For God So Love that He Gave……

Something in scripture that I found very interesting, was how often Jesus was in the temple treasury (John 8:20; Mark 12:41).  Why the temple treasury?   I was so intrigued that I researched the layout of the temple…..just to assuage my curiosity.   I discovered that the treasury was located in The Court of Women, which was accessible to all who were ceremonially clean.  All would enter through The Beautiful Gate to access the court.  From the Court of Women, the men would proceed to the Men’s Court and from there the priests would enter the Priest’s Court.  So here’s Jesus, in the temple treasury…a place accessible to all ceremonially clean Jews, sometimes teaching, sometimes watching.  I’m reminded that for men and women alike, Jesus came to all who would receive His message.

On one of those occasions, something amazed the Lord.  It was a poor widow giving two mites.   It’s curious that such a meager offering would get His attention.  Jesus saw many others who gave abundantly, but nothing touched His heart like the sacrifice of this poor widow.  He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all, for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”  From this passage, I see the principle that the Lord values our giving when it reflects a sacrifice.  David understood this when he said, ‘I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing’.  This poor widow gave all.  

I sincerely believe that when Christians argue whether or not the 'tithe' is an acceptable New Testament practice they are completely missing the heart of God.  Jesus didn’t ask the rich young ruler to give a tenth of what he had. He asked him to sale everything!  And again, in the early church, the believers gathered as one, giving all their possessions for the benefit of the church.  I believe that what pleases God is the heart that would sacrifice all because without question Jesus sacrificed all for us!

There’s another principle I see in scripture and that is, for God loving is giving and giving is loving.  The Apostle Paul informs us in Romans 3:19, ‘For God so loved, that He gave…’   The Apostle John said, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.  There is nothing of Himself that Jesus held back from us.  And the reason given is love.  It’s when we have developed a deep love relationship with our Lord that giving becomes a joy!  We’ll gladly sacrifice all that we have for the One that we love who has given to us beyond measure.

There’s no greater love than when one would ‘lay down his life for his friends’ as Jesus did for us.  John says that it’s by this sacrifice that we know what love is.

Be encouraged in your giving.  Do so with joy, knowing that your sacrifice is God’s love language.  For Him, to love is to give, to give is to love and He gave to us …. ALL !

Merry Christmas !

Govern your thoughts, Guard your heart

The Adversary of our soul (soul = mind, will and emotions) is consistent in his efforts to pull us away from God’s plan for our life.  He appears to reason with us, but his intent is to lead us to destruction.  He often disguises his words under a cloak of sympathy or flattery.  He pretends to care about the things we care about, but ‘he is the father of lies and there is no truth in him’ (John 8:44).  Look at Eve’s experience and see how he ‘reasoned’ with her.

God said,

            "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge
             of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely
             die."          Genesis   2:16-17

Satan said,

            "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"  Genesis 3:1

                "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will
             be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:4-5

Satan is a master deceiver.  See how he turns her attention away from all that God had provided.  He wants her to believe that she’s lacking something, that God isn’t 100% good to her.  Be careful of those who cuddle up to you, speaking softly while challenging God’s words, God’s purpose and God’s plan for you!  Be careful of the seeds of deception that the adversary looks to plant in your mind and heart.

God has never lied!  His plans are for good to those who are called by His name (Jeremiah 29:11).  Satan will always challenge God’s truth and he often uses others to serve as his mouthpiece.  Once deceived, Adam and Eve were removed from the beautiful garden God had provided and we too, if deceived, can wind up in strange places.  Adam and Eve’s deception and disobedience ushered sin into our world and along with sin came trial and tribulation.  To this Jesus says,

                ^“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world
            you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
                                                                                                                           John 16:33

Never let the challenges and difficulties of life serve as a platform of lies which declare that God isn’t good or that He isn’t good to you!  Never listen to the adversary’s commentary on your life and never entertainment arguments that challenge God’s provision for you. Remember that you serve a God who can take the difficulties and challenges of life and turn them around for good!  For your good!  God has made a way for us to ‘count it all joy’ (James 1:2)!

Our prescription for the attacks of the adversary as given by Jesus, the Word of God (John 1:1) is to,

            “cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the
            knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of
            Christ”  2 Corinthians 10:5, and 

            “Guard your heart with all diligence, For out of it flows the issues of life”.
                                                                                                                        Proverbs 4:23
Be blessed!

The Power of a Spoken Prayer!

As pastors, my husband and I have had many opportunities to pray with people.  One such opportunity happened very recently when a couple, who are dear friends of ours, experienced a health crisis.  The wife was hospitalized and the doctors couldn’t figure out what was causing her symptoms.  There was great concern that life for and with her would never be the same.  So, my husband, as he has done many times before, prayed with her husband.  A few days later we received the praise report that all of the symptoms were gone and that our friend was being sent home.  Praise God!  Her husband expressed thanks for prayer and said to my husband, ‘It was the only prayer I heard!’  Now I know many others were praying, but it was a spoken prayer that brought comfort to that husband’s heart.

