Going Deeper

In the beginning God....

We get so caught up on things we don't fully understand as God's church and huge schisms are wrought because of our various interpretations, theories and reasonings.  When it comes to the Genesis account, for some reason, of which I could guess, God didn't reveal all to us and this in itself is a spiritual lesson that he wants us to go deeper with Him into spiritual truths and relationship.

 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. Prov 25:2

A natural analogy of this would be looking at the surface of a leaf with the natural eye as opposed to studying it under a powerful microscope.  The intricacies of God's creation is overwhelming in its diversity, order and creativity "up close and personal".

The other observation for this would be that God wants us to trust Him, believing that "He exists and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Heb 11:6).  We need to believe that God is who He says He is, and can do what He says He can do.

If God has raised Christ from the dead, and to date many others, who's to say He couldn't create the world and all in it as opposed to what secular scientists theorise about.  It is all speculation and theory seeming none of us were there to watch it happen (except the God and all the angelic host.). People could argue on both sides of the spectrum, more I would say for our Creator God, the awesome Trinity who spoke matter into being.

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it?
Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Job 38:4-7

Now although I started this blog on a very controversial subject and I would not like to argue over who or who doesn't believe, what does everything, in reality, come down to?

I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins." Jn 8:25

Salvation can only be found in Jesus Christ, there is no other way.  (Acts 4:12) Christ died for the ungodly (Rom 5:6) so that we can be forgiven.  He laid down His life for us (Jn 10:17-18) so that our life could be found in Him. There is forgiveness in Him alone, as John testified of Him, "behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." (Jn 1:29)

"All things were made through Him.  Without Him was not anything made that has been made.  In Him was life and the life was the light of men." Jn 3:4

There is life in Jesus Christ, as in Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)  "The word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 3:14) and "as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His Name". (Jn 3:12)  Jesus said, "most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born again, he can't see the Kingdom of God." (Jn 3:3)

The life Jesus Christ gives us, is not just physical but spiritual, as He explains, "that which is born of flesh is flesh. That which is born of spirit is spirit" (Jn 3:5-6).  Our spirits come alive, refreshed by the life-giver, when we believe in Him.  Spiritual things can only be discerned by the spirit not the flesh.  The born again life is spiritual life, in abundance, to the full and overflowing, the life that God intended for us to walk and move in.

The natural analogy Jesus used to explain this was with the wind which blows.  The wind is unseen, except for the effects it has on physical things.  Because it is unseen, we cannot see from where it starts or finishes but we can hear it rustling through the leaves and so too, we can't see the spiritual renewal in our hearts by the Holy Spirit but we can see the effects, changes in our behaviour, attitudes and our love for Father God.  We get a desire to know Him, to go deeper into our relationship and the things of God, and as Jesus testified, "whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3: 15-16). This eternal life begins when we believe as opposed to judgement for the one who hasn't believed, "because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God."

Instead of all the arguments we tend to focus on, why don't we concentrate on the most important thing? :-

"One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son won't see life but the wrath of God remains on him." (Jn 3:36)

The most important thing for us is to help those who don't know Jesus to pray that they too will taste of this living water.  Keep on praying for our loved ones that God would reveal the light to them that they too can share in this eternal life freely given through our faith and belief in Him. It's all about Jesus.  This is the most important thing, salvation is found in Him.

There is a thirst in the hearts of men and women for spiritual life, as God has set eternity into the heart of every person and we can help them find this life in Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world.

First Love

"But I have this against you, that you have left your first love." Rev 2:4

Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, who walks amidst the assemblies, knowing all, charges the Church at Ephesus, with this indictment, "you have left your first love."

The report card Jesus gives, by worldly standards would be really good.  They persevere in their toil of works; they can't tolerate evil men and they discern false prophets.  They persevere and endure even in hardships for the Lord's name and have not grown weary.  We would, reading this, assume they would be getting an A+ on the report card but from the indictment a huge heavenly "fail" is what they received.

This should speak to volumes to us about our relationship with Jesus.  Do we still love Him, or have we gotten trapped on the "doing" wheel feeling good about how busy we are for the Lord but neglect the most important, being with Him.  I find it a frightening prospect that none of their works held any value for Jesus because they had forsaken their first love.  A dangerous place to be, secure in our works, when Jesus firstly wants our presence over and above works, for when we are totally sold out and in love with our Saviour, our motivation for works will be love-driven.

"Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent." Rev :2-5

Everything we do is noted by Jesus and those works that will ultimately bring a reward are those motivated by love for Him and others.  We keep our love fresh by remembering what He did for us on that cross.  We keep our love alive by mediating on His goodness and grace.  We keep our love vibrant remembering when we fell in love with Him and how alive He made us feel especially when we realised how much we had been forgiven.  The first "works" we did was believe and our hearts responded to His love and we found we just couldn't get enough of His presence even as we found Him in His Word.  We were thankful and grateful for His blessing and acceptance.

