Authority

On April 22, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Titus 3: 1

Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed.

This passage says a lot and requires a lot. We are reminded that we are subject to authority. God has placed each and every one of us under the authority of someone else. Now that is something that really rankles in today’s society. We are becoming a nation of fierce individualists who have only our own interest in our mind. Paul is telling Titus to remind those in his charge that we are not the sun in our own solar system. We are part of organizations and groups. We are under authority at work, in our families, our churches and every other human institution as well as in the body of Christ. We are encouraged to be submissive and obedient to those authority figures. Instead of constantly putting ourselves at the top of the pyramid, we are to recognize those people who God has put in authority over us. We are to subject ourselves to their authority. As mature Christians, we learn to be grateful for those people and support them as they pour themselves out for us. As leaders, we must humbly and reverently concern ourselves with the well being of those God has put in our charge. Who are the people in your life that God has placed in authority? Stop grumbling about them and what you think they should do better and subject yourself willingly and prayerfully to their service. God has placed them there for your benefit not for ill. Pray daily for those people because they are caring burdens for you. Fulfill the will of God and the call of Christ by so doing.

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Glory, Glory

On April 21, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Thessalonians 2: 14

And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Wow! Does that say what I think it says; God called us so that we could gain the glory of our Lord Jesus? It seems to. What does this mean to us?

In my early days I thought God called me so that I could go to work for Him. I constantly questioned God as to what I should do for Him. I had no idea that He called us to Himself so that He could crown us with glory. How could He possibly mean to give me the glory of Christ?

Our Father has been at work for centuries paving the way for us to become children. He was not looking to make us servants? He was looking to make us heirs of His kingdom. That is a lot to bite off for some of us. I was comfortable serving Him but when He wanted to promote me or worse, spend intimate time with me as His own beloved child, I ran. Then one day I had what I call a prophetic dream and Dad showed me our dynamic. Honestly, I didn’t realize that was my stance with Him. It was a true eye opener. I awoke still in the moment. The dream didn’t fade but rather stayed with me all day. I was grieved down to my bones seeing the face of the Father as I rejected Him time after time. I thought I was being humble and honoring Him with my service but that was smoke and mirrors. The truth was I was afraid. Now, I don’t admit to being afraid very often but I can’t think of anything else. It was a fear of intimacy with Him specifically. I was afraid that if I let down my guard, He would let me down. I was a victim of my own bad theology and bad teaching of some others too. No one ever told me that He was trying to wrap me in His glory. They told me He was trying to make me strong. Well, I was plenty strong enough, thank you very much. But that was a lie and now I know who the liar is. Maybe that is part of the reason I hate lies so much. They steal life from us and they are everyone right from the pit of hell.

So here is the truth and I hope you can handle it better than I could. Your Father loves you and His goal, His purpose is to shroud you in His glory: the glory of the Father, the glory of the Son and the Glory of the Holy Spirit. You, my beloved, are the fourth appointed for this glory. Be more spiritually mature than was I. Allow the Father to wrap you in His arms and in His glory. He wants to bless you, honor and promote you. He wants to rain His glory down on you so that all will know that you are a child of the Most High. Get a big revelation of the Father’s adoration for you and His deep desire to set you in high places. You are meant for glory.

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Confidence

On April 20, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Hebrews 10: 35

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

Confidence is important. It often affects our performance. This is a kind of self-confidence; confidence in our training, knowledge and skills. There is another kind of confidence too. It is confidence in our salvation, our relationship with the Father and ultimately confidence in Him. This confidence really does have great rewards.

Your behaviors are significantly affected by your measure of confidence. I think of basketball players who shoot because they have confidence in their skills and they keep on shooting even if they miss their first five shots. Confidence causes you to act differently than you would if your confidence is low. You make that sales call, believing you will get the sale. Sometimes it is that confidence that gets you the sale.

Well, our confidence in God works the same way. We behave differently because we have great belief. Perhaps we pray for someone. Perhaps we have the boldness to take a step that the Father has spoken to us because we have confidence in Him and believe that He is backing us up. When we act in the confidence we have in the Father it is called faith. You do what you wouldn’t do otherwise because you believe in the one who is backing you up. And brother when you act out of the confidence that you have in the Lord, it pays huge dividends.

Is it easy? Not always, but it is rewarding. No one has ever done anything great without taking a risk. Think of some of the ministers you know and the awesome success they are enjoying. You know they went through times of fear and doubt but ultimately they let their self-doubt receded behind their faith in the Almighty. Their confidence in Him and His ability carried the day. I marvel at these folks and how they have walked on the water. It is so inspiring because they have not done anything that you and I cannot do. They haven’t succeeded because of their great intellect or because of their great skill. They have attained great heights because they trusted the Word of the Lord. They were willing. They were bold enough to step out on that Word and trust God to be capable. Their success is because of God. The difference in some of us and them is that they were willing to step out in their confidence in God and we have not been . . . until today.

