The Blessing

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

Deuteronomy 28: 2 – 14

2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God. 
3Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.
5Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and shall flee before you seven ways.
8The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
9The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you will keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in His ways.
10So all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of you.
11And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the produce of your ground in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
12The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
13And the Lord shall make you the head and not the tail, and you only shall be above, and you shall not be underneath, if you will listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully,
14 And do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

You need to know the blessing. This is your heritage and your birthright. This represents part of your covenant rights with the Father. These verses are what Jesus went to the cross to purchase for you. This is the message of the cross. We were lost. We were estranged from our Father. When we had no way back to the Father, Jesus became the way. Father God wanted us in unity with Him. He wanted us to be blessed. He created all this earth in order to bless us, but we lost our way. So, compelled by His deep love for us, He sent His only son that we all might be reconciled to Him.

We, the church, have become the downtrodden and abased. But Jesus, our Lord, went to the cross in order to put us back in right standing with our Father. He took on the curse and became the curse so that we could again walk in the righteousness with which God adorned us at the beginning of the age. We must now reclaim that heritage and our rights and no longer be the oppressed but rather live as the kids of the King. We must accept our rightful place and step into it. You are the child of the Most High. What more do you need? You are a princess, a prince of the greatest kingdom ever to be. Stand your ground as an heir to the promise and no longer see yourself as a slave nor let anyone convince you of your lowly station in life. The King of all put His son on the cross so that you can stand in the blessing created for you. Celebrate who you are in Him.

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Hey Dad!

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

Romans 8: 15

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

Which part of this verse would you like to talk about; the part about the spirit of slavery or the Abba, Father part? In fact, they are really the same. We have been given the spirit of adoption; we have been adopted into the family of God. No longer is He a deity only. He is now Daddy, Papa. He isn’t far removed to those who have received this spirit of adoption. He is as close as your next breath.

This expression, “Abba, Father” is one of intimacy, familiarity and fellowship. This isn’t the name or title you would call the priest. This is what you would call your earthly father in the most special times, when you felt closest to him. When you reach this level of comfort and relationship with God, then you will find that the spirit of fear no longer reigns in your heart. Then you will notice how many people really do live in some level of fear. You will begin to stand out, at least to yourself, as very different because you just are not afraid. You understand with the deepest part of your being that your Dad is not only the biggest guy on the block but also that He is watching out for you and will make things alright for you. This confidence is not a form of denial. It can recognize danger and risk. It also is not foolhardy. When, however, you know that your Dad is powerful and you know that He is looking after you, then you don’t have to fear. It is simply a confidence born of trust and experience.

When a person is beset by fear, they truly are slaves. Fear will take your life prisoner. You will make decisions based on the part that fear plays in your life. Without even realizing it, fear begins to control aspects of your life. If it is left unchecked, it will grow like a weed. Soon you will discover that it has taken a deep root in your life and is so well entrenched that it is hard to remove.

My advice is to cry out to God, “Abba, Father” and let Him bring intimate, personal, familiarity into your life. If He is always “God” to you and never “Dad”, then you will likely never gain the kind of confidence and trust that sets you free from oppression. The New Covenant is all about Him moving into our lives and setting up house in our spirits. He longs to be with us. There is no longer separation unless we put it there. You have been adopted into the household where there is complete comfort and peace. You need be a slave to fear no longer. Be freed by the love of the father.

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Destiny Thinking

On May 2, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 8: 5

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

So the question is, “What am I thinking about?” Is this convicting or what? I must admit that the greater part of my thoughts in a day are about things of the world rather than spiritual things. I am thinking about my work, my family, my workout, my diet, leisure, and on and on. What percentage of the day am I really considering my heavenly Father, big brother and the Spirit of God? How often am I considering Dad’s goals and wishes? In truth, the things of the Spirit and prayer are taking up a smaller portion of my day than the things of the flesh. How, then, can I truly say that I am a spiritual person. Those whose thoughts are predominantly of the world and the things of the flesh are those who are “according to the flesh”.

I believe we are all called to be people of the Spirit. That is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit. Before he left the earth he said that it was to our advantage that he leave so that he could send the Spirit (John 16: 7). We are the New Testament temples because the Holy Spirit has come to make his abode in us. We were destined to have our being in him. Far too easily, though, the world comes to dominate our thoughts and everyday existence. Perhaps today’s verse acts as a reminder of who we are in Christ Jesus, who we are in the redemptive power of the Lord Jesus. However, we get to choose whether we will stand in the office preserved for us. We get to decide whether we will live according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. With that power comes responsibility. That is always the rub with the allocation of power.

Where we live our lives, whether in the flesh or in the Spirit begins, as it always must, with our thoughts. That is why David prayed for God to make the meditation of his heart acceptable in God’s sight (Psalm 19: 14). David realized that his heart and mind must hold onto the thoughts of God if he was to be successful. Paul taught this same idea in Romans 12: 2, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” If we are going to live our destinies then we must marshal the power of our minds and direct it towards God. We will have to intentionally seek direction and assistance in not only what we do but in what we think and think about. As a man thinks, so is he (Proverb 23: 7).

