No Lack

On March 8, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 34: 10

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.

You know, I really didn’t mean to get waylaid on this “seeking” thing. However, I just can’t seem to get away from it. Today’s verse gives us a really good reason to seek God, i.e. to avoid lack.

Young lions have the power to meet their needs. No beast can stand against them. Lions have even been known to take down elephants. So, if there is any animal with the power and ability to avoid hunger and lack, it is the lion. By contrasting us with a lion the author, David, wishes to show us that in God, we are better sustained and even more powerful than the king of the beasts. We should have no lack, no unfulfilled desire because our Father is the most powerful of all. He is the best provider available because there is no lack in Him.

We pretty much get all that. I don’t think there is much revelation in that for you. What seized me, though, is David’s near insistence that we should not be in want of any good thing. So, I ask you even as I ask myself, “Am I in want of anything?” I would wager that many of you responded affirmatively. We don’t have all we want, for sure, and we may even be lacking something we need.

We need to get out of our heads and into God’s because He is thinking about this far differently than we are. Many people would choke on the idea that God is set on fulfilling our wants. That goes against many people’s theology but not mine and I hope not yours. However, that is a first hurdle we must get over. Psalm 37: 4 reads, “Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” That doesn’t say needs, it says desires and that is just another way of saying he will give you your wants. One of the reasons we are not receiving from God is because we have yet to reconcile this point.

Living in God’s provision and His will requires us to make a monumental but sincere decision. Do we choose to believe God’s Word? Is the doctrine of our culture or even our church louder than what God says? When will I decide that I am going to take Him at His Word and live? Maybe you can answer that with today’s date. The first step is believing the Word on its face without reasoning it away.

Second, we must seek. It just seems we cannot get away from this. God wants to bless us but it is clear that He will not overstep what He considers healthy boundaries. It is up to each of us to establish this provision link with Him. Think of it this way, let’s say you are a business owner and you initiate a new relationship with another business. Perhaps you wish to begin purchasing supplies from them. First, you must contact them. They may have marketed themselves to you, but you still have to initiate the relationship. This is just like God and the Bible. He has sent out His pamphlets telling you what He has to offer. Now it is up to you. The next thing that usually happens is that you set up an account with that business. They get some information from you and you ascertain exactly what their procedures are. After that, you order what you want, and they ship it to you. They don’t initiate the relationship, they don’t just send you product and expect you to pay heed to them. That would breach protocol. There are ways things are handled and we all must play within the scope of accepted business practices.

In like manner, Father has sent His advertising. He has told you what is available, but it is up to you to seek Him out and place your order. People get weird thinking of placing an order with God but if He has already told you what the availability is doesn’t it essentially boil down to putting in your request? And isn’t that comparable to placing an order? We’ve got to come to Him on the terms He set out even if that means we are a bit uncomfortable.

I really like this idea that we need to get out of our heads and into His. Our preconceptions are not helping us, in fact, they are crippling us. What helps is knowing what Yahweh thinks and even what He feels. He has told us today, if we will seek Him, we will have no lack nor even any wants. That is pretty straightforward language, but can you accept it? Can you believe God at face value?

Lastly, if the mandate is to seek Him, and it is, then the question becomes, how shall you do that? This is where your pensive time may be spent. I offer one piece of advice as you begin what I hope will be for you a journey into deeper fellowship with the Lord. Begin by taking your own inventory. How do you spend your time? It is not true that you don’t have enough time to apportion some to the Father. That is a lie and Father doesn’t believe it. So, inventory your time. You need time for many things. Look at how you spend the time you have. How many minutes of TV time do you have a day? How much time do you spend on the internet, Face Book, computer games, and other apps? Be honest with yourself. Remember, we are trying to get your needs and wants met. What is interfering with that? If you cannot find ten minutes in your day to spend with your Father, then you need to overhaul your calendar and start over. Make it a priority today to seek Him.

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The Big, Bad Wolf

On March 7, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 34: 4

I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Fear is a pernicious emotion. It draws us into ever deeper dread, and it draws to us all sorts of negative experiences. Once fear gets a foothold in our spirits, it invites all its little buddies to come torment us as well. We may begin with a fear of spiders or of heights only to realize one day that fear lurks around almost every corner. That is its nature. It wants to invade every part of our lives and it will if we don’t resist it. Thank God that He is our provider in every sense.

