God is love – even in the bloody battles of
the Old Testament. But that love may seem different than what our
culture defines as love today. God as the One who commands Israel to
physically kill her enemies; the One who
opens the earth and swallows people; the All Consuming Fire – these
characteristics are extremely different than our definition of love
today.
But what we may not see is that God’s use of physical
force in the Old Testament, His use of anything we might consider
‘taboo' or un-loving, was done out of His perfection in order to perfect
and protect His people. When God took up a sword, it was the
sanctified action for that circumstance. When He opened the earth and
swallowed Korah, it was the holy and righteous response for that
circumstance. If we try to judge God’s actions according to our cultural
norms, or through our limited understanding of Him, we may wind up
recreating God into our own image of Him – and that’s called idolatry!
The simple fact is that God is perfect – and what He says and does in
any circumstance is perfect.
The glory of the Old Testament is
that it physically happened just as it’s written, but it’s also a
spiritual example for us today. 1st Corinthians 15:46 tells us that
natural things happened and the spiritual followed. The first man, Adam,
was a natural man, but the second man, Jesus, is a spiritual man - this
is the story of our lives, also. We are born of the flesh, but reborn
of the Spirit.
What happened in the Old Testament, in the
natural, is very often a spiritual example for us. It teaches us to rid
ourselves of the ways of the flesh through the Spirit of God, not
through physical means. We are not living life today by physically
changing the circumstances around us more than being changed by the
Spirit of God inside of us.
The examples of the Old Testament
take on great meaning for us today when we see them as spiritual
battles. We are not battling against flesh and blood, but against
principalities and wickedness in high places. Through God’s Spirit in
us, we annihilate anything that sets itself up against God's dominion in
our lives.
This life we live is a spiritual life which overflows into the physical – all for the glory of God!
-Angels strengthen us. When Jesus was in the
garden of Gethsemane he was strengthened (enabled, invigorated and
empowered - emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically) by angels
who were sent to Him. This came after
He asked the Father to take the cup of suffering from Him, but instead
God sent angels to strengthen Him (Luke 22:43). Jesus was also
strengthened by angels after his 40 days of fasting and temptation (Matt
4:11), and Daniel was strengthened by an angel in Daniel 9. If you need
strengthening, ask God – He will dispatch angels at His discretion!
-Angels are sent of God -they are not called or directed by humans. God
sends angels to assist and minister to those who are His children (Heb
1:14). When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane with Peter and a few
other disciples, Peter cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant.
Jesus’ rebuke to Peter included these words: “I could pray to the Father
and He would send Me more than 12 legions of angels to assist Me”
(Matt. 26:53). God knows the proper time to dispatch angelic hosts and
He has command over them (Psalm 91). If you need supernatural help, ask
God – He will send angels at His discretion!
-Angels are
messengers. Daniel received a message from an angel after He prayed for
interpretation of a vision God had given him (Dan. 9, 10); Zacharias
received a message from an angel concerning the birth of John the
Baptist (Luke 1); an angel was sent to Cornelius while he was fasting
and praying (Acts 10, 11) and the women who went to Jesus tomb received a
message from an angel (Luke 24). The Bible contains many more examples
of angels bringing messages to humans. If God wants to get a message to
you He may dispatch it (and help you understand it), through an angel.
Angels also protect us (2 Kings 6), war on our behalf (Daniel 9,10),
watch over and are assigned to specific nations (Dan. 9:21, 12:1),
hearken to the voice which speaks God’s word (Ps 103), and rescue us
from imprisonment and danger (Acts 27).
Angels are laborers for
God’s specific purposes, part of the everyday life of Kingdom
believers. We are not of this world: we live in a supernatural world!
I’ve heard many theories about the great wealth of Jesus while he lived on earth – this seems to be a doctrine that’s
floating around the church. We know that Jesus had all He needed to
carry out His ministry on this earth, but evidence that He lived in lavish, earthly wealth is not found in the Word of God.
