If we are going to be the men that God is calling us to be what role does courage play in this process Let's look at the story of Joshua and the children of Israel as they prepare to enter the promise land to see what we can learn from them.
Joshua 1:2 God tells Joshua that Moses is now dead and that it is now time for the children of Israel to step up to the call of God and go and posses the land that they should have inherited forty years earlier. The death of Moses signifies the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. The children of Israel need to put the past behind them and "arise' or go to a higher level so that they can now go in and posses the land. The same applies to us as God calls us to serve him, we need to forget our past mistakes, and were we have let God down, be prepared to step up to the next level, and go on and posses the land that God is giving us. In verses 3-5 God promises Joshua that he will give them all the land, that where ever they tread that land will be theirs. He assures them that the people that are already in the land will not be able to stand before them. As Christs Church, we too are called to go into the world and establish Gods Kingdom or authority where ever we go. We don't face a physical enemy, our enemies are spiritual but remember Jesus said he would build his Church and that the gates of hell would not prevail against us. As we go about establishing Gods Kingdom in our world then the kingdom of darkness will not be able to stand in our way. That does not mean that we will not face spiritual battles because we will, in the same way that Joshua and the children of Israel were going to face their enemies in taking possession of the land God was giving them.
Joshua 1:6-9 These four verses show us the keys to being successful in doing all that God is calling us to.
In this passage God tells Joshua that he is going to have be strong and courageous if he is going to do all that God is calling him to. The word courage means, to be steadfast in mind, strengthened, to prevail, to be alert.
God tells Joshua that they are not to let the word of God depart out of their mouths and that they are to meditate on it day and night and that they as they do that then they will be able to do all that it tells them to do. This is the key to their success, their speech, their thoughts and their actions are all to be based on Gods word. As they do this then God promises them they will succeed in all they do. The same applies to us as we go about Gods business in our daily lives, we are going to have be single minded in our attitude to Gods word. Like Joshua we are going have to meditate in Gods word day and night, watch what we say and make sure that we only speak out what lines up with Gods word, remember death and life are in the power of the tongue. We either speak life or death over our lives and the lives of those around us.
We notice something very interesting in verse nine God says to Joshua "Have I not commanded you? be strong and of a good courage; do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you where ever you go" God challenges Joshua here by asking him the question in the first part of the verse to realise that this is not an option. we do not have a choice in this, if we are going to succeed in what God is calling us to then we must rise to the next level, be strong and courageous, to do that then we are going to have to make Gods word our number one priority. We cannot afford to be slack or lazy in this. God says to Joshua "Do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." If we slacken off in our commitment to what God is showing us here then we potentially open ourselves up to fear and if that fear is allowed to continue we will become dismayed, and the word dismay means to be prostrate by violence or confusion or fear, to be beat down or discouraged. Remember we have any enemy who only has one agenda, and that is to destroy us, to stop us from establishing Gods Kingdom in our world.
So let us all be encouraged that God has called us to men of courage, men of great strength spiritually, men who can achieve all that he has called us to be. Remember what the Angel said to Gideon in Judges 6:12
"The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor" Let us all arise, go to the next level and see our God do great exploits in our world. AMEN.
Monday, 2 December 2013
Saturday, 12 October 2013
TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT.
I have entitled this post ten minutes to midnight, what I want to look at is how ready are we really for Jesus coming back ?
MATTHEW 16:13-19.
In this passage Jesus starts out by asking his disciples this question "Who do men say that I am" and they replied by saying that some people said he was John the baptist, some said he was Elijah, some said he was Jeremiah or one of the prophets. The truth is if you ask people today who is Jesus you will get many and varied answers. The world, that is those outside of Christ, don't know who he really is.
Jesus then asks them the defining "Who do you say that I am?" The reason for Jesus asking them this question was to see if their understanding of who he was different from the world. Had they got the revelation of who he was, because as we will see, their understanding of who he was would be critical in the work that they were about to be sent out to do. Peter replied "You are Christ, the son of the living God" Jesus then tells Peter that is understanding did not come from man, but his Father had revealed this truth to him, and that he would build his church on the revelation of who Jesus is.
It is critical that we understand this, because the church that Jesus is talking about is not made of bricks and mortar, you and I are the church, living stones being built into a Holy habitation for the Lord. Jesus then tells his disciples that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. Gates speak of a place of entrance and a place of authority. Jesus the tells them that he will give them they keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and that whatever the bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever they loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. We will come back to what Jesus is talking about here a bit later, but it's enough to say at this point that Jesus is preparing them for when he is crucified and his resurrection, and then ultimately when he commissions them to continue the work of building Gods Kingdom.
MATTHEW 28:18-20 MARK 16:15-18.
These two passages of scripture obviously come after Jesus was crucified and his resurrection, and this is where Jesus gives them the commission to go out into the world and build Gods Kingdom. We see in Matthew 28:18 that Jesus says that all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to him. Through his death and resurrection Jesus has now taken back the authority that Adam had handed over to Satan in the garden when he sinned. Remember God created Adam in his own image and likeness and gave him dominion over creation and the earth. Adams commission was go into all the earth, subdue and fill it, sound familiar? but when he believed Satans lie and sinned he gave his authority to Satan, Satan became the god of this world. Now the word world does not mean the earth, it means the cosmos, or order of things.
So Jesus says to his disciple "Go therefore and make disciples". He is now telling them that they are to operate in his authority, they now have his authority to establish Gods Kingdom in the world. We cannot establish Gods Kingdom in our world unless we understand that we can only do it in his authority. In the passage in Mark 16 he says "And these signs would follow those who believe; in my name they will cast out demons......." the term "In my name" means in my authority, in my place, it is as if Jesus was there in person.
This whole process of going into the world and making disciples is all about establishing Gods Kingdom in the world. We know that there is only two spiritual kingdoms, Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of darkness. Where ever Gods kingdom or authority is not established, then Satans kingdom will rule, remember we were all born dead in our sin, separated from God and in Colossians 1:13 tells us that now through Jesus we have been translated from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of Gods own son.
