The Promised Land and Revival - Pressing into God's Promise

Yesterday one of our pastors preached an excellent message out of Exodus, about the people of Israel not wanting to go up the mountain of the Lord, because they wanted a God they could control.  Yesterday morning I was reflecting on a similar bit from Numbers 13-14, where the Israelites didn't want to enter the Promised Land because of people who lived there.

The story of the Promised Land is long and interwoven through their history, starting with God's promise to Abraham, then again to Jacob, down through Joseph and Finally through Moses.  God made it clear that the Promised Land was occupied all along, but apparently they never through what that meant.  Here is one of the times God refers to the Land, speaking to Moses, telling him what to say to the Israelites who were suffering under oppression and slavery in Egypt - Exodus 3:17 NIV: "And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites---a land flowing with milk and honey.'

When they finally get freed out of Egypt, they follow Moses leading and through God's miraculous intervention they find themselves camped not far from the Promised Land, and Moses sends out 12 men to spy out the land, asking them to bring back a report.  After 40 days of spying they came back reported what they found - Numbers 13:26-29 NIV:

[26] "They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. [27] They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. [28] But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. [29] The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan. ”

Everything was as God had promised, except He hadn't mentioned the size of the people who occupied the land. The reaction of the people was utter rebellion as described in the next chapter - Numbers 14:1-4 NIV: "That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. [2] All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! [3] Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? ” [4] And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. ”

Sadly, because of their heart attitude, no one of that whole group who were older than 20  years old, except for Joshua and Caleb, were going to enter the land, because of their fear and judging God incapable of helping them. They didn't expect to have to fight for the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey, and immediately looked at their own selves, rather than at all that God had just showed them in delivering them from Egypt. They were afraid of the giants in the land, or believing more in their inability as warriors, than in God's power and promise. What a sad thing, to be right there ready to enter in and then backing away due to fear!  

As I was reading these verses I felt like the Lord said, in much the same way we are today pursuing revival, a sort of "Promised Land" flowing with fruit of the Spirit and the blessings of signs and wonders, healings and miracles. As I was thinking about the parallels, I felt like the Lord asked if we are willing to fight for our promise?  

The question that popped into my minds, was what, if anything are we afraid of in pursuing Revival, for it seems a simple thing to pray to experience.  However, as I reflected on it further, I realized that we have our own "Giants".  While certainly not people groups or tribes, we have things we must push past to enter the promise, for while the promise is in front of us.  Sometimes God's promises require work on our part to experience the fullness of them.  So what are our "giants"?

I think my list is something like this:

1) Fear of Man

2) Fear of seeming like a fool

3) Unbelief  (greater belief in my own inability than in God's ability)

4) Fear of giving up my time and independence

I guess my list isn't that different from the Israelites back then.  The real question is whether I am willing to press into God, believing in His word, and then laying down my fears and unbelief?  I don't want to miss the opportunity to experience all God has for me, but that will require effort on my part.  I will need to push out of my comfort zone, into God's ways, into unknown and uncomfortable situations.  I need to be willing to die to my own pride (#1 and #2 on my list) to believe in the face of daunting circumstances, and be willing to lose "my" time for the Lord!

Many of the revivals that I have read about were born through the fruit of seasons of intercession, long times of prayer by certain people, called by God to lay down their lives in prayer.  Am I willing to be such a one?

Many revivals became all consuming fires of passion for God, and people's lives were radically changed.  Am I willing to allow my life to be wholly changed?

Many of the revivals had prayer meetings every night, for several hours, some even had meetings 24 hours a day, am I willing to give up my evenings and weekends, "my" plans for "my" time?

Many of the revivals experienced resistance from the "religious" people, from those in seats of honor and authority within the churches.  Am I will to press forward into God, in spite of the opinions of others that I respect and trust?

Many of the revivals resulted in thousands of new converts who needed discipling, am I willing to give of my free time, step outside my group of fiends to engage and spend hours and hours with new brothers and sisters in Christ?

Many of the Revivals introduced new expressions and experiences of the Holy Spirit, am I willing to embrace a different or new way of experiencing God's touch and movement in our midst?

In summary, the Lord's promise isn't always delivered on a silver platter that requires no effort on our behalf.  He has chosen to invite us to partner with Him in seeing the Kingdom of God expanded here on earth, and that partnership requires effort.  This is not some sort of "works" invitation, but is rather a faith invitation!  Do we believe that God's promises are true, and worth fighting through our stuff to experience?  Are we willing to lay down our fear and concern and step into the move of the Holy Spirit?  Are we willing to obey God in all ways, even to laying down "our" ways and "our" things and pressing into Him?  

