Right now in the world we live in, doesn’t it seem like we, the Church, are being told to be accepting of everything? The Church is described as a judgmental, old fashioned, out of touch body instead of the glorious Body of Christ that leads people to truth, freedom and grace. Well I would like to share with you a reality that the Church needs to stand by and make an emphatic statement at the same time…REPENT!
This message of repentance almost seems lost in this day and age. The Church is being pressured to accept things and compromise our beliefs in order to appease the masses. I for one, cannot compromise what the Word tells me because I have committed to what it has to say. This is the heart of repentance and we need a fresh revelation of what it really means to repent.
Let’s start with the word “repent” itself. Nowadays, when someone talks of repenting, the main idea that seems to be conjured up in the minds of Christians is the confession of sins and asking for forgiveness. This, however, is not the “heart” of repentance. It is almost as if we have reduced the meaning of repentance to saying, “I’m sorry!” That isn’t really repenting, though. The word translated “repent” in the New Testament is the Greek word “metanoeo or metanoia” and this word literally translated means, “a change of mind, or to have another mind”. This is a far ways off from the confession of sins. Yes, confession of sins is involved, but it doesn’t just stop there. You see, true repentance isn’t just turning from something, but it is also turning to something. If we leave repenting at just confession then all we do is turn away from whatever sin we are dealing with; we have to turn towards Jesus and what the Word tells us concerning any issue.
The Lord recently spoke to my mind and heart concerning this and I have been meditating on it ever since. The entire Gospel, the “good news” of Jesus is to be a complete changing of our mindset. Our thoughts and ideas were going one way, but now because of Christ, we are to think completely differently. We were going to hell, but now if we live in Him, we are heaven bound. Our righteousness was as filthy rags, but now we are made the righteousness of God. We were sick and broken; now by His stripes we were/are healed. Can you see how each one of these isn’t just going away from something, but it is going to a destination? When we repent we turn our mind from the way things used to be and now direct our mind to how things really are in Christ.
Just yesterday, at the time I am writing this, someone at work asked me about some good churches in our area. She had mentioned that she and her husband were trying to have a baby. She didn’t really attend church anymore like she used to, but she wants to raise her child in church. There was a lot there that I could discuss with her, but then she added a little requirement in what kind of church she wanted. She said that she didn’t want a church that was judgmental and also added, “You know, one of those churches that teaches that some people, especially Christians, are better than others. I don’t want my kid thinking that there is anything wrong with others, you know, like gay people or people from other religions.” I really didn’t know what to say at first, so I looked inward and asked the Holy Spirit to tell me what to say. If you don’t do that already, start there. The Holy Spirit will help you direct your mind and stop you from just reacting. The reaction my flesh had was, “Oh really?!?! We are judgmental? We think we are better than others, well let me tell you…” Instead, I checked within my spirit and told her, “You know, I just don’t know of any in the area, but if you ever want to go to church with me, you are more than welcome.” This actually led to a conversation with two people about religion. Now we all now the saying, “There are two things you don’t discuss, religion and politics”, but this shouldn’t be that case for believers, well maybe about politics. We are supposed to be able to share our faith at any time and be gracious with people when they share differing beliefs. This conversation covered several hot topic issues like: all roads lead to Heaven, homosexuality, is sin even real. All of which the two I was talking with were very passionate about. I am as well, but I refuse to let myself get irrational, irritable, or even flustered when someone tells me flat out…”your beliefs are wrong”. I don’t let any of that get to me because I rely on the Word to tell me how to think.
I can say emphatically that homosexuality is a sin, according to the Word, and that forms my personal opinion on the matter, just like it does with lying. It is important to point out here that sin by itself does not make any person necessarily evil, living apart from and opposed to Jesus does. It isn’t my fault that I believe that way. The Word of God is superior to me and I allow it to tell me what to think. The Word of God is final authority. I don’t have it all figured out in my head, so I choose the Word to teach me the truth. The Word also tells me to love my neighbor as myself, so now I have to blend all of this. This means that just because someone lives a certain lifestyle doesn’t mean that they are unworthy of my love and if I truly love someone, I want to help them, just like I needed help to get out of the sin that was in my life. Thanks be to God for sending His Son Jesus to help all of us get out of sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When we let the Word change our mind it gives us peace and rest because we don’t have to take responsibility for how we see things. I didn’t say, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 did! So don’t blame me if I am living in health and don’t tell me that it isn’t God’s will to heal because I have let the Word change my mind concerning the issue. I have repented of my wrong way of thinking. I don’t have to get the flu every time a sniffle tries to come on my body. That is the old way of thinking. I stand on the Word and tell every symptom that it cannot stay in my body because of the stripes on Jesus’ back. I didn’t say, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Jesus said that in Luke 6:38. So don’t get angry with me when I am living in the prosperity that has been laid up for me, even while this economic “crisis” is upon us. I have let my Savior change my mind, I have repented. I have turned from the expectation of lack and turned to the expectation of prosperity.
