The Isaac Principle

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

Luke 6: 38

Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measure to you in return.

I have been thinking about what we might call the Isaac Principle which we beheld earlier in the week. In the time of famine, Isaac sowed and in that same year he reaped a hundredfold (Genesis 26: 1, 12). One of the things we have learned about times of economic slumps is that churches and ministries suffer. 

The wrongness of that fact bowled me over this week. I saw something I had not seen before. It tells me that the church isn’t living by Biblical principles. Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you.” Therefore, if we are in an economic downturn then we should not withhold our giving, we should increase it. When the famine was on, Isaac sowed. He didn’t withhold his seed or eat it for dinner. This is what the Bible teaches us. And we see it in the Old Testament and the New as well as from the mouth of Jesus. I just don’t think we can get more authoritative than that. So, the question is, “Why do people cut back on their giving in the lean times?”

The only answer I can come up with is that we are responding in fear rather than faith. Face it, the faith walk isn’t always easy but then, being broke in attitude and pocketbook is no cake walk either. I can look back over my lifetime and see the difference God’s truths have made. I remember having no money or having to wait for the next paycheck to buy tires for the car. It was no fun. Now you couldn’t convince me not to tithe. Just wished I had started it earlier. Now I wonder what God will show me next. Twenty years from now what will I wish I had learned earlier? I think it might be that I would learn how to trust God bigger than I do now.  Maybe I will say, “I wish I had held God to His word and believed He would come through for me.” 

We are each on this journey; learning and growing in the Lord. We just need to keep taking the next step. If you have not yet become a giver, do it today. Stop robbing yourself of God’s bounty. Jesus didn’t tell us to give because he needs something. He is trying to get resources into our hands. By our measure of giving, Jesus said, it will be given to us. How would you describe your giving? Is that the word that you want describing what comes in to you? Don’t give in to fear. Have the courage of heart to sow. Then watch your harvest increase.

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The Rock Faucet

On February 19, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 17: 6

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

The lesson from this story has to be that if God can get water from a rock for the Israelites He can certainly meet our needs too. We live in a remarkable age. It wasn’t that long ago that people couldn’t just turn on the tap and have water flow out. What a magnificent blessing that is. And, people didn’t build their houses just anywhere; they had to locate a place for a well first. Then, of course, if you live in the desert or were like the Israelites, traversing the desert, water was a major issue. None the less, God has always met the needs of His people.

I wonder sometimes if our great abundance and enormous blessings have made it hard for us to exercise faith. Even if you are not a person of faith there is so much provided for us in this modern age. And our needs have shifted significantly. Besides the modern conveniences we also have food readily available. The issue really has become money these days. We need money to produce heat for our homes, pay for the water being delivered to our houses, and to buy the food that someone else has already raised and harvested. So, we focus on money, but that does not mean that we don’t still need food, shelter, clothing and water. In a sense our needs really haven’t changed but our means of procuring them has and I think that has caused a shift in our faith application. We understand that money will provide these things for us so we focus on that. In reality though, it is still the Father who meets our needs. Jesus told us that the Father knows we need all these things so we shouldn’t worry about them. Look at how He provided for the Israelites. That is the model of the Father’s provision for today. If He could provide water for them by having Moses strike a rock then He is well able to take care of our every need. We can hold this scripture up the Lord and pronounce bravely that we know He will meet our needs because that is what He has always done for His people. This is some good word that you can sow into your life. If there is any lack in your life at all, then use this example of God’s provision and sow that Word into the soil of your life. Hold it up to the Lord and proclaim the victory. Let God show Himself to you. Give Him a little “Word” seed to work with and He will bring you a Harvest. And if there is anything else He instructs you to sow be quick to do it and believe Him for every need met in the name of Jesus.

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Victory in Jesus

On February 18, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Genesis 26: 28

And they said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you.”

This should be the testimony of Christianity. We really shouldn’t have to go testify to people and try to convince them that Christianity is a great way of life. They should just see it evidenced in our lives. That was Isaac’s testimony. The people around him saw the favor of God on everything he did. He didn’t have to say anything. I wish my life spoke as loudly as Isaac’s.