Oh Lord, help us!  We want to experience all that You have for us!  We want to know You!  We want to see You Glorified in our lives!

Amen and Amen!

Walking in the Light of Love

This morning I am reflecting on some verses from John's first letter.  He is writing these letters after most of the rest of the New Testament letters and books were written, so we get a glimpse of what was important a bit later in the life of the early church.  John starts his letter, much like he starts His Gospel, with a focus on the incarnation and Glory of Jesus.  He then steps right into talking about light and darkness, sin and purity.  I am going to reflect on a couple of verses from his second chapter, as they seem helpful in light of our present situation.  Here are the verses - 1 John 2:1-6,9-11 NIV:

[1] "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father---Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. [2] He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

[3] "We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. [4] Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. [5] But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: [6] Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did."

[9] "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. [10] Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. [11] But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them."

This morning, these three sets of verses stood out to me, for they speak of love and hate of one another, and we seem to have a spate of that present here in America, specifically the hatred.  We are clearly in dangerous times and we are allowing ourselves to become more and more divided as we allow enflamed rhetoric and slander, accusations and judgments to influence our thinking.  I have heard religious leaders decrying one political stance or the other, claiming you can't be Christian and hold certain party affiliations, or vote for a particular person, and I think this is dangerous ground, the judgment of others based on a label, and our own limited perspective.

This morning I am just reflecting on the simplicity of John's message, one of  love, forgiveness and aligning ourselves with Jesus, coming under His atonement.  John is very clear that Jesus' sacrifice is applicable to the whole world, available through faith in Him.  However, our faith in Him must be more than words, but seen in our actions, in our imitation of His life (1 John 2:6). 

While John's encouragements in in verses 9-11 have to do with members of the Body of Christ, his message is really applicable to everyone we meet, for Jesus died for all people in the world, and that means everyone we meet could become our brother or sister in the  Body of Christ.  As I read these verses this morning I found myself praying these verses for us all, that we would be empowered by God to encourage one another to love and walk in the light, to turn away from hate, and hate filled language!

The other day I was praying for our country and was praying that a spirit of brotherhood would rest upon us all.  Webster's dictionary defines brotherhood as feelings of friendship, support, and understanding between people, and that sounds wonderful right now!  Can we choose to lay down our opinions and stances, so they don't become weapons? 

Are we being blinded by our hatred?  Is our utter disdain for one group or one person blinding us and keeping us in darkness?  Are we allowing that one opinion to lead us down a path that we don't want to tread upon?  Are we investing in division of our country, sowing seeds that will bear similar fruit?  Our words and our opinions can become more important to us than our faith.  I feel that some try to mask that by creating bible based justifications, and try to justify judgments as righteous indignation.

James is very clear in his statement about us judging one another - James 4:11-12 NIV: "Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. [12] There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you---who are you to judge your neighbor?"

In other words, when we judge one another, we are taking God's position as Judge, effectively elevating ourselves and our opinions over God.  We have replaced Him, and used His words to judge others, thus placing our judgments and opinions firmly on the throne.  That my friends is idolatry, and as I mentioned before, very dangerous territory.

 My prayer this morning is that we take Jesus' words to heart, that we love one another, as He loved us (John 15:12).  My prayer is that we put one another before our opinions, that we choose to speak life with our mouths rather than judgment and division.  My prayer is that we would take up this invitation to embrace a spirit of brotherhood and that we would look on others with friendship and understanding.  My prayer is for peace, and prosperity for all in the midst of these difficult times.

Much love,   Sam

Prepared to Be Salt and Light

 

This morning I felt led to reflect on some verses from Paul's letter to the Colossians 4:2-6 NIV:

[2] "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. [3] And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. [4] Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. [5] Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. [6] Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

As is often the case, in my reflection, I am starting at the end and working my way backwards to the beginning.  In these set of verses, it is verse 6 that grabs my attention the most.  I just like the statement, and think that Paul is providing encouragement to the Church, in how we should be respond, how we should talk and how we should prepare for conversations with those who are outside the faith.  Adam Clarke in his commentary writes this about verse 6:

"Let all your conversation be such as may tend to exemplify and recommend Christianity; let it not only be holy, but wise, gracious, and intelligent. A harsh method of proposing or defending the doctrines of Christianity only serves to repel men from those doctrines, and from the way of salvation. Salt, from its use in preserving food from corruption, and rendering it both savoury and wholesome, has always been made the emblem of wisdom. The word has been also used to express in composition or conversation what is terse, comprehensive, useful, elegant, and impressive."  ( http://classic.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=col&chapter=4&verse=6#Col4_6)

We don't use the phrase "Seasoned with Salt" any more, while I like Adam's commentary above, I think maybe Paul's point is that there should be something in our conversation that inspires greater hunger and thirst.  We have a need and desire for a certain amount of salt, and salt added to foods tastes better, and in some thin like potato-chips, makes them almost addictive.  In the a similar way, salt added to food also causes a greater thirst.  Is it possible to be so flavorful in our conversations with others that we leave them wanting to hear more, leave them thirsty for what we have, namely a relationship with Jesus?

Stepping back a a few words in the same verse, Paul encourages us to be aware of our conversation, making sure that it is always full of grace.  What a great encouragement!  Full of grace, in other words, that is what flows out of us, grace!  Grace can be defined as unmerited favor, and that is certainly an attractive trait for us to expose in our conversations.  Imagine if everyone you talked to and interacted with, felt like you really favored them, even if you just met them.  We all like to be recognized for who we are, to be seen as attractive and interesting.  If we consider each person we meet as favored by God, which they are, and a unique work of His creation, which they are, and determine to identify that which is beautiful and lovely and unique about them, we will find ourselves in much demand for conversation! :-)  Oh Lord, help us to be like You!

In verse 5, Paul speaks of being prepared, making the most of every opportunity, being wise in how we act. Sometimes, as Christian's we can be judgmental towards the activities of those outside the church, treating them as if there behavior is offensive.  We act like we are above their sinful ways, even as if we are better than them, forgetting that but for the grace and mercy of the Lord, we would be exactly like them, steeped in our own sin. I believe this is part of what Paul is encouraging us to do, to remember who were were, to put on grateful mindset, and from that attitude of gratitude and thankfulness to interact with those for whom the Lord also died.  Wisdom could be expressed as embracing God's mindset, recognizing His thoughts, and as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, He thinks each person we meet is the work of His hands!  Oh, that we would learn to walk in the mercy and compassion of the Lord in all our dealings with everyone we know and meet.  Help me Lord!

Finally, going back to verse 2, Paul encourages us to pray, to be watchful and thankful.  For me, prayer is simply a constant communication with the Lord. I am talking and listening, aware that He is with me and guiding me.  Being watchful has to do with our willingness to be His representatives, looking for opportunities and situations where we can make a difference.  Watchfulness also has to do with recognizing the spiritual environment we live within, and being aware of the enemies tactics and attacks.  Without being all weird and seeing him behind everything, we do need to be alert to this reality. Thankfulness is such a wonderful characteristic and state.  It means that we have a perception that is not rooted in selfishness and instead, we are turning our eyes and hearts to the Lord, recognizing that all good is from Him.

Oh Lord, I pray that You would help me today to embrace these encouragements from Paul.  Help me to have my eyes open, praying constantly, looking for opportunities to bless, to encourage, to extend grace and favor, to share the blessings You have provided to me!  Help to make the most of every situation and opportunity!  Help me to be salt and light to those around me!

Amen!

Time for "That Day"

This morning my Bible opened right to Amos 9, which is some of my favorite imagery speaking about what I call "Days of Acceleration". This morning I was reflecting on these verses an noticed a few things I had not seen before, and did some research on the verses as well.  Here are the verses - Amos 9:9-15 NIV:

[9] “For I will give the command, and I will shake the people of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground. [10] All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, 'Disaster will not overtake or meet us.'

[11] “In that day “I will restore David's fallen shelter---I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins---and will rebuild it as it used to be, [12] so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name, ” declares the Lord, who will do these things.

[13] “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, [14] and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.

[15] I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God."