I have made the conscious choice to submit to the Bible because I love God and His Word. I believe what the Bible tells me in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” I consider the Word of God to be above myself. The Word also says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” – Isaiah 55:8. I have to mold my way of thinking to His and that takes submission, realizing that He knows how to do things and we don’t. Once we submit to God and His way of doing things, we take the pressure off of ourselves. His rest and peace flow over our lives because He then takes responsibility for our actions because we are doing only what He has told us to do. This is why in James 4:7 it says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” When we submit to the Lord, then we have authority over the enemy. This is an area that the Church needs mind renewal in. We can rebuke the devil all we want, but if we are not submitting to God, then nothing will happen. Only when we give into God and His ways then we will see the enemy flee from every area of our lives.
We as the Body of Christ are to lead the world to Jesus and He brings them out of destruction and to salvation. Once we are part of His Body we are not to draw back from Gospel that brought us out of our old lives. Hebrews 10:39 says, “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” This verse is so rich and powerful concerning repentance. In the original Greek the word “hupostole” (pronounced hoop-os-tol-ay’) is the word used for “draw back” but the real definition of that word means, “the timidity of one stealthily retreating”. This is completely based in fear. We, the Body of Christ, are not of them that fearfully and timidly retreat in secret from the truth. No, we are of them that believe to the saving of the soul. The soul here is our mind, our will and our emotions. You are a three part being, you are a spirit, you have a soul (mind, will and emotions) and you live in a body. We believe the truth and our mind, will and emotions are saved. Just think if the Church does shrink back, retreats from the truth out of fear, then the Church will be repenting, changing our mind, from salvation back to perdition or back to where we came from, the unsaved world. I will not repent, change my mind, from the Gospel. The Gospel of Christ is what brings us out from sin and bondage to life everlasting and communion with the Father. We are not of those that draw back, we let the Word of God change our mind, we don’t let the world frame our thinking. So let the washing of the water of the Word have its perfect work in you. Let the Word change your mind…Repent!
Have you ever thought about what God is actually able to do? Well, let me tell you, the list is pretty amazing! One of the big things that people don’t realize is that all of the things He is ABLE to do, He WILL do! Every single scripture about what He is able to do, is always connected to a promise that He has made to His people. With that in mind, we as believers have a responsibility to believe that He WILL do what He says He is able to do. If I were to tell you that I was able to lift a 300 lb weight or to pay for the US national debt, with cash, but didn’t do either…I wouldn’t seem to credible, would I? We can apply that same reasoning to God, but He has always shown that He is credible and that He does not lie. If He says He is able to do something, it is because He is willing to do it. Selah (Stop and think on these things)!
As you continue to read, it is a necessity to keep that in mind. If we don’t know He is willing, then we can have no faith towards what He is able to do. You see, faith begins where the will of God is known, and fear is present when the will of God is unknown.
I have been led to focus on a very powerful Scripture in 2 Corinthians 9:8, we read here that, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work”. God is able to make all grace, the word grace here means, “favor, or earthly blessing”. He is able to make every blessing that He has promised in His word abound to you. The word abound here means, “to be over and above, or to multiply”. God wants all of His blessings and favor to be multiplied to you, why? He does this so that you can have all sufficiency, supply, or adequate resources in all things, here on Earth.
I want to pause right here, because I have heard this Scripture used for just a money message. I am not putting that down, or condemning that in any way, but the Word here says, “all sufficiency in ALL things”. That is very important to understand. He is able to make all of His promises, what promises: healing, deliverance, wholeness, the supply of your needs, spiritually, physically and financially. He wants you to have all of His promises, multiplied to you so that you are able to multiply, exceed and be over and above towards and in every good work. The reason isn’t so that you can just have stuff and be healthy and delivered yourself, it is to pass that goodness on to others and so that they may come into the same relationship with the Lord.
In the next two verses we see the promise connected to this ability. In verses 9-10 it says, “As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; He hath given to the poor: His righteousness remaineth for ever. Now He that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.” You see, God says He is able to make all of these blessings be multiplied to you, because He provides them. The word minster here means, “to supply or to provide”. If you have seed to sow, it is because God gave you that seed. That seed is to multiply in your keeping so that you can disperse it and multiply it to those around you, as the Lord leads. If you have been healed, it is because He supplied that healing through the broken body of Jesus. You are then to minister healing by sharing your testimony, praying for those around you and by showing others that it is God’s will to heal them too. No promise by God has ever been simply for your enjoyment. It has been given for you to live in and share with all those you come in contact with. I for one have made a commitment to pursue what God has for me. I am chasing after it with every part of who I am and I will then share it with everyone I come in contact with.
I recently was working at a restaurant in the Los Angeles area. Everyone I worked with was an aspiring performer of some kind: actor, dancer, director or writer. I have long decided that I am not going to “preach” to these people about things they should or should not being doing. Instead I want to live a life of example and by that example make them come to me with questions about how God is working in my life and can work in theirs too. I have found that people respond to the Word of God better when they are coming to it, not being thrown in their face.
