The Spirit calls me and I am overwhelmed with gratitude. After reading the Joshua account of Achan's sin and subsequent demise in Joshua 7, I begin to process my priviledged ability to repent in a much greater way.
Each and every human has been tempted to sin and buckled in one way or another. I guess that is where our compassion for the "violator" comes from. We cannot, in and of ourselves, get past our humanity where our flesh drives our choices. It seems that wherever there is a law or limit or boundary perceived, the human will try to break it or push past it to our own destruction.
Why is it that I do the very thing I do no want to do and can't seem to do the very thing I do want to do? Paul called it "the body of death" in Romans 7:14-25 and has described it quite well.
For the simple mind the process is simple. God, our Creator, is perfect and Holy and we are not. When we understand the law we recognize that we are "law-breakers" and no matter how hard we try, we simply cannot hold to every law all the time.
Following the simple process, we confess to the "law-giver" that we have failed to honor the law. In other words, we see our failure and repent. We agree with God that we are law breakers, change our mind and our direction in the matter. God has promised that as we come to repentance, He is faithful to forgive our trespasses against Him, and the law. We are then restored in fellowship with our Creator and life goes on.
The greatest story ever told is the True Gospel. Jesus Christ died to save us from our sin and the eternal separation from our Creator God, Who now allows all who believe in Jesus Christ to call Him, our Father.
Today, the Holy Spirit calls me to focus on the blessing of repentance; our ability to say, "I blew it, I am so sorry and I will never do that again".
The account of Achan is heart breaking. God is just and so I do not doubt that there are reasons in His Sovereign knowledge of the heart and what would or could have happened to the future if Achan and his family were allowed to live.
For me, to look at the violation and the subsequent justice causes the deepest sense of gratitude that we today have the abiltiy to repent and know we will be forgiven and not stoned outside the camp.
Achan's sin and death is a stark reminder of where we would all end up if it were not for God's mercy and the price Jesus paid for our sin. Repentance is a true gift and a blessing beyond measure. One we should all utilize all the time.
It is the Holy Spirit within Who calls us to repentance. It is His conviction that points out where we trespass and His grace that reminds us we have forgiveness available.
What is the proper response to so great a salvation? Gratitude! Humble thanksgiving! Repentance is a Blessed gift. To be stuck in our trespasses with no way out is the worst nightmare I could ever imagine. Just ask Achan what it was like.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Blood for Sin
The Spirit calls me today. The clouds of oppression form a suffocating blanket and I know I must break through whatever is cloaking the Truth. As we walk with Holiness, there are those days when the reality of who we are in the flesh condemns us.
We have been called to personal and national repentance. The dire circumstances of our nation and our personal lives have brought many back to the promises of our Holy God. 2 Chron 7:14-15, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways,(repent) then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land".
Corporate accountability becomes personal when we are called as a nation to repent. Intercession requires a weight be felt for the sin of others while not over looking our own. And the cloud of accountability swirls.
I have been reading in Joshua 5-7, the account of the Children of Israel entering the promised land. They crossed the Jordan and the first battle is the one fought at Jericho. What a great supernatural victory the Lord gave His people.
Celebration and a sense of invincibility were running high in the camp. A much smaller city, Ai was the next one to be conquered in the land the Lord God Almighty had given His people.
But then a darkness enters in. Chapter 7 is like a bucket of cold water thrown on the enthusiasm and fire generated by a wondrous victory. A smaller fighting force was sent out, but the Israelites were unable to take the city and having lost warriors in the battle, they returned to camp in defeat. Joshua sought the Lord to understand why.
It was revealed that there was "sin" in the camp. One man had violated the directive at Jericho: All plunder was to be devoted to the Lord and taken into the national treasury. One man stole things from the plunder and put them with his own possessions. He violated God's command, buried his "treasure" and in doing so brought defeat to the entire nation.
We who live on this side of the Cross, have a difficult time with the mandate of personal Holiness. The sin debt has been paid by another and we do not have to personally face the great penalty for violating God's Holiness. We, through a choice given, have the ability to see our blood guilt transferred to the Savior, on the Cross of death and atonement for our sin.
It would serve us well to look back in history to the ones whose lives were lived before the Cross. We see what price was paid for violating God's directives and commands.
Achan was the violator in question. While the elders and the leaders did not know who was to blame for the offense, God did. Tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family was brought forward until Achan was set apart and identified as the one who had rebelled and sinned.
The penalty was swift and sure: death to him and his family. Then all that he possessed was burned and buried. Lest we fall victim to the enemy of Holiness, we dare not have too much compassion for the violator. If we go there, these thoughts will trickle down from a general perspective of God to a personal agreement with the enemy that God is cruel, harsh, exacting and blood thirsty. We dare not even begin to attempt to judge God and His ways.
The Truth is like a nugget of gold that lies beneath layers of dirt and must be unearthed. And the Truth is, that God's Character and His Being are perfect. His laws are just. If you sin, you die. All are given the choice. In the case of Achan, one man among all the people in the nation decided to disobey the directive of their Holy God. Many may have been tempted, but only one man chose to disobey.
Everything the nation of Israel was about to do depended upon the powerful Almighty God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. This tribal family nation had been chosen to bring the knowledge about the One and Only True God of all Creation to the nations they were about to encounter. This was their mission. Their obedience and observance of His law was vital to the mission. No exceptions.