Remember what Jesus said, that he would build his church and that the gates of hades would not prevail against it, well the church that Jesus is talking about is those believers that are out there actively and deliberately going about their lives and building the Kingdom of God in the process, those believers who are walking in the authority that Jesus has given them. They have the true revelation of who Jesus is, know who they are in Christ and know what their part is in establishing Gods Kingdom in their part of the world.
ACTS 3:3-6, 4:7-10.
This passage is a classic example of Gods Kingdom coming into a mans life, and how Jesus authority works. The man sitting at the temple gate begging for money, Peter and John come on the scene, Peter says to the man,"Look at me", in that Peter is able to get the mans attention, to get his mind off his situation, Peter tells him he does not have any money but he will give him what he does have, and his says "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazereth rise up and walk". We see after he is healed Peter and John are dragged before the authorities and questioned about what happened and by what power they had healed the man, Peter tells them that it was in the name, or authority or power, of Jesus that he was healed. Gods Kingdom coming to displace the power darkness had set this man free.
JOHN 10:10.
As we have seen there are only two spiritual kingdoms in this world, and Satan in this verse is called the thief and he has only one agenda and that is to destroy our lives so that we will not fulfill the destiny God has planned for us. His strategy his to steal the word out of your life, to kill the fruit of the word and the fruit of the Spirit and then ultimately his desire is to destroy you.
1 PETER 5:8.
In this verse Peter warns us to be on our guard, to be vigilant to be aware of what the enemy is up to because he is roaming about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The point to look at here is that he is looking for people who he can devour, in other words there are those he finds that he can devour and those who he can't. The ones he can't devour are the ones who are standing strong in their faith, the ones who are vigilant and are not ignorant of the devils devices. Don't be one of the ones he can devour, when he comes knocking on your door don't accept the lunch invitation.
EPHESIANS 6:10-19.
This passage covers the armour of God, again shows us that we are in a spiritual battle, in verse 14 we are told to make sure that we are wearing the breast plate of righteousness. So why is this so important in light of what we are looking at? The Bible says that we are to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, the Kingdom of God is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost, Gods kingdom is a righteous kingdom because God is a Holy and righteous God, sin is the opposite to righteousness and it was sin that caused all the problems in the beginning. The breast plate is there to protect your Spirit, to protect your heart. Remember we are the righteousness of God in Christ and it is imperative that we walk in it. This is what maintains our spiritual integrity, Paul writing to the Christians in Rome said that the wages of sin is death, when we allow sin to reign in our lives it results in death in our lives, this is one of the ways Satan can steal the word out of your heart. He will use sin to undermine the authority of Christ in your life. we can never take sin lightly or underestimate the power it can have over our lives to destroy what God wants to do in and through our lives.
PSALM 84:10-11.
This passage shows us the importance of putting Gods kingdom first in our lives. David says that one day in Gods presence is better than a thousand days anywhere else, he would be a doorkeeper in Gods house than live in the tents of the wicked, why, because God is his sun and shield, God will give him is unearned, unmerited favour and pour his glory out on him and as David walks uprightly before God, God will not with hold any good thing from David. The word uprightly there is spiritual integrity. What does the breastplate guard? our spiritual integrity. God is not holding out on us, I believe we miss out on so much of what God has for us because we compromise our integrity. So where does that start?
PSALM 19:14.
In this verse David prays that the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart would always be acceptable in Gods sight because God is his strength and his redeemer. What we think about, what we fill our hearts with is so important, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, death and life is in the power of the tongue and we will eat the fruit of it. Guard your heart with all diligence for out of it flows the issues of life. We either speak life or death, blessing or curses, this is so crucial in our lives because Satan will establish strongholds in your life if he can through what you think about, and what you confess over your own life, and the lives of others. Remember we are about building and establishing Gods kingdom in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. If Satan can establish a stronghold in your life and can, in some way, control your thinking the he can control you, remember his strategy is about stopping you from being effective for Gods kingdom and ultimately to destroy you.
2 CORINTHIANS 10:4-5.
This passage shows us the enemies strategy in trying to establish strongholds in our minds, but the weapons of our warfare our divinely empowered to tear these strongholds down. We do that by casting down all the arguments and thoughts that try to lift themselves up above what Gods word says. This is how Satan caused Adam to fall in the first place. He introduced the thought to Adam and Eve that Gods word could not be trusted by asking the question "Did God really say that". He brought Gods word into question and suggested that God was holding out on them. His strategy has not changed, how often do we hear people, even Christians questioning the truth of Gods word. The moment we allow thoughts or ideas to take the place of what Gods says and then act in accordance to those things we compromise our spiritual integrity. we see an example of how this works in the Gospels, in Matthew 13:58 it says that Jesus could do very few miracles because of their unbelief. Remember the miracles that Jesus did demonstrated the power and presence of Gods kingdom, but because of the unbelief of the people, Jesus was unable to perform the miracles, it was not a case of God with holding anything from them. This same thing can happen in our lives and the lives of others if we compromise our integrity by doubt and unbelief. It is our responsibility to make sure that our thoughts and then ultimately what we do lines up with Gods word, remember it's the weapons of our warfare, not somebody else's.
JAMES 1:21-25.