At a certain time of year the business tends to drop out and everyone in the restaurant would get very pessimistic about their income. It is tough to work in that environment, where you, seemingly, depend on others for your income. Every single shift that I would come in, I would pray and talk to God about my needs and remind Him that His Word says that He would supply all my needs. After encouraging myself with the Word, I would go in and listen to everyone talking negatively about how their night was going to go. I would simply listen and say, “Not me! I am going to do great tonight. You may make that 40 dollars, but I will make over 100!” I was completely speaking out of faith in what I knew God was able to do. And every single night I worked, I would make 100 dollars or over. After about 2 months of hearing and seeing this, I had one co-worker come up to me and say, “How are you doing this?” I told him that I wasn’t doing anything; God was taking care of me. He then said something that shocked me, he said, “I want God to take care of me too!” I told him that I could help him with that.
I share this story not to look good or brag on myself, because just like I told my friend, I did nothing, I am bragging on God, He was supplying my need. I stood on what I knew He was able to perform and knew that He would do it. When it came time to either keep this blessing to myself and just relish in it, or to spread that Word beyond myself, I jumped at the chance to share it. I didn’t shy away at giving God the glory and I didn’t fear that my friend would think I was crazy. I decided to give God credit for accomplishing something that He said He would do and did in my life.
There is one more scripture that I feel is very important to share with you. Remember, all of the things that God says He is able to do are always connected with a promise that He has made. Well, I would like you to take a look at 2 Corinthians 1:20, it says, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” This shows us that if God has promised it, then His answer is YES and AMEN (so be it)! When it comes to His promises, He never says no! I have heard it preached that when we pray to Him concerning healing or supply or any number of His promises that His answer sometimes is yes and sometimes it is no. That is NOT what His Word says! It ought not to be preached and it ought not to be believed, because it goes against what the Word says. Let me show you another translation of this verse. The New Living Translation puts it this way, “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘Yes’) ascends to God for his glory.” Through Jesus all God’s promises are fulfilled and become a “Yes” to all believers in Him. Now we are to say “Amen” or “so be it” in response for it’s fulfillment in our lives. Since He says yes we are to respond with a resounding, YES! He has done this for His glory. You see, the glory of God is shown when His power is displayed. He has made promises, not to break them, but to keep them. He is a great and mighty God! When we stand in faith and say “Lord, you promised me health and wholeness and I stand on your Word and receive my deliverance from sickness and disease.” I can just hear Him saying with a loud voice, “Yes, YES! I did it for you! It was accomplished for you! Take it, it’s yours. YES!”
This is how we have to approach what God is able to do. Every time we see a scripture talking about how God is able to do something, we are supposed to believe that since He is telling us He can do it, He will do it! If we know that He will do something, then we need to stand by faith that He will accomplish it, “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) God began a good work in you through His promises and blessings by Jesus Christ. He will accomplish it because He is able to multiply His blessings and favor to you. He has done all this to fulfill His Word and so that you can be fully supplied to bring His Word to those around you. I believe that I receive that Word and I believe that you receive it too, by the power of the Holy Spirit. So my response is, so be it! Amen!
Right now things seem like they are topsy-turvy in the world, don’t they? With all the talk of the economy, the elections coming up, the tribulations in the Middle-East and 2012-talk, it can be a bit overwhelming. Even people in the Church seem a bit nervous about the current times. We as believers, however, have promises given to us in the Word of God that should encourage us and cause us to be excited about who our God is. I know I have gotten very excited about what God is doing and going to do, in my life. We have a good God that is always revealing Himself more and more to us. He is not in the habit of revealing Himself less and less. Are we growing more in Him, allowing Him to show us who He is and what He is going to do in our lives, through His Word? Or are we paying more attention to the cares of this world, taking our eyes off Him and putting them on the circumstances? Are you getting closer to Him or farther away from Him? What are you looking at?
I have had the privilege of ministering at a youth group here in my local church for just over a year now and I have grown so much. Now that I am developing more into the ministry God has called me to, more and more people are coming to me with questions and concerns about what is happening. All across the board from the youth, to personal friends and even some in church leadership seem to be looking at the situation as, to put it lightly, daunting. As I have looked into the Word of God for the answers, and that is where we should always go to find the answers, I have gotten so excited about what His Word does in our lives.
The Word of God transforms us and causes us to become just like Him. Every day is supposed to have an exciting adventure to see what God is going to do in our lives. We are to grow in Him and become the confident, strong and glorious church that the gates of Hell cannot prevail against, Hallelujah! How do we develop into that? We are supposed to get into His Word and let it shape and mold us into His very image.
In Romans 1:16-17, the Word says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Once faith starts to get on the inside of us, we are then supposed to develop and grow, going from faith to faith. We learn something, apply it and see God move in our lives. When we see the miracle working power of God in our lives, our trust and confidence in Him can’t help but grow. So we get in the Word more…and more faith arises out it. This is how we develop from faith to faith – we see in His Word, what He has done, is doing and will do for our lives.