Sin in the camp had to be eradicated. Just like sin in our lives must be eradicated if we are to live a life worthy of our calling.
The church age is an "age" of grace and mercy flowing from our Holy God through the death of our Savior Jesus Christ. It is important that we recognize the mission and the calling to live a life acceptable to the One who calls us. After salvation we have the indwelling Holy Spirit who enables us to live up to the higher standard IF we yield to Him.
Just like the nation of Israel was called to be "set apart" from all the other nations on the earth, we, as the Church of the Living God, saved and sanctified, are called to be set apart from all the other people around us.
Jericho was recorded, in the minds of all who heard the account of the battle, as a supernatural victory brought through the Power of their Almighty God. Conversely, Ai was initially recorded as a humiliating defeat.
What made the stunning difference in the end was hidden sin. God is calling us to war in His name, to fight the battle so all the world will see His Glory. Victory has already been awarded the Church, because God Himself will fight the battle. But unless we deal with the hidden sin and rebellion within the camp, we will not be able to move forward; not as individuals, not as families and not as the church at large.
God will not be mocked. If we, His people, are living in the same sin as the world around us, how can we ever expect Him to bring forth His great supernatural victories. The Lord has promised to make a "distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve Him and those who do not." What represents the hidden sin in my life? What represents the hidden sin in yours?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
We have been called to personal and national repentance. The dire circumstances of our nation and our personal lives have brought many back to the promises of our Holy God. 2 Chron 7:14-15, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways,(repent) then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land".
Corporate accountability becomes personal when we are called as a nation to repent. Intercession requires a weight be felt for the sin of others while not over looking our own. And the cloud of accountability swirls.
I have been reading in Joshua 5-7, the account of the Children of Israel entering the promised land. They crossed the Jordan and the first battle is the one fought at Jericho. What a great supernatural victory the Lord gave His people.
Celebration and a sense of invincibility were running high in the camp. A much smaller city, Ai was the next one to be conquered in the land the Lord God Almighty had given His people.
But then a darkness enters in. Chapter 7 is like a bucket of cold water thrown on the enthusiasm and fire generated by a wondrous victory. A smaller fighting force was sent out, but the Israelites were unable to take the city and having lost warriors in the battle, they returned to camp in defeat. Joshua sought the Lord to understand why.
It was revealed that there was "sin" in the camp. One man had violated the directive at Jericho: All plunder was to be devoted to the Lord and taken into the national treasury. One man stole things from the plunder and put them with his own possessions. He violated God's command, buried his "treasure" and in doing so brought defeat to the entire nation.
We who live on this side of the Cross, have a difficult time with the mandate of personal Holiness. The sin debt has been paid by another and we do not have to personally face the great penalty for violating God's Holiness. We, through a choice given, have the ability to see our blood guilt transferred to the Savior, on the Cross of death and atonement for our sin.
It would serve us well to look back in history to the ones whose lives were lived before the Cross. We see what price was paid for violating God's directives and commands.
Achan was the violator in question. While the elders and the leaders did not know who was to blame for the offense, God did. Tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family was brought forward until Achan was set apart and identified as the one who had rebelled and sinned.
The penalty was swift and sure: death to him and his family. Then all that he possessed was burned and buried. Lest we fall victim to the enemy of Holiness, we dare not have too much compassion for the violator. If we go there, these thoughts will trickle down from a general perspective of God to a personal agreement with the enemy that God is cruel, harsh, exacting and blood thirsty. We dare not even begin to attempt to judge God and His ways.
The Truth is like a nugget of gold that lies beneath layers of dirt and must be unearthed. And the Truth is, that God's Character and His Being are perfect. His laws are just. If you sin, you die. All are given the choice. In the case of Achan, one man among all the people in the nation decided to disobey the directive of their Holy God. Many may have been tempted, but only one man chose to disobey.
Everything the nation of Israel was about to do depended upon the powerful Almighty God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. This tribal family nation had been chosen to bring the knowledge about the One and Only True God of all Creation to the nations they were about to encounter. This was their mission. Their obedience and observance of His law was vital to the mission. No exceptions.
Sin in the camp had to be eradicated. Just like sin in our lives must be eradicated if we are to live a life worthy of our calling.
The church age is an "age" of grace and mercy flowing from our Holy God through the death of our Savior Jesus Christ. It is important that we recognize the mission and the calling to live a life acceptable to the One who calls us. After salvation we have the indwelling Holy Spirit who enables us to live up to the higher standard IF we yield to Him.
Just like the nation of Israel was called to be "set apart" from all the other nations on the earth, we, as the Church of the Living God, saved and sanctified, are called to be set apart from all the other people around us.
Jericho was recorded, in the minds of all who heard the account of the battle, as a supernatural victory brought through the Power of their Almighty God. Conversely, Ai was initially recorded as a humiliating defeat.
What made the stunning difference in the end was hidden sin. God is calling us to war in His name, to fight the battle so all the world will see His Glory. Victory has already been awarded the Church, because God Himself will fight the battle. But unless we deal with the hidden sin and rebellion within the camp, we will not be able to move forward; not as individuals, not as families and not as the church at large.