We all know the example in the gospels of Mary and Martha. (Luke 10:38-42). Such a familiar story and the moral quite clear, Mary had "chosen the good part."  Jesus wants us to be Mary's sitting at His feet.  Interestingly the gospel accounts records Martha received Jesus into her house and then introduced Mary who "also sat at Jesus feet."  Both sisters were sitting at His feet, but Martha "distracted with much serving" must have left her position to get on with service.  The "Living Bread" was feeding their spirits but Martha was too concerned for the natural.  Clearly Jesus preferred to have her continue to sit with Him, listening to Him and not "anxious and troubled about many things."

Serving the Lord is good, for "faith without works is dead", but serving and works should never replace time with Jesus.  It's in the intimacy of sitting at this feet that the desires to serve are birthed.

"You will show me the path of life.  In your presence is fullness of joy, in your right hand pleasures forevermore."  Ps 16:11

Spiritual Growth

      I am writing to you, little children, that your sins have been forgiven because of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young people, that you have conquered the evil one.
I have written to you, children, that you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil one. 1Jn2:12-14

The apostle John writes about spiritual progression in 1 John, chapter 2.  All of us come into the Kingdom, like babes, believing the Word which we received with joy, and this begins a journey with God where He begins to build character in us.

The first stage of salvation, is where we respond to the message that Jesus Christ, God's Son, who as John writes is from the beginning, died on a cross, and we have remission for our sins though His blood. These are the children that John refers to in verses 12 and 14.  All of us have to come to the realisation that through Jesus Christ all our sins are forgiven, past, present and future.

In chapter 1, John introduces this theme of sin in our lives and contrasts the light of God with spiritual darkness.

This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.   If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don't tell the truth. 1Jn1:5-6

Once we walked in darkness but those who have received Jesus now walk in the light, even as Jesus in is the Light.  Our past sins are washed away by His blood as far as East is from the west, never to be remembered any more by God.  What amazing good news!  We, however, live in the now, and until spiritual growth occurs, we can find that we still sin.  Our thoughts, motives and actions can still be influenced by darkness as we go through the process of renewing our minds.  But the good news is, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us, because of Jesus Christ.  And Jesus' blood stills cries out, testifying to the great and final sacrifice that He accomplished on the cross for us.  He pleads for us before the Father.

My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.  And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. 1Jn2:1-2

This foundational truth of the forgiveness of sins is paramount to our relationship with God.  Shame causes us to hide and if we do not believe that we are fully forgiven when we confess our sin to God, we will draw away from Him.  I had a conversation with someone who was checking my skin for sun damage and he was very concerned with something on my face that had been previously cut out. He asked me to find out what it was as this type of cancer on the face, and particularly where it was, could be too close to a nerve that could carry the disease to the brain.  I said to this doctor that I had nothing to be afraid of, for the worst that could happen to me would be to die and go to heaven.  He replied, "I'm not sure."  I quizzed him on this as to whether he was concerned on my behalf or his.  He replied his because of the things he had done.  I told him that the blood of Jesus was more powerful than any sin we could have ever committed.  We must remember that Christ died for the sins of the world and He calls the whosoevers to believe and repent.  If we do not believe and receive this forgiveness available through Jesus, we will walk around with guilt and fear.

A friend of mIne confessed her sin to me saying that she had asked God for His forgiveness but she still needed to go back get on her knees and keep on repenting.  I told her, "don't you dare do that for you are in effect saying that the cross was not enough."  This type of wrong thinking also affects our relationship with Father.  We must live by the word and not our feelings.  The bible is clear that as soon as we confess, we receive forgiveness, for God is faithful and just to forgive us.  We do not need to try and make up some sort of penance to help pay for our wrong doings.  No, we humbly accept what the cross has done for us with gratitude and joy for the wonderful gift, given by the Saviour and move on with Him, all the more determined to learn from and not repeat our sins for His glory.

This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. 1Jn2:2

John addresses the children again who he has written to, because they know the Father.  Spiritual maturity begins with knowledge of the character, grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father and the keeping of His commandments.  His unconditional love for us is a fundamental truth that will also affect our relationship with God.  When we sin, God is not waiting to send a lightning bolt from heaven to shock us into submission.  As a Father, He will lovingly correct us and we are to confess our sins to have His forgiveness.  When we know how much He loved us to sacrifice His one and only Son, we respond to His love and obey His commands which shows that we belong to Him.  Learning about, and believing we belong to Him, we are His beloved children, gives us security and stability in our walk with Him.  Sonship is one of the building blocks towards us acting more like Jesus.  We are children of the One and only true Living God, royal princes and princesses.  So we progress to the "young" stage.