This comment concerning prayer reminded me of a lesson learned many years ago from one of my pastors.  He spoke of how often we tell people that we’re going to pray for them and later forget to do so.  And if we remember, how many times are we praying apart from those needing to hear our prayers, those needing the encouragement of our words?  Because these circumstances happen often, we were encouraged to pray immediately with those in need of prayer.  It has since been our practice to do so.

May I encourage you……

  There is a great power in prayer.

            ‘The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.’  James 5:16

  The Holy Spirit will assist you.

‘Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.’  Romans 8:26

  And be encouraged to pray often!

 ^‘ I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting’ 1 Timothy 2:8

^‘pray without ceasing’  1 Thessalonians 5:17

So the next time that prayer is requested (or offered), ask the person(s) if you can do so right at that moment!  Let your words of faith be heard and so bring encouragement.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

And now may I pray for you ….

    according to 3 John 1:2,

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Be blessed!

Following in His footsteps!

Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again.”

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask." And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?" They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."     Mark 10:32-40

James and John walked with Jesus. They saw His marvelous works and experienced His power (Matthew 10:1). They were close to Jesus. Jesus would often take them, along with Peter, apart from the other disciples. It was James, John and Peter who were with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. They were apart of His inner circle.  And according to this passage James and John wanted to continue to be apart of Jesus’ inner circle.  They wanted to enjoy the fellowship of His glory throughout eternity.  But as Jesus explained, they didn’t understand what they were asking. They didn’t understand what it cost Jesus to walk power and authority and they didn’t understand the further price that was to be paid (His cup) for the redemption of mankind.  They didn’t understand that to share in His glory, is to also share in His sufferings!  They didn’t count the cost.  I believe it’s a common mistake made today…to want what we see without realizing the cost to have and keep what we desire. 

Paul understood the cost of following in the footsteps of Christ.  As one who preached the gospel, Paul’s sufferings were greater than most will ever experience.  In 2 Cor 11, he describes his trials in detail, ‘Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep….’ Today, most of us experience difficulties that stem simply from dying to our will and following Jesus.  Sometimes we’ll experience trials that come from being ‘set apart’ from family and friends who don’t understand or agree with our decision to follow Christ.  Other times we’ll suffer for the sake of the gospel.  We’ll bare the consequences of proclaiming the ‘good news’ of Christ Jesus.  And it is Paul who encourages us to have hope in the midst of difficulties, trials, and sufferings.  For even though there’s a price to pay for following Jesus, Paul says, ‘I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.’ (Romans 8:18).  He reminds us of the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, our Helper who enables us to get through the challenges and difficulties of being called Christian.  He reminds us that through difficulties, trials and sufferings we’re being conformed into the image of Christ. We are being made perfect.  And He reminds us that as we bare the cost of following Jesus, that our Lord is able to make ‘all things work together for good’.

James and John did ‘drink the cup’ which Jesus drank.  Scripture tells us of their sufferings. But as Paul goes on to say in Romans 8, the Lord who called us is able to keep us.  Nothing shall separate us from Him. No trial or difficulty is beyond His ability to comfort and strengthen us!  We will share of His cup and He will make us to overcome... just as He did!  So be encouraged.  As we share in His sufferings, we shall share in His glory!

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.                            Romans 8:37-39

Be blessed.

He's Still Speaking

Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. 1 Kings 19:11-13

Elijah was a man familiar with the voice of God.  He knew the difference between the glory of His presence versus the intimacy of His fellowship.  For us today it’s the difference between being in a church service, experiencing His presence versus entering into a depth of worship by which you experience the intimacy of His fellowship.  It’s the difference between experiencing church versus the experience of communion with Him.

Our Lord is a master communicator.  Throughout scripture He is pictured as One who stands with His arms outstretched beckoning us to come and commune with Him.  And He still speaks today!

To all mankind He speaks through His creation.  Paul let’s us know that the beauty and majesty of our world is a reflection of His beauty and majesty.  Creation speaks of an order that is beyond our imaginations or abilities.  Creation testifies of a God who is able to manipulate masses beyond what we can fathom while at the same time He strategically aligns the smallest of matter.  Creation reassures us that if God can handle the vastness of the universe as well as the specifics of an atom, He certainly can resolve the issues of our lives.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,   Romans 1:20

To those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God speaks by His Spirit through His Word and through His Spirit who dwells within all who believe.  His still small voice whispers, "This is the way, walk in it”.  Isaiah 30:21

When Elijah stood before the Lord that day, he exchanged his frustration and depression for God’s purpose, encouragement and direction.  One conversation with the Lord set Elijah’s world aright and the same is available to us today!  Beloved, listen for His voice.  He desires to commune with you!