This passage shows us how important it is to walk in the word of God and to guard our integrity. Remember sin is the enemy of our integrity, James says that we are lay aside sin and to receive Gods word with meekness or humility because Gods word has the ability to save our souls. The word save actually means to make us whole, spirit soul and body. 3 John 2 says "Beloved I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers." The soul is the centre of your mind, will and emotions. We can see from this how important that it is that our mind, will and emotions line up with the word of God, that our minds are renewed to what Gods word says. the Bible says "Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, that you may prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2) . James says that as we receive the word, that word will heal our mind ,our will and our emotions, we then need to apply that word and walk in it, and in so doing become a doer of the word. If we don't apply the word and walk in it we actually deceive ourselves, and believe you me there is nothing worse than being self deceived. A person who will believe their own lies about themselves is very hard to get to. If we do not deal with that sort of deception, it has the potential to destroy us quicker than just about anything else. We deceive ourselves into thinking that everything is okay, and that we are doing what God has called us to. When in actual fact all we are doing is building our own kingdom. The word shows us who we are in Christ and what we are to do to establish his Kingdom in our part of the world. It is only as we see the truth, apply that truth and then walk in that truth, that we can hope to prosper in the things that God has called us to do, it is as we do this that we will establish Gods kingdom in our own lives and in the world around us, in our sphere of influence.
JOSHUA 1:1-9.
This passage of scripture shows us exactly how this can work. Joshua is told by God that it is time to cross over the Jordan and to posses the land he has given them. This is very much a parallel to us, the children of Israel have come out of Egypt, which is a type of the world, they now are going into the land that God has promised them, Gods kingdom. We have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness, Egypt, and translated into Gods kingdom or our promise land. The children of Israel were to establish Gods rule in the land, to posses it, subdue their enemies and to fill it, and to live in accordance with Gods covenant.This is exactly what we are called to do. We see that Joshua is told that they are to meditate on Gods word, that it is not to depart out of their mouths, that they are to do all that is contained in the word and as they do this, and only this, then they will be successful in all they do.
JOHN 8:31-32.
These two verses again hold a major key to our success in our own lives. So often you hear Christians quote verse 32 "And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free" The reality is you have to also include what Jesus said in verse 31. "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples." One cannot truly call himself or herself a disciple of Jesus unless they are abiding in his word, that means to live, stay, not depart from, to do all in accordance with his word. It is then and only then that one can claim the promise of verse 32.
Let me say this at this point, I have said a lot about the importance of Gods word in our lives and the importance of living by that word, having our minds renewed by that word and being transformed by the word of God. It is important that you understand this, God will only hold you responsible to walk in the revelation that you have, as you read the word and pray, God will show you what he wants you to know at that particular stage in your life, but it is our responsibility to continue to read Gods word, to pray and seek Gods wisdom and direction for our lives through his word.
MATTHEW 16:13-19.
In this passage Jesus starts out by asking his disciples this question "Who do men say that I am" and they replied by saying that some people said he was John the baptist, some said he was Elijah, some said he was Jeremiah or one of the prophets. The truth is if you ask people today who is Jesus you will get many and varied answers. The world, that is those outside of Christ, don't know who he really is.
Jesus then asks them the defining "Who do you say that I am?" The reason for Jesus asking them this question was to see if their understanding of who he was different from the world. Had they got the revelation of who he was, because as we will see, their understanding of who he was would be critical in the work that they were about to be sent out to do. Peter replied "You are Christ, the son of the living God" Jesus then tells Peter that is understanding did not come from man, but his Father had revealed this truth to him, and that he would build his church on the revelation of who Jesus is.
It is critical that we understand this, because the church that Jesus is talking about is not made of bricks and mortar, you and I are the church, living stones being built into a Holy habitation for the Lord. Jesus then tells his disciples that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. Gates speak of a place of entrance and a place of authority. Jesus the tells them that he will give them they keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and that whatever the bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever they loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. We will come back to what Jesus is talking about here a bit later, but it's enough to say at this point that Jesus is preparing them for when he is crucified and his resurrection, and then ultimately when he commissions them to continue the work of building Gods Kingdom.
MATTHEW 28:18-20 MARK 16:15-18.
These two passages of scripture obviously come after Jesus was crucified and his resurrection, and this is where Jesus gives them the commission to go out into the world and build Gods Kingdom. We see in Matthew 28:18 that Jesus says that all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to him. Through his death and resurrection Jesus has now taken back the authority that Adam had handed over to Satan in the garden when he sinned. Remember God created Adam in his own image and likeness and gave him dominion over creation and the earth. Adams commission was go into all the earth, subdue and fill it, sound familiar? but when he believed Satans lie and sinned he gave his authority to Satan, Satan became the god of this world. Now the word world does not mean the earth, it means the cosmos, or order of things.
So Jesus says to his disciple "Go therefore and make disciples". He is now telling them that they are to operate in his authority, they now have his authority to establish Gods Kingdom in the world. We cannot establish Gods Kingdom in our world unless we understand that we can only do it in his authority. In the passage in Mark 16 he says "And these signs would follow those who believe; in my name they will cast out demons......." the term "In my name" means in my authority, in my place, it is as if Jesus was there in person.
This whole process of going into the world and making disciples is all about establishing Gods Kingdom in the world. We know that there is only two spiritual kingdoms, Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of darkness. Where ever Gods kingdom or authority is not established, then Satans kingdom will rule, remember we were all born dead in our sin, separated from God and in Colossians 1:13 tells us that now through Jesus we have been translated from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of Gods own son.
Remember what Jesus said, that he would build his church and that the gates of hades would not prevail against it, well the church that Jesus is talking about is those believers that are out there actively and deliberately going about their lives and building the Kingdom of God in the process, those believers who are walking in the authority that Jesus has given them. They have the true revelation of who Jesus is, know who they are in Christ and know what their part is in establishing Gods Kingdom in their part of the world.
ACTS 3:3-6, 4:7-10.
This passage is a classic example of Gods Kingdom coming into a mans life, and how Jesus authority works. The man sitting at the temple gate begging for money, Peter and John come on the scene, Peter says to the man,"Look at me", in that Peter is able to get the mans attention, to get his mind off his situation, Peter tells him he does not have any money but he will give him what he does have, and his says "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazereth rise up and walk". We see after he is healed Peter and John are dragged before the authorities and questioned about what happened and by what power they had healed the man, Peter tells them that it was in the name, or authority or power, of Jesus that he was healed. Gods Kingdom coming to displace the power darkness had set this man free.
