Alive

On April 25, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 1: 1, 14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.

The reason I send you a scripture each day is because I believe the Word of God has the power to improve your life. The Word of God is alive and powerful. It is not just a collection of writings by a bunch of dead guys. The Word is Christ. He was the Word and was with God and He still is the Word. He is life and power.

You see, too many people think the Bible is just a book. But to Christians it is so much more. We can understand it at great depths depending on our own level of development. As we grow, we understand it to be a “how to” manual on how to live in this earth, a book of promises, our covenant, and it is the sword of the Spirit. The more we grow and learn the more we recognize it as vibrant and animated. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4: 12a). The sword of the Spirit is not some dead thing. How much good would that do us? It is alive and viable even to the separating of joints and marrow (Hebrews 4:12b).

To those who believe the Bible is just a dead book they will only be able to get theology and philosophy from it. But, for those who understand that it is alive and that it is part of the trinity in the person of Jesus Christ, then it is life and hope and power and salvation. It is the light in dark places and deliverance in the storm. It is the answer to life’s problems and the herald of the new life.

Do not let yourself be deceived into devaluing the potency of the Word of God and the power that it can have in your life today. Grab hold of it in Spirit and truth and let God’s Holy Spirit lead you into all truth and into victory. Live your life on the Word of God and let it breathe life into every area of your life. It is not just a book. It is the life, the light and the way.

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Show Me

On April 24, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 14: 23

If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.

I don’t know where I first heard it said but this statement has always stayed with me, “Don’t just tell me you love me, show me.” That is what I hear when I read today’s verse from Jesus. Don’t just tell me you love me, show me by keeping my word.

Many people identify themselves as Christians but then there are some who are actually trying to live the Word. Now, that is an entirely different matter. Keeping Jesus’ Word means that first you need to read it. Okay, we lost a few there. You guys read the WORD of the Day every day. You are doing something that we can’t get a lot of “Christians” to do. That is to partake of the Word every day. This is a first step. One cannot keep Christ’s Word if they don’t first take it.

By “keeping” his Word, Jesus meant that we should do what his Word says. If he says, “Fear not” then we must learn to trust in him. When the Word says, “Pray without ceasing,” we have to become people who pray, and often. We are told to roll our cares over to Him which must mean that we should not “take” care. Do not judge and forgive your enemies aren’t suggestions but rather requirements of love.

“If you love me, he says, “you will keep my word.” So, we must challenge ourselves to learn what his word says and then do it. I am not trying to convince you it is easy to follow the word but we have him to help us and all things are possible with him.

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Amalgamation

On April 23, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 3: 18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

I was thinking about this verse last week, so I looked it up. You know, it is even better than I remembered which is a lesson unto itself. Don’t rely on your memory when it comes to verses because, just as happened with me last week, Father will show you something new or deeper in it. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, not by having “heard” the Word. That is an important distinction.

Last week when I went to my Bible to look at the part about the mirror, I was captivated by the word transformed. When you look in a mirror, whose image do you see? Really, that is a bit of a trick question because you are being transformed, bit by bit, from glory to glory. So now, with that I mind, whose image do you see? If you said your own, you are right but if you said Jesus, then you are righteous. I remember one time telling a friend that Jesus looked good on her. It was funny how that came out but after some thought I realized that Jesus showing through is exactly what transformation should be.

After you are born from above, you begin a transformation process. We are supposed to be transformed through the renewing of our minds (Romans 12: 2). Of course, that is elective. You can be born again and become a Christian couch potato. God has called us to transformation though. Remember that He said to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2: 12). The Bible does not say, lay on the couch and I will rain salvation down on you and transform you while you watch TV. Nope.

As you enter into this transformative process of renewal by the Word of God, the image in the mirror begins to change. The image of you begins to blur a bit and a shadow image begins to emerge. Bit by bit, and from glory to glory the image in the mirror begins to look a lot more like Jesus and a whole lot less like the old you. Hallelujah!