Matthew 12 tells the story of Jesus and the disciples walking through
fields on the Sabbath, plucking heads of grain to fill their empty
stomachs. The Pharisees saw this and were indignant. Had they finally
caught Jesus sinning? Was He a law breaker? NO WORK ON THE SABBATH –
and picking grain was certainly work. Jesus response to their
condemnation was very telling: “Haven’t you heard that David went into
the temple and ate the bread off of the altar?”
So David and
his band of men, and Jesus and the disciples, had this in common: they
had no food and they had no money to buy food. This problem didn’t come
up simply because it was the Sabbath - everyone planned ahead to have
food on the Sabbath so they wouldn’t have to work on that day to prepare
meals. If Jesus had been lax in His Sabbath preparation He would have
been sinning and breaking the law. But the law had a special provision
in it for those who were poor and hungry – they could glean from the
fields on any day and NOT be sinning.
This was how God
extended mercy to the poor on earth under the law (Deut. 23:25) – it was
His way of giving them provision when they were hungry. We know that
Jesus kept the law perfectly, so it would have been ‘illegal’ for Him to
gather the grain if He had funds to buy food and He would have ceased
to be perfect if He’d been lax in keeping the Sabbath preparations.
Jesus gave up all for us – all of the riches of heaven and earth – He
became poor for our benefit! He lived a life of complete sacrifice and
dependence on God. How much more I love Him knowing the sacrifices He
made in both living and dying.
(Other scriptures on this topic: Matt. 8:20, 17:27, 19, Luke 8:3, Acts 3:6, Php 2:6-8).
There are things we do or say which seem small
or insignificant at the time we do them - but we never know just how
‘big’ that small thing might be to someone else, or how important it
might be to the Kingdom of God and His plans.
That was precisely the case with the woman who anointed Jesus with an
expensive jar of perfumed oil. As dinner guests rested and conversed at
the table she came to the house uninvited, sank down to her knees
before Jesus, and poured the oil over His feet. Tears of thankfulness
mingled with the oil as she kissed his feet and wiped them with her
hair. While some were indignant and critical, Jesus knew she had been
prompted by God to prepare Him for His burial, and He stated that this
great and humble act would forever be remembered in the Gospels (Luke
7).
The Bible is filled with these kinds of acts and they
probably seemed to be insignificant to God's purposes for the people who
did them. Pharaoh’s daughter, when she pulled Moses’ basket out of the
Nile, had no idea that God was using her to bring about His desired
results. She was moved with Godly compassion and took the child into
her arms, thereby advancing God’s purpose. And Ruth the Moabitess,
when she followed her mother-in-law back to Judah, had no idea that she
would become the great grandmother of King David and an ancestor of
Jesus Christ!
The seemingly small acts of life, when prompted
by the heart of God, are like building blocks for His Kingdom - and each
one of us is here ‘for such a time as this’ as an instrument in God’s
hands to advance His work. Carry out those ‘insignificant’ acts of God
with humility,joy and thankfulness… one block at a time!
Gethsemane means "press" or "olive press."
What perfect words to describe what Jesus went through in the Garden of
Gethsemane. He was pressed, persecuted, and pushed to His limits - to
the point of sweating droplets of blood.
He experienced agony of heart and yet maintained His determination to
serve His Father by fulfilling His purpose. Out of His great agony came
the pure oil of victory for all mankind!
There are times when
we go through the press – feeling as though we’re being twisted and life
is being squeezed out of us, perhaps agonizing over what we might have
to face next. But we have a great Savior who is able to sympathize with
us, knowing the feeling of the press (Heb 4:15-16).
