April 7th, 2018

Spiritual Rebuilding

“Don’t be afraid of them.  Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”  Neh. 4:14

The word remember in Hebrew is "zakhar" and means to recall and proclaim.  In times of trouble, remember the Lord!  This is what Nehemiah encouraged the Israelites to do as they were immersed in rebuilding the broken walls around Jerusalem.  There was resistance and opposition, which Nehemiah addressed by remembering all that God had done.  Afterward, Nehemiah strategically positioned the people in the rebuilding process (Neh. 4:16-18) by:

·         Half the people worked along the wall, rebuilding;

o   The workers had building materials in one hand and a weapon in the other, along with a sword at their side;

·         Half the people defended the work and the workers; and
·         The trumpeter stayed with Nehemiah.

Sometimes we are building according to God’s plan and sometimes we are defending.  We must make sure we have the adequate building materials and weapons.  Building materials can be in the natural and in the spiritual.  Spiritual building comes from communion with God as part of our relationship with Him.  Natural building materials can include: truth, love, reconciliation, forgiveness, kindness, mercy, and grace.  The sword at our side is the word of God.

Lord, what building materials are You giving me to use as this area of my life is rebuilt?

April 4th, 2018

Do You Want to Get Well?

“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?”  John 5:6

Jesus is in Jerusalem at the time of this healing, specifically at the pool called Bethesda (House of Grace), and located by the Sheep Gate.  There were five porches by the pool, where the multitude of infirmed lay in wait for an angel to come and stir the pool’s water.  Whoever was the first to enter the stirred water was healed from the infirmity. 

Jesus comes upon a man who had been infirm for 38 years.  He asked the man, “Do you want to get well?”  The man responded that no one was there to help him.  Jesus responds, “Get up!  Pick up your mat and walk.”  The man was immediately made well and did as Jesus instructed.  It is noteworthy that this healing took place on the Sabbath. 

The man was confronted by the Jews wanting to know how it was he was carrying his bed on the Sabbath.  The man responded that the One who had healed him had told him to do so.  The man did not know Jesus by name, or where He was.  Later we read Jesus found the man and said to him, “See, you are well again.  Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 

What can we glean from this healing miracle of the Lord? 

1.  Jesus initiated this healing, not the infirmed man.

2.  When asked if he wanted to be “made well,” the infirmed man did not answer the question; rather, he focused on why he couldn’t be healed.  Some might label this the power of negative thoughts and negative words.

3.  Jesus skips the angel, the water, and the apparent lack of faith of the man.  Instead He simply says to the man, “RISE, take up your bed and walk.”   The man does as Jesus says and is healed!  Indeed, this healing at the House of Grace was a demonstration of grace that visited the man lying in wait for 38 years.  This was one-on-one, simply obey, healing. 

4.  When Jesus finds the healed man later on, He tells him to “sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”    This man and his infirmity had some connection to sin, not mentioned by Jesus until after the healing had taken place. 

Jesus knew exactly how to meet this man where he was at and how to guide him in such a way so that healing would be secured and the man would be set free.  How many times has the Lord met us where we are at and intimately guided us to healing and freedom?  How many times has Jesus been on the scene through His Holy Spirit, even when we are lying down and waiting for help to come – and having little faith that help will ever arrive?  How well does Jesus know us that He tells us what we need to hear, when we need to hear it?

April 6th, 2018

Free Woman through Promise

“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?  For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.   But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the free woman through promise, which things are symbolic.  For these are the two covenants: the one from Mt. Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar – for this Hagar is Mt. Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children – but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.”  Gal. 4:21-26

Let’s track this carefully, returning back to the source text in Genesis 16:  Abraham was with Hagar, a servant to Sarah.  Hagar was not free, she was a servant!  They bore a son Ishmael, whose name means “whom God hears.”  Ishmael was born of disobedience to God’s promise to Abraham.  So we have a bondservant bearing a bondson and representing a people and a place in bondage: the natural Jerusalem.  

However, there was a second son!  Abraham was with his wife, Sarah.  She was a free woman.  She bore a son Isaac, whose name means “laughter.”  Isaac was born of obedience to God’s promise – HIS COVENANT PROMISE – HIS IRREVOCABLE COVENANT PROMISE – to Abraham!  So we have a free woman bearing a free son and representing a people and a place in freedom: the spiritual Jerusalem.  Those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior into their hearts reside in the spiritual Jerusalem – a place of grace!

As we return to the text in Gal. 4:28 – 31, we read:

“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.  But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.  Nevertheless, what does the Scripture say?  ‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.’ So then brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.”

We are beloved, the spiritual seed of Abraham.  We are just as Isaac was – children of promise.

April 5th, 2018

The Authority of Humility

“LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.  Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.  Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and forever.”  Ps. 131

David learned the lessons God had for him prior to stepping into the role of king of Israel.  The lessons of compassion, courage, character development, failure, forgiveness, and fame shaped great humility in David.  He learned to walk in the authority of that humility.  David walked as both a king (authority) and a priest (humility).  We can hear David’s heart as he writes the Song of Ascents in Psalm 131. 

David’s heart was not haughty, or proud.  Jesus described Himself in Matthew 11:29 as “…meek and lowly in heart.”  David foreshadowed meekness of heart, which was personified in Jesus Christ.  Jesus also taught in Matthew 5:5, “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”  Meekness is defined in Greek as an inwrought grace of the soul directed first at God.  It is not necessarily what the world sees, but what God sees in us.  It is described as a virtue born in strength of character.  Indeed, David inherited the earth in the form of a united kingdom.  Jesus Christ came as flesh to dwell among men and to restore such an inheritance to believers.  We are called “partakers of a divine inheritance” that is not limited to heaven but also includes earth!