And don’t miss the last bit of this verse. The glorious transformation of our former selves into a glorified version comes by the Lord, who is the Spirit. The mention of the Lord being the Spirit is relevant to the rest of the verse, but it also stands apart as its own revelation. Many of us have not quite figured out, beyond a theoretical sense, that the Holy Spirit is Lord. In the Old Testament believers called God, “Lord,” and they were not wrong. Today we call Jesus, “Lord,” and that is right but now comes the third revelation in the series. The Holy Spirit is Lord. He is God. So, the Holy Spirit, who is God and who is Lord, is the one who is transforming each of us into the very image of Jesus. You will increasingly become the Jesus version of yourself, the glorified version of yourself as you cooperate with the transformation process of the Holy Spirit. He in you, you in Him, forever. You become an amalgamation; no longer just the human, flesh version of yourself but forever a divine version of you and Jesus together as one. Isn’t that amazing? Joining with Jesus; branches grafted into the vine; this is our right and our divine destiny. Amen!

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Face to Face

On April 22, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 16: 10 – 11           TPT

For you will not abandon me to the realm of death, nor will you allow your Holy One to experience corruption. For you bring me a continual revelation of resurrection life, the path to the bliss that brings me face-to-face with you.

I am not ready to leave behind the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Perhaps you are still in the Easter mood, or if you prefer, Resurrection Sunday. Forgive me if I still use the term Easter. I guess I am nostalgic about the whole Easter season, as an event that encompasses more than one day.

We’ve kept with our Monday psalm, but I went back to the sixteenth psalm just to think a bit more about Jesus and the resurrection. David wrote this psalm and it seems pretty clear that he was moved by the Holy Spirit to write these words. He wrote that God would not allow His Holy One to experience corruption. Other translations say that God did not allow His Holy One to decay. Though David wrote this long before Jesus was born, he had a revelation about the Messiah’s journey in the earth. Jesus had to come and had to die and be buried as any other human, but God did not leave him in the grave. He never experienced decay because life returned to him and, as you know, he arose from death to live evermore. There is great exultation in that event. It is fascinating that David celebrated it long before it became a reality.

Truly, as we read this psalm, we can hear that it speaks of Jesus and us at the same time. Because we are in him, his resurrection is ours too. David wrote that we can have a continual revelation of resurrection life. The life that Jesus died to give us is continually, day by day, being revealed to us. There is more resurrection life than we first realized, in other words. The revelation of the fullness of life Jesus give us takes a lifetime and beyond to realize. It keeps getting better and better as that revelation brings us face to face with the Father. We are intended to dwell in his presence continually. So, the day after resurrection day is a whole new life for us. What the Father did on that momentous day has given us life and today we live in the resurrection life of Jesus. It is eternal. There is no death in it because Jesus will never die. He died once for all and death has been defeated.

Today, you can live in the presence of God because of what He and Jesus did for us on that fateful day. Father wants us all to live face to face with Him. We can live in a bigger and bigger revelation of what that means daily. What is it to be face to face with God? What does God have in mind? As you continue to revel in the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection, ask yourself what living in the continual revelation of resurrection life means in your daily walk.

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Waiting & Waiting

On April 19, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Samuel 16: 13

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.

David was anointed as the King of Judah and yet he spent the next years running around in the desert hiding in caves as he was pursued by Saul. Paul had an amazing transformation and was called by Jesus to be an apostle. The next thing that happened to him was a long stint in the desert. He was called, anointed and then put up on a shelf. Even Jesus said, “My time has not yet come,” (John 2: 4). The moral of these stories is, even when you are called by God, even if His prophet anoints you with oil, don’t be surprised if you are not immediately launched into your ministry.

When Samuel anointed David, the text tells us that the Spirit of God came upon David mightily. We all know that Paul lived in the anointing of the Spirit. Why, then, did David spend the next several years running from Saul and hiding in caves? Why didn’t Paul, with all of his great Jewish training and the anointing of God, immediately begin to preach the Good News? There is a time of preparation, a time of learning. There is also the waiting upon the timing of the Lord.