Paul
described this experience perfectly when he said “We are hedged in
(pressed) on every side [troubled and oppressed in every way], but not
cramped or crushed; we suffer embarrassments and are perplexed and
unable to find a way out, but not driven to despair; We are pursued
(persecuted and hard driven), but not deserted [to stand alone]; we are
struck down to the ground, but never struck out and destroyed; Always
carrying about in the body the liability and exposure to the same
putting to death that the Lord Jesus suffered, so that the
[resurrection] life of Jesus also may be shown forth by and in our
bodies” (2 Cor 4:8-10 AMP).
Here is God’s answering to the
pressing: He will allow it so that the resurrection life of Jesus
Christ can be shown forth in our lives! That the power of God may work
in and through us for His victory and glory.
We are
instruments of resurrection power! If you are going through the press
know that you will not be destroyed by the enemy. You have victory in
Jesus Christ and you can display His resurrection power through your
words, actions and attitude of heart.
Thank God for the resurrection, because through it power has been given to you for every circumstance in life. Press through!
We received an official government letter in
the mail this week telling us we have unclaimed funds which could be
retrieved by filling out the enclosed paperwork. How did that happen?
We haven’t had a change of address for
over 20 years and we’re not careless with money. But as it turns out,
the business on the other end of the process hid some information from
us about ten years ago, which kept the funds under their control.
This is exactly how the enemy of our soul’s works: he hides the
goodness of God from us to keep us in the prison of fear, doubt, lack,
ignorance, exhaustion and other hell inspired miseries. Although we
know this life has trials and difficulties, the plan of the enemy is to
keep us from seeing that God is bigger and He has enfolded His arms of
wisdom, provision and mercy around us to hold and keep us through those
trials and difficulties.
God has given us a hope and a
future, and it’s hidden in Him. The world may say “What you don’t know
won’t hurt,” but where life in Christ is concerned, this is a lie from
the pit of hell. God has not hidden these secret things from us, He’s
hidden them FOR us, and they are found in relationship with Jesus
Christ. IN HIM we live and move and have our being. IN HIM is value and
purpose. IN HIM all has been retrieved and restored, and we have the
receipt to prove it: His love letter to us, the Word of God.
What has God so unselfishly gifted you that has not been claimed? What
did Jesus Christ suffer for that the enemy has hidden from you?
“But He was broken and slain for our rebellion, He was beaten and
bruised for our guilt and sin; the chastisement and reproof [needful to
obtain] peace and well-being for us was laid upon Him, and with the
stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” (Isaiah 53:5
paraphrased)
Over the years I’ve struggled to keep my
weight down. It’s been like hell on earth, at times, battling myself.
Food often looked like my friend but turned out to be my enemy - like a
wolf in sheep’s clothing. The palate’s
delicacies are like the prostitute in David’s Psalms – continually
drawing us to pleasures that are short lived and very destructive in the
long run.
But what’s deeper in the soul where overeating is
concerned? Why do we spend so much to get so little in the end? Is it
like the rest of society’s vices – filling a void, comforting a hurt,
suppressing a feeling, calling out for help or just rebelliously walking
in self-satisfaction and destructive habits? It may be hard to stop
the desire for food until we know what’s driving it – why it calls out
to us when we are far from hungry or in need of replenishment.
Suppressing the appetite or saying ‘no’ to self are good, Biblical
practices, but continually being consumed by thoughts of food shows a
deeper underlying stronghold. The church doesn’t often recognize it as
so, however, because it’s an accepted sin. Other sins seem to be far
worse and are called out and condemned, while the plank remains in the
over-eater’s eye.
This is not a note of condemnation; it’s a
wake-up call, a call to see things as they really are, a call to cry
out to God for help and a call to stop the flesh. It’s a call to
myself, as well as the Body of Christ. We have to STOP over eating and
killing ourselves – this is both physical and spiritual suicide and it
deprives us of the funds and health needed to carry out God’s purposes.
It's time to do something about it!
This is not something I
often do, but I am recommending a short book as a jump start that may
possibly help in this area: "Help! I'm a Slave to Food," (found on
Amazon.com). If others have information you’d like to share, please
post your positive comments and encouragement.