I love verses 11-15, but this morning I felt it was important to include verses 9 & 10, for that is the context in which "That day" occurs.  There is a dramatic component to the revelation, restoration and revivals of God, and many times they seem to follow difficult times.  On the way to church this past Sunday, my honey and I were talking about how the US is certainly being attacked and beaten on by the enemy, by forces that mean to cause destruction and chaos.  We see fires and hurricanes, and at the same time riots and protests, social upheavals, racial and political violence, and even direct attacks against the church.  In this country for sure the times are darkening, however it is within the darkening days that the light of Christ is supposed to shine brighter.  I am reminded of Isaiah 60:1-3 NIV:

[1] “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. [2] See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. [3] Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

Going back to the verses from Amos, we see the Lord commanding a time of shaking preceding the prophetic message of increase and restoration, and the earlier verses of the chapter are filled with images of God's wrath, and again it is into this that we see "That Day" appear.  It is important to note, that these verses were written prior to the revelation of Jesus, who was the only one to perfectly represent the Father (Heb 1:3) and as such, we must read these verses with our understanding of Jesus' revelation, for He didn't come to Judge the world, but to save the world (John 3:16-17). 

Additionally, if you read the preceding verses you see that in spite of all the difficulty, that God maintains his attention on His people and the shaking that is spoken of in verse nine, is actually the process of separation, out from where they have been driven.  It is within this context that God then speaks prophetically of restoring the "shelter" of David.  The actual Hebrew word means a rude shack or hut, and this is symbolic of how run down the House of David had become.  The Lord will be about restoring and repairing and rebuilding that which has gone into disrepair.  The people are separated out from their place of refuge and hiding, restored to their proper possession of land, and then blessed with abundance!  Amos goes back and forth between the work of God and the co-work of the people (See verses 11 and verse 14), and there is a sense of partnership, and blessing.

Finally, the days of rapid fruitfulness, of abundance beyond natural means, the days when fruit grows where it once never did (Grapes don't grow well in Mountains), and all of it happening at the same time are an amazing picture of true revival.  Having studied many of the great revivals, there is a sense of absolute divine acceleration and abundance, people experiencing salvation in a moment, people who have no intention of meeting God, being overcome with a spirit of repentance, whole cities, towns and villages experiencing massive waves of salvation, even in places that were considered resistant or unfruitful for years.  What a glorious picture of blessing, abundance and permanence.

It is my prayer that we are entering into such times as these, for clearly we are being shaken!  I pray that this will cause God to be glorified in His Church, and that we will see days of abundant, rapid, overflowing blessings, salvations, healings, miracles, signs and wonders as we experience "That Day" of revival and restoration!

Amen!

Effective Prayer!

I was reading through the last chapter of James' letter this morning, and his comments about Elijah grabbed my attention.  Here are the verses - James 5:16b-18 NIV:

[16]..."The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

[17] "Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. [18] Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."

When I read those sentences I had two thoughts pop into my mind that I want to explore.  First, those three and a half years were a very uncomfortable time for Elijah.  Second, I was wondering if we really believe that we could pray and actually affect the weather patterns over a region for years?

The story of Elijah and the drought can be found in 1 Kings 17-18, and without going into the story in detail, suffice it to say that Elijah spent part of those three years, living by a brook and being fed by ravens until the stream dried up, and then lived with a widow who had just enough flour and oil every day to feed herself, her son and Elijah.  Secondly, because the Lord told him to announce the initial word to the King, Elijah was not held in high esteem by the king, and he was blamed for the drought.  The Lord used this drought to cause a major confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, and helped the people realize that God was truly the only God.  However, Elijah's life didn't become grand, in fact he become hunted by Jezebel (see 1 King 19: 1-2).

I believe the point of this is that we pray for change, but that doesn't mean that we will be unaffected.  Sometimes, it is easy to pray for things, as long as our life continues on as it is, but if we were to expect our prayers to affect us too, we might pray differently.  Secondly, not all our prayers will be received positively by others, and the question is if we will still pray them, if we know they will make us wanted individuals?  We may have such opportunities  in the near future, and even now our brothers and sisters in some of the western states in the US are under attack and being told they can't meet and worship.  This is not quite the same thing, but certainly related.  Soon we could be confronted with the choice as to if we will we pursue a Christian life-style even if its outlawed?

The second point of reflection from above, has to do with our belief about the power of prayer and God's Word.  In this case it was a prophecy that God told Elijah to release.  So the question for me this morning is if I believe that God still releases His word, that when spoken in partnership with Him, has the power to hold back rain, or produce rain?  Climate change is a big issue these days, and here is Elijah prophesying a drought that came to pass, and was so bad that all of the nation of Israel, and even surrounding countries were affected.  While that isn't global climate change, it certainly was for Israel.