Today is a new day. We can express our confidence in the Mighty One. When we do, the reward is great. I don’t say it is easy. I am just saying let’s do it anyway. We don’t even have to believe in ourselves. We just have to have confidence in Him. So, how far can we stretch today? What would Dad like to do with our faith in Him? This can get really fun. It’s kinda like a roller coaster; it’s a little frightening as you get started but oh so exhilarating and then once the ride is over you want to do it again.

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The Word of the Day

On April 17, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 1: 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

It all began with the Word as all epic quests must. The Word is the power, the beginning and the end. If you are going to undertake any grand project may I recommend that you take a page from God’s playbook? Begin with the Word.     

When God initiated His immense project of creating and populating the earth, He began with the Word. The Word was with Him in the beginning and it was through that Word that everything that was created came into being. Salvation began with the Word also since Jesus is the Word. Thus the Word saved us from eternal hell. Healing begins with the Word. “He sent His Word and healed them” (Psalm 107: 20). Everything begins with the Word.

In my dialogue with God this morning He asked me what the Word means to me. “Well,” I said, “it is salvation and mercy and grace and life and ….” Even as I answered though, I could feel that I wasn’t expressing what it really means to me. You see, when I need to reach God I usually meet Him over the Word the way the priests of old used to meet Him over the mercy seat. I heard the father speak to me. “Don’t answer with your mind. Tell me what is in your heart about the Word.” I stopped and regarded my heart and it took only a moment for this one Word to well up within me. “Love. The Word is love.” Today’s verse tells us that the Word is God and we know from 1 John 4: 8 that God is love. Therefore, the Word is love. “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3: 16). So it seems that love is the Word and the Word was sent to us to heal us, save us, redeem, restore and help us. Everything that God is, everything that He wants to do for us is embodied in the Word. That is why the Word is so powerful. It is the power of God in the person of Jesus, our Lord and savior.

It grieves me to see the Word given so little attention at times. Christians and even ministers are not clinging to it as we ought even though our destiny is to be wedded to the Word. How is Jesus to come for his bride when we love not His incarnation in and through the Word? We are abandoning our love and as we do we forsake the blessing and authority that is its substance. If you have not given the Word a prominent space in your life then you are depriving yourself of the victory which is the meat of the Word. Our blessed Father is sending His love to us through His Word. He transmits everything we need through the Word which is alive and came into the earth to save us all. You cannot separate Jesus from the Word. Any attempt to do so results in our disabling the power of Jesus in our lives.

Whatever you do, whatever you are given to do, whether the task be gigantic or commonplace, begin it all with the Word. It is the grace for success in your job, business, marriage, relationships with your children, and every other aspect of life. One word from God can (and will) change your life forever. Get into the book and let God speak His words of encouragement and affection to you. Open your heart and let Him speak His Word directly into your heart. It is with your heart that you first accepted the Word, Jesus, into your life unto salvation. Now let Him speak a new word into your life. Whatever you need, He is right there with the Word to bring it to pass. Be blessed; be filled, in the name of Jesus, our Lord.

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Redeemed From Fear

On April 16, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 56: 3 – 4

When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee, in God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?

Who among us is not faced with fear at some time? It is a common human reaction to challenges in life. The first mention of fear appears in Genesis 3. It didn’t take long for mankind to find fear. However, they only became afraid after succumbing to the devil. Before Adam and Eve followed Satan and ate the forbidden fruit they knew not fear. Interesting. Since that time people have been plagued by fear. However, there is good news. God has provided a remedy for everything which plagues mankind, including fear. His remedy for fear is trust.

“When I am afraid,” the psalmist writes, “I will put my trust in thee.” He doesn’t deny that he was afraid. He just determines not to let fear have him. We are not to abide in fear. We are to run into the arms of our loving father and envelope ourselves in an abiding, overcoming trust. Trusting Him is the solution for every fear. It seems, then, that overcoming fear requires a decision from us. It also requires action on our part. We must intentionally shift our minds and hearts from fear to trust in the Lord. That means you take your eyes off of that which frightens you and put them on the Lord of your salvation. Look upon Jesus and decide to believe Him and to believe in the Father’s love rather than to believe in that which frightens you.

Fear is slavery and Jesus has set us free from all of the shackles of bondage. If we allow fear to remain in our lives then we are effectively rejecting the gift of Christ. It is making his sacrifice of no effect. This is no place for Christians. Galatians 5: 1 reads, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” That seems pretty clear to me. It is a shout, a command that we should not allow ourselves to be victims of fear. We must stand firm against fear. Jesus came to give us abundant life, not a life shackled by fear.