In James 1:2-3, we read, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” Our faith gets tested in this world. Not by God, but by the enemy, Satan. He is a master distracter. Satan’s one goal is to separate you from God and His Word. The best way he can do that, is by getting you to take your eyes off of God and onto the circumstances you may be facing. As believers, we are to keep our eyes on the Lord and His Word. When we do this patience is working in us, growing our confidence in Him, while we go through the trials. We never stay in the trials! Another way of referring to patience in the Bible is to, wait on the Lord. Wait on Him! He will show up and bring you out of whatever you are facing. In Isaiah 40:31, it says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” When our faith gets tested, we get patience. When we walk in patience and really wait upon the Lord, our strength gets renewed. Psalms 84:5, 7 says, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.” We go from faith to faith and with every faith victory we go from strength to strength in God and His Word.
I don’t think there is any believer that could say that Jesus was weak in faith or that His faith didn’t make Him strong. Just look at the phrase that we use so often in our Christian walk, “weak in faith”. True faith produces strength, lack of faith produces weakness. As we grow in our confidence and trust in Him, the stronger and stronger we get. We start to rely on God and His Word for everything, just like Jesus did. Jesus relied completely on the Father. He said in John 5:19, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” We become more like Jesus as we grow from faith to faith and go from strength to strength. And in 2 Corinthians 3:18 it says, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” When we look into the Word, it transforms us. We allow the Spirit of God to flood into our lives and change us into His very image. When we truly become doers of the Word of God, we start to look just like Him! Glory to God!
This is why we can’t look at the circumstances of the world. God has a plan for us, who are in Him. We are to keep our eyes on Him and grow from faith to faith, then go from strength to strength and finally go from glory to glory. If we take our eyes off of Him we allow the enemy to distract us from the glorious plan of God. Satan has his own plan to, but his is for us to go from fear to fear and I don’t remember seeing that verse in the Bible. If we get our eyes on all the cares of this world, rather than God’s Word, then fear and trouble are on their way! Keep your eyes on the Word, grow in faith and strength so that you can resist the enemy and he will flee from you (James 4:7). And when the enemy flees, the glory of God is free to move in your life, like you have never experienced before. His miraculous power can develop in your life, just like it did in Jesus’. But it all starts with what you’re looking at, the circumstances or the Word. Right now, more than ever we need to look at and stand on the Word. So I ask you again, what are you looking at?
Doesn’t it seem so easy to fall into worry? From the economy, to wars, to family issues, there always seems like there is something to worry about. Worry is something that can plague your life, if you let it. The word “worry” actually means – “to torment oneself with cares or anxieties; to suffer from disturbing thoughts.” (dictionary.com) Doesn’t sound too pleasant, does it? As bad as that sounds, how many times do we make excuses or find reasons to worry about something? Well, I would like to share with you that no reason or excuse ever good enough because the Word of God tells us, specifically, DON’T WORRY!
In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus is talking to the people about anxiety and the kingdom of God. In these verses He clearly shows that the two cannot be in the same place at the same time. I would like to focus on just a couple of these verses though. We all know verse 33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (KJV) What a lot of people don’t seem to focus on, though, is that this verse is the answer to worrying about everything that life can throw at us.
We are all faced with the opportunity to worry about, let’s be honest everything. Jesus says in the verses before, twice in fact, DO NOT WORRY about what the world says is important. In verse 27, Jesus even says, “And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life.” (Amplified Version) Just think of that statement, can you add even a minute of time to your life by worrying about it? Actually, studies have shown that worry actually leads to a multitude of problems in our health and dramatically shortens life! When it comes to adding to your stature, I have personal experience with that one. I was the smallest kid in class when I was going through almost all of my schooling. I wanted to grow, so bad, and be as tall as the other kids. I worried about it constantly and guess what, it didn’t help anything. I stayed the smallest kid. I did finally start to grow in high school, but when I was a freshman, I was 4’10” tall. Today as a grown man I am 5’9”… not bad for a child that even his parents didn’t think would grow to be that tall. I maxed out my genetics but, truthfully, I would like to be around 6’-6’1”. Guess what, though…I am not worrying about it anymore, because I know it won’t do anything. No matter how much time I spend worrying or being anxious about how I wish I was taller, I will still stay 5’9”.
Jesus goes on in Matthew 6:34, “So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.” (Amplified Version) Now what on Earth does that mean? Does it mean, don’t worry about tomorrow because you have enough to worry about today and just go ahead and focus on those problems. No it doesn’t mean that at all. In fact, in this verse, this is the third time that Jesus says not to worry. He is simply saying, don’t take on tomorrows worries, because there is enough in tomorrow that will try to make you worry and anxious and when you come to those…don’t worry about those either. Or in other words, don’t focus on the things that you could worry about tomorrow, focus on not worrying about the things you have in front of you today!