In our agricultural center of the Mid-west, prayers for rain are pretty typical, and while we probably believe they make a difference, do we expect that they will make the kind of difference that those of Elijah made?  That is the point that James is making here.  He says that Elijah was a man just like us, and His prayers in unity with the Word of the Lord, made a multi-year difference in Israel.  James encourages us to believe the same about ourselves.  I know I often put Elijah and Elisha, or other great prophet of God on some sort of pedestal of holiness or something, but the truth is that they were just a man like me.  The power and authority rest with God, and the same is true today!  God can do exactly the same thing through me, or anyone else, for that matter.

So today I am encouraged to pray greater prayers, to seek God for His word to be proclaimed!  I am encouraged to carefully consider my prayers as well, knowing full well that I will be affected by them too.

May Your Word give us direction and purpose to prayer Lord!  We believe that you have the same power and authority today as You had back in Elijah's day!  We pray that You would show us who you are, that all people would say, "The Lord - He is God!  The Lord - He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39)

Amen and Amen!

Forgiveness, Faith and Freedom

This morning I am reflecting on some challenging verses from Luke 17:3-6 NIV:

[3] "So watch yourselves.

 “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. [4] Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive them.”

[5] The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

[6] He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."


I have reflected upon these verses previously, but this morning upon reading the whole chapter, these again were what my mind seemed drawn to.  Sometimes discernment is simply following the light breath of the Holy Spirit, breathing on something, other times its very obvious.  This morning it was a light breath...

These verses clearly are about forgiveness, and while that is a deep subject, this morning it seems the focus is on the judgments that we make about people who sin against us.  Jesus' example of command to forgive the person who sins against you seven times in a single day, brings this judgment to light, for the apostles provide the insight.  They cry out "increase our faith" recognizing that they, in that situation, wouldn't have felt the least bit like forgiving such a person. 
The question is why?  Why would we struggle to forgive such a sin-ridden person?  I believe it has to do with a judgment in our heart about that person's repentance.  First, it should be noted that they do repent, which is a changing of the mind which leads to a changing of action or behavior.  When the person repents, our command is to forgive them.  That seems easy enough to say and do, but Jesus doesn't qualify this sin by any level or type, so it could be the worst sin we can imagine, or the smallest sin.  The command is the same, if they repent, forgive them.

The Greek word that is translated forgive is the word Aphiemi, and it is defined as follows:

1) to send away
       a) to bid going away or depart
              1) of a husband divorcing his wife
       b) to send forth, yield up, to expire
       c) to let go, let alone, let be
              1) to disregard
              2) to leave, not to discuss now, (a topic) 1c
2) of teachers, writers and speakers
       a) to let go, give up a debt, forgive, to remit
       b) to give up, keep no longer

There are other extended defining descriptions, but these suffice for communicating the meaning behind the word.  The idea is of a permanent separation, a sending away and not revisiting again.  We occasionally will hear someone say, 'I will forgive, but I won't forget', and unfortunately, that is not really the command of Jesus here, and it is why I think the apostles struggled with Jesus' statement. 

Our natural tendency is to do exactly that if we do forgive someone, we forgive, but we don't forget.  However, Jesus is calling them to go to a place where they don't keep score of the number of times they forgive someone.  Each time a person asks forgiveness and repents, we are to forgive, like it is the first time.  This is the hard part, for in remembering their previous sins, in keeping track, we then make a judgment about the person, for we are keeping score.  The bigger the score, the more times they sin,  the more convinced we are of their lack of repentance.  However, we are not allowed to make that judgment, we are to extend forgiveness, according to Jesus.

This just doesn't sound wise, and I can think of multiple reasons why a person shouldn't extend forgiveness to a repeat offender.  I find my mind going back to some of the repeat offenders that I have known, and remember the pain of continual betrayal, and pain, and think to myself, why would Jesus command us to do this?  I find myself responding with the same cry of the apostles, "increase my faith!" for if this is the command, I know I would struggle with this in many cases.

However, just as I was going there in my mind, I heard the Lord whisper, "This is how I forgive you!"

Wow!  Heart - punched!

That just stopped me dead in my tracks, and stopped my line of thinking completely.  For my thinking was extending judgment about the condition of certain people's hearts, about their true intent, about their ability to hurt me repeatedly.  All of that stopped, and I saw the true impact and truth behind Jesus' statement, this IS exactly how He treats me!  He forgives me over and over and over again.  He actually knows the true state of my heart, and yet He continues to choose to forgive me!  Regardless of the depth of my betrayal of Him, of my extensive history of sin, He forgives me.  He doesn't hold onto the historical records, He doesn't keep score, He forgives me, if I am willing to repent, over and over and over again.