“We can [and must] do all things through Christ.” (Philp 4:13)
A few days before Jesus death he dined at the
house of his friends: Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Dinner done and
conversation flowing, Mary poured a jar of expensive perfume on Jesus’
feet and wiped them with her hair, preparing
Him for his burial. Judas was irate – his eyes saw money being poured
out on the floor – and greed swelled up in him (Matt 26, Mrk 14, John
12). Jesus shushed him, defending Mary’s actions. Perhaps this left
Judas feeling humiliated, stirring his anger and greed to a new level.
Judas let the seeds of greed and irritation stew inside of him
overnight – providing fertile soil for the enemy to sprout a plan of
betrayal in his mind (John 13:2). With this mindset Judas attended the
Passover meal with the rest of the disciples and Jesus. He was present
at Jesus’ foot washing ceremony, watching as the Savior removed Judas
own sandals, tenderly washing and drying his feet. But Jesus humble
example of servanthood didn’t soften Judas’ heart or bring repentance.
As the meal began Jesus handed Judas a piece of bread - then satan
entered into Judas. “If you are intent on this,” Jesus said, looking
into Judas’ eyes, “Do it now. I Am ready.” Then Judas and satan left
the table and presented themselves to the Chief Priests for the formal
betrayal of Jesus Christ.
The one who Jesus broke bread with,
the one who participated in Jesus foot washing, the one who handled the
ministry’s finances – was the one who turned his face from Jesus for a
few small coins, and later, the one who kissed his cheek in the Garden
of Gethsemane. But note how Jesus wasn’t shaken. Note how He kept His
focus on God and what God had given Him to do. Note how He saw it
coming and gave every opportunity to the betrayer to turn from his
wickedness without condemning him.
If you have been betrayed
it’s time for you to move on. It’s time to carry on with God’s work and
put it behind you. It’s time to extend the forgiveness of God and put
away condemnation. And perhaps it’s time to consider that God may be
using the betrayal to move you forward in His purposes – taking a
painful situation and turning it for His good.
Forward in Christ!
God has always desired to use man to bring His
will and purposes into the earth – especially through the words we
speak. Amos said that God does nothing in the earth before He enables
the prophets to either act or speak it
out (Amos 3:7 paraphrased). Until Jesus Christ returns to this earth we
are the vehicle through which He operates here – He has gifted and
enabled us to be His mouth, hands, feet and presence in this world.
When our hearts are submitted to God we have the ability to bring about
good things through our speech (Matt. 12). “Good” in this case means
beneficial, honoring to God and used for His purposes. In fact, if our
hearts are submitted to God they are a treasure trove of good words
waiting to be spoken at His prompting.
A heart submitted to
God should be bursting with Living Words intended to benefit others.
Those words have the power to bring about His purposes, bless the socks
off of other people and stir angelic hosts into action (Psalm 103:20).
This isn’t talking about making a list of name it/claim items you’d like
to have in your garage or on your ring finger – it’s talking about
God’s words being spoken through us to lay down a road for His entrance
into the earth. In fact, that road is continuously being built up and
will be entirely complete at the time of His return – and your words are
helping to lay the pavement.
The reason for this is simple yet
profound; it’s what the Bible is about. God has chosen to manifest
Himself on this earth through people. Whether you speak a word of
encouragement, exhortation, prophecy, or sing a song – if your heart is
stayed on Him, He will use your mouth to bring about good things into
the atmosphere around you.
You are the carrier of God’s
benefits for this world. You are the builder of the road which brings
His entrance. Keep your heart stayed on Him and He will form Living
Words in you - a treasure trove to be opened and spoken in His perfect
timing.
Culture plants some pretty nasty things into
our hearts – and they sneak up on us so slowly and quietly that we
don’t realize their effect. It’s like a stalactite hanging from the
ceiling of a cave; one drip at a time,
over a long period of time, eventually makes an immovable column. When
the cultural stalactite is fully mature we process life and people with
that in front of us, blocking our spiritual view, like a floater in
one’s eye.