JOHN 10:10.
As we have seen there are only two spiritual kingdoms in this world, and Satan in this verse is called the thief and he has only one agenda and that is to destroy our lives so that we will not fulfill the destiny God has planned for us. His strategy his to steal the word out of your life, to kill the fruit of the word and the fruit of the Spirit and then ultimately his desire is to destroy you.
1 PETER 5:8.
In this verse Peter warns us to be on our guard, to be vigilant to be aware of what the enemy is up to because he is roaming about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The point to look at here is that he is looking for people who he can devour, in other words there are those he finds that he can devour and those who he can't. The ones he can't devour are the ones who are standing strong in their faith, the ones who are vigilant and are not ignorant of the devils devices. Don't be one of the ones he can devour, when he comes knocking on your door don't accept the lunch invitation.
EPHESIANS 6:10-19.
This passage covers the armour of God, again shows us that we are in a spiritual battle, in verse 14 we are told to make sure that we are wearing the breast plate of righteousness. So why is this so important in light of what we are looking at? The Bible says that we are to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, the Kingdom of God is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost, Gods kingdom is a righteous kingdom because God is a Holy and righteous God, sin is the opposite to righteousness and it was sin that caused all the problems in the beginning. The breast plate is there to protect your Spirit, to protect your heart. Remember we are the righteousness of God in Christ and it is imperative that we walk in it. This is what maintains our spiritual integrity, Paul writing to the Christians in Rome said that the wages of sin is death, when we allow sin to reign in our lives it results in death in our lives, this is one of the ways Satan can steal the word out of your heart. He will use sin to undermine the authority of Christ in your life. we can never take sin lightly or underestimate the power it can have over our lives to destroy what God wants to do in and through our lives.
PSALM 84:10-11.
This passage shows us the importance of putting Gods kingdom first in our lives. David says that one day in Gods presence is better than a thousand days anywhere else, he would be a doorkeeper in Gods house than live in the tents of the wicked, why, because God is his sun and shield, God will give him is unearned, unmerited favour and pour his glory out on him and as David walks uprightly before God, God will not with hold any good thing from David. The word uprightly there is spiritual integrity. What does the breastplate guard? our spiritual integrity. God is not holding out on us, I believe we miss out on so much of what God has for us because we compromise our integrity. So where does that start?
PSALM 19:14.
In this verse David prays that the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart would always be acceptable in Gods sight because God is his strength and his redeemer. What we think about, what we fill our hearts with is so important, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, death and life is in the power of the tongue and we will eat the fruit of it. Guard your heart with all diligence for out of it flows the issues of life. We either speak life or death, blessing or curses, this is so crucial in our lives because Satan will establish strongholds in your life if he can through what you think about, and what you confess over your own life, and the lives of others. Remember we are about building and establishing Gods kingdom in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. If Satan can establish a stronghold in your life and can, in some way, control your thinking the he can control you, remember his strategy is about stopping you from being effective for Gods kingdom and ultimately to destroy you.
2 CORINTHIANS 10:4-5.
This passage shows us the enemies strategy in trying to establish strongholds in our minds, but the weapons of our warfare our divinely empowered to tear these strongholds down. We do that by casting down all the arguments and thoughts that try to lift themselves up above what Gods word says. This is how Satan caused Adam to fall in the first place. He introduced the thought to Adam and Eve that Gods word could not be trusted by asking the question "Did God really say that". He brought Gods word into question and suggested that God was holding out on them. His strategy has not changed, how often do we hear people, even Christians questioning the truth of Gods word. The moment we allow thoughts or ideas to take the place of what Gods says and then act in accordance to those things we compromise our spiritual integrity. we see an example of how this works in the Gospels, in Matthew 13:58 it says that Jesus could do very few miracles because of their unbelief. Remember the miracles that Jesus did demonstrated the power and presence of Gods kingdom, but because of the unbelief of the people, Jesus was unable to perform the miracles, it was not a case of God with holding anything from them. This same thing can happen in our lives and the lives of others if we compromise our integrity by doubt and unbelief. It is our responsibility to make sure that our thoughts and then ultimately what we do lines up with Gods word, remember it's the weapons of our warfare, not somebody else's.
JAMES 1:21-25.
This passage shows us how important it is to walk in the word of God and to guard our integrity. Remember sin is the enemy of our integrity, James says that we are lay aside sin and to receive Gods word with meekness or humility because Gods word has the ability to save our souls. The word save actually means to make us whole, spirit soul and body. 3 John 2 says "Beloved I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers." The soul is the centre of your mind, will and emotions. We can see from this how important that it is that our mind, will and emotions line up with the word of God, that our minds are renewed to what Gods word says. the Bible says "Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, that you may prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2) . James says that as we receive the word, that word will heal our mind ,our will and our emotions, we then need to apply that word and walk in it, and in so doing become a doer of the word. If we don't apply the word and walk in it we actually deceive ourselves, and believe you me there is nothing worse than being self deceived. A person who will believe their own lies about themselves is very hard to get to. If we do not deal with that sort of deception, it has the potential to destroy us quicker than just about anything else. We deceive ourselves into thinking that everything is okay, and that we are doing what God has called us to. When in actual fact all we are doing is building our own kingdom. The word shows us who we are in Christ and what we are to do to establish his Kingdom in our part of the world. It is only as we see the truth, apply that truth and then walk in that truth, that we can hope to prosper in the things that God has called us to do, it is as we do this that we will establish Gods kingdom in our own lives and in the world around us, in our sphere of influence.
JOSHUA 1:1-9.