His last statement, about the mustard seed of faith, and the casting of the tree into the sea, seems to me to be about those deep rooted judgments that we maintain in our hearts, towards people, or groups, or even God.  Some people I know struggle greatly with unforgiveness, with laying down past hurts.  They have extensive lists, and its obvious that the roots go deep because they will go back years in recounting certain things that were said, or things that were done, and these, while covered up with dirt (unseen on the surface) most of the time, become an absolute anchor that keeps them from healing and freedom.

In our lives, Jesus is encouraging us to have faith in Him and in His ways and words.  He sets before us a command that will bring freedom to us, and to those that sin, and He desires us to learn to trust Him, to have faith in Him.  Our faith can begin with one small seed, but ultimately, if entrust ourselves to Him, and have faith that His words and His commands are good and right and bring us life!

Oh Lord, I ask for Your help, for faith and a willingness to forgive all that have hurt me, every time.  Help me to extend forgiveness regardless of any perceived repentance or not.  For at the end of the day, the score of past wrongs I keep does more to tie me down, to anchor me and keep me from being free than anything else.  Help me to entrust this all to You Jesus, knowing that You forgive me.

Amen!

Faith Examples and Healing in the Harvest Fields

This morning I felt like I should read from Matthew, chapter nine.  This is one of several of my favorite chapters in Matthew's Gospel, there is so much to reflect upon, and Jesus is very active in healing several specific people.  This morning I was struck by the different expressions of faith that are presented to us in this single chapter.  Here are several verses, extracted from the text, that are dealing with faith - Matthew 9:2,18-22,28-30,32-33 NIV:

[2] "Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Here it is the faith of the group of men, and Jesus responds to their faith.

[18] While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” [19] Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

Here we see the faith of the father, whose daughter has died.  He has faith that if Jesus would just touch his dead daughter, she would live!  Jesus is so stirred that He goes with the man.

[20] Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. [21] She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” [22] Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

This is such an interesting bit for Jesus says "Your faith has healed you", and He didn't do anything other than acknowledge her faith. 

[28] When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

[29] Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; [30] and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.”

Here the faith of the two blind men, becomes the reason behind their healing, but Jesus touches them. Their faith led them to Jesus, but He healed them.

[32] While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. [33] And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

In this set of verses there is no mention of faith, yet the mute man was brought to Jesus because someone had faith, and believed that Jesus could heal him.  The man couldn't express with words his faith, but it was likely there as well.

One thing is clear in reading just these few verses, faith is important, however, its hard to nail down a specific faith/action/setting mix that is a prescription for healing, and I believe Jesus, by following the direction of the Father, was laying a broad foundation for faith and healing. 

We can't guarantee each person had faith, for clearly the dead girl had none, we don't know if the man on the mat had any, but the others do.

We can't say that Jesus had to touch them, although many had that experience, the man on the mat just followed Jesus command to stand up, the woman with the flow of blood did the touching. 

We can't say that faith was required, for there was no mention of faith for the mute man, and if it was a requirement, some mention would have been made, in my opinion.

We can't say they were all related to demonic activity, although for the mute man, that was the case.

We can't say that sin was in the mix for all of the people, although Jesus specifically mentions that with the man on the mat.  We can't even say that sin caused his paralysis, for Jesus does not say that specifically, nor even infer that.


So what can we say? 

Jesus wants to heal!
Jesus does heal!
Jesus responds to faith!
Jesus can raise the dead!
Jesus can heal paralysis!
Jesus can heal long-term disease and illness!
Jesus can heal blindness!
Jesus can cast out demons!
Jesus can heal the mute!
Jesus can forgive sins!

Jesus was exactly representing the Father in all He did (Heb 1:3) so we know if these are true of Jesus, they are true of the Father as well. If these are true when Jesus is representing the Father, they should be true for us when we are representing Him as well!  We are all sent ones, sent to the world representing the Lord in our interactions and in our daily life.

Matthew closes the ninth chapter with the following set of verses - Matthew 9:35-38 NIV:

[35] "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. [36] When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. [38] Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

We are those workers in the harvest fields of the Lord of the Harvest. Lord, we know that You haven't changed, and we know that we are to represent You, so we must have the same abilities and gifts available to us, so that we can reach the lost, the harassed and helpless. Help us to step into faith, believing that You have given us the authority to fully walk in this, Your continuing ministry.

Amen!  Help us Lord!