But whoever keeps his word, God's love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him: he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked. 2Jn2:5-6

He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him.   2Jn2:10

As growing youngsters, we begin to get ready to flex our spiritual muscles.  We recognise that we are in a spiritual war but that we have the victory through Christ.  We begin to walk in the authority of sons and daughters of God, being obedient and loving, which are keys to spiritual warfare.  So we walk in the light of His presence and are led by the Holy Spirit.  We are living in the Word and wielding it as our spiritual sword against satan, binding and loosing, extending the Kingdom of God on earth.  We understand the power in the blood of Jesus and the name that is above all names and we can discern lies that oppose truth.

You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 2Jn2:20-21

As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don't need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.  2Jn2:27

With zeal we stand firm on the truth and chase after bigger things then what the world can offer us.  We learn to stay on the attack so that we don't come under the attack as my favourite preacher Joyce Meyer says.  Young ones are confident in their God given authority believing that the anointing that abides in them will work though them to a hurting world. (Just as God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with Him. Acts 10:38). They have already made up their minds that God wants to and will use them, even though unworthy, His blood has made us worthy.  We are not focused on our inability but His ability, knowing that apart from Him we are nothing, but with Him, guiding and leading, we will see fruit from our lives for His glory.

Spirit or flesh

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh but those who live according to the spirit, the things of the Spirit.  Rom 8:5

According to this scripture we can choose to set our minds on the things above, things that are higher then the fleshly realm.

Do we take up an offence (fleshly realm), or do we know that Christ took up all offences for us, and release it to Him?

Do we hold unforgiveness in our heart, or do we know we have been forgiven a huge debt and release others in Jesus name?

Do we covet or envy, or do we trust in God our Provider and stay contented in all and every season?

Do we live in fear, or faith in Him who knows all things, is all powerful, all creative and everywhere?

Do we want revenge, or do we trust the only one and true vindicator?

Are we weighed down with burdens, or do we come to Him who wants us to learn of Him and take His easy yoke upon us, releasing our cares confident in Jesus who loves us and is for us?

Do we hold onto anger, pride, our rights or do we remember the One who made Himself of no reputation and humbled Himself even to death on a cross to save us?

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness , goodness, gentleness and self control.  The fruit of the flesh anger, jealousy, strife and striving, selfishness etc.  Quite a different list of emotions, one that brings us peace and joy and the other unrest, unhappiness, discontentment, guilt and shame.

God tells us to choose, life or death, blessing or cursing.  Setting our minds and emotions to obey God's counsel will bring us rest.  It seems to be a "no-brainer", yet sometimes we allow the flesh to take charge and generally regret it.

If God has said we can do it, stay in and pursue the things of the spirit, then let us put our faith in Him to help us and strengthen us to do so in Jesus Mighty and pure Name, Amen!

Bold as a Lion

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognised these men had been with Jesus. Act 4:13

What makes a person bold, even in the face of opposition?  One of the best biblical examples of this boldness in the gospels is Peter.  One minute, in the face of opposition, he is denying His Lord and the next after witnessing resurrection power and the accession of the risen Christ, Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and boldly declares to those who crucified Jesus the way of salvation.  3000 people made a decision for Jesus that day, responding to the bold proclamation delivered in the power of the Holy Spirit through Peter.  Signs and wonders followed these men of God as they boldly preached and God confirmed what they professed, bringing Glory to His Risen Son and to Himself.

When Peter and John, through Jesus, healed the lame man at the gate beautiful, opposition really began to get hot.  Being examined throughly by the religious leaders of the day, their boldness could be clearly evidenced and recognition was given that they were disciples who were with Jesus.  This was even more astounding to the leaders as they knew these were fishermen by trade and uneducated, yet here they performed an outstanding miracle, and had a boldness to preach to the very ones who were desperately trying to stamp out the teachings of Jesus.  Being with Jesus is therefore one of the keys to outstanding working faith.

How can this be, timid and fearful one minute and the next, bold as a lion?

Boldness, firstly is clearly seen to originate with the Holy Spirit being in us.  The anointing that the Holy Spirit brings to our life is paramount to living this Christian walk in power, fearless in the face of opposition. Yet His very power often lays dormant in the lives of many Christians, the flow of anointing seemly stopped up somewhere between our spirit and flowing out of us to others.