In the context of yesterday’s verse, we looked at 1 Chronicles 28: 9, “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.” In Father’s never-ending quest to encourage and edify us, He sends us this good news today from Psalms. We discover that not only does He let us find Him but that He answers us and our needs in that moment. Going one step further, when we seek Him, He delivers us from those insipid fears that plague our heart. There is healing in His wings, so every encounter with Him brings healing. He touches our hearts, our minds and our bodies with His soothing touch. His love roots out fear even that which has been lodged in our souls for many years. There are two keys, though which will help dissolve those fears.

When we search for God with our hearts, then it is our heart which finds Him. This may seem like semantics but there is a very real principle involved. Searching with your heart opens your heart to Him. The alternative is to search for Him with our minds. I am not suggesting that is a “bad” approach, just not the most potent. If you search with your mind you will still find Him but you will learn about Him more than engage with Him. This is the case because you are presenting your mind to Him. It is best if we present our hearts to Him. Allow your mind, will, emotions and personality to aid you but go to the Lord, seek Him with your innermost being. That is your heart or more precisely, your spirit.

Second, relinquish your fears to the Lord. Begin in a space where you accept and acknowledge that fear has no place in your heart. Expect Yahweh to vanquish those fears. This scripture reveals that if we are afraid, we have need of deliverance. I think we live in a time when we have come to accept fear as part of life. That is the exact opposite of the message the Father is communicating to you. His intention is to deliver you from fear. This means that you must let go of it. That can be harder than it sounds because you are surrounded by people who, almost proudly, confess to being fearful of at least something. Secondly, you may have lived with fear a long time. The familiarity may make it difficult to release the hold it has on you and that you have on it.

Fear is, functionally, a distrust of God. We don’t think of it that way, but it is true. To live with fear is to say to God that you don’t trust Him. The fear of heights or whatever is stronger, bigger and louder than your faith in God. Does that sound harsh? It is not my intention that it scald you. There is, however, an even more accurate way to articulate fear, if you can bear it. Fear is faith in Satan. It is the acknowledgement that he has power in your life and over your life. Deny that obscenity. Faith in God vanquishes fear because there can be no fear where the love of God prevails. Fear is like the big, bad wolf in the story of the three little pigs. He was big and frightening but, in the end, he was overcome, defeated.

Therefore, whatever that area is where fear has taken hold, infuse it with the love of God which has the power to deliver. Speak faith words over it. Do not continue to confess fear but rather replace those fear expressions with ones of faith.

Father is on site to deliver you from all your fears. He has promised you that if you will seek Him, not only will He answer you, but He will give you His deliverance. Don’t live below the God level, the level of life Jesus died to give you. Do not tolerate fear in your life. It is not of God nor meant to be a part of you. Call on the Almighty to be a keeper of His promises and present your heart to Him for healing and restoration.

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Seek and Receive

On March 6, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 1: 17

. . . that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

A friend of mine was suffering from writer’s block. It is a most uncomfortable feeling. I thought, “I cannot afford writer’s block. The Word of the Day has to be delivered tomorrow morning at 5:00.” I have learned that our Father and His Spirit are supporting me every day in producing these “words” from Him and that I must relax and let Him lead me. Still, there are those days which present a bit of a challenge. Yesterday was one of those days. Most days I can pick up my Bible and read anywhere in it and He will show me a message. That was one of the premises of my book, Journey Through the Bible. Every book of the Bible has something to minister to us today. But yesterday, I read from Numbers, Proverbs and did a little jaunt through some of the New Testament books. Nothing. Then at 5:00 PM I opened my Bible and this verse jumped out at me. He did for me in that moment exactly what Paul prayed for us. He gave me a spirit of wisdom and understanding which revealed the Father.

My reliance is on the Holy Spirit. That doesn’t mean that I can always hear perfectly. Paul knew how we all struggle as we grow and stretch. He also knew what we need, namely the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of the Father. So here is the wisdom that I received. Even when I cannot feel the Father, even on those days when I am not receiving as well as others, He is right here with me and He is present to reveal Himself to me. He desires to show Himself to me so that I may reveal Him to you. He wants us to know Him.