Friends, that’s how prejudices develop…against
different ages, against different races, against men or women….the list
goes on. Those cultural norms and ideas ‘help’ us sort people and
circumstances into columns in our lives and we treat them accordingly.
Prejudices are from the pit of hell and they are meant to usurp the
authority and power of the Spirit of God in us. They draw us to their
pre-established judgment of people and away from discerning and trusting
God. If Jesus had allowed the prejudices of the world to settle into
Him the woman at the well would not have gotten saved…nor would the
town’s people she witnessed to.
Discernment is not prejudice,
and we are called to discern. However, if the discernment process is
by-passed, if the Spirit’s input and direction is shut down, then we
have reverted back to operating in an earthly kingdom and left Spiritual
Kingdom behind us. But when we take all things before Him who knows
each heart and mind, then He will reveal the stance we should take in
every circumstance and with every individual.
We are called
to live in the Light of Christ, not the darkness of a cave, where
stalactites form. Those who are in Christ are a new race, called the
“Royal Priesthood.” We are a nation of people set aside for living in
the Light of God, a people led by the One who has saved us! (1 Pet 2:9,
paraphrased)
Leprosy! It was the disease of doom – the
dreaded, incurable skin infection so prominent in Biblical times. This
was Namaan’s diagnosis - and it meant that his days of leading the
Syrian army were done. But Namaan’s servant girl knew the God of Israel and she’d seen the miracles He’d done through Elisha the Prophet.
Now eager for his healing, Namaan headed to Israel and presented
himself at the door of Elisha’s home. Elisha sent a messenger out
telling Namaan "Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be
restored and you will be clean" (2Kings 5).
Namaan was furious
at both the lack of attention he got and the idea of dipping himself
into the Jordan River. “I thought he would at least lay his hands on me
or do some sort of incantation, but he wants me to dip in that filthy
Jordan River – no one who steps in that river will come out clean. I’ll
go back to Damascus and dip in my own river!”
But Namaan
didn’t understand what ‘clean’ meant. He didn’t understand that God not
only wanted to heal his leprosy, but wash away his pride and
indignation. However, his servants convinced him to do what Elisha had
said – and he was restored to health and made whole in body and
attitude!
Every healing in the Bible is different. God knows
our uniqueness and what our bodies and souls need to be healed. We may
be looking for a cure for the pain we’re suffering, but He’s looking to
make us whole – sound and well in body, soul and spirit.
God
is not practicing medicine, but administering life. Seek His
prescription first – save yourself the time and heartache of doing it
your own way, then be willing to follow his plan whether it’s a doctor’s
visit, a day of resting in Him, or a dip in the Jordan River.
The very thing you think is sustaining your
life, the thing you think you can’t live without, may be the very thing
God asks you to release.
Consider the widow of Zarephath, who had one small jar of oil and a handful
of flour: she was in distress and anguish of heart as she watched her
child slowly fade away for lack of food (1 Kings 17). Then Elijah
showed up on her doorstep, sent by God, and asked her for food and
water! Was he crazy? Couldn't he see they were destitute? But she did
as the prophet commanded, using the last of her flour and oil to make a
meal for him. In the days and weeks and months that followed the jars
of flour and oil were continuously refilled - God sustained them through
their season of lack and poverty!
Many years later Jesus
stood in a deserted place teaching the multitudes. They were desperate
for him, having walked long distances to hear His teaching and get a
touch from His healing hands. Yet only one small child brought a meal
to sustain himself. His Momma packed him a lunch – perhaps she didn’t
want him to leave Jesus feet, but stay and soak in every word from the
Master!
