formal wedding ceremony.

Without listing several references from scripture,it is easily seen that this pattern of the Jewish wedding ceremony is the image of the church and Christ's betrothal. We are in the consecration period of the betrothal-awaiting the return of our groom as we daily partner with the Holy Spirit in the process of sanctification.

Look forward to the wedding banquet! We have a glorious inheritance and have not been forgotten....the future holds far more than we can think or imagine...press on!

Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and shout for joy [exulting and triumphant]! Let us celebrate and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb [at last] has come, and His bride has prepared herself.

(For further reading see Eddie Chumneys book "The Seven Festivals of the Messiah" which can be read online at http://www.hebroots.org/index.htm)