God will not be mocked. If we, His people, are living in the same sin as the world around us, how can we ever expect Him to bring forth His great supernatural victories. The Lord has promised to make a "distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve Him and those who do not." What represents the hidden sin in my life? What represents the hidden sin in yours?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Sunday, July 25, 2010
"Give Careful Thought To Your Ways"
The Spirit calls me today. It's Sunday. He speaks to the constant challenge so many of us face to get to church and participate with other believers in the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord.
We have a multitude of excuses and the enemy is a master at posing the exact one that will win the battle and justify our refusal to get to our chosen place of fellowship and worship. Apathy is a great enemy of faith.
The Lord spoke through the Prophet Haggai, to the Jews who were living in a spiritual place not unlike many believers find themselves today. The shocking reality is that our lives are being affected in the same ways for the same sin that God revealed through Haggai 1:5-12: "Now this is what the Lord Almighty says, "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much but have harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but are not warm. You earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
How many of us can say, "amen" to this as a representation of our lives? He goes on to say, "this is what the Lord Almighty says, "Give careful though to your ways. Go up to the mountains and bring down timber and build this house so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored."
In the Old Testament, the Temple was a physical building made to the exact specifications the Lord gave to His people. Since Christ came, paid our sin debt, and was risen on the 3rd day, the "temple" of His Holy Habitation is our heart, our body. The indwelling Presence of His Holy Spirit has taken us to the new understanding that we, the "saved" are indeed the Temple, the Holy place, the building not made by human hands, where He has come to dwell. I Corinth 3:16, 6:19, and 2 Corinth 6:16.
The Lord, through Haggai, continues His indictment of His people, "You expected much but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty, "because of my House (Temple) that remains a ruin, while each one of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you, the heavens have have withheld their dew and the earth, its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine and the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle and on the labor of your hands."
Could this be the answer from Heaven as to why we are in such a horrible state? Could our apathy toward the Lord's Presence in our lives and the twisted priorities we have established be the cause of what we see as our failed personal economy, government debt, and oppressive circumstances in our lives?
Even if the passage was written and meant for the people of God in ancient times, the warning and truth of this Word could not be more clear to me today. The Temple's location and configuration may have changed since Jesus Christ came, but the apathy of the human heart remains the same.
The indictment is true and work must be done to rebuild the "temple" and make it a place of Honor fit for our King. Because the "Temple" is now the human body, great care must be taken by each one of us individually to keep ourselves free from anything that contaminates or puts us in apathy toward the things important to our God.
But the Almighty Lover of our souls has not left us without hope or the "power" to accomplish all He has required of us. Through our repentance (acknowledgement of our sin) and turning our lives over to the Holy One within, we can rebuild what has been left to "ruin" Haggai 1:13, "I am with you, declares the Lord. So He stirred up the spirit......of the whole remnant of the people and they came and began to work on the House of the Lord Almighty, their God".
What work must I do to make my Heart fit for the King? What unbelief must be evicted or idol destroyed that represents the "Temple" ruin? Apathy halts the building. May each one of us "give careful thought to our ways" so that the Lord will be Glorified in His Temple and we may be eligible to represent the truly abundant life promised those who obey.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
We have a multitude of excuses and the enemy is a master at posing the exact one that will win the battle and justify our refusal to get to our chosen place of fellowship and worship. Apathy is a great enemy of faith.
The Lord spoke through the Prophet Haggai, to the Jews who were living in a spiritual place not unlike many believers find themselves today. The shocking reality is that our lives are being affected in the same ways for the same sin that God revealed through Haggai 1:5-12: "Now this is what the Lord Almighty says, "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much but have harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but are not warm. You earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
How many of us can say, "amen" to this as a representation of our lives? He goes on to say, "this is what the Lord Almighty says, "Give careful though to your ways. Go up to the mountains and bring down timber and build this house so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored."
In the Old Testament, the Temple was a physical building made to the exact specifications the Lord gave to His people. Since Christ came, paid our sin debt, and was risen on the 3rd day, the "temple" of His Holy Habitation is our heart, our body. The indwelling Presence of His Holy Spirit has taken us to the new understanding that we, the "saved" are indeed the Temple, the Holy place, the building not made by human hands, where He has come to dwell. I Corinth 3:16, 6:19, and 2 Corinth 6:16.
The Lord, through Haggai, continues His indictment of His people, "You expected much but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty, "because of my House (Temple) that remains a ruin, while each one of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you, the heavens have have withheld their dew and the earth, its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine and the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle and on the labor of your hands."
Could this be the answer from Heaven as to why we are in such a horrible state? Could our apathy toward the Lord's Presence in our lives and the twisted priorities we have established be the cause of what we see as our failed personal economy, government debt, and oppressive circumstances in our lives?
Even if the passage was written and meant for the people of God in ancient times, the warning and truth of this Word could not be more clear to me today. The Temple's location and configuration may have changed since Jesus Christ came, but the apathy of the human heart remains the same.
The indictment is true and work must be done to rebuild the "temple" and make it a place of Honor fit for our King. Because the "Temple" is now the human body, great care must be taken by each one of us individually to keep ourselves free from anything that contaminates or puts us in apathy toward the things important to our God.