As the evening meal time approached the helpful disciples
gave Jesus a bit of a rebuke, “You’d better send them home now Jesus,
they have a long way to go and we don’t want them to faint for lack of
food, it’s getting close to supper time.” Jesus response was “You feed
them!” Yeah, right – there are thousands of people here-we don’t have
enough money and there’s only enough food for us 12. But ‘enough’ in
the Kingdom is different than ‘enough’ in the world! Five small loaves
and 2 small fish are enough for God to work with - and the faith and
obedience of one little boy is enough to bring in the wonder working
power of God (Matt 14, Luke 9).
Perhaps the phrase “I surrender
all” has more meaning than what we had previously given it? The thing
that sustains us or holds our hearts is the very thing God may call us
to surrender to His kingdom. That which we hold dearly and think we
can’t do without may be the thing that blocks us from seeing the
miraculous happen – in both our lives and someone else’s.
Do we surrender all as He beckons? Or are there some things which it seems unreasonable or impossible to surrender?
The Law was set up to protect God’s people – it was never meant to
be a ‘hammer’ administered by a few leaders as they sat in judgment over
common people. But the Pharisees made it into an unimaginable burden
which they used to fling guilt and pain on those who didn’t follow their
interpretation of it.
Such was the case when Jesus and His
disciples passed through fields of grain on the Sabbath, pulling ripe
heads here and there to fill their empty stomachs (Luke 6). A Pharisee
stood watching them, eager to accuse Jesus of breaking the Law, ready to
step on Jesus and prove his own superior position as an authority over
the Him.
“You don’t understand the Law,” Jesus told the
Pharisee. “Don’t you see that God desires mercy, not your rigid
misinterpretation of the Law? "Hunger knows no law and God has made
provision for the poor to eat instead of faint and be ill" (Deut.
23:25). But this didn’t sway the Pharisees; they continued to follow
Jesus to see if He would heal anyone on the Sabbath.
These
self-righteous leaders were desperate to find something wrong with
Jesus! They craved power so they twisted the Word of God to their
liking, putting it on people’s backs like sacks of flour - all the while
waiting and watching to see who might drop the sack. Then they
condemned those who couldn’t carry the burden, humiliating them
publicly. They carried a critical and fault-finding Spirit which sought
to condemn people instead of seeing the workings of God.
The
Law and the New Testament are about loving God and serving people. If
we walk in constant condemnation of others we will find ourselves at
odds with the entire Body of Christ. We are called to be modern day
dispensers of grace and truth, carrying God’s word of mercy. Love
kindness, be discreet, have pity and compassion, and hold close to God’s
motives!
How NOT to Handle Conviction!
Herod and his brother’s wife, Herodias, had a
thing goin’ on - they were having an affair. John the Baptist told them
this was wrong – it was both adulterous and incestuous (because of
their family bloodlines). So Herod threw
John into prison, and Herodias did the only logical thing she could
think of – she moved into the ‘castle’ with Herod, taking her teenage
daughter with her!
While Herod was partying during his birthday
celebration, his niece (Herodias’ daughter) danced for him. The Bible
says this ‘pleased’ Herod. In fact he was so excited about this dance
that he offered the girl, on oath, whatever she wanted. Taking her
wicked mother’s advice, she asked for John the Baptist’s head on a
platter. She didn’t want the rest of him…just his head. Since he’d
called her out on her sin, she effectively bit his head off!
So what do we do when someone calls us out on our sin? The world’s
logic is opposite of Kingdom logic – kingdom logic calls for repentance
and forgiveness. Kingdom logic calls for self examination and retreat
from vices that serve the flesh. Kingdom logic calls for serving others
before ourselves, for putting our husbands and wives first, for
protecting our children instead of using them as pawns.
God’s
messengers will bring conviction to us – whether they be “John the
Baptists” or “Balaam’s donkey.” But the message is born out of the
heart of God, so that He can restore us to himself - so that the shed
blood of Jesus would be utilized on our behalf and we could draw close
to the Father.
Conviction and repentance are a gift from God - unwrap and open them today.