I really appreciate how Jesus says not to worry in the King James Version; it is really a profound way of thinking about how we slip into worry. All three times Jesus tells us not to worry in Matthew 6:25, 31 and 34 He puts it this way, “take no thought.” To enter into worry you have to take a thought and then dwell on that thought. You then might ask, how do I “take” a thought. In verse 31 we are told how we “take” thoughts. It says, “Therefore, take no thought, SAYING, what shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” We take or possess thoughts by the words that come out of our mouths. This is an important truth that we need to realize. The words that we speak are so vital to our growth in becoming more Christ-like and in getting closer to the lifestyle that God wants us to live in. God wants us to live in life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). That type of lifestyle comes through Him, though, and through following His Word. And His Word says don’t take these thoughts of anxiety and worry.
There is one more scripture I would like to share with you. It is a powerful reminder of what we are to do with those thoughts and worries. In 1 Peter 5:7 we read, “Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.” (KJV) We are to cast, or in today’s language we would say throw, all our care to Him, meaning Jesus. That is a little different from “taking” a thought, isn’t it? We are to get rid of the thoughts of worry and anxiety by throwing those cares to Jesus. Why do we do this? He cares for us and He will take care of it. I really love how the Amplified Version says it, “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” Doesn’t that sound intimate? Jesus will take all of our worries, anxieties and concerns, once and for all! That is the God I serve.
When we take on the worry and concern ourselves and not throw those cares to Jesus, we are unintentionally saying, “I don’t think you care enough to take care of this for me.” Or, “I have to take care of this, Jesus; this issue is just too big for you.” Can you imagine saying that? I am sure you can’t, but that is what we do when we take on the worry that can so easily slip into our minds.
I encourage you to cast all those cares onto Him. Jesus is big enough to take care of everything that may be plaguing your mind and/or life. He wants you to throw your worries, anxieties and concerns to Him, because He loves you so much. He knows what to do and how to take care of the problems you may be facing. I am not saying that this is the easiest thing to do, but it is important to do. It is going to take some effort. When thoughts come to your mind that make you want to worry, say out loud, “I don’t accept this thought and by an act of my will, according to 1 Peter 5:7, I give this thought, I throw it to you Lord. You have the care of this and I don’t receive the worry, I receive the answer.” You may have to do that 100 times in a day, but check every thought at the door and if it produces worry, throw it away. I know you can do it! I will stand in prayer with you! You stand in prayer for others and together we will defeat the enemy and live the care-free life that God wants us to live in.
The last few years have been crazy, haven’t they? There is so much turmoil and so much stress throughout the world and it seems to only be getting worse. Everyone is trying to figure out what to do and how to do it. From bailouts, to stimulus, to taxation, to you name it! All over the world it seems that governments and every day people are dumbfounded about what is happening and how to fix the problems that face us all.
I can honestly say that I myself have been confused and in stress at times, but I have found in the Word what the problem is. We are looking to ourselves for the answer, when we need to look up! I was looking for answers in the Word about troubling times like this and I came across a couple scriptures in the book of Jeremiah that seemed to describe the exact situation that the world is facing right now. In Jeremiah 2:12-13 we read,
12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. 13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
That went off in my spirit as I read it. And I know that the Lord spoke to me in that moment. Now I don’t mean I heard an audible voice, but I knew that the Lord was speaking to my spirit and said to me, “That is what is going on right now! The people have forsaken me and they are trying to do things for themselves.” After He spoke that word to me, I went to meditation. After some time I started to notice some details about this scenario that Jeremiah puts in front of us.
The first sin that the people committed was forsaking God, the source of living water. I think it is safe to say that we can all say that we are witnesses of that. And this is such a big issue that God told the heavens to be terrified of this event. Now that has to be a big deal! The next sin is digging their own cisterns, or wells, but these wells don’t hold any water. If a well doesn’t hold any water, what is in it…dirt! The work that the people are doing is leading to nothing! These people would rather have the dirt of their own work, than having the water that is provided by God. Now, how insane is that?! I find that to be very symbolic of what is happening right now in our world. People would rather do things their own way and if it leads to nothing, then so be it, as long as they don’t do things God’s way and receiving what He has for them.
I was reminded of two scriptures that really go along with this. The first is Proverbs 14:12:
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
The second is when Jesus speaks with the woman at the well in John 4:10:
Jesus answered and said, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
These two scriptures both deal with issues that Jeremiah is talking about. The first is easy to spot. There are things that come to the human mind that seem so right, but end up so wrong. If we go to our own intellect then we will always come up short of the best that God has for us. Jesus on the other hand offers us living water and He says it is a gift from God. Jesus is that living water! If we put our trust in Him and if we do things the way He has set out for us, then we will always be led to God’s best.