The psalmist, David, gave praise to the word of God. It occurs to me that was another of his weapons against fear. He looked to the word and encouraged himself so that he could pronounce his faith in God’s saving ability. David trusted God and stood on God’s word. He determinedly put his trust in God and God’s promises and time after time God pulled him from certain defeat. Now David teaches us these valuable lessons. Let us declare as he did, “In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid.”

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Force for Good

On April 15, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Hebrews 10: 24

Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.

That is a new thought but worth pondering. How do we encourage others so that their lives become expressions of love and good deeds or goodness? We are meant to be inspirational. Isn’t that something? Our lives are not only about us. They are about the impact we have on others and the effect that impact creates in them for yet other people. But to call it by another name, we are forces for good. We purposefully do good to others and stimulate them to do good to still others. And while I haven’t thought about it exactly in these terms before isn’t this still the story of a seed? 

Jesus asked, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?” (Mark 4: 30). He answered the question by telling the story of the mustard seed. So the kingdom of God is like a seed. This is one of the largest, most profound and yet overlooked messages in the Bible. Let me repeat it, the kingdom of God is like a seed. So, if we wish to participate in the kingdom, then we all must become farmers. If you are not sowing seed then you are not taking part in the kingdom of God. We sow into other people’s lives. That is the first step to stimulating others into acts of love and kindness. But the message of this scripture isn’t necessarily about what we can do to inspire others but rather that we should give consideration to how we may stimulate others. In other words, this is supposed to be a subject of thought and prayer. This would be a good question to put before the Lord so that we can find out his thoughts.

One might also see in here a domino effect. If we do good unto others and motivate them to love and good deeds then it seems reasonable that they will inspire others, and on and on. One seed produces a whole plant which might represent all of the people in your life. The fruit of the plant has many, many seeds within it. So each of the people in your life has an abundant opportunity to sow seeds themselves which ultimately leads to many seeds of love and good deeds being cast abroad. From one seed, a seed as small as a mustard seed comes many thousands of acts of love and goodness. Ponder, consider how we might encourage each other to love and good deeds. Perhaps share your good ideas on our blogsite. If we share a little and encourage a little maybe very soon we can cover the area in a garden like Eden.

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Throne of Grace

On April 14, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Hebrews 4: 16

Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

Did you know that God’s throne is called the throne of grace? That’s right. He sits in grace. But what about the throne of judgment; where is that? Well, I don’t know. I searched the Bible and it turns out its not there. Curious! We have heard about the judgment seat and the throne of judgment for so long that most of us expect it to be real but it turns out that it is just the figment of religion. It is a good device, like the boogey man, to get us to do what religious minds thinks we ought. You know, “Be good or you will fare poorly when you face the throne of judgment. How interesting, though, that God says come before me where I sit on the throne of grace dispensing, well, grace. He isn’t dispensing judgment; He is giving away grace. 

In the Old Testament God had an ark made which was kept in the Holy of Holies and that is where He would meet mankind. The seat of the ark, God called the Mercy seat. It is there in the place of mercy that God chose to meet with people. And what do you suppose is dispensed from the seat of mercy? Yes, mercy. People have this crazy notion of God being an angry, vengeful, judgment dealing God but that is stuff and non-sense. Others believe He is a benevolent God now but maintain that He was mean in the Old Testament. Well, then why did He name His seat, His throne “Mercy”? He chose where He would meet humans and He chose to meet them over mercy.

That is pretty good, but it wasn’t good enough. You see, He had to be the dispenser of mercy because there was no other answer for the sin of man. Aahhh, but we have a new covenant made on better promises by a better mediator (Hebrew 8: 6). So God was able to get a new throne. Hallelujah! He now sits in grace, on the throne of grace, dispensing grace. 

This is where God always wanted to be and thanks to Jesus He is the King of Grace, the God of Grace. Grace, the calling card of our dear Father, is your birthright vis- a-vis the new birth. God invites us into His throne room to receive grace, mercy and help, not judgment. 

Grace is the unmerited favor of God. It cannot be earned but rather is a gift from a loving father. It is the power for things to simply go well for you. It is the invitation for you to hang out with God. Because of grace, because of God’s favor upon you, where once you were an orphan and an outcast, now you abide in the actual presence of the Almighty free from stain or blemish. You are the perfect, redeemed, restored child of the Most High. Grace does all this for you and more. Unmerited favor, mercy, help in time of need, these are all yours through the blood of Christ. They are all pouring out from the Throne of Grace where your beloved is seated.

Get a new image of your father today, the father of grace. Let the idea of grace fill you. Our father has promoted us from mercy to grace and mercy was pretty good. You have been invited into the throne room. Go with the confidence that your father is awaiting you with a smile. But don’t look for the throne of judgment. You won’t find it in Dad’s throne room.

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