Access to Our Inheritance Now

The other night I had a dream  where I was invited to George W. Bush's house, hanging out with him and his family, meeting his grandsons, talking with them all.  We were just sitting around having normal conversation.  At dinner I was asking George, how big his ranch was, what he did during the day, if he liked driving his truck again, etc. 

After dinner I started asking the grandsons what it was like living with him as a Grandpa, knowing that much of what they were surrounded with would one day be in a museum.  I then started asking them what they wanted to inherit, and talked about how my parents had an inheritance passing event before they ever passed.  They wanted to make sure people got what they wanted and created a list of things that they wanted to pass down, and asked us what things we wanted.  We then drew numbers and got to select that which we wanted in order.  (I don't remember exactly how we did that, but this is what I described to them in my dream).

Once I was finished telling them this, you could see all their eyes light up, as they looked around at all of the things they were surrounded by.  George W. looked at them and nodded and smiled, indicating it was his intention to pass their inheritance, or at least part of it, to them while he was still alive.  You could see the revelation of this great gift passing into the Grandson's understanding.  That is where I woke up.

As I sat down to pray this morning, that dream was the first thing to pop into my mind, and I immediately started thinking of the meaning of the dream. The Bible is full of God giving dreams to people as a way that He communicates to them, and I believe occasionally my dreams fall into this category.  This dream is pretty straight-forward.  George W. represents the Lord, and his grandsons represent us (I know we are actually sons and daughters, directly relating to the Lord).  God's desire is that we walk in our inheritance right now, in our lives!  We have a  large part to play in receiving and walking out our inheritance here and now, and God is pleased to have this be the case!

So, the question is what is our inheritance that God wants us to step into, and choose now?  Many of the scriptures relating to inheritance peak of it as our eternal inheritance, and that is certainly part of our inheritance, and a very important part, however Jesus told  a parable of the wayward son (Luke 15:11-32) and in that story the son received his inheritance twice, while the father was still alive.  Without going into the details of the story, the son had left the father to spend his inheritance on wild living, the first time he received it, and when he came to his senses and returned to the Father, he received it again, for everything that was rightfully his was restored to him by the Father.  The Father gave him back his robe, his ring and his sandals, indicating his receiving back his identity, his authority and his restored co-ownership of farm.  Wow!  The Father desires to pour out on us an inheritance of identity, authority and co-inheritance of land (representing areas of influence). 

Paul, for one speaks several times of our being heirs of God, and calls us co-heirs or fellow heirs with Christ!  In other words, the things Jesus inherited, we also receive!  That thought out to cause our mind to explode!  ;-)   Here is Paul's explanation from Romans 8:15-17 NASB:

[15] "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" [16] The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, [17] and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."

Thus, the Holy Spirit is our sign of our adoption, and what the Spirit brings is part of our inheritance.  We can look to some of Paul's other writings to see what the Holy Spirit brings including this list from 1 Corinthians 12:4,7-11,31 NIV:

[4] "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them."

[7] "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. [8] To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, [9] to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, [10] to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. [11] All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines."

[31] "Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way."

I find it interesting that Paul was inspired to write that last bit, about eagerly desiring the greater gifts.  I believe the Lord wants us to know that He s OK if we ask for the big things, for He delights to give them to us.  I am encouraged to ask big, to pray for the greater gifts!

Again, going back to the question at hand, what is our inheritance as co-heirs with Christ?  I look to another set of verses from James 2:5 NIV:

[5] "Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?"

We are heirs to the Kingdom!  This Kingdom, is the Kingdom that Jesus initiated and described in the Gospels.  He gave His Apostles authority to represent and demonstrate this Kingdom in Matthew 10:7-8 NIV:

[7] As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give." 

Here we see the demonstration of the reality of the Kingdom, and the authority of sons of the King within the Kingdom.  The Sons (in this case Apostles) walk in the same authority and power as the King.  As Co-Heirs with Christ, we have the ability to walk in the same authority and power, for we have received the same Holy Spirit, and walk in unity with Him.  Awesome!

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that our inheritance, in Christ, through faith, is beyond our comprehension, but definitely something the Father wants us to press into!  He wants us to learn what it means to be sons and daughters of the King, to walk in authority and power, to experience the gifts and callings of the Holy Spirit, to walk out daily our identity in Him.  He wants us to experience this now, not waiting for our entrance into our final eternal inheritance in heaven.  He calls us to demonstrate His Kingdom here, and that is only possible through intimate relationship, and an awareness of our inheritance.