Secondly, this boldness seems to come when we know who God is and what He has done for us.  Scripture is clear that those "who know their God will be strong and do exploits. (Dan 11:32b)The disciples knew who Christ was/is and what He accomplished for them on the cross and with confidence they held to the Word He taught them and commanded them to do.  Everything God has said about us is the truth that gives us boldness to stand in battle against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly realms.  The problem comes when we do not understand who we are in Christ, that we are seated in heavenly places in Him (Eph 2:6) and that we have the authority He gives us to also destroy the works of the devil on earth. (Luke 10:19)

The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms. This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access to God because of Christ’s faithfulness. Eph 3 10-12

This is the exact boldness that God wants His children to have but it is not enough to just know these things, and we certainly do need revelation knowledge because we have to believe.   Jesus said if we only believe we will see the glory of God.  The rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms already know that greater is He that is in us (1 John 3:4) and they tremble at the blood brought child of God who knows the authority they weld.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;  And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Hebrew 10 19-24

Understanding the intimate relationship we can have with the Father, visiting the throne room by faith, and worshipping Him also gives us confidence.  Knowing that God is for us and not against us, that He is good and pursues us with His love, helps us to grow in our love and obedience and also increases our boldness.  Obedience will increase the anointing in our lives as will trusting Him.

So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me Hebrew 13:6

The greatest boldness we have comes from the compelling and compassionate love of God in us that works though us.

And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him. By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love. 1 John  4 16-18

Just think of the selfless acts people have done for those they love.  A father running into a burning building to save his child, a mother facing off gang members to save her daughter etc.  Love and compassion drove Christ to touch the untouchable as it has done with many missionaries and servants of Christ throughout the ages.  When the love of Christ is in us for the lost, we too will preach with boldness to those who are perishing regardless of the cost or opposition.  When our love for the sick so overwhelms us, we too will pray for them in the marketplace.  When our heart breaks for our nation, we too will pray with tears and intercession for God to move.  Oh may the love of Christ overwhelm us to the point where we won't count the cost but would be willing to lay down our lives in obedient sacrifice.  May His love pursue us and overtake us that we would be more like our Saviour telling the truth in love, even in this humanistic society and the opposition to the gospel, that we may sow seeds, not of judgement or self righteousness, but of grace and truth, in Jesus name, we pray.

Joy in Christ's Suffering

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.Heb 12:2

Can you imagine the joy that Jesus must feel when he see his children "get it".  When we understand who we are in Him and who He is in and through us and what He accomplished for us on the cross.  Think about it!  Jesus endured the cross so that our salvation and healing would be

His joy and great reward.  Every time one of His kids get what is available to them because of His suffering and spilt blood on Calvary, His pleasure must be immense.

So many struggle with low self esteem and somehow don't feel that salvation and healing is for them but only for others.    We still feel that somehow we have to earn it, but scripture is quite clear....

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Is 53:3-5

The original meaning of the word "griefs" in verse 4 means sickness and "sorrows" means physical and mental pain.  He "hath borne our griefs", our sicknesses and "carried our sorrows", our physical and mental pain.  Jesus certainly showed the Father's heart of compassion being moved to heal all who came to Him.  It matters not what we think of ourselves, the reality is Christ paid an incredible and awesome price for our salvation and healing.  Think of His precious blood that seeped when that whip crisscrossed His back for our healing. He who was so merciful was beaten merciless. Think of the blood that flowed from the jammed in thorns on His head for our mental stability and peace.  Think of the blood running down from His wrists as He was nailed to the wooden beam so that we could lift up holy hands to our God and Father.  Think of the blood that trickled from His feet that we could walk in the gospel of peace bringing the good news to others.  

He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) and because of what He accomplished for us offering Himself up as a sacrifice for our transgressions we are people set free and blessed.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ;

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love;

5 having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,

6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely bestowed favour on us in the Beloved,

7 in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace... Eph 1:3-7

What wonderful and precious promises we have.  What destiny in Him.  What identity in Him.  Did you get it, we are a blessed people, and blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.  Not only are we blessed, we are chosen children, holy without blemish, favoured, redeemed and forgiven.

Scripture tells us that it was the Father's good pleasure to bruise his Son.  How can we fathom such a price the Father and Son collectively paid just so their love and goodness could be evidenced in the life of countless millions as this scripture explains:-

Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,

once restitution is made,

he will see descendants and enjoy long life,

and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.

Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,

he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done.

“My servant will acquit many,

for he carried their sins. (Is 53: 10-11)

What amazing, sacrificial love!  All for mankind.  Jesus accomplished a great work for us and now seated at the right hand of the Father he reflects on that work being satisfied with the fruit of His suffering.  That fruit is you and me who have accepted His gift by faith.

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Don' Despair - Persevere

Habakkuk 2:3 But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!

Gods word will always come to pass.  He gives us dreams and plans but sometimes it seems that they are delayed but God has to work His character into us, so when he brings us into the fulfilment of the dream we can carry it to completion.  There is always spiritual opposition, some Tobiah or Sanballat to come and discourage and try to stop the vision from being fulfilled.