This passage of scripture shows us exactly how this can work. Joshua is told by God that it is time to cross over the Jordan and to posses the land he has given them. This is very much a parallel to us, the children of Israel have come out of Egypt, which is a type of the world, they now are going into the land that God has promised them, Gods kingdom. We have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness, Egypt, and translated into Gods kingdom or our promise land. The children of Israel were to establish Gods rule in the land, to posses it, subdue their enemies and to fill it, and to live in accordance with Gods covenant.This is exactly what we are called to do. We see that Joshua is told that they are to meditate on Gods word, that it is not to depart out of their mouths, that they are to do all that is contained in the word and as they do this, and only this, then they will be successful in all they do.
JOHN 8:31-32.
These two verses again hold a major key to our success in our own lives. So often you hear Christians quote verse 32 "And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free" The reality is you have to also include what Jesus said in verse 31. "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples." One cannot truly call himself or herself a disciple of Jesus unless they are abiding in his word, that means to live, stay, not depart from, to do all in accordance with his word. It is then and only then that one can claim the promise of verse 32.
Let me say this at this point, I have said a lot about the importance of Gods word in our lives and the importance of living by that word, having our minds renewed by that word and being transformed by the word of God. It is important that you understand this, God will only hold you responsible to walk in the revelation that you have, as you read the word and pray, God will show you what he wants you to know at that particular stage in your life, but it is our responsibility to continue to read Gods word, to pray and seek Gods wisdom and direction for our lives through his word.
SO WHY IS ALL THAT I HAVE SAID SO IMPORTANT?
We all know that Jesus is going to return, we don't know when, but when he doe's come back he is coming for a victorious, faith filled church. In Ephesians 5:27 it says that Jesus wants to present to himself a church that is with out spot or wrinkle. We see in scripture a number of warnings to the church about its spiritual condition, we should not take these warnings lightly.
REVELATION 3:1-6
We see hear the warning that goes out the church in Sardis. This particular church is on the brink of dying spiritually, the warning is that they strengthen the things that are still alive in the church because their work has not been perfect, or what God was wanting them to do. Jesus warns them that he will come as thief in the night, and only those ones who have not defiled their garments, other words have continued to walk in righteousness, will walk with him in white. In verse 5 we see that there is the warning that some will have their names blotted out of the book of life. As verse 6 says we all need ears to hear what the Spirit is saying.
REVELATION 3;15-17, 20-21.
This warning is given the the Laodicean church, they have become spiritually apathetic, they are described as being neither hot nor cold, as a result Jesus will spew them out, every drank a luke warm coffee, doesn't taste good at all, well that is what it's like for Jesus if we are luke warm and not serving him with our whole hearts. The church is obviously a wealthy church financially and has become self reliant. As a result of that they don't see their true state, how they are wretched and spiritually poor, Jesus tells them to come back to him and get their wealth, the only true wealth from him. Then we see the famous verses in 21-22 when he says he is knocking on the door of their hearts, they have shut him out. These verses are not for the unsaved but for Christians who have become luke warm, apathetic, and self reliant, Jesus wants back into your lives, and again we see the warning in verse 22 about having ears to hear.
MATTHEW 7:21-23.
"No everyone who says to me Lord, Lord shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven. Men will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord Have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And I will say to them, I never knew you; depart from me you who practice lawlessness"
The fact that we can prophecy, cast out demons do miracles is no guarantee that we will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven when Jesus comes. The only criteria is that we are doing the will of God. Jesus calls the ones he dismisses as workers of lawlessness, that word can also be translated as workers of iniquity, people living in unrighteousness with no regard to Gods word. Living unrestrained lives, hanging onto sin, not walking in the fruit of the Spirit. Thinking that their religious life style will get them through. These ones are very much like the ones James talked about in James 1:22-25 who read the word and then don't apply it or walk in it, they become self deceived, and sadly at the end will miss out on Gods Kingdom.
So the question we must ask ourselves, and be brutally, when we do, Whose Kingdom are we building?
Our hearts prayer should be the same as David in Psalm 139:23-24. Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked ways in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting"
ARE YOU SPIRITUALLY READY FOR WHEN JESUS COMES BACK.
MATTHEW 25:1-13.
This passage deals with the parable of the ten virgins. We see that as they went out to meet the bridegroom, the bridegroom is delayed. Five of the virgins were foolish and took no extra oil for their lamps, the other five took extra oil, just in case they needed it. At midnight, when the call went out that the bridegroom was coming and the virgins went out to meet him the foolish virgins did not have enough oil for their lamps and had to go and try to buy more. When they returned they were not able to enter the wedding. It is interesting that when the foolish virgins returned the called the bridegroom Lord and he answered by saying,"Assuredly I say to you I do not know you"
We know that oil in the Bible always refers to the Holy Spirit, so we can see from this parable that when Jesus comes back he will be looking for people who are spiritually pure, that's what the virgins represent, but those who are also ready and prepared for his coming, even if he is delayed. Christians who are walking in the fullness of the Spirit. We can only walk in the fullness of Gods Spirit when our lives are surrendered to his word, and we are walking in what God wants us to be doing. We all have a part to play in establishing Gods Kingdom in our world. Like when the children of Israel went into the promise land God had them divide the land up into tribes and families, God has given you your area of influence, your family, your work mates, in your neighborhood, as you go out into the shopping centres, in your local church. Where ever you find yourself you have the opportunity to take Gods Kingdom and make a difference in someones life.
I believe at this point in time there is an urgency in the Spirit, God is looking for his church to rise up, to go the next level, for too long churches have just been religious institutions, Christians have seen their salvation as "fire insurance", being saved from going to hell. Your salvation is far, far more than that. God has delivered you into his Kingdom because he has got Kingdom business that you need to be about. My prayer is that when Jesus comes back, and as I have already said we do not Know the exact hour that will be, but we must make it our priority to be about our Fathers business. As I entitled this post,
TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT.
Thursday, 3 October 2013
FEAR; THE OPPOSITE OF FAITH.