But the Almighty Lover of our souls has not left us without hope or the "power" to accomplish all He has required of us. Through our repentance (acknowledgement of our sin) and turning our lives over to the Holy One within, we can rebuild what has been left to "ruin" Haggai 1:13, "I am with you, declares the Lord. So He stirred up the spirit......of the whole remnant of the people and they came and began to work on the House of the Lord Almighty, their God".
What work must I do to make my Heart fit for the King? What unbelief must be evicted or idol destroyed that represents the "Temple" ruin? Apathy halts the building. May each one of us "give careful thought to our ways" so that the Lord will be Glorified in His Temple and we may be eligible to represent the truly abundant life promised those who obey.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Are You Ready?
The Holy One calls to me today. "The battle is raging and all the saints need to be at the ready to engage in this end times war." But what does it mean "to be ready'?
Good vs evil, Light vs dark; the theme of the warfare touches our lives each and every day. We can choose to remain ignorant, and deny that there is a war going on, OR, in our great human wisdom we can refuse to seek the wisdom from Heaven's Throne to gain the understanding of what the war is all about. Either way, whether by ignorance or in self-protection we will end up defeated by the enemy of our souls.
God's Word says, "the battle belongs to the Lord" and the ultimate truth is that it does. When Joshua was preparing to take Jericho, the first of many battles to be fought in the "promised land" of God's people, scripture says, "he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up and asked him, "are you for us or our enemy?" Joshua 5:14 "Neither, he replied, but as Commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come."
This part of scripture is very interesting to me because I like to think that God is for me and against anyone I perceive as my "enemy". The ground war can get very confusing unless we come to the understanding that the battle is ultimately between God and the mutinous traitor who tried to usurp the Throne of our Holy Creator and become himself a god.
Just because the battle belongs to the Lord does not mean that we are not in it. Today the Holy One speaks to the always vexing question: "what is my part?"
The picture He paints in my mind is that of His army. Each person is to be a specialist. Each person has a gift and is expected to use it for the benefit of the Body of Christ, the army of the Lord, the warring Church.
As we hone our skills in the use of our "gifts" we will be called upon to use them at the proper times. As in any battle, different specialties are called for in different situations but all are necessary to the ultimate victory.
Those who have taken the time to learn and grow in their gifts are on the font lines using them. Some are being trained for service and are waiting to step up. Sadly some are not even looking for what they have been born to do in the Spiritual arena and are languishing at the base camp.
Being ready (instant) in season and out is the important goal, and always remembering that this is not our battle but the Lord's we fight. The war is mental, the battlefield is the mind, but our part is to take the Truth about our God and Savior to the lost and dying world we inhabit.
Through the use of our "weapons", the "gifts of the Spirit", we can fight the Lord's war for the hearts and minds of His beloved creation: Man. As He manifests through our lives, others can come to know Truth.
This picture of the battle is important for me to remember each day, otherwise, I can get distracted thinking that life is my personal war and survival is the only goal.
Am I ready? Only as I surrender all that I am to the One who calls me, will I be ready. By His indwelling Presence, I can know my gift and be ready for Him to use it at the appropriate times.
Are you ready?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Good vs evil, Light vs dark; the theme of the warfare touches our lives each and every day. We can choose to remain ignorant, and deny that there is a war going on, OR, in our great human wisdom we can refuse to seek the wisdom from Heaven's Throne to gain the understanding of what the war is all about. Either way, whether by ignorance or in self-protection we will end up defeated by the enemy of our souls.
God's Word says, "the battle belongs to the Lord" and the ultimate truth is that it does. When Joshua was preparing to take Jericho, the first of many battles to be fought in the "promised land" of God's people, scripture says, "he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up and asked him, "are you for us or our enemy?" Joshua 5:14 "Neither, he replied, but as Commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come."
This part of scripture is very interesting to me because I like to think that God is for me and against anyone I perceive as my "enemy". The ground war can get very confusing unless we come to the understanding that the battle is ultimately between God and the mutinous traitor who tried to usurp the Throne of our Holy Creator and become himself a god.
Just because the battle belongs to the Lord does not mean that we are not in it. Today the Holy One speaks to the always vexing question: "what is my part?"
The picture He paints in my mind is that of His army. Each person is to be a specialist. Each person has a gift and is expected to use it for the benefit of the Body of Christ, the army of the Lord, the warring Church.
As we hone our skills in the use of our "gifts" we will be called upon to use them at the proper times. As in any battle, different specialties are called for in different situations but all are necessary to the ultimate victory.
Those who have taken the time to learn and grow in their gifts are on the font lines using them. Some are being trained for service and are waiting to step up. Sadly some are not even looking for what they have been born to do in the Spiritual arena and are languishing at the base camp.
Being ready (instant) in season and out is the important goal, and always remembering that this is not our battle but the Lord's we fight. The war is mental, the battlefield is the mind, but our part is to take the Truth about our God and Savior to the lost and dying world we inhabit.
Through the use of our "weapons", the "gifts of the Spirit", we can fight the Lord's war for the hearts and minds of His beloved creation: Man. As He manifests through our lives, others can come to know Truth.
This picture of the battle is important for me to remember each day, otherwise, I can get distracted thinking that life is my personal war and survival is the only goal.