God told the Israelites that they were to conquer the land and their enemies little by little least they be overrun by wild animals.  I never understood this but somehow it seems to tie into the fact that God works in us to bring out into the light, "wild animals" that lurk in our soul area.  God wants us to minister out of wholeness and so He heals our soul wounds little by little until we become fruitful in that area.  If God had of shown me all the ungodly attitudes I had when I first got saved I would probably have said this is too hard and thrown in the towel.  He deals with us gently convicting us of an attitude or sin one at a time.  We are His workmanship and the Holy Spirit, the sanctifying Spirit at work in us, will carry on convicting and helping us to conquer in God's timing until we walk in the promised land of His plan for our individual and unique work, the most prominent being Christ formed in each and every one of us.

The trial of perseverance teaches us to completely put our trust in His Sovereignty.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 I think you ought to know, dear brothers, about the hard time we went through in Asia. We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it. We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead.

When our dreams seem to reach a dead end and we determine to put our trust in Him, surrendering all and no longer trying to work the thing and make it happen, then there is a "but suddenly God....."  When we sacrifice our Isaac and say, "you know what God I am going to rest in you because I cannot lean on the arm of my flesh anymore, for apart from you I am nothing," God has us in the prefect place for His glory to shine through our weakness.

2 Corinthians 1:10 And he did help us and saved us from a terrible death; yes, and we expect him to do it again and again.

When we see God come through on each and every battle as we walk out His plan for our life we too like the apostle can say that we expect Him to deliver us.  Someone once said, "when we are down to nothing, God is up to something."

Let's rest in Him and His timing.  His love for us wills always ensure His best interest for us in each and every situation even though we may not understand it at the time.

God is faithful, Amen?

Relationship in the Word

"You search the scriptures for you believe that they give you eternal life.  And the scriptures point to me.  Yet you won't come to me so I can give you this life eternal." Jn 5 39-40

I have always wondered how it is possible that so many different religions have the bible but believe vastly different doctrines, even erring to the cultish.  It has been said that the bible is open to personal interpretation and this is true until.....!

I looked at the apostle Paul who ended up writing most of the epistles, yet he was the great persecutor of the church.  He was a Pharisee with a huge jealous zeal for God.  How could he have such a zeal for the Living God that was so misplaced that he got it so wrong.  He studied the scriptures and most likely could quote verbatim the Torah, yet he like many others "missed the day of visitation" not recognising Jesus the Messiah.  With a presupposition of what Messiah would do when He came, Paul missed that Christ ushered in a kingdom of salvation in men's hearts.

Throughout Jewish history, the pendulum swung from the worship of God to the worship of idols and going astray doing their own thing. A heart change was needed as foretold by the prophet Ezekiel (36:26):-

"And I will give you a new heart - I will give you new and right desires and put a new spirit within you.  I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love.  And I will put my spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command."

So what changed Paul from persecutor of the church to persecuted for the church?  Purely relationship.  He finally met the Author of the Book, Jesus Christ, on his way to Damascus.  Jesus was no longer words on a page, but the word became flesh to Paul as the eyes of his heart were enlightened by the presence of the One he persecuted.

When we really know someone, we are able to discern the spirit behind their words.  If someone reported to you that your wife/husband said a certain thing, you would know in your heart if they would say something like what been reported, or you would know if it had been interpreted wrongly.  It is the same with Jesus.  The closer our relationship becomes, the more we know His heart the easier we find the interpretation of the spirit of the message in the word.

Studying the word without the relationship only leads to "puffed up knowledge" and can give misplaced zeal and wrong interpretation of the message.  The life in the Word is found in relationship with Him and leads us to desire more truth and an even closer more intimate walk.  This us why He beckons us to come to Him and learn of Him.

Come today.  Call on His name and ask Him to teach you His word in the book.

The Antidote to Discouragement

 "The Lord is near the broken hearted; He delivers those who are discouraged"

We can all get discouraged at times, especially as we live in an "instant-take-away" world and one of the tactics of the enemy is to bring discouragement during waiting times.  I have experienced this quite a few times, especially recently, in my calling out to God to change me and open my eyes to the supernatural realm.  I know that there is more, an abundant life that Jesus wants us to walk in, and for those who believe, He promised we would see the glory of God.  

Honestly, I see more of my faults then the glory and wonder sometimes if I'll ever be "good enough" to carry His Glory.  But it is not depended upon my "goodness" but on my belief.  Those of us who believe that the same great and excellent power that God exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him in Heavenly places far above;  that same creative power, abides in us.  God's Holy Spirit dwells in us and it is through His Spirit that God wants us to bring a heavenly taste of glory to those who need it the most.

Look around!  So many people, hurt, bruised, sick and broken and who need to know the Saviour, Jesus Christ, the anointed One.  And God wants us to show them His Love, Glory and Power.  We are overcomers, that is what His word says, but are we overcoming and allowing His Word to be effective in us, and through us, or ineffective because of our unbelief, doubt, discouragement or low self worth.  