You may say, “Well that’s so easy to say!” Yes, it is…luckily I didn’t say it. It does take a great deal of faith in the Lord to actually put that to active work in our lives, but we can do it! We can let go of all of our preconceived notions of what needs to happen and when. We need to give those things away and cast all those cares on the Lord. He is our source of EVERYTHING! It is by His grace that we woke up this morning. We have to stop looking to ourselves and choosing the dirt of our own work. We need to bring God’s way of doing things to the forefront of our minds and hearts. We need to invite Him back into every area of our lives. We have to give way to His plan and not our own. When we do things His way, then and only then will we truly never thirst, because He will give us that living water. He has put before us life and death, blessing and curses, water or dirt. He tells us what to choose. Choose life, choose blessing, choose water.
How many times have we seen people who go about their lives and seem to be the very epitome of confidence, and later we find out that they themselves were the victims of low self esteem, intimidation and insecurity? Everything that we thought was confidence was really just a defense mechanism for hiding how they really felt. There is a simple reason for that! True boldness only comes from spending time with God and His Word.
I have known many people that have hidden there insecurities. I have been around actors, singers, dancers and all types of performers. I have been in the entertainment industry, professionally, for the past 10 years. Most of those people are so insecure in their own skin that the only way they can cope with things, is to perform for people and put on a fake persona. They don’t know who they really are and they keep trying to find their validity in what other people think about them. It is an endless cycle that leads to drugs, alcohol and sex much of the time. What they are truly missing out on is finding out what their creator and Lord thinks about them, and that only comes from the Word of God.
You see, the Word of God isn’t simply a book of stories; it is a manual and a guide on how to live a successful life. God in His grace gave us examples of people who lived according to His Word and examples of people who didn’t. We are supposed to look at His Word as guidelines of what we should and shouldn’t do. When we find out how the creator of the entire universe backs us when we live the way He has shown us to live, then we can really live in confidence and boldness.
Boldness is a by-product of knowing who you are. And we can only truly know who we are by knowing where we came from. We have to learn from others who have been in similar situations and done the right or wrong thing. We can then look at those examples and make the choices we need to make. Here is the best part though, when we do things God’s way, then we have Him backing our every decision. When we truly seek out what He would have us do, then we can rest in the confidence that everything will turn out for the best. Even if things seem impossible, we see in the Word that God is above anything that is impossible. In Matthew 19:26 Jesus says,
“With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
When we truly realize that we are His children, and that only comes from accepting what Jesus did at the cross, then we really grasp who we are and where we came from. We then know who our Father is, we know who our true family is, and we have a place to go to when we feel the pressures in life. When we spend time with God and His Word we have the answers that have eluded us. If we rely on our own intellect and understanding, we will always fail. Proverbs 14:12 says,
“There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
If we rely on God’s intellect and understanding, we will always triumph. You have to spend time with Him and in His Word to gain that wisdom and understanding.
Boldness and confidence also come when you know something works. You may have confidence in a chair to support your weight. You have that confidence because you have experience with chairs. It would be a shock to you if you were to sit down and the chair would break underneath you. You see, your experience can dictate what you have confidence in or not. It is the same way with God. You have to develop in His way of doing things and His way of living to have boldness and confidence with Him. That starts by trusting that God’s Word is God talking directly to you. Then when you follow what He is telling you to do, you get on the path towards a victorious life in Him. When you spend the time to stay in Him and His Word, then you can truly live a bold and confident life, knowing that you will have the victory no matter what you may face. You will see that God’s Word works and that He will always be there right beside you. And when you truly develop in that, by spending much time with God and His word, then and only then will you live a bold and confident life.
As we come to the holiday season there are so many stories that we hear and tell. Among them is the beautifully told story of the events surrounding the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, as told from the Gospel of Luke. Many families gather around and read this story on a yearly basis. When I was reading it however, I came across some powerful images that seem to have been overlooked. You know, the scriptures are full of power. They aren’t simply stories that are interesting or historically accurate. There is truth to be found, even in the account of the birth of Jesus. I would love to share some of them with you.
In Luke 2 we read about the census that has been ordered by Caesar Augustus, which is a set up for our scene. Everyone is hustling and bustling around. We can relate to that, because that is exactly what happens during our holiday season. We then come to the story of the shepherds. This group is minding their own business, working away like any other night, when suddenly an angel of the Lord appears to them and announces to them that the Savior of all mankind has been born. In verse 9 we read that when this angel appeared the shepherds were “sore afraid”. Another way of saying “sore afraid”, to me, is terrified. I found that fascinating. Why would these men be terrified of a messenger of God? I would have thought that they may have been shocked, full of wonder or mystified, but not terrified! We will see in just a little bit why that is.
The angel delivers his message and then we read about a multitude that suddenly appears. We see this in Luke 2:13-14:
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
That right there is something that is commonly overlooked. We all know it, we have all heard it before, but it gives us tons of information. What information? I am so glad you asked! First, it tells us who these angels are. Have you ever stopped to think about who the heavenly host is? Let me show you verse 13 from the Amplified version and we get a better picture.