Am I ready? Only as I surrender all that I am to the One who calls me, will I be ready. By His indwelling Presence, I can know my gift and be ready for Him to use it at the appropriate times.
Are you ready?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
God's Wrath or His Discipline?
I wake to the voice of the Holy One. It is always interesting to come to our place of fellowship. I never know what He will speak next. The topics and lessons are so vast coming from the mind of the Creator of all things. Who can begin to know the mind of God? Yet, in fellowship and love, He speaks to His child.
Today I hear the Spirit speak, "There is a distinction between discipline and wrath: Look to my Word and see the distinction I make between My wayward, rebellious people and the nations that are not mine."
The Spirit takes me to His Word, Malachi 3:16-18, "Then those who feared the Lord talked to each other and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His Presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name. They will be Mine.......vs 18...and you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not."
In the context of this promise, this book was written as the last prophetic word before the 1st coming of Christ, the Messiah.
We have the extreme blessing of the written historical account of the day in the saga of men when God, as Jesus Christ, came in the flesh to fulfill the Divine Mandate of the "Suffering Messiah". Prophecy spoke it and history recorded it, so we can look back and know it as fact.
We live today in the Prophetic anticipation of the return of our King, Jesus Christ. He has already accomplished all that it took to be our Savior, Messiah. He died for the sins of men since Adam fell in the garden. Jesus cancelled the curse, and paid the Blood debt associated with sin. God's wrath was poured out on Him as He died upon the Cross for all men and He was resurrected in new life, an event that was seen by many and recorded for all generations. He lives, and the Word says, He is coming back as the rightful King of all He created.
Yes, we live in the time zone of great anticipation. As believers in the absolute truth of God's Word and the inerrant aspect of the Holy Scriptures, we wait in faith knowing that the day of our King's return is imminent.
The question is "How do we wait?"
Jesus said, (of end times), "You will be hated by all nations because of Me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness the love of many will grow cold. But he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come."
As we look around at the events taking place in the circumstances of our daily lives, over our nation, and around the world, we are all being shaken. Consequences of our rebellion of God's principles through bad choices are being served up by a Holy God. But one thing is true; there IS a distinction between those who serve Him and those who do not.
As I face the trials of this life and in this epoch time in history, I am so thankful to know that I am safe in the hands of my Abba Father, who brings me through His Divine discipline, with the goal of my refinement and not to the end of my destruction. If I am wise, I will yield to His ways of achieving His goal to refine me and not, in self pity "judge the Judge".
Remembering His promise put forth in Malachi, I must wait, in faith, knowing that every hard circumstance will work out for my good, unlike the non-believer facing similar world events.
There comes a peace and joy in the knowledge of the Truth about our God. Being prepared and through discipline waiting for a Glorious King to come and make all things new, is quite different than waiting for "death" as an end to the torment of life. I know that Jesus' death shields me from the wrath of a Holy God, so whatever unfolds in my life is a discipline to teach me not wrath to destroy me.
And this is what we have to share with the unbelieving world around us:
Rev 22:12, "BEHOLD I AM COMING SOON"
Jesus is coming soon........
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Today I hear the Spirit speak, "There is a distinction between discipline and wrath: Look to my Word and see the distinction I make between My wayward, rebellious people and the nations that are not mine."
The Spirit takes me to His Word, Malachi 3:16-18, "Then those who feared the Lord talked to each other and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His Presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name. They will be Mine.......vs 18...and you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not."
In the context of this promise, this book was written as the last prophetic word before the 1st coming of Christ, the Messiah.
We have the extreme blessing of the written historical account of the day in the saga of men when God, as Jesus Christ, came in the flesh to fulfill the Divine Mandate of the "Suffering Messiah". Prophecy spoke it and history recorded it, so we can look back and know it as fact.
We live today in the Prophetic anticipation of the return of our King, Jesus Christ. He has already accomplished all that it took to be our Savior, Messiah. He died for the sins of men since Adam fell in the garden. Jesus cancelled the curse, and paid the Blood debt associated with sin. God's wrath was poured out on Him as He died upon the Cross for all men and He was resurrected in new life, an event that was seen by many and recorded for all generations. He lives, and the Word says, He is coming back as the rightful King of all He created.
Yes, we live in the time zone of great anticipation. As believers in the absolute truth of God's Word and the inerrant aspect of the Holy Scriptures, we wait in faith knowing that the day of our King's return is imminent.
The question is "How do we wait?"
Jesus said, (of end times), "You will be hated by all nations because of Me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness the love of many will grow cold. But he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come."
As we look around at the events taking place in the circumstances of our daily lives, over our nation, and around the world, we are all being shaken. Consequences of our rebellion of God's principles through bad choices are being served up by a Holy God. But one thing is true; there IS a distinction between those who serve Him and those who do not.
As I face the trials of this life and in this epoch time in history, I am so thankful to know that I am safe in the hands of my Abba Father, who brings me through His Divine discipline, with the goal of my refinement and not to the end of my destruction. If I am wise, I will yield to His ways of achieving His goal to refine me and not, in self pity "judge the Judge".
Remembering His promise put forth in Malachi, I must wait, in faith, knowing that every hard circumstance will work out for my good, unlike the non-believer facing similar world events.