We are the sons and daughters of the Most High God.  OH WHEN WE WILL GRASP A HOLD OF WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN TO US AND RUN WITH HIS PRESENCE, POWER  AND GLORY, to see the captives set free, healed and delivered. I don't know about you but I want this and I want it bad.  What joy to be able to bring those captives into the Kingdom where they will have a touch of the Saviour and Healer through the powerful anointing that dwells in us who have already tasted freedom and seen that He is good.

Jesus, Himself, was reliant on the Holy Spirit to do all His works.  He only began His powerful, anointed ministry after being baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit.  He Himself testified:-

'I tell you the solemn truth, the Son can do nothing on His own initiative, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise." Jn 5:11

Jesus listened and obeyed the Father exclusively.  Listened and obeyed!  I seem to have a hard time listening to His voice but I am encouraged as Jesus said, "my sheep hear my voice", so I will keep on practising, believing....that I do indeed hear His voice. (Maybe God knows that I still need to learn obedience!). I am mindful of the scripture that says, "be not weary in doing well, for in due time, we will reap, if we do not give up." Gal 6:9

There it is, back to "due time".  There is always time involved.  A seed must first be planted and after time comes the harvest.  The encouragement is to keep on keeping on.  When discouragement comes, be mindful of the character of God who is faithful and on the power of the Holy Spirit who can comfort and encourage.

"For this is what the High and Exalted One says:  the One who rules forever, whose Name is Holy:  I dwell in an exalted and Holy place, but also with the discouraged and humiliated, in order tocheer up the humiliated and to encourage the discouraged." Is 57:15

Maybe the waiting game helps us to become more reliant and dependant on Him. God has a "due season" and He brings it to pass in His time and not ours.  We can be assured harvest will always come if we do not faint and give up and this is why discouragement is such a powerful weapon against us.  It causes us to give up, drop the dream, have a self-pity party, lose our identity of who we are in Christ and how powerful He is in us.

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." 1 Pet 2:9

We are ambassadors for Christ, with a heavenly calling and anointing to do the works which God has planned for us to do before the foundation of the world, and.....there is a reward for those who "do not grow weary".

"I am also aware that you have persisted steadfastly, endured much for the sake of my Name, and have not grown weary."  Rev 2:3

God is aware! God sees!

"I am coming soon.  Hold on to what you have so that no one can take away your crown." Rev 3:11

God promises!

"The Sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be His spokesman, so that I know how to help the weary. He wakes me up every morning; He makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do."  Is 50:4

"But as for you, be strong and don't get discouraged for your work will be rewarded," 2 Chr 15:7

God's Powerful Word

In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. No, it is realised as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.” (Is 55:11)

I had a revelation about the power that is in our tongues as the word declares we have the power to bless or curse. I realised afresh how important it is that we should speak God's promises as well as blessings over our families, businesses, churches and even our nation. The world is full of negativity, criticisms and gossip yet we, children of the light,  should be full of encouragement and blessings.

There is an amazing story in Numbers 22 which confirms this importance of blessing and cursing. Balak the King of the Moabites, fearful of the Israelites who had great victory over the Amorites, called upon a seer Baalam to come and curse the Israelites so they could not conquer him.  Baalam went but would only speak the word that God would allow him to speak over the nation.  God commanded Baalam to bless them and not curse as Balak required. The message of this story is clear in that we should only speak what God speaks over our circumstances for overcoming victory in our lives.

My message is like a fire that purges dross! It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! I, the Lord, so affirm it! Jer 23:29

The word of God is spirit and life and has the divine ability to do what God has said it will do.  It is amazing that we can use His word like a hammer and if we keep confessing it over situations it will finally break all resistance to accomplish that which God had promised.  His Word never falls to the ground to be trampled on, but it will return to God who will watch over it to perform it.  We can trust the Word of God because it is the Truth and we know that God cannot lie.

The Word also has the amazing ability to change us even as silver or gold is heated to extreme temperatures to remove the impurities.  So the Word of God exposes the dross in our hearts if we allow it to by testing our thoughts, motives and intents of our heart.  It is so important that when we see something adrift that we bring it before God and repent and ask Him to create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit in us. (Ps 51:10)

This brings me to confession of the Word.  it is important that we use His Word as a weapon, even as we see Jesus doing when tempted in the wilderness and as we are exhorted by Paul in Ephesians 6.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.  And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Praying the scriptures is a powerful weapon but, as I heard someone say the other day, we should not just be confessors of the word but heart possessors of the Word.  The word needs to posses our hearts as the bible encourages "to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly". (Col 3:16)  When we possess the word, we will have full understanding and revelation of that word, our faith and belief in that word will bring the authority and divine power that the word yields into play.