Of course, I was seeking Him and His Word. So, even though I was tired and just a little less alert, He was able to speak to my mind and my heart. I hear in my heart, “seek me so that I may be found by you.” There are plenty of scriptures about seeking Him, but the point is that He wants to be found. Therefore, He encourages us to seek Him. I can’t help but thinking that His favorite game is Hide and Seek. Perhaps, though, someone should tell Him the rules because He is horrible at hiding. In fact, He hides in plain sight. One of my favorite “seeking” scriptures is 1 Chronicles 28: 9, “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.”

Paul started the church at Ephesus and he had a desire that his young church would grow in the things of God. Well, that is what every pastor wants. Therefore, Paul prayed this wonderful prayer, that God might give you this gift. I will tack on my prayer today to Paul’s and I pray that you might “receive” the “spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” Giving is one thing but receiving is an entirely different one so I pray that you receive. I pray for you today that God will fill you with knowledge of Himself. One thing I advise, seek Him.

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Listen

On March 5, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Numbers 2: 1 – 2

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting at a distance.

One of the grandest precepts for us to accept and subsequently incorporate is that we can hear the voice of God speaking to each of us. Especially on this side of the Protestant Reformation, we should be people who are zealous to talk with God and hear His responses. Yet, we have fallen into a pattern of “praying” to him and then walking away. It is vital that we each hear the voice of God so that we may be led according to all His good intentions.

In the Old Testament, people heard God speak. Obviously, God was able to be heard by these two. Yahweh laid out a complete picture of where each tribe should pitch its tent in the camp and the order by which they should proceed when they traveled. If you were to read chapter 2 of Numbers, you would find that there is great detail in the instructions given by God.

Consider the building of the Tent of Meeting. It was completely designed by God and communicated to people. They heard the voice of the Lord right down to the color of the fabric and precise measurements. How is it that they could receive such detailed instructions from God, and we struggle to hear His voice at all?

I hope you will engage that question. Why are we not hearing God speak? Why don’t we all have a strong dialogue with God? It is not His intention that we live separated from Him. His desire is that we live in Him and with Him. He even said that he wants to make his abode with us (John 14: 23). That means He wants to live with us. Wouldn’t it be odd for someone to live with us but never speak with us, for us never to exchange thoughts and ideas? That seems very odd and yet that seems to be many people’s experience. So, either, we haven’t allowed God to make His abode with us, He isn’t speaking or we aren’t listening. What do you think?

Maybe you should ask Father about this. Maybe you should ask Him if your joint communication is where He wants it. Of course, then you will need to listen for an answer. Be still, turn off the TV and the telephone and listen to the voice within you. Take a few minutes to create quiet in your environment, both on the outside of you and the inside. Then listen. If you have trouble hearing, ask Him to help you but as you ask, believe that He will answer. Then be still and listen. And be persistent. If you are not hearing God or not hearing Him as well or as frequently as you would like, then persist. I promise that if you will allow Him, He will teach you.

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Shine the Light

On March 4, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 43: 3        TPT

Pour into me the brightness of your daybreak!
Pour into me your rays of revelation-truth!
Let them comfort and gently lead me onto the shining path,
showing the way into your burning presence,
into your many sanctuaries of holiness.

Isn’t this beautiful? Can you see Father pouring His light into you, filling you with the light of revelation truth? Wow! That is an image to ponder. That shining light leads us from the inside out. I find that fascinating but also rational. Yahweh’s light within us leads us into all truth. It leads us onto the shining path. Lovely!

It is no big surprise that the shining path leads into the very presence of God. Jesus said he was the light (John 8: 12). He also said he is the way (John 14: 6). The way to what or whom? As “Christians” we sometimes focus so much on the Christ that we forget that he is the way to the Father. He is the light which always leads us to the Father. However, God’s light and revelation truth do more for us. They comfort us.

Did you know your Dad is in the comfort and encouragement business? A friend of mine was recently teaching about angels from her book, Everyday Angels (Kayembe, glorywaves.org). What I found so interesting is how she explained why angels in the Bible so often began their encounter with people with the words, “Do not be afraid.” She explained it was because these people were in troubling, even frightening, situations so the first thing the angels did was to comfort them. Can’t you picture God on His throne, dispatching an angel saying, “Go encourage them, tell them all is okay.”  That’s because He comforts and encourages us.

