Holy Hill

Psalm 87             GW

The city the Lord has founded stands on holy mountains.

2 The Lord loves the city of Zion
more than any other place in Jacob.

3 Glorious things are said about you, O city of God!

          Selah

4 The Lord says, “I will add Egypt and Babylon
as well as Philistia, Tyre, and Sudan
to the list of those who acknowledge me.
Each nation will claim that it was born there.”

5 But it will be said of Zion,
“Every race is born in it.
The Most High will make it secure.”

6 The Lord will record this in the Book of Nations:
“Every race claims that it was born there.”

          Selah

7 Singers and dancers will sing,
“Zion is the source of all our blessings.”

The Lord has built His glorious city atop the mountains. He has built us a home and every nation, every people will claim they come from that holy city, and it is true.

Life flows from that holy city. All life derives its sustenance from that holy hill because from there the Lord rules. He sends out His life force from His city to all the inhabitants of the earth and everything which has breath feeds, ultimately, on God, Yahweh as the source of life.

Zion is the source of all our blessings.” Everything that is good, every blessing comes down from the Lord. His reign is more like “rain” because He rains down His goodness upon us. Look up. He has glory and righteousness in His hands. Mercy and lovingkindness are His gifts. Everything good comes from above and is for the children of God.

In the end, all will look up and see the glory of God shining from the Holy Mountain. Light beams will radiate love and life from that Holy Hill and every person who has ever lived will know the truth. Love reigns supreme. Love rains.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Matthew 5: 44 – 45            NET

But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

You’ve heard that you are to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you and that is a good focus of this passage, but I particularly like verse 45 for two reasons. First, it tells us the reason for the mandate to pray and love, which is that we might be like our Father. Secondly, it teaches us the difference between love and judgment, loudly revealing our Father as one who loves.

After we get saved and Jesus begins to clean us up, it is easy for us to want to separate ourselves from the unrighteousness people and actions we see in the world. Unfortunately, we begin to judge those people and we separate the world in to we and they. This, our Father does not do. He loves the whole world, so much, in fact, that he gave His only begotten son so that NONE should perish (John 3: 16). Speaking of John 3: 16, do you know what the very next verse says? “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” By the way, those were words spoken by Jesus. God sacrificed His only son so that through his sacrifice, the world might be saved, not condemned.

God sent His blessing into this world and it will work for whomever will work according to the way Yahweh engineered it. Sometimes, the unsaved are better believers than we are and thus, succeed to a greater extent than we. This ought not be, but it is. We are too busy fussing at each other and judging other Christians and the unsaved that we fill our churches, and our own souls with doubt and unbelief.

God put spiritual and physical laws into the earth. Gravity is a great example of one of these laws. Gravity works the same on the wicked as on the righteous, doesn’t it? God sends His rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. He is constantly pouring out His best to anyone who will accept Him. He has also created laws which exist in the spirit realm. They too work for whoever applies them. He told us that whatever we believe, we can have (Mark 11: 23 – 24). He has told us to use our words to create our dreams and even that the power of life is in our tongues (Proverb 18: 21). Yet I find we are still running around spewing all kinds of garbage and unbelief from our mouths. Meanwhile, others are using God’s success system to great effect and they never give Him the credit. We are too worried about criticizing anyone who succeeds and making sure our pastors never have too nice a car to ever live in God’s overflow. We are afraid of being criticized ourselves. That is one of the reasons why so many Christians are so carnal. They look at the church and don’t want any part of it. They want Christ but they find the lifestyle of the heathen more attractive and they find more love outside the church than in it.

I don’t like it and I bet you don’t either. We’ve got to begin to take this gospel seriously. We need to buckle down and become students of the Word and believers. Then we need to do what the Word tells us. We need to commune with God and listen to His voice. We need to let the Holy Spirit guide us without getting all weird about it. Just quiet yourself down and listen to him.

None of us wants to be a part of this mealy mouth Christianity. None of us wants to see the unsaved surpassing God’s people using God’s own system. We are supposed to succeed and then give God the glory. And, we’ve got to stop judging one another and “those other guys.” Jesus said he didn’t come to judge the world so what makes us think we should. God sends the rain on both our crops, so He isn’t judging. He isn’t withholding His blessing. Our judgments are killing us while those we criticize are experiencing faith healing, financial prosperity and loving relationships. It is time we got over ourselves and seriously begin imitating our Father and learning His ways. Love is our mandate. Turn in your judge’s robe for a coat of compassion. Let love and acceptance color the way you think of all people, yes ALL, even those unsaved because God has not separated us into we and them. He is sending His truth to everyone who will listen. He is sending the nourishing rain to whomever will receive. Be blessed in the name and power of Jesus and live this gospel to the full. Receive God’s blessing and share that blessing with others. Let it overflow onto others, the good and the bad.

Sunshine

Proverb 4: 18

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. 

I have never seen this verse so big before. I have been helping my mother with the sale of her house, the purchase of a new house and the impending move. Do you know that old saying, “If it can go wrong, it will.” Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration but there have been many hiccups along this road. 

A minister friend sent this verse to Mom and me and it really is a good one. It means that despite the rain or the clouds the sun shines for the children of God. I would say, though, that it doesn’t shine for Christians. It shines for those who are in God, whose life is hidden in Him. Having said a salvation prayer isn’t the end all. It truly is the beginning. From that initial dedication of our lives to Christ we begin to learn to walk in him and to trust him for all the things of our life. One of the lessons we learn is to put ourselves in His hands and put our stuff: our problems, issues and cares in His “Inbox”. As we do this the clouds have to dissipate. It really is wonderful.

Look at this verse from the Good News Translation and be encouraged: “The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come.” Yahoo! There may be clouds, there may be rain but for the children of God the sun shines brightly. The brilliance keeps growing until it is as bright as it can get. That is our God and Father. Out of the midst of storms He brings sunshine. Hallelujah. It may be raining on others but the “sonshine” is on you. Glory!! Get a revelation of this and let it get down in your spirit. The people who will see this truth manifested in their lives are the ones who believe it and trust it. God wants to pour out sunshine on you so don’t look at the clouds. They aren’t for you. Set your eyes on the emerging sunshine. God is light and He has you covered.