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, and women received back their dead raised to life. But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life. Heb11-32-35

Those who have believed have seen incredible things as the writer of Hebrews reminds us.  The only way we can possess the word in our hearts is through meditation. Mulling over it, speaking it out loud and thinking about it; what it means, what is God saying to us and how does it apply in our lives.  Doing this will allow the Holy Spirit to bring the full revelation to our hearts and with that revelation our  faith will rise.

As the scriptures say, “Those who know their God will be strong and do mighty exploits.” (Dan 11:42)

The Infinite God

Sometimes I just can't equate the God of the Old Testament to Jesus in the New.  they are the same God - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost - one God, three distinct personalities.  I came to a conclusion. How can we, who think from a human perspective, with finite minds and finite actions understand a God who is everywhere, all knowing, all powerful and all creative.

I look at some of the judgements of the Old Testament where people were to be cut off from their society or stoned. I think about the earth splitting open and swallowing up those who rebelled and my heart would almost cry out, "no, this cannot be God".  Yet somehow I know, that I know, that I know, God is Love and He is just.  He is also Holy yet He is Mercy.  When I look at His Mercy, surely it outweighs His Judgement.  It certainly did when "the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us".  God, Himself, manifest in Jesus Christ, sacrificed Himself on that cross to redeem us from death to life, from judgement to justification, from the curse of the law to freedom in the Spirit.

So how does this reconcile the Old with the New.  I know that I will never understand from my earthly perspective for we see in part but one day we shall see more clearly. (1Pet 13:9-10) I do know that in His Love and Grace, God chose for Himself a people, the Israelites from all the nations and with this came great responsibility.  As God's people, they were to be a witness to nations and from them would come the fulfilment of the Seed promised in Genesis to Eve, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who would save people from their sins and reconcile His people, the Jews and the Gentiles to God.

Ephesians 2:11-18 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” which is done in the body by human hands— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Colossians 1:19-20 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

The Old Testament clearly shows the effects of sin on the nation and creation.  Yet God promised them if they would obey Him, he would heap upon them blessings after blessings.  The nation was blessed and prospered yet His people continually gave themselves over to the prostitution of other gods.  So the cycle of apostasy is clearly seen.  Judgement fell and they were carried off as captives to the nations whose gods they worshipped.  In their captivity would cry out to God and He would deliver them and heal them and bring them back into their own land.  The cycle would start all over again.

What a lesson for us.  God is a jealous God. Not in a human, worldly sense but jealous of anything that would break the sweet communion of fellowship with Him where His abundant blessings flow and He showers us with His Love, Joy and Peace.  Outside of that covering fellowship, God knows that we are easy picking for the adversary of our souls.  As Jesus said,

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
We have a choice.  We can accept the gift of life Jesus came to give us or we can choose to go our own way.  His way is the way of Life and blessing.  Even in tough circumstances, His way keeps us and strengthens us, guarding our hearts and minds as we lean upon Him and keep our focus on Him.  Choose today, life or death, blessing or curses.  This is our choice, freely given by a God who loves us and desires to wrap His arms around us in that Love.  He has blessings for us, in our obedience, but we get to choose what we prefer.

Spiritual warfare

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Cor 10: 3-5

Divine power!  This really caught my attention as I was reading this scripture.  The weapons available to us are supernatural with inherent divine power.  I wondered about these weapons we have to demolish pretensions and arguments that seek to destroy our spiritual faith and walk. Arguments that stop our belief in the knowledge of God.  The bible tells us that those who know their God shall be strong and do exploits. Spiritual enemies like nothing more then to spread their lies and pretences for us to believe rather then what God has communicated to us in His Word. When we don't know who God is, we don't have faith in what He can do.  Whenever we don't see God as a loving, Almighty Creator of all, who dwells in the eternities and loves us, we have no confidence that He can and will deliver us. God is good. He desires good for His children. We just need to look at how Jesus died for us on the cross to see His love and desire for humankind,

So what are these divine, powerful weapons?  My thoughts went to Revelation 12:11.

"And they overcame him because of their testimony and the blood of Jesus and they loved not their lives unto death."

We are in a spiritual war for our souls and being in this spiritual war, we need spiritual weapons which God has given to us.  Our testimony - what God has done in our lives and how He has saved us is a powerful witness to those who are struggling with the same things that God so graciously freed us from - strongholds and bondages of being in a fallen world.  His Word has power to free us from these strongholds and bondages that grip our minds - lies we have believed about ourselves and God which are contrary to the Word.  Our testimony brings hope to others. I recalled the verse of scripture from Ps 149 4-6, 9

For the LORD takes pleasure in His people: He will beautify the meek with salvation

Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud on their beds.

Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hands.....

To execute upon them the judgements written: this is the honour of all His saints.  Praise ye The Lord.