13 Then suddenly there appeared with the angel an army of the troops of heaven (a heavenly knighthood), praising God and saying,
This MULTITUDE of angels was the very army of heaven. Now, can you see why those shepherds were so afraid when that first angel appeared? He wasn’t just an everyday angel; he was a soldier of the Most High God! I personally picture him and the entire multitude of angels as armor clad warriors and that is why he had to say, “Fear not” and they said, “on earth peace, good will toward men”. The army of God came down from Heaven to praise God and let mankind know that their general, captain and commander-in-chief had come to earth and to tell us that we, mankind, are not their enemy.
You see, Jesus is the commander-in-chief of the armies of Heaven! Jesus is Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts! He is mentioned in the Old Testament and the New, in fact Jehovah Sabaoth is found over 240 times in the Bible. Jesus is the Lord of Hosts! That is why the army and troops of Heaven were the ones that were heralding His birth. They came down to say, in effect, “Our general, our captain is here. And He is going to take back what was lost and He is declaring war on the enemy, Satan, and all his works.” Glory to God! That is fantastic, isn’t it?
This is the reason that when the crucifixion was approaching, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 26:53:
53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
The Father would have instantly sent the angels, because their general called for them. They would instantly be there to defend their captain and chief, Jesus. I find that to be a powerful revelation that comes from the story of Jesus’ birth.
The story then continues with the shepherds finding Jesus. The shepherds then told the story about what happened to them to many people, including Joseph and Mary. And this is the next fascinating little tidbit that Luke gives us in Luke 2:18-19:
18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
I want to focus on verse 19; Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Now why would she have to do that? Mary, the mother of Jesus, had to remember all these events for one purpose, to remember them at the crucifixion! There was no denying what had happened to her. She kept everything locked in her heart so that when her son was going through the beating, the mocking, the torment and finally being nailed to a cross, she wouldn’t stop it.
Mary could have stopped the crucifixion, you know. She could have stopped everything in its tracks with saying four little words. What are those words? Here they are: “Joseph is his father!” That could have stopped everything and what mother wouldn’t stop the torture of her child, if she could. The heart of a mother is a wonderful thing that God blessed the earth with. A true mother would do anything even sacrifice herself for her child, no matter what age her child may be. But Mary couldn’t say those words because she remembered what happened at her son’s birth. She remembered the angel coming and telling her that she had found favor with God and that she was chosen to bring the Messiah into the world. She remembered the story of the shepherds. She took all these things and pondered them in her heart and buried them deep inside of her.
Mary here gives us a wonderful example of what we are supposed to do. We are to take the things that God has spoken to us and done for us and lock them in our hearts and ponder them. We are supposed to do that because when trials and troubles come, like they always will, we can go through anything because we have the things of God in our hearts. We don’t have the things of this fallen world. His promises and His truths are all we need in this life. If we simply put His Word in our hearts, then we give the Captain of the Hosts, the victory in our lives. Ponder the things of God; meditate on His Word more throughout your day. And this holiday season, think about how the armies of Heaven introduced to the world their General, Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts, Jesus!
I have recently come to a conclusion. This world and every person in it, on an individual basis, wouldn’t have the problems that we all face, if we would value and recognize the love that God has for us. We may say that we “know” that He loves us, but do we fully recognize the fullness of His love? I don’t think so.
If we really knew the love of God then all fear would be evicted from our lives. 1 John 4: 18 says,
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth our fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Fear is a disease of the spirit that comes from not being developed and perfected in the love of God. Fear has to flee from perfected love. How do we get that love of God perfected in us?
Well, there are two things that are needed to get that perfect love. First, we have to love God and do His Word. We see this in 1 John 2:4-5,
4He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
We develop the love of God by keeping His Word and it’s the only way we truly know that we are in Him. Second, we have to love one another. 1 John 4:12 says,
No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Developing in the love of God is a must, especially right now in these uncertain times. Just think about what would happen in every area of your life if you simply applied these two principles.
If you love God and do His Word then fear, sickness, disease, attacks from the enemy would all have to flee. Satan cannot come near a believer that is truly seeking the kingdom of God. And truly seeking that kingdom comes from doing the Word, not just listening to it on Sunday.
Then, just think about what would happen if we would apply the love of God to one another. All strife, gossip, backbiting, hypocrisy, lying, murder, stealing and every other form of hatred to our brothers and sisters would simply disappear.
This is not just a pipe dream, this could really happen in your life. All it takes is the drive to develop in the love that God has.
It is a necessity for the church to be perfected in the love of God. The church has been called to be His ambassador on Earth. And to be that ambassador, we have to develop in love.
Last April I went to Israel and spent 10 days there. I had always wanted to go sometime in my life, and this opportunity came out of, seemingly, nowhere. I didn’t have the finances to pay for the trip myself, but the Lord supernaturally supplied the finances to go. Glory be to God!
