When God sent the Israelites to scope out the land of Canaan, His
intention was for them to get a glimpse of the goodness He was leading
them into, giving them inspiration to push forward and take the land
(Num. 13). But when they saw that the inhabitants were giants, they
turned tail and ran back to the desert. In their eyes, taking the land
was impossible - what had God gotten them into? Perhaps they should
have stayed in Egypt where melons and leeks were plentiful - even though they were enslaved and beaten down.
When we aren't willing to take a step of faith, to trust God and lean
into Him, the comfort of the 'status quo' suddenly looks appealing. But
at this point we can become stuck between 2 worlds: the world that God
is calling us into and the world of our comfort zone.
To step
into God's promises there has to be a letting go of the fear of the
unknown, a willingness to free fall into the plan of God, and a leaving
behind of the security that comes with familiarity. The very thing the
Israelites feared is the thing that God intended to use to fulfill His
promise to them.
In the minds of the Israelites, the battle was
against people and circumstances, but in reality, the battle was inside
of them: would they trust God or be paralyzed by the fear of the
unknown?
There are different schools of thought on evangelizing the unsaved:
some want to put the hammer down and demand repentance, while others
want to softly sidestep the sin issue in steering people to Jesus.
Over-using either of these ‘methods’ doesn’t seem to represent the Jesus
of the Bible.
Consider how Jesus and Paul handled each ‘sinner’ in the following Biblical examples:
-The demon possessed man in Mark 5 was delivered and set free, then
told to go home. His heart was so overwhelmed with love and gratitude
that he wanted to physically follow Jesus, but Jesus said to him: “go
home and tell others what God has done for you, this is how you follow
me.” This man’s life was likely spent telling others of the goodness
and love of God, even though Jesus never demanded repentance.
-When Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus He didn’t tell him to
repent – although it’s likely that Paul immediately realized his
sinfulness as he stood in the presence of Jesus Christ. Paul had an
immediate conversion and gave his life entirely to the purposes of God,
even though we have no record of him confessing his sins to Jesus.
-In Acts 17 Paul very creatively spoke to the men of Athens, telling
them the statue which they’d labeled as “unknown god” was the God of the
universe. He then gave them the complete Gospel message – including
the need to repent as part of the message.
We see a different
means of approaching people in each of the examples above, likely
dependent on the circumstances and heart of each individual. But without
seeking the wisdom of the Holy Spirit we do not know how to perfectly
minister the Gospel to the lost. And while repentance is important, the
idea that we are to present God as an angry being who is solely
demanding repentance is not accurate. We must remember that repentance
is a gift from God which leads to relationship with the living God –
this is the message of reconciliation! There may be times when it’s
necessary to drive a hard point home to someone’s heart, but we
generally see this more stern approach when Jesus and others are dealing
with religious leaders who know better but choose to continue in their
sin.
Trying to evangelize the hell out of people may very well
be the thing that puts an unholy fear in them and leads them to an
external sort of ‘law’ mentality: what things must I DO or NOT DO to be
right with God and look good to others? While we need to have
reverence for our holy and powerful God, fear that leads us to following
rules instead of wholeheartedly seeking to know God is religious fear.
What drives the hell out of people is a growing knowledge of God and
relationship with Him. That requires us to do more than simply
evangelize – it requires mentoring, teaching and developing
relationship with one another.
In the end, the Holy Spirit must decide how we
are to evangelize the Gospel in each circumstance. Anything short of
that can lean towards usurping the authority that God has given us by
following rote patterns of ministering to people instead of seeking God
on how to best minister to each person’s heart.
God bless those who evangelize, but let us do so through the leading of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God!
Is it really necessary that we have an understanding of the Book of Revelation?
For some people it seems like an insurmountable heap of prophecy and
symbols which makes one dizzy! But let us consider a few points before
coming to a conclusion as to how important it is for us to understand
this Book:
1. Daniel 11 says that
those who have understanding of the events and circumstances in the end
times, at the rise of the anti-christ, will be able to keep others
informed. Regardless of where each of us stands on the rapture
question, it’s difficult to tie in Biblical end time prophecies with
current events if we have no idea what the Bible says on this topic. An
understanding of these events is an important witnessing tool as we
begin to see more and more Biblical prophecies come to pass. The
unsaved have questions: will we be able to answer them?
Daniel 11 also contains the verse which says “the people who know their
God will do exploits” (Dan. 11:32). This passage is often quoted, but
not generally in the context of end times. However, the true context of
this verse relays the idea that those who have an understanding of what
God is doing in those times will be able to minister for Him through
exploits.