The problem with many of us is that we are living below the Christ level. What do I mean by that? Well, you have heard of the poverty level and that there are some who live below that minimum level of existence. This is similar. There is a level of victory and blessing that every Christian should be living at but it seems that there are only a few who have a revelation of how to live in Christian abundance. We need a class taught by Isaac. He had a revelation. One of my favorite passages is in this same chapter, verses 1 and 12. Verse 1 reveals that there was a famine in the land. Rather than pulling up his tent stakes and moving on to a more fertile area Isaac listened to the voice of the Lord and obeyed. Verse 12 tells us that in that year, in that time of famine and in that same land, Isaac sowed and “reaped in that same year a hundredfold.”

This is the legacy that has been passed down to us. This is our inheritance through Father Abraham. Truthfully, though, we should excel far beyond Isaac because we have an even better covenant, based on better promises and mediated by a better counselor (Hebrews 8: 6). We also can sow in the time of famine and reap a hundredfold. Then people will look at us and see the awesomeness of our God.

We should all succeed at everything we set our hand to because great is our God. However, there are some keys revealed here and that Isaac adhered to that will help us if we too follow them. First of all, when the famine came Isaac didn’t just run off in panic or churn his brain trying to figure out what to do. The first thing he did was to receive counsel from the Lord. It is going to be impossible to live above the Christian poverty line if we don’t first receive instruction from the Lord. It is His counsel that sets our feet on the profitable path. Secondly, Isaac obeyed. He heard what the Lord said and he did it. God told him not to go to Egypt but to stay in that land. So Isaac stayed. That is two keys so far: receive the counsel of the Lord, obey.

The third thing that Isaac did in this time of famine is outlandish. It goes against all conventional wisdom. Isaac sowed. What most people do in times of famine or economic depression is to hoard. They become very tight-fisted and stingy. This causes them to develop a scarcity mentality which continues to manifest in their lives and their finances until they develop a new attitude. Most of us end up eating our seed corn. In other words, we use the money that we are supposed to sow for our harvest rather than planting it. It is tough to reap a harvest if you haven’t first planted a crop. There are all kinds of seeds. Most of us think about money and that is fair. We are foolish if we don’t sow money. I am also reminded of the verse that says, “The sower sows the Word” (Mark 4: 14). We need to sow the Word into our lives, businesses, families, etc. That begins by putting the Word in you but then to sow it you must speak it.

You are meant to live in the hundredfold return. However, 100 X 0 = 0, so we must get some seed in the ground. We need a victory attitude and to turn our faces to the Lord our God. When we follow His direction we will succeed in every facet of our lives so that people will look at us and say, “Mighty is your God!” There are all kinds of seeds. Ask the Father what He would have you sow and get out your plow and get busy. Don’t hoard for goodness sake. If you are going through a tough time, find something, anything, and give it away. Let “Victory in Jesus” be your anthem and show the world the loving power of your Father.

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Martha v. Mary

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

Luke 10:41

But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one.”

Can you guess what the one thing is that is necessary? It is our time with the Lord Jesus, of course. You probably remember this story. Martha is busy hustling around the house preparing food and accommodations for Jesus and his disciples. While Martha was busy serving the Lord, her sister Mary just sat at his feet listening to him. Martha was incensed and approached Jesus about it so that he would reprimand Mary and make her help Martha with all of the work. Surprise, surprise . . . Jesus didn’t do as expected. Instead he said that Mary had chosen the good part and it would not be taken away from her. I’ve always pictured Jesus shaking his head as he says, “Martha, Martha.” Can’t you just hear his tone of voice?

As you know, last week I struggled with my calendar. By Wednesday morning I was already exhausted from my striving. So, I put down my devotional and just started talking to the Father. He said to me, “Ivey, you are worried about many things. You have become like Martha. Yes, there is always work to do but there is only one thing that is important.” “Wait Dad! Did you really just call me a Martha?” I have always imagined myself at Jesus feet drinking in every word which proceeds from his mouth but here was my Father saying that I am acting like Martha rather than like Mary.