The light also protects you for where there is the light, there can be no darkness. We must endeavor to let God fill us to overflowing with His light. In His light is warmth, security and revelation. His burning presence must be like sitting by a warm fire on a cold day while reading a good book. It nurtures us, inside and out.

Bask in Dad’s glorious sanctuary today. Sit with Him by the fireplace and fill up on His voice and His presence. Let His light saturate your cells and even your DNA. Be restored in His presence by the light of His glory and revelation. And have a truly Great Day!

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Success Handicap

On March 1, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Mark 10: 17 – 22

As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

I have always been very attracted to this character, the rich young ruler. Maybe I relate to him at some level. There are some things we don’t know about this person, but I am going to be very glad to hear the rest of his story.

He approached Jesus to discover what he needed to do in order to inherit eternal life. The first thing which intrigues me about this fellow is that although he was very successful and even a ruler among the Jewish people, when he approached Jesus, he threw himself to his knees. There was humility in this young man and I think we see an honest devotion to God. He also attempted to show honor to Jesus by first calling him “teacher,” or in the Hebrew that would have been Rabbi, and secondly by tacking on the adjective “good.” Jesus rejected his adulation pointing, instead, to the Father. There is a full sermon right there.

Jesus referred the man to the commandments and when the man professed that since his boyhood he had kept the commandments Jesus looked at him. When Jesus looked at him he felt love for him. I think in that moment Jesus looked into the man and could see that he spoke the truth. All of his young adulthood this man had attempted to serve God and was devout in his faith. Jesus was moved by what he saw in this young man. The Passion translation reads, “Jesus fixed his gaze upon the man, with tender love,” (v. 21). Isn’t that moving? I have always imagined that this brief verse shows a powerful and dynamic love. It never seemed to me that it conveyed a casual or even typical emotion of feeling love. I have always sensed that there was something deep and important about the way Jesus looked at him and the emotive energy he conveyed towards the young man, as if that love was not a passive but rather a dynamic event. Jesus saw into the young person’s heart and was moved by what he saw there. He saw something else too. What was that?

Jesus said, there is one thing lacking in you. Can’t you imagine the young man hanging on Jesus’ words? He probably held his breath just waiting to hear what Jesus would say next. Jesus told him to go sell his worldly goods and follow him.

That is the invitation most of us would love to hear. It says that Jesus finds something within you with which he can work, something he finds attractive. He called this young man to be one of his followers. At this point in the narrative there are two interpretations. One is that what follows next identifies what the man lacked. The other interpretation is that in following Jesus, he was going to be led to that thing which he lacked. Regardless, the man stumbled right here.

Hadn’t he run to Jesus and cast himself at Jesus’ feet specifically to receive the answer to what he needed to do to inherit eternal life? Hadn’t he been so passionate about serving Yahweh and spending eternity with Him that he humbled himself before Jesus even though he was a man of means and influence. He had a passionate desire, a true longing. And yet, when Jesus told him what to do, he hiccupped. How much is that like each of us? We are very sincere, until he gives us an answer that does not fit into our religious paradigm. All of a sudden we are saddened and, like the rich, young ruler, we walk away with our heads bowed low.

If the young man was so absorbed with his eternal life, why was it not good news to him that he would have treasure in heaven? We think temporally rather than infinitely. The here and now dominates our existence and so it was for the young man. He was a man of wealth and success. He had been promoted amongst his peers because of his abilities. Now, as he knelt before Jesus, he learned that his trust was misplaced. He trusted in the might and the power of his hand. He knew how to succeed by his strength. Do you recall what Zechariah 4: 6 says, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”  Our trust and our success is supposed to be in God through the power of His Spirit.

The young man was given the invitation of all the ages, the offer to walk with Jesus. However, when Jesus told him he needed to sell all that stuff so he could go with Jesus he felt a twinge within him. What if I sell all my properties? What happens to my rent income? What will happen to me if I sell all my businesses and business interests? How am I to survive? See, he might have loved God, but he didn’t trust God to take care of him. He trusted in his own ability to provide.