Be blessed.

Having your own way……

I heard a preacher many years ago speak about the ‘Un-generation’.  He was speaking from Romans 1: 18-32 about those who refuse to follow God’s way and are determined to live according to their own standards.  In these passages, the apostle Paul speaks on man’s unrighteousness apart from God.

Firstly, Paul lays the foundation that God’s existence has been made evident to all mankind.

…since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.  Romans 1:19 – 20 (NIV)

This passage always reminds me of a season in my life when I believed God existed but I did not have relationship with Him. I had not acknowledged Jesus as my Lord and Savior and I did not know His word.   I remember being out in nature, looking at the magnificent colors, textures, shapes, heights and depths.  I remember learning some of nature’s life cycles and thinking how great God must be to create such wonders.  I was and am still today in awe of Him.  As David said,

‘I will praise You…..Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.’               Psalms 139:14 (NKJV)

As each of us can clearly see God’s existence, being apart of His creation, we have much to be thankful for.  But Paul states that those who refuse God’s way do not see His worth and are therefore unthankful.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.   Romans 1: 22 -23 (NIV)

To give God glory is to honor and esteem Him.  To give Him glory is recognize His greatness and submit to His holiness.  Submission is a bad word for many in our present day, but Paul states that refusing to submit to God is foolish and carries with it severe consequences.  A determination to live life according to your ways and standards and not according to His way and standard is foolish because our ways are never good enough apart from Him.  Scripture calls this determination evil or wicked and our souls suffer the consequences.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness.  Romans 1:18 (NIV)

Because of the greatness of God’s love, mercy and grace available to all who believe, we don’t often hear much today about His wrath.  In these passages, Paul isn’t speaking of God’s wrath breaking forth against a stubborn people as in times past when flames, earthquake or plagues consumed a rebellious people, but what we see here is the Lord no longer wrestling with the stubborn will of man.  He lets stubborn man have his way.  And because of their determination or as the bible states, ‘their stubbornness’, God ‘gave them over’ to their own way.  And look at the consequences. 

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;                       Romans 1:28 -30 (NIV)

Without the protective hand of God, willful man is, firstly, given over to the lusts of the flesh. It’s amazing to me that out of all the sins a man could commit; he is firstly given over to sexual sin.  No wonder that today many consider sexual sin to be a birthright.  It comes from a determination to live life our way, and not His way.  But the consequences don’t stop there.  Willful man's ability to reason and discern is impaired.  And worst of all, as the consequences of their stubbornness reveal the error of their ways, they refuse to repent and encourage others to follow their wicked path.

Hence, the creation of the ‘Un-generation’.

Undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. 

                                                                                                            Romans 1:31 (NKJV)

Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.              Romans 1:32 (NKJV)

Loved ones, let us not fall short of His goodness through a stubborn determination to live life according to our own understanding.  Let us not be of the ‘Un-generation’, speaking as one who knows Him but carrying darkness and rebellion in our heart.  Let us not fall short in giving God the glory He deserves and let us be thankful in all things.  Let us live as ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in the world.  God has graciously given us the bible, His ‘manual for life’ and He has mercifully given us His Spirit enabling us to live life more abundantly.  He fills us with joy, love and hope and we have much to be thankful for.  His way is great!

Be blessed,

Are you determined to have your way?

Are you determined to have your way?

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord.  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.    Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)  

Can you understand?

"Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair? "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord God. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.                                     Ezekiel 18:25-30 (NKJV)

 

Can you repent?

Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, 'They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.'   Hebrews 3:10 (NKJV)

Can you follow Him?

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

Can you declare?

For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His judgments were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.  Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in His eyes. "With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;  With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down. "For You are my lamp, O Lord; The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.  For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.  As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.  "For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places.   2 Samuel 22:22-34 (NKJV)

I thought about my ways, And turned my feet to Your testimonies.  Psalms 119:59

(NKJV)

Can be you walk in obedience?

Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets."  2 Kings 17:13 (NKJV)

But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.'  Jeremiah 7:23 (NKJV)

Can you walk in convenant with Him?

So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days."  1 Kings 3:14  (NKJV)

Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. 1 Kings 11:38 (NKJV)

"Now therefore, listen to me, my children, For blessed are those who keep my ways. Proverbs 8:32 (NKJV)

Can you receive the promise?

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. Revelation 2:7 (NKJV)

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. Revelation 2:11 (NKJV)

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.  Revelation 2:17 (NKJV)

And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations-- 'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels'-- as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  Revelation 2:26-29 (NKJV)

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  Revelation 3:5-6 (NKJV)

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  Revelation 3:12-13 (NKJV)

To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  Revelation 3:21-22 (NKJV)