MARK 5:22-36. In this passage of scripture we see the story of Jairus and his daughter. We see in verse 23 that Jairus begs Jesus to come to his house as his daughter is very ill, almost dead. Jairus says to Jesus "come and lay your hands on her, that she be healed, and she will live" Jairus knows that Jesus can heal here and so is motivated by this that he begs Jesus to come to his house. On the way there the woman with the issue of blood comes and touches Jesus and is healed. While Jesus is talking to her Jairus servant comes and tells Jairus that his daughter is dead and not to bother Jesus any further. Note what Jesus does in verse 36, before Jairus can say anything Jesus turns to him and says "Do not be afraid only believe", in Lukes version of this story Jesus says "Do not be afraid, only believe and she will be healed". Fear is the opposite of faith and where fear operates faith will be stifled. We know that they continued on and the girl was raised up.
2 TIMOTHY 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind."
Fear comes as a spirit to rob us of faith and to stop us from walking in what God has called us to. We know that faith comes through the word, as we hear it and then apply that word to our lives and walk in it.
MATTHEW 13:18-23. This is the parable of the sower of the seed. In verses 21 and 22 we see that when the seed is sown among the stones it is received with joy, it endures for a while but when tribulation and persecution arise because of that word the person falls away or stumbles. In lukes Gospel he refers to it as temptation. The temptation here is to doubt Gods word, we go through tribulation and persecution because we stand up for Gods word. We know that temptation does not come from God and so this is just the enemies attempt to rob Gods word from us and stop us from being fruitful in our lives.
2 CORINTHIANS 10:4-5. "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself above the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." Satans strategy is to build strongholds around our minds, if he can control your thoughts he will control you. Fear and unbelief is one area that he tries to use. Our strategy is to recognize his thoughts, his lies, his attempts to get us to doubt Gods word, to take those thoughts captive and cast them down, and then to walk in obedience to Gods word.
So we can see through these scriptures that there is a process that we all will go through, in Jairus case he believed that Jesus could heal is daughter and so she would live but Jesus saw the potential of the bad news to rob him of his faith and so stop his daughter from being healed, which would have resulted in her death.Just like Jairus, we will have times when we are trusting God for our miracle, and the enemy will try to stop it, it's at these times that it is so critical that we listen to what Jesus is saying to us.
Paul is encouraging Timothy to stir up the gift that God has given him, but he realizes that fear will try to come in and rob him of his destiny and so he encourages him to realize that fear is not of God and that he has no reason to be ashamed of the testimony that he has. We too can be encourage in times in our own life when fear tries to raise its ugly head and stop us, that fear does not come from God and we can rise up in the gifts and anointing that he has put in our lives and walk in our God given destiny.
In the parable of the sower we see how critically important it is that we have a good foundation for the word to be sown into, that our hearts be good soil and that we don't allow the lies of the enemy, that will come against us because we dare to stand up for Gods word, to rob that word from us, and so cause us to be unfruitful.
Yes we are in a battle, it is spiritual warfare but we have weapons that are divinely empowered to tear down the strongholds that the enemy will try to establish in our lives. So let us all be encourage to know that if God is for us, then who can be against us, and that no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper, and that every tongue which rises against us we shall condemn, because this is our heritage.
AMEN.
2 TIMOTHY 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind."
Fear comes as a spirit to rob us of faith and to stop us from walking in what God has called us to. We know that faith comes through the word, as we hear it and then apply that word to our lives and walk in it.
MATTHEW 13:18-23. This is the parable of the sower of the seed. In verses 21 and 22 we see that when the seed is sown among the stones it is received with joy, it endures for a while but when tribulation and persecution arise because of that word the person falls away or stumbles. In lukes Gospel he refers to it as temptation. The temptation here is to doubt Gods word, we go through tribulation and persecution because we stand up for Gods word. We know that temptation does not come from God and so this is just the enemies attempt to rob Gods word from us and stop us from being fruitful in our lives.
2 CORINTHIANS 10:4-5. "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself above the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." Satans strategy is to build strongholds around our minds, if he can control your thoughts he will control you. Fear and unbelief is one area that he tries to use. Our strategy is to recognize his thoughts, his lies, his attempts to get us to doubt Gods word, to take those thoughts captive and cast them down, and then to walk in obedience to Gods word.
So we can see through these scriptures that there is a process that we all will go through, in Jairus case he believed that Jesus could heal is daughter and so she would live but Jesus saw the potential of the bad news to rob him of his faith and so stop his daughter from being healed, which would have resulted in her death.Just like Jairus, we will have times when we are trusting God for our miracle, and the enemy will try to stop it, it's at these times that it is so critical that we listen to what Jesus is saying to us.
Paul is encouraging Timothy to stir up the gift that God has given him, but he realizes that fear will try to come in and rob him of his destiny and so he encourages him to realize that fear is not of God and that he has no reason to be ashamed of the testimony that he has. We too can be encourage in times in our own life when fear tries to raise its ugly head and stop us, that fear does not come from God and we can rise up in the gifts and anointing that he has put in our lives and walk in our God given destiny.
In the parable of the sower we see how critically important it is that we have a good foundation for the word to be sown into, that our hearts be good soil and that we don't allow the lies of the enemy, that will come against us because we dare to stand up for Gods word, to rob that word from us, and so cause us to be unfruitful.
Yes we are in a battle, it is spiritual warfare but we have weapons that are divinely empowered to tear down the strongholds that the enemy will try to establish in our lives. So let us all be encourage to know that if God is for us, then who can be against us, and that no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper, and that every tongue which rises against us we shall condemn, because this is our heritage.
AMEN.
Thursday, 26 September 2013
KEYS TO OUR HEALING.
ISAIAH 53:4-6 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed.
This passage is Isaiah's prophetic vision of what Jesus would accomplish on the cross. We must note here that on the very same cross, on the very same day, Jesus not only paid the full price for our sins to be forgiven, he also paid for our emotional and physical healing.