The time spent there was amazing. I got to see all of the places that I have read about all my life. I got to walk where Jesus walked and see the places that changed all of history and mankind. I was 30 years old when I went and I got re-baptized in the Jordan river…at the age of 30! That was very special to me. Knowing that Jesus Himself was baptized in that river at 30 years old. I did it as a symbol of my devotion to go into full time ministry for the Lord. I got to see the garden tomb, one of the two places that they believe our Lord was buried and was resurrected. I got to see the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum, two places that Jesus was often at during His life and earthly ministry. All of these places were wonderful to see, but I was most impacted by seeing the Garden of Gethsemane. There were olive trees there that they know are over 2000 years old. To see those trees and to think that Jesus could have prayed underneath one or leaned on it when He was under such pressure because of the next hours that awaited Him was sobering, to say the least.
When I was getting ready to go on the trip, I was expecting to have this great epiphany or huge spiritual awakening being at the very places where all these important events happened. I was amazed and in awe of the fact that I didn’t really feel “closer” to God, like I had expected to be. It was then that I realized, it isn’t about the places that these things happened. Yes, it is wonderful to see them. It is fantastical and wonderful that all this history and events happened there, but it won’t bring us closer to God. Why is that? Because God is in us! He is always with us and the only way we can get closer to Him is through His Word. “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” -Romans 10:17. God is no closer or nearer to you or me than the time we spend in His Word. If we want these great moments and our faith to build, we have to spend time reading, meditating, studying and especially listening to the Word of God.
He is always with you. He promises to never leave, nor forsake you. Stay thankful for a God that doesn’t live in a certain place on earth and you have to go there to experience Him. We have a God that you can always find. You can find Him in your car, your house, in a restaurant, in the doctor’s office. He is in all these places because He is inside of you, at all times!
How many times do we walk through life and wish that people would recognize things that we have done for them? How many times are we frustrated because we feel that everyone always sees what we did wrong and never what we did right? How many times do we just want a simple, “Thank you”? Well, God is the same way.
Ephesians 5:20 says, “Giving thanks always for all things, unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a pretty tall order. Give thanks always? In all things? How is that possible? What about when things don’t seem like they are going right? What about…? We can always find an excuse not to be thankful. Throughout the Word we see commands to give thanks and praise to the Lord. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 we see almost the exact same command, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Again, how does this seem possible?
Giving thanks is a choice. We can either sit around and look at all the negative things that are going on, or we can trust in the Word and thank God for what He has already done for us.
When I was in high school, I got a hair line fracture in my hip playing sports. And because of this fracture, I suffered with a pinched sciatic nerve for years. There were times that I was in such severe pain from the top of my hip running all the way down to my feet. When I was in college, there were times that I would use a cane. I was part of the theatre department and was able to borrow props, so when I would use the cane, my friends thought I was just working on a character for my next play. There were times that I would be going up a flight of stairs and all strength would leave my leg and I would fall onto the stairs. This was something that really plagued me, but I refused to accept this as “normal” for the rest of my life. I believed God would heal me. I made a decision to rely on the Word of God. I stopped talking about the problem and started being thankful. You might ask, “What would you have to be thankful about?” I started thanking God for the pain that I was feeling. Now, don’t run and make a doctrine out of this, I know how that sounds. That sounds crazy. Let me explain what I mean. I knew that Jesus had healed me. He healed me at the cross nearly 2000 years ago. So I decided to thank God that I had this pain, to remind me of what I was healed from. I decided not to give any more credit to the devil for what he was trying to make a part of my life. I decided to give glory to God for reminding me that I was healed!
Now don’t take this out of context: God did not give me the pain. He did not give me the pinched nerve. He didn’t give me any of it. He did give me healing! He did give me the right to divine health, and I stood on that. Every time I felt pain, I started thanking God for His healing power working in my body. The Bible says that the Lord inhabits the praise of His people. I decided, I made the choice to praise God! Where God is, there is no pain, no grief, no sorrow, no lack of any kind. I knew that if I praised God, then He would be there, and where He is, there is no such thing as a pinched nerve. Hallelujah! I didn’t realize at the time that I was giving thanks in all things, but I was.
2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” I decided not to look at what I could see with my physical eyes. I decided to look at things with my eyes of faith. All I saw was me living pain free, walking with ease. I saw it, and I decided to thank God for it, while it was still unseen. I made a quality decision not to back down from it, too! There was no other way this was going to turn out. Every single time I felt pain, I immediately went into thanking God for my healing and praising Him for what He has done for me.
We can do this in any situation. We can decide to look at the Word and see what God has for us and thank Him for it. Yes, thank Him for things that we don’t even see yet. We as believers are not moved by what we see or feel, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We stand on His Word, not by the things around us that are temporary. Those things are subject to change. The Word of God does not change! Healing, restoration, provision does not change! Why? Because God supplies all of these things in His Word.
So consider next time when a trial or tribulations comes to attack you. Are you staying in thanksgiving? Or are you deciding to be unthankful? We as believers have to develop lifestyles of thanksgiving. And thank Him for everything and in all things. PTL.