Provisioned

On March 11, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Mark 6: 7 – 11

And he summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs; and He was giving them authority over the unclean spirits; and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belt; but to wear sandals; and He added “Do not put on two tunics.” And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.

Jesus sent out his disciples to preach the gospel. He sent them out without worldly goods yet with all they would need in order to fulfill their commission. Apparently, they had means, i.e. gold, silver, etc., otherwise he would not have instructed them to leave those things behind. Jesus provisioned them with the might and power of God. I notice that they still wore their money belts though. Did he expect that they would acquire money along the way?  

Jesus was teaching them a very important lesson while he was still here on the earth to help them if they failed. He was teaching them that the Lord, our God, would provide for them. When God calls you to a task, it is His responsibility to provision you. It is his job to care for all your needs. They were sent to preach the Word of God and minister to the needs of the people in the name of the Lord. That was the sum total of their responsibility. Whatever God calls you to do, put your eyes on that and take them off of your worldly needs. Learn to trust him for your daily needs and spend your energy going about the task He has set you.

Back to Top

Serenade for the King

On March 10, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 14: 6

I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Sometimes we really do not slow down enough to take account of all the Lord has done for us. When the world is swirling around you, it can be very difficult to notice all of the kindness your Father has shown on you. When you really do take account of your life and all that you have, you will see His fingerprints on many things. You will see many blessings and many times He has protected you. You weren’t just lucky, you were blessed. When you really stop and take notice of Him in your life, you will find plenty to sing about. You will find plenty to praise Him over. That praise and thanksgiving brings you closer to the Father and you will find more and more to praise Him over.

Back to Top

Sending

On March 9, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 10: 13 – 15

For “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?

Some folks rightfully ask how people in lands that have not received the Word of God will get to heaven. First, our God is a loving God and He will (and has) made provision for every person on the earth to hear the Word of God so that they may spend eternity with Him in heaven. Secondly, this passage teaches the primary way God reaches those people. Through you and me he sends preachers into all the earth to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected. But where there are those who are sent, there are those who do the sending. Not all of us are called to go to far off lands to preach the gospel. Some of us live in very prosperous nations and we get to stay home and use our great wealth to send those who do have that call on their lives. Then when all the peoples HEAR about the goodness, faithfulness and love of our Father, they will have the same opportunity to call upon His name and be saved. Then they can get to know Him as Father. Before you know it, they might be sending more people to preach the good news of Jesus Christ.

Back to Top

God of Peace

On March 8, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 23: 2

He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters.

Our God is a God of peace, not chaos. He does not lead you into places that are full of bedlam and stress. He leads you into quiet places. He causes you to lie down in green fields; fields which are well watered and with plenty of grass or sustenance. When he leads you, he leads you beside the quiet waters not the raging mayhem the world dishes out. He wants to lead you into a tranquil, quiet place so that he can refresh you and talk with you. You won’t be able to hear him in the pandemonium of the world because it is just too loud and busy. He is leading you into that still quiet spot where the two of you can be alone together. Believe me, it is easier for you to get a much needed drink of water at the quiet waters than from the raging torrent. Find your quiet peaceful place with him and let him fill you back up.

Back to Top

Servant Master

On March 7, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Mark 10: 43 – 45

But it is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

Christianity is unlike any other religion. Really it is not a religion at all but rather a relationship with our Lord and God. While we do worship Him, Jesus came to earth not to be served but rather to serve. No other religious figures laid down their lives in order to redeem us. This is the good news of the gospel; that through the shed blood of Jesus, we have been redeemed and reconciled to the Father. Jesus is the greatest servant of all. By becoming least among men, he became the greatest. He came to serve our need. He came to save us. He gave even his life because of his love for us and for the Father. It was through his deep love that he became the servant of all. Now we serve the Father, not of requirement, but out of appreciation, gratitude and love for Him. We happily serve him as dear children though, not as slaves. We humble ourselves before others because he first loved us. The irony is, we humbly serve others not because we are servants nor have been made slaves but rather because Jesus set us free. He freely served us of his own volition. Now we have been set free from all the bondages that held us captive including those of ego and self-promotion. Because we are learning who we are in Christ we have been set free from having to prove something to ourselves or others in this realm. We have been redeemed from the curse and the only debt we own is to love one another.

Back to Top

Who’s Your Daddy

On March 4, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

 John 8: 44

You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

Putting aside for the moment all of Jesus’ vitriolic comments about lying, let’s look at an interesting little phrase in this passage. Jesus calls the devil a murderer and says that he has been a murderer since the beginning. Okay, so Jesus, who did the devil murder? Can you think of one instance, especially early on where the devil murdered anyone? I wish to suggest that Jesus was referring to the Garden of Eden.

In Genesis 2:16 – 17 God said, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” Enter in the devil. I am sure he was able to hear what God said and plotted a way to get to God’s people. Fast forward to Genesis 3: 4; “And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Now, how much of what the devil said was a lie? Look back at today’s verse. What did Jesus say about Satan? He said he is a liar. We have taken some of Satan’s words to be true. Eating from the tree would not make then like God, nor would it give them the complete knowledge of good and evil. How do I know? Look around you. Do you think humanity has always known right from wrong, good from evil? The real point of the story, though, is that God said that eating from the tree would cause death. Then the devil came along and twisted it and lied. He said, “You surely won’t die.” Wait a moment! God just said they would die. The devil lied to Eve and she believed him.

Jesus, thousands of years after this event, doesn’t just call Satan a liar for what he did to Eve and Adam. He also calls him a murderer because of the deception he created. Whatsmore, he says of the Jews who were attacking him that they are just like their father, the devil, and effectively calls them liars and murderers too.

Recall that this is a passage on lying. It is intriguing that in a discussion about truth, Jesus goes all the way back to the first lie. He doesn’t stop there though. He holds the devil responsible for the murder of Adam and Eve, and in fact, of all humanity. Then he convicts the Jews that were plotting against him, pronouncing them as liars and murderers. Further, their lying ways makes them, in Jesus’ eyes, sons of Satan. That is pretty steep. Jesus had tolerance for all sorts of people but he showed none for liars.

Back to Top

Inspiration vs. Perspiration

On March 3, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 14: 10

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.

This is a great word for ministers but truly Jesus modeled life for us all. He is our example. Therefore, we can take inspiration from this message from the Lord.

One day, when I was a bit over-taxed with duties and responsibilities, it occurred to me that I could work through inspiration or perspiration. Well of course, I was working hard. I was sweating the deadlines, burdens and responsibilities. I was in my strength instead of Jesus’. You see, he has created a model by which we work, accomplish, rest, serve him and honor him all at the same time. When we yield our heavy burdens to the Lord, allowing him to carry the load, he is honored. We have also preached the word by our very actions because we have communicated a reproducible model. People can appreciate that we accomplish through Jesus’ labor and wisdom and perhaps recognize that since they have the same access to Jesus as do we, that they can do the same thing. 

Whatsmore, we are only doing what Jesus did. We model him. Jesus said he did nothing of his own initiative (John 8: 28). God was the one performing the works. He supplied Jesus with the words to speak. The Father directed Jesus steps. He navigated him to the town or village which was right for the time. Imagine how much easier our lives would be if we could learn to follow God’s voice within us the way Jesus did.

You know, there is an easy way and a hard way to do everything. When possible, let’s do things the easy way. I choose to live by inspiration rather than perspiration. How about you?

Back to Top