This reminds me of the scripture in Hebrews 4:12 that tells us that the Word of God is active and powerful, like a two edged sword.  The testimony that is most powerful is the Word of God that comes from our lips. Declaring God's word over our situations and loved ones will bring the divine power of the Word to actively change, reconcile, heal or bring repentance.  It defeats the enemy's plans to kill, steal and destroy.

Oh the blood, the powerful blood of the Lamb that washes us clean from our sins and begins to restore.  The blood is an effective, powerful, spiritual weapon against the enemy and accuser of our souls. The blood covers and protects. Death could not take the Israelites when they sprinkled the blood of the lamb on the lintels of their doors when waiting God's deliverance from Egypt.  The death angel had to pass over when he saw the blood and this was a type of what was to come.  Jesus bled His blood out, laying down His life for us and in doing so, gives eternal life to those who plead the blood.  The enemy has no weapon against the blood of the Lamb which has redeemed us. We have great worth having been purchased by the imperishable, incorruptible blood of Jesus Christ.

The final weapon, and loved not their lives to death, is also very powerful and can only be accomplished in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. When we are willing to lay down our lives for each other, living in love and desiring only the best for others, the enemy has lost his grip on us.  When we refuse to gossip, be envious or take offence and instead encourage, love and support others, how can he influence us in any way and will therefore remain a defeated foe.  Love is definitely a divine weapon.

Let us ask God for the boldness to love as Christ loved us and to be able to fearlessly proclaim Him who called us out of darkness and into the light and to give us revelation of His word and His wisdom for all situations we find ourselves facing.

Destiny in the Words of Jesus

I read a devotional the other day which pointed out the first Holy Spirit recorded words of Jesus as a boy of 12:- "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"  (Luk 2:49).  His final recorded words in John  19:30 were:- “It is finished”.    From His first recorded response to His mother’s frantic cry, after having searched for him for 3 days, to His final words on the cross we see destiny and purpose fulfilled.  From a boy of 12 with a heart for the Father’s business, Jesus already knew His destiny and was taking it seriously, discussing spiritual themes with leaders in the Jerusalem temple. What an amazing destiny that was completed on that bloody cross in His early 30’s, having lived His life to the glory of the Father and reached a lost mankind.   He lived His life with purpose and vision and He allowed nothing to divert the plan that had already been settled in the eternity until He could utter the final words of His Life, “It is finished” – Father’s business on earth completed for the eternal destinies of those who would follow Him.

This reminds me of the Apostle Paul, who after His radical conversion, also knew God’s destiny for his life and could utter at the end of his ministry on earth, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2Ti 4:6-8)

We all have purpose and destiny in Jesus Christ.   There is a higher calling to just living our life on earth.  It is also to be concerned with the Father’s business and Jesus can be our example of living life this way.  The first recorded words in Matthew 3:15 was in answer to John the Baptist – “But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness."  Righteous living!  Jesus was concerned with living righteously and fulfilling everything that had been prophesied about Him.  John did not want to baptise Jesus, who he knew was the Lamb of God who could forgive him his sins but Jesus wanted to fulfil all righteousness by being obedient to His Father. 

The Apostle Paul recognised the worth of obedience and righteousness when he penned this encouragement for the church:-

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Tit 2:11-14 (Emphasis added)

“I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” Rom 6:19

Walking in the footsteps of our Saviour is the call to “deny” ourselves but those who truly love do not find it hard to sacrifice for those of their affection.  Just look at how a man will woo a girl in their courting days.  If they live far apart, he will travel large distances to be together for weekends.  He and she will deny themselves sleep to spend that last moment together.  Yet the sacrifice hardly seems a hard thing, even when the tiredness becomes a battle the next day.  So it is when we fall in love with the Saviour.  We want to please Him. 

Jesus loved so much, He was willing to give Himself and pour Himself out and finally die on that cross so that we could be forgiven and given eternal life in Him.  He lived and He loved and He loved and He lived.

“Jesus said to him, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Mat 22: 37-40 

The Apostle Paul, whose revelations came from Jesus Christ Himself, was quick to tell us that if we do not love, we are nothing (1 Cor 13:2) and that we are to pursue love (1 Cor 14:1).  In other words, we are to look for ways to love others and to come up higher in our love walk.

“Let all that you do be done with love.” 1Co 16:14 

It is in loving that we find living because God made us to give and receive love.  We are never happier than when we actively show kindness, friendliness and love to others and to God.  This is how Jesus lived, giving up His very life in the ultimate act of Love.

This 2014, let us try to walk practising loving others for doing so, in obedience to the Father, we shall help to make this world a better place and show others that we are His disciples.  The love walk is not an easy road but Christ has not left us alone to struggle and His promise to us is:-

Act 1:8  “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Let us lean on the Holy Spirit’s power for He is the One who sheds His love abroad in our hearts and we can ask Him to show us the way and help us to love even the “unlovable” in Jesus name, remembering that no one is out of the reach of the Father’s love.