In finishing, I thought the following words of Jesus were appropriate to this morning's reflection - Luke 11:9-13 NIV:

[9] “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. [10] For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

[11] “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? [12] Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? [13] If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”


Our Father desires that we walk in our inheritance now!  He encourages us to desire the greater gifts, to ask for more!  He wants us to enjoy our inheritance now!  Be encouraged, He is a good Father, and He desires to pour out on us, more and more! 

Amen and Amen!

We Need ALL The Gifts And Ministries

This morning I felt led to read from Paul's first letter to the Church in Corinth.  This letter has so much to reflect upon, however today I felt like the Lord wanted to compare a few passages in the Pauline letter to a few verses from another letter, that one written to the church in Ephesus.  I will start with the verses from - 1 Corinthians 12:1,27-31 NIV:

[1] "Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed."

[27] "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. [28] And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. [29] Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? [30] Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? [31] Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And yet I will show you the most excellent way."

These last verses  are the precursor to the great chapter on Love, that many of us are very familiar with, however, I am just going to look at this list of ministries and gifts that Paul lists.  I was thinking how interesting it is that we are not as familiar with this list as we are the list in Ephesians 4, where Paul lists what we call the Five-fold ministries, essentially the foundation ministries of the Church.  Here are the verses from Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV:

[11]"So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, [12] to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up [13] until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

They are similar in purpose, talking about the Body of Christ, the important parts, even providing some "hierarchy" if you want to use that word.  We are likely more familiar with the second list, and the thought of why that might be is the point of my reflection this morning.  I felt like the Lord specifically highlighted the difference this morning, as relating to the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

First, I think it must be said that I am reflecting on this difference, coming from the mindset of the Western Church, which is both post Protestant Reformation, and less open to the Spiritual aspects of our faith.  I would say its not that we aren't open to it, so much as we are more logical in our faith, rather than Spiritual.  We like to be able to explain things, to have things make sense, and when we get into the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are on uncomfortable ground.

This was not the case in the early church, and Paul was giving some order and clarity to those who needed to understand some of what they were experiencing.    As Paul wrote in 1 Cor 12:1 "I do not want you to be uninformed", and that was his basis for the discussion and final listing.  Providing context, order and sanctioning of the gifts, and their use.  In other words, they were seeing these gifts in use, and Paul was helping provide some order, and continues to do so in chapter 14 of the the same letter.

Back to the difference between the two lists - what is not in the list from Ephesians are the following, "then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues."  We would mostly be comfortable with helping and guidance as being two gifts we can operate in without much Spiritual involvement, but miracles, healing and tongues are all well outside our normal church comfort-zone.  We likely  would want to see them (Miracles and Healing) but to call them normal experiences of church life, or Body of Christ life, would be untrue in much of the Western church.

I think we hear the list from Ephesians more often because it is easier to explain, we think.  In much of the church we have lost a sense of what an apostle really is, and we have made that role similar to a general, someone who has authority over a large group of churches or people.   For many of our churches we leave Prophets alone, and do not have a level of comfort with someone who says they hear from God.  We embrace the last three, and for most churches we have some mix of these as our primary leadership.

Going back to the list from 1 Cor 12, we also don't see evangelists, pastors and teachers listed specifically, however, if we wanted to call helps, or guidance something similar we likely wouldn't be shouted out.   That being said, they are definitely not the same as teaching, pastoring, or evangelism, they are the gifts of laying hold of someone, to give aid, and the gift of governing or administration. Again, we aren't sure how to classify all these gifts, and most likely don't have individuals in most churches who are operating as being recognized with leadership and skills to be called by those ministry names.

So, why the review and reflection this morning?  I believe the Lord is highlighting to me, at least, these gifts, and wanting to see these more widely experienced and nurtured in the church.  The gifts are there, for the Holy Spirit is the same today, and the needs of the Body of Christ are the same, and thus what was good for the first century church is good for us.  We might try to convince ourselves that we don't need these anymore, that we have evolved and matured, and I just think telling the Holy Spirit we don't need His gifts anymore is not a wise path!  Yikes!

I am encouraged today to pray for a greater release and recognition of the all the gifts in the Body of Christ today.  We need all the gifts, all the ministries!  We need the Holy Spirit engaging and directing us!  We need miracles, healings, tongues, helps, administrations, pastors,  teachers, prophets, apostles, evangelists and any other gift the Holy Spirit brings!  Lord, restore these to Your church, bring a fullness of expression and engagement, leadership and understanding.  Help us better represent You to the world!

Amen and amen!