Fire and Hammer

Ivey Rorie On January 5, 2017 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Jeremiah 23: 29

“Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

It is interesting to see how the Lord describes His word. In this passage the Lord was talking about the prophets. He was displeased because they were not telling the people what His word declares. He said in verse 28, “Let him who has My word speak My word in truth.” This is the job of the prophet. The mission is not to tell cute anecdotal stories and jokes. It is not the administration of the church. The basic function of pulpit ministers is to speak God’s word in truth. Why is this so? It is because the word is powerful.

What words would you use to describe fire? The word which comes to my mind is “consuming.” God’s word is consuming like fire. And why do you suppose God compares His word to a hammer. Is it because it is a tool with which a person can exert great force? Fire is full of power and energy as well. It seems that God is conveying to us that His word is a powerful force in our hands and mouths. He chastised the prophets because they were not equipping the people with the Word. The prophets were not giving the people that one tool which was able to overcome their problems.

What challenges are you facing right now? Make a list of them, actually write them out on paper. Don’t let your issue remain nebulous ghosts which haunt your waking and sleeping hours. Write them down. Now look at the list. Every single one of them has an answer in God’s word. Look in the back of your Bible for related verses for each. Search online, ask your pastor, ask me. There are answers. Don’t let those problems have free reign in your life. Light them up with the word. Burn ‘em down and beat them over the head with your Word hammer. The Word is more powerful than those challenges. Let’s get after them!

Jesus’ Baptism

Ivey Rorie On January 4, 2017 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

Matthew 3: 11

I baptize you with water for repentance but after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

It is a new year and with the new year, hope springs eternal. I pray that you have great expectations for this year. I pray that you are looking for new revelation and new challenge. There is something fresh and optimistic about the beginning of a new year. Let’s pray together that we can challenge our assumptions and reach for the fresh new revelation that the Lord has for us this year.

Today’s verse represents one of those areas where we may challenge ourselves and perhaps open the door for new insight into the Lord Jesus and his hopes for our lives. John the Baptist was speaking. He spoke about his ministry and about the one who was to come after him, namely Jesus. Each, it would appear, has a baptism ministry. John’s baptism was of water and that baptism was for repentance. Most of us are familiar with water baptism. In fact, most readers of this devotional have been baptized in a water baptism. The curious part of the verse is John’s description of Jesus’ ministry of baptism. He revealed that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. What does that mean? Honestly, we are much more familiar with John’s baptism than we are with Jesus’. There is something in that truth that rankles. Since Jesus is our Lord, it seems we should be more familiar with his baptism.

I am not going to suggest what I believe it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. Instead, I wish to offer this inquiry to you. This question can be our journey for the year. Each verse we read, each devotion may lead us into a deeper revelation of what John meant. Every word Jesus spoke may give us a glimmer into what it means to live in this baptism from Jesus. Each revelation from Paul and the other writers of the New Testament reflects on the ministry of Jesus even as the entire Old Testament was a prophetic forecast of the coming Messiah. My point is this, Jesus ministry is revealed in every Word from God. Every revelation since the beginning of time was intended to reveal the Messiah. Since the Messiah came to earth for the benefit of humanity, then each of these revelations was for the betterment of our lives.

I offer this question to you then, what is this baptism of Jesus? What is the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire and what was it intended to accomplish in our lives? The Messiah is come. In his wake is a plethora of gifts and anointing and revelation. What will Jesus show us this year about himself? What does he long for us to understand? Have great expectations and allow the Lord, our Christ and friend, to fill you this year with more of himself.

Essential Warfare

Ivey Rorie On January 3, 2017 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 10: 3 – 4

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

Well, by now you know that the weapons of our warfare are the Word of God and prayer. It is interesting to pause and think what our weapons are not. They are not gossip, backbiting, nor argument. Our weapons are not anger, harsh speech nor fisticuffs. You see, the picture that the Lord is painting for us here is one very different from that of which most of us are familiar. He teaches us that our methods for dealing with situations and people have changed because we are changed.

When people are angry with one another, they talk bad about the other person. They attempt to run that person down in the eyes of others. We love to talk about the horrible things they have done to us in an attempt to demonstrate what horrible people they are or at least how vindicated we are. God says that is not the way. It is not His way. We are not supposed to fight our problems, the devil nor the antagonistic and annoying people in our lives the same way that the world does. We are not supposed to use the methods that we have seen all our lives because that is not His way. He teaches us that His way to overcome problems and adversity is to pray and to use the Word of God. He tells us more than once that we are to pray for our enemies. We are supposed to be speaking His Word into and over the situation instead of reacting like we did when we were sinners. Now we are children of the King and we are supposed to act like it. We have the power of the kingdom behind us. All we need do is to speak the Word.

Fresh Start

Ivey Rorie On January 2, 2017 / Word of the Day / Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 5: 17 (NIRV)

The old is gone! The new has come!

Hallelujah! Old things are gone and it is a new day! Our old nature is gone and a new creation is born. Yesterday is firmly in the past and it is a bright new day. Last year is behind us and we have a brand new, clean slate upon which to write. The old things are passed away with all their sorrow and worry. If last year was a bit tough, fear not because it is a new day and we all get a do over. We can have new hopes and new dreams. They are not tarnished by last year’s failures, fears or lack. We get to start with a new, fresh, clean outlook. No matter how difficult your past, no matter what restraints hindered you last year or years previous, today is a new day and you get to write the story anyway you wish. Do not even consider your past as you look into your future. The old is gone! It is dead and passed away. Jesus says in Revelation 21: 5, “Behold, I do a new thing.” He makes all things new.

Were you ever hampered by low self-esteem? Did you have a disadvantage past? Were you subject to crippling fears, health challenges, loneliness? Well, I’ve great news for you today! That is all in the past. It is a new year and this new year has in its breath the hope of great and wonderful things for you. You can soar like you never before even dreamed possible. It has the hope of a future. It is a fresh, faced youth with no past only a bright and glorious future. It is forward looking and has belief in all opportunities and excited anticipation of the numerous and magnificent blessings the Lord has in store for you.

Don’t look behind you anymore. You do not have to carry your past into your future. It is dead and gone. Leave it buried. You are a new creation and you have a brand new start beginning today. Grab a hold of your newness. Embrace your own freshness. Let you be you perhaps for the first time in your life. Do not be what others made you to be, give free expression to the glorious creature God created in you. Don’t let age hinder you. Don’t let anything constrain you. You are God’s most glorious creation and He wants to see you soar on the winds the way he created you to. Past injuries? They are history. You are a new creature; born anew with no hurts or anxieties when you let the Lord, our God be your father; your dad. He is a great and wonderful parent who has re-birthed you. He has never and will never treat you in any way that would cause you injury or trauma. You are brand new today. Throw away all of the past and believe for your bright future. It is calling you. It is beckoning. Answer the call and Happy New Year!

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