Note that in verse five he says that by his stripes we are healed. In the old testament all the covenants that God established with his people from Adam, to Abraham, Moses, through law and the prophets were all given for one reason, to point to people to the promised messiah (Jesus). See Romans 3:21-26 and Galatians 3:24. God promised that if they walked in his covenants and in obedience to them they would have good health and that none of the diseases that they had seen in Egypt would effect them(Exodus 15:26). What Isaiah is saying is that ultimately their forgiveness and healing is the result of what God is going to do through the messiah but that they can now claim that healing through the covenants that God had established with them.
1 PETER 2:24 "He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sin, might live in righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed".
In this verse Peter quotes Isaiah 53 but note that he says that by his stripes you were healed. We must realise that the work of the cross was a complete work. There is nothing more God is going to do or can do to secure your forgiveness or healing. As far as God is concerned we are healed, it is now up to us to receive our healing in the same way that we receive our forgiveness.
MARK 11:24 "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
Jesus tells us in this verse that when we pray and ask God for anything we must believe that we receive it, and when we do we will have the thing that we have asked for. This is how our faith works, we ask and then believe that we have received what we asked for. In verse 22 we see that Jesus says "Have faith in God", then in the next verse he goes on to show us how to remove the obstacles that come against us. The key to it is to believe when you pray that you have received what you have prayed for and not allow doubt to rob you from receiving your answer.
HEBREWS 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see."
Faith is the currency of Heaven and it operates in the now, it is neither past tense or future tense. It brings into substance the things that we are hoping for. Hope here is not some half hearted belief that maybe something will happen or maybe it won't. Biblical hope is based on the inner assurance that Gods word is true and totally reliable and that all his promises are "Yes and Amen in Jesus". In the case of our healing the hope is "By his stripes we were healed", Faith takes a hold of of that spiritual truth, that inner assurance that we know this to be true and causes that healing to be manifested in our physical bodies.
POINT TO PONDER.
If someone comes up to you and asks you do you know that you are saved, and on what basis do you believe, would you have any doubt or problem in assuring them that you know that you are saved based on what Jesus has done on the cross?. As I have already pointed out it was on the very same cross, on the very same day that Jesus paid for our sins, he paid for our healing, so when the question arises "Are you healed" based on what Jesus did on the cross what should our answer be?
This passage is Isaiah's prophetic vision of what Jesus would accomplish on the cross. We must note here that on the very same cross, on the very same day, Jesus not only paid the full price for our sins to be forgiven, he also paid for our emotional and physical healing.
Note that in verse five he says that by his stripes we are healed. In the old testament all the covenants that God established with his people from Adam, to Abraham, Moses, through law and the prophets were all given for one reason, to point to people to the promised messiah (Jesus). See Romans 3:21-26 and Galatians 3:24. God promised that if they walked in his covenants and in obedience to them they would have good health and that none of the diseases that they had seen in Egypt would effect them(Exodus 15:26). What Isaiah is saying is that ultimately their forgiveness and healing is the result of what God is going to do through the messiah but that they can now claim that healing through the covenants that God had established with them.
1 PETER 2:24 "He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sin, might live in righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed".
In this verse Peter quotes Isaiah 53 but note that he says that by his stripes you were healed. We must realise that the work of the cross was a complete work. There is nothing more God is going to do or can do to secure your forgiveness or healing. As far as God is concerned we are healed, it is now up to us to receive our healing in the same way that we receive our forgiveness.
MARK 11:24 "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
Jesus tells us in this verse that when we pray and ask God for anything we must believe that we receive it, and when we do we will have the thing that we have asked for. This is how our faith works, we ask and then believe that we have received what we asked for. In verse 22 we see that Jesus says "Have faith in God", then in the next verse he goes on to show us how to remove the obstacles that come against us. The key to it is to believe when you pray that you have received what you have prayed for and not allow doubt to rob you from receiving your answer.
HEBREWS 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see."
Faith is the currency of Heaven and it operates in the now, it is neither past tense or future tense. It brings into substance the things that we are hoping for. Hope here is not some half hearted belief that maybe something will happen or maybe it won't. Biblical hope is based on the inner assurance that Gods word is true and totally reliable and that all his promises are "Yes and Amen in Jesus". In the case of our healing the hope is "By his stripes we were healed", Faith takes a hold of of that spiritual truth, that inner assurance that we know this to be true and causes that healing to be manifested in our physical bodies.
POINT TO PONDER.
If someone comes up to you and asks you do you know that you are saved, and on what basis do you believe, would you have any doubt or problem in assuring them that you know that you are saved based on what Jesus has done on the cross?. As I have already pointed out it was on the very same cross, on the very same day that Jesus paid for our sins, he paid for our healing, so when the question arises "Are you healed" based on what Jesus did on the cross what should our answer be?
ENTERING GODS PRESENCE WITH BOLDNESS.
Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
God here invites us to come into his presence, before his throne boldly. His throne is a throne of grace not of judgement. When we come to the throne God offers us both mercy and grace, mercy for the past and grace for the present and the future. The key here is that we come boldly before the throne. The word boldly means to come with confidence, assurance and without reservation. If we look at Acts 4:31 we see here that the disciples had prayed and asked God for boldness, and in this verse we see that the house that they were in was shaken and they went out and spoke the word with boldness. The word there for boldness is the same word that is used in our key scripture for boldly. When we come before Gods throne we come with praise and worship, we come in prayer and supplication, and when we come with boldness we come making a statement of praise, worship and faith. The word for boldness speaks also of outspokenness, unreserved utterance, freedom of speech.