God knows times and epochs and we do not. He sees what is going on in the world as well as the happenings in the Spiritual realm. He has all the data, but we only see in a mirror dimly (1 Corinthians 13: 12). Besides that, once we surrender to the calling, then He begins to transform us into the person He sees. We need that time in the Word and time before Him. So, don’t worry if God has called you but you don’t see anything happening. If that is your situation, you are in very good company.

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Robe’s Edge

On April 18, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Samuel 24: 5 – 7

But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.” So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.

There is some good advice here, don’t mess with the Lord’s anointed. The Pharisees should have read this passage. If they had, they wouldn’t have messed with Jesus. Jesus is the anointed one.
I wonder what the rest of the life story was for those who sent Jesus to the cross. Don’t you imagine the seed of their actions grew up and produced a harvest. I bet none of them lived out the number of their years.

We all are anointed in Jesus, every one of us, even those who are not ministers. We carry a piece of his anointing. Although the anointing of Christ is not limited to ministers, I think looking at this group makes it is easier to see the dynamic. Some ministers have a healing anointing more than others. Some are more prone to prophetic utterances while still others move in words of knowledge and words of wisdom. They have all been anointed by the Holy Spirit to work in Jesus’ ministry. Their specific anointing isn’t actually “theirs.” It is Jesus’. He has sent us to carry out his ministry.

I really appreciate David’s respect for the anointing. Though Saul was deranged and clearly not following God’s leading, David still esteemed the office. Saul was chosen by God. At the time this story took place Saul was already in disobedience and God had already chosen David to replace him. Actually, Samuel had even anointed David with oil and proclaimed God’s favor on him as the King. Saul still held the office, though and David would not violate the Lord’s calling of Saul even in light of the passing of the mantle. It appeared God had placed Saul at David’s mercy but that is exactly what David showed Saul, mercy.

What would you have done if Saul had chased you all over the country trying to kill you? I fear what I would have done. Would I have had as much respect for Saul’s calling as David did? I think about that now when I hear people criticize their pastor. It makes me shiver a little, as if a lightning bolt is about to strike. I certainly don’t want the disfavor of God on me because I, in some fashion, attacked His anointed.

I think this verse creates a good pondering point. It’s not uncommon to hear about David’s sin but this story is so strong about the honor David showed God in everything. Yeah, he blew it as we all have, but he withheld his hand and his men when he could have solved his biggest problem with one strike. He honored God’s anointing on Saul more than he cherished his own peace and safety. Amazing!

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Trust begets Patience

On April 17, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Samuel 13: 7 – 14

Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear. 8 Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?” Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.” “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

This is a classic mistake. I call it getting ahead of God. I have done it more times than I care to admit. I know what is supposed to happen, so I help God a little. The priest, Samuel says of this kind of thinking, “How foolish.” Saul got out ahead of God because he lacked trust. I reckon I make the same mistake for the same reason. Sometimes we need to just keep our hands in our pockets and expect the Lord to do as He says.

Saul took things into his own hands when the priest, Samuel, failed to show up on the day expected. Have you ever known God to be late? We joke about God’s 11th hour timing because it often feels like He is late to the party. We begin to get anxious and if we don’t check ourselves, the next thing that happens is we begin to “do” something. In fact, we almost don’t care what we do as long as it is motion. You can blow the whole thing in this way.

In my life, God has often withheld step two just to keep me from getting ahead of myself and Him. I do what He has shown me to do and then wait. Right now, though, God has given me a full vision of a project, right down to some very small details. I am dependent on other people though, so I want to get my personality involved and push them a little. It has been a major challenge for me to just do what the Lord has shown me to do and then take my hands off of it. I really, really want to start pushing some buttons, but I know that I need to wait and trust God. He will do what needs doing at the exact proper time. Saul destroyed himself and lost the throne for himself and his family by doing things the way he wanted to do them. He wasn’t just impatient though; he was also arrogant. That is not a good way to approach a project the Lord has partnered with you on. It is best for you and your project to wait on the Lord. And when I say wait, understand that Hebrew word implies trust, i.e. that you await the Lord trusting that He has all well in hand. Be patient knowing the Lord’s timing is best.

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