March 17th, 2018

Hope as our Anchor

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”  Verse 20 continues, “It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.  He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Heb. 6:19-20

So often we find ourselves in situations where we are in need of hope.  The Bible gives us great hope through Scriptures that encourage us to face battles, dilemmas, and obstacles.  These verses are given to us so we can better understand our Savior, and draw closer to Him. 

It is powerful to know we have hope as an anchor!  Anchors are secure, rock-solid, and immoveable.  When a boat lowers its anchor, the boat is secured.  The hope mentioned in Hebrews serves as an anchor for our soul.  It is described as a firm and secure anchor.  Think upon such hope as being firm and secure in our lives.  It acts in such a way that in the midst of hopelessness, an anchor is tossed to us.  We can grab hold of it and hold onto it.  It is an eternal hope, made possible by covenant.  Jesus Christ is our hope. 

Many people suffer from shame and guilt in their lives, and need an anchor whose name is Jesus.  When we place our hope in Him, freedom comes!  If you are downcast, put your hope in Jesus.  Peter describes this as a “living hope” which is what we find in the Lord.

May our hope in Christ sustain us and be our anchor all the days of our lives.

March 16th, 2018

His Plans for Us

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jer. 29:11

We can stop trying to be good enough for God.  God loves us right now, whether we are homeless or in a mansion; unemployed or salaried; on death row or in the front row of church every week.  We can do nothing to increase God’s love for us, nor decrease it.  For His love is total, complete, and without condition.  He created us, He adores us, He wants the best for us.  Nothing can ever change that.  No amount of sin will stop that love.  God’s Word states it, and Jesus lived a life with examples of it.  God’s love for, and use of the lost to accomplish His purposes, brings the lost to their knees where finally they are found.  When we understand that incredible force of love, when we accept it, we want to become better people.

Understanding that the Lord has a great plan for us opens the door for us to see not with our eyes, but with our hearts.  It creates a climate of mercy, of forgiveness, of grace.  Where once we viewed the world darkly, we now see it brightly lit.  We find the best in people, not the worst.  We speak with hope, not despair.  For we have the Holy Spirit, whose very life within us allows us to forgive the transgressor.  On our own we cannot do it.  But with the Holy Spirit it is possible.    We are salt, we are light in Him.

Finally, we are introduced to real love.  Not infatuation, not a crush.  We see real love, Christ like love.  Love that frees, not binds.  Love that unshackles, not chains.  Love that permits another chance, not denies a second opportunity.  Love that extends beyond the borders of those we like to those we despise.  Love within the walls of the sanctuary and love inside the walls of the prisons.  Love within our homes and love within the homeless shelter.  Love that accepts.  Love that forgives.  Love in all languages, all colors, all nationalities.  Love that heals.

God knew every wrong step, every misdirection, and every mistake you and I would make before we were born.  It didn’t change His love for us.  He has shared in our anguish and in our joy.  We are imperfect people who have said yes to a perfect Savior.  God uses us, the imperfect, to be ministers of His mercy, His grace, His reconciliation.  We are part of His plan, His perfect plan.  We give thanks to God.

March 15th, 2018

The Father of Faith

“Just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.  Therefore, know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.  And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’  So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”  Gal. 3:6-8

Paul describes Abraham as the father of faith.  Paul is stating that back in the days of Abraham, who chose in Gen. 15:6 to “believe in the LORD” that God counted it to Abraham for righteousness.  Abraham did not believe in himself, he believed in the word of the LORD.  He believed by faith – because he certainly did not see evidence of what the LORD was promising him.  The doctrine of faith starts with Abraham!  All who believe in the Lord have it counted to them as righteousness – which we call salvation by faith through grace.  It is notable that this covenant between God and Abraham was made 430 years before God gave the law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. 

It is also noteworthy that Gen. 28:14 is repeated by Paul in Gal. 3:8: “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”    The covenant with Abraham is filled with the promise of God’s blessings.  Let’s consider just a few below.

• Personal Blessing – Gen. 12:2.  God promised Abraham “I will bless thee.”  This makes the covenant irrevocable.  Not only did He bless Abraham, but God also extended the same covenant blessing to Abraham’s son, Isaac, and to Jacob, and then to the nation, Israel.
• Blessing to Others – Gen. 12:2.  Another promise of God to Abraham was, “Thou shalt be a blessing.”  He was going to be blessed in order to be a blessing to others.  This is an important spiritual truth for us.
• Blessed by Others – Gen. 12:3.  “I will bless them that bless thee,” God promised.  This continued the river of blessings, expanded to those who blessed Abraham.
• Messianic Blessing – Gen 12:3.  What a blessing!  God promised Abraham “in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”  Blessings would continue generationally and to all through the line of Abraham.  This included Isaac, Jacob, the nation Israel, David, and of course, Jesus Christ.  Both the natural seed line and the spiritual seed line would be blessed.  What a prophecy of the Jew and the Gentile receiving the blessing of God!

March 14th, 2018

Prayer for the Children of Chicago

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.  Let the redeemed of the Lord say this-those He redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”  Ps. 107:1-3

Father we praise and thank You for Your name, Your nature, Your character, and Your desire to act on behalf of the children of Chicago.  We who minister before You today in Your house O Lord, we extol You and sing praises that You alone are worthy.   We thank You for choosing Your children as Your treasured possession.  We commend Your great works Almighty God and tell our children – so Your truth may be passed from generation to generation.  We praise You for what You have done in our lives and share our testimony so that our families will know You.  We exalt the name of Jesus Christ over the city of Chicago, over the families in Chicago, and over the children.  We praise You God, that You are sovereign over Chicago.  The government of Chicago rests upon Your shoulders, O God.  We praise You God, for desiring to heal relationships, and to strengthen the parent-child bond during this time of incarceration.