When we come before Gods throne we come based on who we are in Christ, we come based on the finished work of the cross, that through what Christ has done for us we are no longer sinners, but we are now made righteous in Christ and that we our joint heirs with Jesus. We don't come grovelling before God, but we can freely enter into his presence, God accepts as his sons and daughters based on covenant relationship. We see two examples of this in scripture, the first one is King David and Mephibosheth, David was in covenant with Johnathon, Mephibosheths father and after Johnathon died David went and found Mephibosheth and brought him back to his palace because he wanted to show him the kindness of God and so honour the covenant he had had with Johnathon. David promises to restore back to Mephibosheth all the land that had been Sauls and he could eat at Davids table. Mephibosheth only sees himself as a dead dog, but David dose not see him that way, he sees him as a covenant partner and welcomes him into his home and to his table on that basis. The other example is the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15, the younger son had taken his share of his fathers inheritance and wasted it on wild living. When he comes to his senses he decides to return home and throw himself on his fathers mercy. Before he gets back to his fathers house his father sees him coming and runs out to meet him. The son tries to tell his father that he is no longer worthy to be called his son, but his father ignores what his son says. We actually see that before his son says anything the father has already had compassion on him, thrown his arms around him and kissed him on his neck. This action of greeting his son in this way is very important, in the culture of the day, and even today if a man greets an other man in this way it means that he totally accepts the other man as his friend and equal.
This is how God accepts us and welcomes us into his presence because of what Jesus has done for us. Far too often we hear people say that they are not worthy to come into Gods presence, this is not true, and actually is a denial of what Jesus has done for them on the cross.
So whether it be in your daily walk with Jesus, or when you go to church to worship him with your brothers and sisters in Christ can I encourage you at all times to come boldly before his throne, this is what he wants, this is what he invites you to do. The truth of the matter is, as far as church is concerned, how you come into his presence there is really a reflection of how you come into his presence during the rest of the week. If you are not one who is used to coming into Gods presence during the week you will find it hard on a Sunday, so I encourage you to start to make it a habit to spend time in his presence and know that you can come boldly before his throne.
God here invites us to come into his presence, before his throne boldly. His throne is a throne of grace not of judgement. When we come to the throne God offers us both mercy and grace, mercy for the past and grace for the present and the future. The key here is that we come boldly before the throne. The word boldly means to come with confidence, assurance and without reservation. If we look at Acts 4:31 we see here that the disciples had prayed and asked God for boldness, and in this verse we see that the house that they were in was shaken and they went out and spoke the word with boldness. The word there for boldness is the same word that is used in our key scripture for boldly. When we come before Gods throne we come with praise and worship, we come in prayer and supplication, and when we come with boldness we come making a statement of praise, worship and faith. The word for boldness speaks also of outspokenness, unreserved utterance, freedom of speech.
When we come before Gods throne we come based on who we are in Christ, we come based on the finished work of the cross, that through what Christ has done for us we are no longer sinners, but we are now made righteous in Christ and that we our joint heirs with Jesus. We don't come grovelling before God, but we can freely enter into his presence, God accepts as his sons and daughters based on covenant relationship. We see two examples of this in scripture, the first one is King David and Mephibosheth, David was in covenant with Johnathon, Mephibosheths father and after Johnathon died David went and found Mephibosheth and brought him back to his palace because he wanted to show him the kindness of God and so honour the covenant he had had with Johnathon. David promises to restore back to Mephibosheth all the land that had been Sauls and he could eat at Davids table. Mephibosheth only sees himself as a dead dog, but David dose not see him that way, he sees him as a covenant partner and welcomes him into his home and to his table on that basis. The other example is the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15, the younger son had taken his share of his fathers inheritance and wasted it on wild living. When he comes to his senses he decides to return home and throw himself on his fathers mercy. Before he gets back to his fathers house his father sees him coming and runs out to meet him. The son tries to tell his father that he is no longer worthy to be called his son, but his father ignores what his son says. We actually see that before his son says anything the father has already had compassion on him, thrown his arms around him and kissed him on his neck. This action of greeting his son in this way is very important, in the culture of the day, and even today if a man greets an other man in this way it means that he totally accepts the other man as his friend and equal.
This is how God accepts us and welcomes us into his presence because of what Jesus has done for us. Far too often we hear people say that they are not worthy to come into Gods presence, this is not true, and actually is a denial of what Jesus has done for them on the cross.
So whether it be in your daily walk with Jesus, or when you go to church to worship him with your brothers and sisters in Christ can I encourage you at all times to come boldly before his throne, this is what he wants, this is what he invites you to do. The truth of the matter is, as far as church is concerned, how you come into his presence there is really a reflection of how you come into his presence during the rest of the week. If you are not one who is used to coming into Gods presence during the week you will find it hard on a Sunday, so I encourage you to start to make it a habit to spend time in his presence and know that you can come boldly before his throne.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
SPENDING TIME WITH GOD.
Far too often people say that they don't have enough time in their busy lives to spend time with God. More often than not they will come home form work, have tea, spend some time with the family and then collapse in a chair in front of the t.v. I would like to suggest an alternative to just flopping in front of the t.v, that really does very little or nothing at all to enhance ones spiritual walk. Why not instead put on some good worship music or a good dvd, sit in your favorite chair and just simple say to God "I have come tonight just to meet with you, to spend this time in your presence, father I thank you for refreshing and your anointing." I will guarantee you without fail if you come with an attitude to meet with God and to hear from him he will meet with you were you are at. The Bible says that in his presence there is fullness of joy and at his right hand pleasures for ever more. It also says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. So it is pretty obvious to me that if you have no joy and so no strength in your life, then you need to get back and get into his presence, and the reality is we are meant to live our lives in his presence. Psalm 91 says that he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress. The reality is according to Ephesians 2 we are seated in Heavenly places in Christ, that is our rightful place.
I will guarantee you 100% if you will take the time to spend time with God, even in this simple way, that God will bless you beyond measure. All he desires is for us to come to him with the attitude of wanting to meet with him and spend time with him. He welcomes you with open arms.
I will guarantee you 100% if you will take the time to spend time with God, even in this simple way, that God will bless you beyond measure. All he desires is for us to come to him with the attitude of wanting to meet with him and spend time with him. He welcomes you with open arms.
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