And this is why I think I feel so compassionate toward this fellow. There am I in the midst of his story. Where do I fix my trust? Do I trust God, or Jesus, to meet my needs on a daily basis? If I sell something or give it away, how will I then provide for my needs? There are some people who trust Jesus enough to do exactly what he says without argument. That is not me. I am still growing into that and perhaps today is the day that I can outgrow the rich, young ruler in me. Maybe today is the day I can shuck the robes which he and I have in common and I can answer Jesus’ call to follow him for we know, do we not, that invitation has, in fact, been issued to each one of us and we have answered it only incrementally. Perhaps today is the day we say, “Yes, Jesus.” I am not saying that you need to sell all your earthly goods. You just need to do what Jesus is telling you to do and I need to trust him with what he is telling me. Maybe you do need to give away something. Maybe Jesus has been trying to redirect some of your money or your time for awhile now.

I also like to think that, like us, the rich, young ruler, after he had time to evaluate and pray, did return to Jesus. Most of us stumble but that is not to say we can’t get up and brush ourselves off and begin again. That is where you find the champions in people. It’s not when they do that which is easy for them, it is when they choke on it but do it anyway. It may take a day or two, or month or two, or even a year or two of praying before we renew ourselves to the point that we overcome ourselves and follow Jesus’ leading.

So, I ask you not to look too disparaging on this young chap. Just know that he represents a part of each of us and then fix your hope on Jesus. I believe the young man was eventually able to overcome his fear just like I believe you and I can rise to the challenges Jesus poses to us. He was handicapped by his trust in his own abilities and his success. What handicaps us? Jesus can cause us to rise beyond those things which attempt to restrain us. We can be renewed in our innermost being to live out the dream God has for us. We have the ability to trust Yahweh fully.

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No Power to All Power

On February 28, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 28: 18          NMB

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, all power is given to me in heaven and in earth.

So, if, as Jesus said, all power was given to him, then why could he do nothing in and of himself? Is this a perplexing problem or a simple question? Remember from yesterday’s Word of the Day that John 5: 19 records Jesus as saying that he could do nothing of himself. So how was he able to perform so many miracles? The answer is, he was given all power when he was given the Holy Spirit. Recall that the Spirit of God came and rested upon him at his baptism. From then on, he walked in the power of the Holy Spirit rather than in his power.

I hope that brief recitation paints a picture in your mind. It can be very perplexing to think of walking as Jesus did, living as he did and carrying on his ministry, which is what we are all called to do. We try, in vain sometimes, to imagine what walking in and with the Spirit looks like. The good news is that we can look at Jesus. He has already modeled it for us. He was just a man, and by his own admission a powerless man. He couldn’t do miracles in himself. He was so aware of human shortcomings that he said that in and of himself he could do nothing. I can relate to that, can you? Doesn’t it seem sometimes that even the simplest things take more power and energy than we can produce?

The brilliance is in understanding we were never meant to stand on our own. It turns out, even to my chagrin, that individualism is a farce. We are not individuals. We are constituent parts of a whole and meant to be woven into the very fabric of our father. Actually, you know that we are called the body of Christ, each of us an important part of the whole. We are also the house of God; “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ,” (1 Peter 2: 5). Jesus is the high priest who will offer spiritual sacrifices to God in the temple. It turns out that we are that temple.

My point is this. You were never designed to function on your own. That’s like a one person basketball team. You were created to function as a team; with all the rest of us but more importantly, in harness with the Holy Spirit of God. If we, as the body of Christ, as his spiritual house can grasp this, we can, and I mean this literally, change the world overnight. When we lay hold of this concept our lives will change dramatically as well as the lives of every person around us. You will not be able to contain yourself or that power resident within you. You become a world changer like Jesus. Everywhere you go, he will exude from you. I want so much for us to be that functioning body that Jesus is looking for. It isn’t only up to me. More importantly, it is up to “we.” The world changing phenomenon is in us, and we are learning to walk in the Spirit and emulate Jesus. If we are to ever be true disciples, that is what is called for.

Of yourself, you can’t do much, but then, Jesus said the same of himself. He was given a gift, though, a gift which not only changed him but changed the world. That was the gift of the Holy Spirit. If there is any one message of this age it is that we need to embrace the Spirit of God and walk with him daily. We need to meet this third part of the Trinity and know him as we know and love Jesus. Though you can do nothing on your own, you can do all things with him. That includes caring for your family and being successful in what God has called you to do.

Make this your Spirit day. If you don’t feel you have a relationship with him, make this your day. If you know him, decide to go deeper with the Holy Spirit today. Determine to walk every step with him and purpose in your heart that he will be in your every breath.

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