May we gain insight and understanding about the authority of humility.

April 3rd, 2018

Divided Kingdoms Shall Not Stand

“Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.  Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hands of your son.  However, I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”  1 Kings 11:11-13

Imagine a kingdom being taken from a son and given to a servant!  As we read further in 1 Kings, in chapters 11 through 14, we see God’s word fulfilled as Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, assumes the kingdom and ignores the wisdom given to him by his elders.  In the meantime, Solomon’s servant, Jeroboam, had begun a rebellion against Solomon, which only intensified against Rehoboam.  In time, Jeroboam was indeed made ruler over the ten tribes of Israel, as the previously united kingdom split in two.  Rehoboam remained ruler over Judah and the Levites, while Jeroboam ruled over Israel.  Thus, the northern kingdom of Israel was in rebellion against the house of David, known as the southern kingdom of Judah (see 1 Kings 13:19). 

What caused this fracture of a great and mighty kingdom?  It was the idolatry, disobedience and sin from Solomon.  The divided kingdom continued on with predominantly disobedient kings whose hearts were not set on God.  Ultimately, the northern kingdom of Israel was captured by the Assyrians and taken into captivity.  This was subsequently followed by the defeat of the southern kingdom of Judah at the hands of the Babylonian empire.  A second wave of captivity followed.  The divided kingdom did not stand.

We advance to the ministry of Jesus Christ, as identified in the gospel of Matthew 12:25.  Jesus had just healed a man and the Pharisees were critical.  Jesus spoke, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”  Jesus was ushering in the Kingdom of God through His ministry.  When challenged by the Pharisees, who attributed the healing to the work of Satan, and thus blasphemed the Holy Spirit, Jesus responded by reminding them that divided kingdoms cannot stand.  “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?”  Matthew 12:26.  Jesus informed His accusers that though Satan be strong (a “strongman”), there was one stronger: His name was Jesus Christ! 

April 2nd, 2018

Prayers of Agreement

“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.  For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them.”  Mt. 18:19-20

As members of the body of Christ we hereby enter into prayers of agreement for ourselves, our families, and for the fellowship.  We recognize that if two agree on earth concerning anything we ask, it will be done for us by our Father in heaven; for wherever two or three are gathered together in His name, He is there in the midst of us.  

1.  We agree to be a people wholly turning unto our Father, in repentance and in need of Your direction for our lives.

2.  We agree to observe the precepts of God, to be a church founded upon love, and built in obedience to the will of our Father.

3.  We agree to be clay in the hands of the Master Potter, molded and shaped to be the earthen vessels He has created us to be from the foundation of the earth.

4.  We agree to love the Lord our God with all our heart, our soul and our strength, and to love one another.

5.  We agree to receive the gift of grace which has set us free.

6.  We agree to be a fellowship of praise, of prayer, and of power through the Holy Spirit.

7.  We agree to be a people seeking wisdom and understanding from the Lord our God.

8.  We agree that no weapon formed against us shall prosper.

9.  We agree to be wise concerning good and simple concerning evil.

10. We agree to be a body where all bondages are broken in the Name of Jesus Christ.

11. We agree that signs and wonders follow the spoken word of God in this fellowship.

12.  We agree to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

April 1st, 2018

Leap for Joy

"Though the fig tree may not blossom nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, and the field yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herds in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my Salvation.  

The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills."  Habakkuk 3:17-18

These verses depict how one can be in a place of doubt, fear, confusion, weakness, etc.  As Habakkuk  looked over the city  he could see the circumstances looked grave.  He knew that destruction of a Babylonian attack would be devastating - that the land may become barren. He became overwhelmed by the circumstances all about him.  His mind was consumed with the iniquity and the violence.  But Habakkuk went to the Lord with his petitions.  The result was he became no longer controlled or anxious over the circumstances.  His sight was now on God.    

 Habakkuk says  "Yet he will find joy in the God of his salvation."  The Hebrew word for joy is (gil) pronounced geel.  This verb originally meant "to spin around with intense motion".  It is joy put in motion or leaping for joy.  Thus Habakkuk expresses a magnificent truth that one can put "joy" in motion and turn doubt to faith, confusion to understanding and fear to great hope.

Is anyone experiencing fear, confusion, doubt? Like Habakkuk, know it is acceptable to our precious Lord to tell him of our difficulties in our present situations. Talk with the Father about it.  Spill out your heart. Know God's word here, that there may be no blossoms on the fig tree, or food in the fields, or herds in their stalls, but you can look above your circumstances and find joy in the God of your salvation.

Do not be ashamed if you experience these things.  The important thing is that you go intimately to Him, listening and waiting upon Him to show you the way.  He never changes.  He never leaves or forsakes you.  He will not fail you even when you feel like failure.  Remember, failure can be the first step to victory, when we listen and watch and wait and hear to see what He will tell us. Thus, the lies that say we are fearful, doubtful, failures etc. will die.

Continue to go to Him no matter how long it takes. He will spring forth newness and freshness and leap you forward to glorify Him and to further Kingdom purposes. 

 

I am so thankful to our Lord, that even when the circumstances around us look grave, God never changes.  He will save you from your wretched place. Wait upon Him for the answer. Then "leap for joy." He will make "your feet like deer's feet and make you walk on high hills".