There comes a peace and joy in the knowledge of the Truth about our God. Being prepared and through discipline waiting for a Glorious King to come and make all things new, is quite different than waiting for "death" as an end to the torment of life. I know that Jesus' death shields me from the wrath of a Holy God, so whatever unfolds in my life is a discipline to teach me not wrath to destroy me.
And this is what we have to share with the unbelieving world around us:
Rev 22:12, "BEHOLD I AM COMING SOON"
Jesus is coming soon........
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Monday, July 12, 2010
Searching For My Beloved
I awaken today with a "sense" of aloneness. This is not the first day I have felt the "panic" in my soul and felt the darkness as if someone turned off the light. The Holy One has taken me down some dark pathways before, so I know that, true to His Word, He will never leave me nor fosake me.
In any love relationship, desire must be pursued. God pursues me and it is only right that I pursue Him. Song of Songs 3:1-2, "All night long on my bed, I look for the One I love. I looked for Him but did not find Him. I will get up now and go about the city. Through it's streets I will search for the One my heart loves..."
The delight of the "Sacred Romance" is in the assurance that I could never lose the love of my Beloved. Song of Songs 2:16, "My lover is mine and I am His"
Even today, I know that the Holy One moves in mysterious ways and although I am incapable of fully comprehending those ways, I must give my all to following my Beloved.
In the garden of my "Sacred Romance", there are times when the Lord, plays "hide and seek" with me. Suddeenly He disappears for a while and I know that He wants me to search for Him. I know that the search will end when I find Him and there He will share with me yet another "secret" of His Being.
Today, as I begin the search, sadness comes over me as I think of what my Beloved would feel if I refused the game and left Him alone in the garden. What if I got distracted by other things and refued to search for Him. I cannot imagine the hurt it would cost His heart, if He waited and waited for me to find Him and the amazing "secret" He wanted to share, only to discover that I had left the garden and never attemped to search for Him.
So today I search. To my delight (and His), I find Him waiting...and He finds me searching.
What great treasures of wisdom and truth will be unearthed today remains to be seen. What He chooses to share with me is up to Him. But I rest content in the knowledge that we are together, (my Beloved and I), and that nothing "will be able to separate us (me) from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus our (my) Lord", Rom 8:39.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
In any love relationship, desire must be pursued. God pursues me and it is only right that I pursue Him. Song of Songs 3:1-2, "All night long on my bed, I look for the One I love. I looked for Him but did not find Him. I will get up now and go about the city. Through it's streets I will search for the One my heart loves..."
The delight of the "Sacred Romance" is in the assurance that I could never lose the love of my Beloved. Song of Songs 2:16, "My lover is mine and I am His"
Even today, I know that the Holy One moves in mysterious ways and although I am incapable of fully comprehending those ways, I must give my all to following my Beloved.
In the garden of my "Sacred Romance", there are times when the Lord, plays "hide and seek" with me. Suddeenly He disappears for a while and I know that He wants me to search for Him. I know that the search will end when I find Him and there He will share with me yet another "secret" of His Being.
Today, as I begin the search, sadness comes over me as I think of what my Beloved would feel if I refused the game and left Him alone in the garden. What if I got distracted by other things and refued to search for Him. I cannot imagine the hurt it would cost His heart, if He waited and waited for me to find Him and the amazing "secret" He wanted to share, only to discover that I had left the garden and never attemped to search for Him.
So today I search. To my delight (and His), I find Him waiting...and He finds me searching.
What great treasures of wisdom and truth will be unearthed today remains to be seen. What He chooses to share with me is up to Him. But I rest content in the knowledge that we are together, (my Beloved and I), and that nothing "will be able to separate us (me) from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus our (my) Lord", Rom 8:39.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Blessed Assurance
The Spirit calls me today to remind me that one of His greatest blessings is assurance. He assures me that all the promises of my Father and Savior are mine.
Hope surges with the truth.
Yesterday in the world, things got so crazy after our early morning conference. The lesson of yesterday came with a test. Most lessons of the Holy Spirit come with a test after He has spoken Truth.
Yesterday, I recognized the enemy and the effort he made to distract me from applying what the Spirit commanded. The day ended with the victory of "understanding" and a peace from following the directives of my Counselor.
I glean today one of the most essential basics to my faith: Once the Lord is done using what the enemy sends against me, the opposition will be sent scattered to the four winds...gone...gone...gone....gone!
Isaiah 54:16, "See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into a flame and forges a weapon fit for it's work. And it is I have created the destroyer to work havoc: No weapon forged against you will prevail. You will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and this is their vindication from Me".
The Sovereign God of all Creation, created the "destroyer" to work havoc and is therefore, in control of the havoc this "destroyer" is allowed to work.
I cannot see into eternity, the place that awaits all who trust in Jesus having paved the way by His shed Blood. But I am assured that what I face here in terms of refining trials has been allowed for reasons beyond my natural point of view at times.
For some, I realize the "destroyer" has been allowed to escort them right up to the gateway of Heaven, to receive an even greater reward prepared for those "martyred" for the faith. Yet, a Sovereign God says, "No weapon forged against you will prevail" If those called to martyrdom could speak to us, I know they would tell of great peace and victory even as they exhaled here and inhaled in the Presence of the Lord.