I am convinced that if we will invest our thinking time and power on the things of God, we will do all things better, even the things that are worldly, like our jobs. Our destinies are tied up in God’s thoughts. Think on Him and his ways and fulfill your destiny!

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Deep Pit

On April 29, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 8: 8

All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing crooked or perverted in them.

King David wrote in Psalm 17: 3 that he purposed that his mouth would not transgress. That is a noble goal. Maybe setting that goal was enough for David to be able to accomplish it. For others of us, though, some tools may come in handy. Today’s verse is just such a tool and it might be a good one for one of those index cards.

The eighth proverb is a message from wisdom. She is crying out in the streets trying to get our attention, trying to help us. We are to seek wisdom, only a fool wouldn’t. Well, when we seek and find wisdom we get all that she is and she tells us that her mouth only utters righteousness. Surely that is wisdom, speaking nothing but righteousness. Now here is how you can use this verse as a tool for yourself even though it is wisdom speaking. Because you seek wisdom you can make this same declaration. If you have purposed in your heart that your mouth will not transgress then confess that all of the utterances of your mouth are righteous. After a while your brain will catch on. Then it will begin to regulate your mouth. 

Honestly, if you do not transgress with your mouth then you are a holy person indeed. Our mouths are deep pits into which we fall. Keep your mouth straight and you will find your paths straight too. Let God’s power help you to cover over that deep pit and make a straight way for you.

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Peace, Sweet Peace

On April 28, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 20: 21

Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Jesus appeared to his disciples after his crucifixion and ascension. First of all, how cool is that? I would like to have been there. Today’s verse comes from one of those visits. When he first appeared to them he said, “Peace be with you” (v. 19) and showed them the holes in his hands. The scripture says that then the disciples rejoiced. Well, I guess so. So then he said again, “Peace be with you” before he launched into what he wanted to say to them. 

One of Jesus’ many missions in coming to earth was to bring us peace. He is called the Prince of Peace because that is one of his anointings. Jesus spoke the same kind of message to his disciples as he was preparing them for his departure. He told them, “I go away and I will come to you … I go to the Father” (John 14: 28). He told them that his time was at an end but before he revealed the end he said to them, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you” (John 14: 27). 

You see, Jesus is always, and I do mean always, sending us his peace. This is important to know because there is always peace where Jesus is. If you are entering a business deal and there is not peace, then you can bet Jesus isn’t in it. If you say something and peace flies from you, then you might want to rephrase or apologize. Even in decision making, you can follow peace and if you don’t have peace, wait until you do. There may well be a third option that you aren’t considering.

Also, when you are in difficult times, pursue peace. Let Jesus come in and minister peace to your heart. He is the author and thus the source of peace. If you are in trials or your heart is challenged then he is that peace that you need. Seek him and find peace.

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Vigorous

On April 27, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 105: 37               King James

He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

We saw from Deuteronomy 34: 7 yesterday that Moses died at age one hundred and twenty but that he was not feeble when he died. Today’s verse is about when God led His people out of Egypt. There were several million people in that great exodus but not one of them was feeble. Isn’t that amazing? There had to be people of all ages in that group yet every one of them was able to walk without stumbling.

Yesterday I wrote that we do not have to get old and feeble but let’s now look at a broader picture. Moses was eighty years old when he led the Israelites out of Egypt. He was strong and full of vigor. All of the people of Israel, regardless of their age were able bodied. They packed up their entire households and marched out into the desert. Honestly, how many of us today could walk in the desert day after day?

Here is the good news though, the power that gave their bodies strength is just as available to us as it was to them. In fact, we have a greater mediator and intercessor than they did because we have Jesus. Jesus has conquered death, hell and the grave but guess what, that is not all. He has conquered infirmity. Hallelujah! You’ve got to get this idea deep down into your bones. Let it sink in deep. When you do, you will find that it gives life to your body. You have a promise and a heritage of strong, able and vigorous strength for every sinew, bone and cell of your body. Focus your mind and attention on the truth. Every day remind yourself that none of the Lord’s people are weak or feeble. The more it sinks in, the more invigorated you will be. Tell yourself the truth, and the truth really will set you free.

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Feeble or Able?

On April 26, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 34: 7

Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated.

So, if Moses’ vigor was not abated, of what did he die? We have gotten this nutty idea that the cycle of life ends with getting old, getting sick and dying of that sickness. That is an incredibly skewed view of life. Moses died of having run out of years. God had already told mankind that He was limiting their life span, “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years’” (Genesis 3: 3). God told Moses his time was at hand and for him to make arrangements for his succession. So, at one hundred and twenty years of age, Moses simply transitioned to the next phase of his life. He left his mortal body and moved to heaven. He wasn’t sick, He wasn’t diseased. He was just done. He had finished his race.

This is the revelation we all need for our own health. We weren’t designed to get old, get sick and die. We were meant to live out the number of our years fulfilling our destiny just like Moses did. Then we simply change addresses. We lay down this body and move to eternity with Jesus.

There is just one more question which plagues me, if Moses could live to one hundred and twenty in the Old Testament, before Jesus, what should our life spans be?

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