2. It’s very evident that God is into symbolism and
prophecy and we should be, also, if we want to understand and accept the
entire nature and character of God. Signs, wonders, visions and
prophetic symbols are consistently spoken of as evidence that God is
with us – from creation to the last few words in Revelation - and His
character has not changed since the Bible was written. This is not to
say that we should focus on these things, but God consistently uses them
and speaks of them so we must not set them aside as things of the past –
especially because the future (ie: Book of Revelation) is full of the
same. What might we be missing because we lack the understanding of
God’s symbolic acts at this point in time?
3. The Book of
Revelation is part of the Bible – it’s the Word of God, the Living Word
which brings life to us. Would we consider setting aside the book of
Isaiah, John, or Acts….it’s unlikely that we would!
When
we were first saved it may have taken a little time and effort to
understand what the Bible says (and we will always be learning), but the
Holy Spirit illuminated the Word and taught us then, and He will do it
now (1 Cor 2:14-15, Jn 14:26, 1 Jn 2:27).
Pray, read, get
some good study materials, cross reference scripture and don’t give up!
In the end, it’s up to each of us to get an understanding – our lives
and the lives of others may depend on it.
The world is full of people, laws and cultural ideas that persecute
and even kill Christians. But as we pray, God is able to go above and
beyond what we could think or ask (Eph 3:20), moving things into place
for the benefit of His people and the advancement of His Kingdom.
Things seemed bleak when Saul was breathing out murderous threats and
breaking up families by putting both men and women in jail. And we have
no indication that the saints were
praying for Saul, but their supplications for help caused God to strike
at the core of the enemy’s persecution: Saul’s heart. Jesus met Saul on
the road to Damascus, melted his heart of stone, and immediately
brought relief to the praying Christians!
A few days later God instructed Ananias to lay hands on Saul, and he
fearfully replied “this man is on a mission to kill Christians!” (Acts
9). This gives us some indication of what the saints were praying – and
it was likely not for Saul. But their prayers for help and relief
caused God to go above and beyond what they could think or ask. Instead
of hiding them or wiping out Saul or arming them with
weapons, God instantly changed the lives of thousands of people when he
personally appeared to Saul.
Use the power of God inside of you
to be a faithful prayer warrior: that power enables us to see and pray
heaven’s purposes. And once that prayer is released, God takes the
‘possibilities’ in our prayers and turns into realities in a way that we
couldn’t begin to imagine!
“Now to Him who is able to do above
and beyond all that we ask or think [imagine] according to the power
that works in us-- to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to
all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph 3:20-21).
At least 4 blind men were given sight by Jesus, and each of them was healed in a different manner:
- Jesus spoke to one (Mark 10:46) and healing came
- One was delivered of a demon (Matt. 12)
- One had his eyes touched by Jesus (Matt 9:27)
- Jesus rubbed his own spit (mixed with dirt) on the lids of one (John 9:1-12) and his eyes were opened.
We see this same ‘variety’ of ministry in the healing of lepers, and in
the way Jesus approached the needs of people in general: He didn’t
have an established pattern of ministering which He applied to every
circumstance. When Jesus raised the widow’s son, He touched the coffin
and said “Arise!” (Luke 17), however, when Paul resurrected Eutychus he
fell on him but spoke no words.
An important lesson to learn from
these examples is that God knows what’s needed in each circumstance -
we need only ask Him. Perhaps one of the reasons we don't see the
things of the Bible come to pass in our lives is because we develop
patterns of praying and ministering which we apply to each person and
concern across the board. This is, in effect, circumventing God and
applying religious methods instead. But God knows each of our hearts:
He knows the reason behind each sickness, sin or spiritual attack, and
He desires that we seek Him for understanding and wisdom in every
situation.
Battles of the Old Testament are excellent examples of
this concept. There is no pattern in the way these many battles were
fought, but victory came in each instance where God's wisdom was sought.
Gideon set out with 22,000 men to overtake the Midianites, but under
God’s direction he and 300 men conquered them using trumpets, clay pots
and torches. This brings greater understanding of the oft quoted
Scripture “the battle belongs to the Lord” (2 Chron 20:15).
Jesus
did only what He saw the Father do (John 5:19), and He said only what
He heard the Father say (John 12:49), resulting in a different means of
healing, deliverance, or act of compassion for each person in need. His
source was the Father, and so is ours; we must get our instruction,
understanding of each situation, and overall wisdom from Him!
Whether we are fighting for our lives, under the attack of the enemy or
praying for loved ones, God has the answer on how to approach the
battle. He may give us direction on things we need to do to clear the
way for victory, or He may tell us how to pray specifically, but we must
ask Him instead of falling into established patterns, even if they have
brought victory in the past. The battles, healings and deliverances of
the Bible are written down as examples for us to know how God may move,
but it’s for Him to give the specific plan in each circumstance!