Today, in our conference, the peace comes from His assurance that the Lord and no other is in Sovereign control of all things. Even the "weights" placed upon my faith muscle are His to control.
Isaiah 54:10, "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will never be shaken nor my convenant of peace be removed", says the Lord who has compassion on you."
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Hope surges with the truth.
Yesterday in the world, things got so crazy after our early morning conference. The lesson of yesterday came with a test. Most lessons of the Holy Spirit come with a test after He has spoken Truth.
Yesterday, I recognized the enemy and the effort he made to distract me from applying what the Spirit commanded. The day ended with the victory of "understanding" and a peace from following the directives of my Counselor.
I glean today one of the most essential basics to my faith: Once the Lord is done using what the enemy sends against me, the opposition will be sent scattered to the four winds...gone...gone...gone....gone!
Isaiah 54:16, "See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into a flame and forges a weapon fit for it's work. And it is I have created the destroyer to work havoc: No weapon forged against you will prevail. You will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and this is their vindication from Me".
The Sovereign God of all Creation, created the "destroyer" to work havoc and is therefore, in control of the havoc this "destroyer" is allowed to work.
I cannot see into eternity, the place that awaits all who trust in Jesus having paved the way by His shed Blood. But I am assured that what I face here in terms of refining trials has been allowed for reasons beyond my natural point of view at times.
For some, I realize the "destroyer" has been allowed to escort them right up to the gateway of Heaven, to receive an even greater reward prepared for those "martyred" for the faith. Yet, a Sovereign God says, "No weapon forged against you will prevail" If those called to martyrdom could speak to us, I know they would tell of great peace and victory even as they exhaled here and inhaled in the Presence of the Lord.
Today, in our conference, the peace comes from His assurance that the Lord and no other is in Sovereign control of all things. Even the "weights" placed upon my faith muscle are His to control.
Isaiah 54:10, "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will never be shaken nor my convenant of peace be removed", says the Lord who has compassion on you."
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Trust and Obey
This morning, the Spirit calls me to Himself with a question. "Why do you treat My voice commands as suggestions?"
I am seriously trying to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging His Presence and ruling authority in my life, but the question reveals and convicts me of an attitude problem.
The Holy Spirit has been given to me as "THE" Great Counselor of Divine wisdom. Yet I seem to put His wisdom together with human reasoning to find the righteous pathways of God's Will.
That process looks good on paper and most would agree that we must think with our minds through the challenging trials the world provides. However, today, the Spirit has a lesson to teach me.
When Jesus spoke to His Disciples of the Holy Spirit to come, He said, "I have much more to say to you, much more than you can bear (or understand). But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth".
The Holy Spirit was given to enable me to think and live as Christ. The mind of Christ comes with the Spirit of Christ, but it is up to us to operate with such wisdom and trust in His ways.
James 1:5 says, "if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
Now i see how human reasoning is plagued with doubt. All the anaylzing produces the "what-ifs" and the "what-ifs" boil down to faithless unbelief. The Holy Spirit has unearthed some toxic "stinkin thinkin". Do I trust the wisdom I have been given? Do I trust in His ways?
I must never throw what I read in the Word or what I hear from the Spirit in my heart, into the swirling cess-pool of mental human reasoning. Once there, Divine Wisdom can become just another suggestion among many as to how to resolve the issues of life. I may choose a different course of action than the one leading to victory, but far more devastating to my love relationship with My Lord, I risk offending the Holy One through rebellion and disobedience.
In Isaiah 55, God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, delares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thought than your thoughts.
I must no longer treat His commands as suggestions but rather trust and obey.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
I am seriously trying to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging His Presence and ruling authority in my life, but the question reveals and convicts me of an attitude problem.
The Holy Spirit has been given to me as "THE" Great Counselor of Divine wisdom. Yet I seem to put His wisdom together with human reasoning to find the righteous pathways of God's Will.
That process looks good on paper and most would agree that we must think with our minds through the challenging trials the world provides. However, today, the Spirit has a lesson to teach me.
When Jesus spoke to His Disciples of the Holy Spirit to come, He said, "I have much more to say to you, much more than you can bear (or understand). But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth".
The Holy Spirit was given to enable me to think and live as Christ. The mind of Christ comes with the Spirit of Christ, but it is up to us to operate with such wisdom and trust in His ways.
James 1:5 says, "if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
Now i see how human reasoning is plagued with doubt. All the anaylzing produces the "what-ifs" and the "what-ifs" boil down to faithless unbelief. The Holy Spirit has unearthed some toxic "stinkin thinkin". Do I trust the wisdom I have been given? Do I trust in His ways?
I must never throw what I read in the Word or what I hear from the Spirit in my heart, into the swirling cess-pool of mental human reasoning. Once there, Divine Wisdom can become just another suggestion among many as to how to resolve the issues of life. I may choose a different course of action than the one leading to victory, but far more devastating to my love relationship with My Lord, I risk offending the Holy One through rebellion and disobedience.
In Isaiah 55, God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, delares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thought than your thoughts.
I must no longer treat His commands as suggestions but rather trust and obey.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Death or Deliverance: Days of the Red Moon Rising
The Spirit calls. He wakes me up on this the beginning of my 63rd year on planet earth. I have felt in my Spirit a charge, unlike anything I have felt before.