 We thank You that even now, in this time of morning prayer, that You are standing at the right hand of the needy in the city, ready to save lives from the enemy that seeks to condemn.  We thank You God, that You are interested in the high crime neighborhoods in Chicago, that You love and care for all in the city. 

We praise and thank You for the weapons of warfare You have given us, Lord of Hosts.  You have trained our hands for war and fingers for battle – and so we offer You our worship this morning as we lift our praises up to You today.   We bless You and thank You that Your love endures forever and that You redeem Your loved ones from the hand of the foes that operate in city streets and neighborhoods – the foes of death, drugs, gangs, violence.  We thank You Lord for watching over the young women and girls in Chicago who are involved in sex trafficking.  Praise You, most gracious God for saving our children – even today, right now in the name of Jesus.  Thank You Lord of Hosts for sending Your forces of good to deal with the forces of evil  and to disrupt the activities and assignments of human trafficking and slavery of young children in city airports.  Gather our children, Your children, who have been scattered and broken and lost – gather them in Your arms this morning, O Lord.  We trust You for this work and we honor You and praise Your Most Holy Name.  Amen.

March 13th, 2018

The Unshakeable Kingdom

“See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?  At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."  The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."  Hebrews 12:25-29

Everything shall be shaken until the only things unshaken are the things of God – His kingdom.  Idols shall be shaken.

The works of man shall be shaken

The nations shall be shaken

All things not of God shall be shaken

God does this because He loves us.  He wants to restore us and prepare us as His Bride without spot or blemish.  He wants to heal the brokenhearted and set free the captives.  He loves us so much He won’t let us stay in our current condition.  When we encounter the living Christ, we are changed.  We want to change.  We want His healing and His restoration in our lives.

Our job in this is to believe (John 6:29) and to express our faith.   It is to yield to the purifying flames of God, to ask Him to remove the impurities of our lives, remove the dross.  Heb. 12 says we are to serve God with reverence and Godly fear.  We know that we are receiving an unshakeable kingdom, with Lord Jesus as King.  We’re to confess with our mouths our faith; to call forth from the Cross of Christ those things that were secured on our behalf by the One who knew no sin, yet became a sin offering for us.  We are challenged to call it forth even if we don’t yet see it. 

Things are shaking and will continue to shake – all around us.

Religion is being shaken until relationship is left standing.

Information is being shaken until intimacy is left standing.

Hurts are being shaken until healing is left standing.

Commitment to self is being shaken until commitment to Christ is left standing.

Thank You Father, for Your plan that shall be established and for Your unshakeable Kingdom.

March 12th, 2018

Famine in the Land

 "And they came into the country of Moab and continued there."  Ruth 1:2

Elimelech and his family entered Moab due to the famine in Bethlehem Judah, the House of Bread and great Place of Praise.  How could this have happened in such a blessed land?  Why would there be a famine in the land?   There are many warnings in the Bible God gives us to not leave his commandments. Such as in 2 Chronicles Chapter 7-22.   Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers and embraced other gods a famine or calamity would come upon that land .  During the famine Elimelech convinced his family  that God was not providing in the House of Bread any longer and that they must move to Moab.  The book of Amos 8:11 wrote about a famine not in the sense of food, but of hearing the Word of God. 

We all experience times of (famine), spiritual dryness in our lives.  Times of difficulties.  It isn't the fact that we have a famine in our land, but what we are going to do with this famine.   Are we going to press into the Word even more or sojourn to another land?  

Sometimes in our spiritual walk, we feel like we are not hearing from God like we did before.  We had experienced the joy of praying and receiving answers immediately, but now it seems like we can barely breakthrough.  Bible Study used to seem so exciting, but not so much now.  We know we are experiencing spiritual dryness. 

Good news!  God has a cure for this spiritual dryness. Remain where you are and call upon His Glorious Name and He will answer.  He sees us through our dry times.  We come out better and more full of wisdom that before.  We have an exciting testimony to share and can praise the Lord for His goodness.  The Lord enables us to help others during their times of dryness. 

March 11th, 2018

Solomon’s Porch

“The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.  And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.” Acts 5:24

We see that this place, Solomon’s Porch, was a place of Old Covenant weeping and mourning, according to Joel.  It was also a place of New Covenant miracles.  We have this spiritual Solomon’s Porch – a place of access and entrance where we can gather together in unity and as we pray, we intercede, we weep between that porch and altar, we find it is the place of the miraculous.  In that spiritual space we come – we go up to the House of the Lord, we enter in, we have illumination of Truth by the Spirit, and we offer our spiritual sacrifices to the Lord.  He calls us at times to weep, for “there is a time to weep and a time to laugh,” according to Eccl. 3:4.  As we come forth with the tears of sorrow from God’s broken heart and offer them to Him, He responds.  He responds powerfully.  He responds lovingly.  He responds miraculously.  He breaks chains that bind.  He takes our tears and uses them to overcome strongholds that hinder us, hinder our loved ones, and hinder our communities.    

Who will come and weep?  Who will sow tears of sorrow to reap morning joy?  Who will present the lost to the Lord?  Who will come forward with the brokenhearted and present them to God?  Who will cry for the lives taken at horrific events?  Who will travail in tears for this community, for this country?  Who will come to the place of the miraculous and present the prisoner for freedom, the afflicted for healing, the oppressed for freedom? 

When we meet in unity and agreement at this spiritual Solomon’s Porch, sign and wonders can occur.  When we spend ourselves in prayer and we weep, Jesus lovingly responds.  He goes where we cannot go and does what we cannot do.  He shows Himself for who he is and we stand in awe.