The visual I keep getting is like the day the Children of Israel were facing annihilation by the Pharaoh; boxed between the powerful Egyptian army and the natural obstacle of the Red Sea. Exodus 14
Moses spoke into their fear. He told them to stand firm and they would see their deliverance by the Hand of their powerful God. I cannot begin to imagine the atmosphere in the air on the day the Lord parted the Red Sea for His people, but it must have been off-the-chart.
I wonder if, in the stillness and hush of impending majesty revealed, there might have been "electricity" in the air, like nothing man had every experienced before. The kind of sensation that makes your hair stand on end, with every nerve in your body reacting. That is the "charge" I feel in my Spirit and I wonder what our Almighty God is about to do.
Then, today, He speaks:
"These are the days of the red moon rising, (Joel 2:28-32). These are the days the ancient prophesies foretold. You will see My Majesty unfold"
"Rend you hearts and not your garments, Return to the Lord your God".
The Word of the Lord is alive and has held personal application for every person in every generation. While it contains the historical account of man since creation and speaks of the future end of our days upon the earth in prophecies, great wisdom and personal promises lie within it's chapters and verses; enough for each one of us to find resolutions to life's daily challenges, no matter what generation, family or society you may have been born onto.
Even so, there are some generations in history and the future that are set apart and privileged to be alive as witnesses to the supernatural intervention by the Almighty God of all Creation. We belong to such a generation.
Many may mock us as they did Noah, before the rain began. Many may chase us with murderous intent as they did the Children of Israel before the Red Sea parted, and many may demand that we bow down to worship worthless idols, images and men as they did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before God showed up in a blazing furnace.
In each of these accounts of an historical event, there was a day on the calendar and an hour on the clock, when God came, took charge of the affairs of men and the debate ended. I believe we are about to experience the day on the calendar and hour on the clock, when man's days upon the earth will give way to what every believer in Christ longs for: The return of our Savior, the arrival of our King and the end of the debate. Period.
The question is not "what day and what hour?". The question is "where will you be standing when it happens?"
Too many people delude themselves into thinking the day of the Lord is far away and in the distant future. Some do not believe that Holiness will judge men for ignoring the warnings; that a "loving God" will not hold all men accountable for the way they handle their sin.
The Bible paints a different picture. The horn could blow at midnight tonight and the only place of safety from the judgment to come is in the Provision God Himself gave: Jesus Christ, the crucified, resurrected Savior.
Jesus is like the ark of Noah. Until the judgment begins to rain down, the door of the Ark is still open.
Where do you stand today? Inside or outside the Ark?
"I will show wonders in the Heavens and and the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, (Jesus)will besaved."
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
The visual I keep getting is like the day the Children of Israel were facing annihilation by the Pharaoh; boxed between the powerful Egyptian army and the natural obstacle of the Red Sea. Exodus 14
Moses spoke into their fear. He told them to stand firm and they would see their deliverance by the Hand of their powerful God. I cannot begin to imagine the atmosphere in the air on the day the Lord parted the Red Sea for His people, but it must have been off-the-chart.
I wonder if, in the stillness and hush of impending majesty revealed, there might have been "electricity" in the air, like nothing man had every experienced before. The kind of sensation that makes your hair stand on end, with every nerve in your body reacting. That is the "charge" I feel in my Spirit and I wonder what our Almighty God is about to do.
Then, today, He speaks:
"These are the days of the red moon rising, (Joel 2:28-32). These are the days the ancient prophesies foretold. You will see My Majesty unfold"
"Rend you hearts and not your garments, Return to the Lord your God".
The Word of the Lord is alive and has held personal application for every person in every generation. While it contains the historical account of man since creation and speaks of the future end of our days upon the earth in prophecies, great wisdom and personal promises lie within it's chapters and verses; enough for each one of us to find resolutions to life's daily challenges, no matter what generation, family or society you may have been born onto.
Even so, there are some generations in history and the future that are set apart and privileged to be alive as witnesses to the supernatural intervention by the Almighty God of all Creation. We belong to such a generation.
Many may mock us as they did Noah, before the rain began. Many may chase us with murderous intent as they did the Children of Israel before the Red Sea parted, and many may demand that we bow down to worship worthless idols, images and men as they did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before God showed up in a blazing furnace.
In each of these accounts of an historical event, there was a day on the calendar and an hour on the clock, when God came, took charge of the affairs of men and the debate ended. I believe we are about to experience the day on the calendar and hour on the clock, when man's days upon the earth will give way to what every believer in Christ longs for: The return of our Savior, the arrival of our King and the end of the debate. Period.
The question is not "what day and what hour?". The question is "where will you be standing when it happens?"
Too many people delude themselves into thinking the day of the Lord is far away and in the distant future. Some do not believe that Holiness will judge men for ignoring the warnings; that a "loving God" will not hold all men accountable for the way they handle their sin.
The Bible paints a different picture. The horn could blow at midnight tonight and the only place of safety from the judgment to come is in the Provision God Himself gave: Jesus Christ, the crucified, resurrected Savior.
Jesus is like the ark of Noah. Until the judgment begins to rain down, the door of the Ark is still open.
Where do you stand today? Inside or outside the Ark?
"I will show wonders in the Heavens and and the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, (Jesus)will besaved."
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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