You see, I had allowed all the things I am doing for Jesus to become my duty, my job. I wasn’t praying, meditating, journaling and reading my Bible out of love any more. Each one of those items had become another item on my “To Do” list. I was quickly falling into the trap that so many people do. We become bogged down in the things to do, even those things that we do in service to the Lord that we partition him from our experience. “I’m working so hard for you Lord that I don’t have time for you.” Well, that needed to be corrected immediately and fortunately Dad did. He said to tune my heart to Him the very first thing in the morning and He would fill me and that together we would get it all done. And do you know something, He was right. I had begun to let my calendar and my “To Do’s” run me and they were cruel task masters. Everything became just one more thing that I needed to do and there was no joy left in it.

So I listened to Dad’s advice and the rest of the week I got everything on my schedule done and never once got stressed about it. I actually did more in less time at the end of the week than I did by pressing so hard in the first part of the week. I am beginning to think that Jesus really knew what he was talking about when he spoke to Martha. Just turn your face to him, the one important matter, and he will make everything else work for you.

This is the way Jesus walked in the earth. He began his day by tuning into the Father and then he just stayed in that connectedness all day. Isn’t this what we all want, to learn to walk in the earth the way Jesus did? Well, it begins by just starting your day connecting with your spirit and with the Spirit inside of you. Now my calendar is a good, stable structure for my day but it isn’t my Lord. God leads me through my schedule one step at a time and I am able to maintain that sense of calm that comes from the Holy Spirit.

There is only one thing that is needful and that is our time with the Lord. If your devotion is becoming an idol instead of worship, move it to the side for a day. If your prayers are a duty rather than a joyful meeting with your best friend, then change gears. When you do, Father will restore the joy and the anointing to those things. No matter what you have to do in a day, begin it with the lord in personal communion with him and I believe you will find your days flowing much more smoothly.

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God Revealed

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

Ephesians 1: 16 -17

[I] do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 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.

This is what I pray over you every day because I can’t think of anything better than for you to have God’s wisdom and revelation of Him. I suppose that is what Paul was feeling when he penned this prayer for the people in Ephesus. I sense him reaching into his innermost being in order to pull out the biggest blessing he could for them. I also ask God to give you revelation on the Word of the Day that I didn’t even have when I wrote it because revelation of Him and His Word are keys that will not only release blessing in our lives but will also free us from any ties that would bind us. It is the revelation of how His word relates your life that brings life and freedom. It is not academic knowledge about God which will change your life but rather that revealed knowledge and wisdom that comes straight from the Father and which is personal to your unique situation.

What would it mean to your life if every day you walked in the revelation and the wisdom of God? I believe this is exactly what the Lord had in mind for us. That is a significant factor that separated Jesus from everyone else who has walked the planet. He was constantly plugged in to the Father. I think it is possible for us to live in this kind of light because I think it was God who inspired this prayer for the Ephesians. God has given us a mind and intellect but I don’t think it was so that we could stand in the glory of our reasoning. I believe He gave us minds created in His image so that we could connect with Him. The scripture tells us that we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2: 16). That is a great gift but as we study the life of Christ we realize that Jesus did not excel in the strength of his mind alone but rather in his ability to connect with the Father. Because of that interconnectedness, Jesus was able to live in the revelation knowledge of the Father, he was given the words to say to fit the moment and he had the wisdom of the ages to guide him

This is his gift to you. This is what Paul understood, that Jesus’ victory claimed this standing for you. Not only are you entitled to walk in constant revelation of the Father, but also this is what God wants to share with you. This is part of the intimacy that He longs for you to partake of. So today as you engage in all of the activities of life, keep in mind that God’s wisdom and a revelation of who He is goes with you. Plug into that ageless wisdom and allow God to direct your path.

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Hearty Seeking

On February 13, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 22: 19

Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God.

If you want to know the secret to living victoriously in Christ I believe this is it. I remember how dramatically my life changed when I resolutely and determinedly sought God. Now I have entered a new phase of seeking where all of me is more fully engaged in seeking Him.

It is interesting to me that the scripture says to set our hearts and souls to seeking God. I spent many, many years seeking Him with my mind. That was not a completely empty pursuit but it sure was not fulfilling. I loved God and sought His wisdom but when I began to pursue Him with all of me, life changed.

For me the big difference was getting out of my intellect and into my heart. I found this difficult because I interfaced with the world through intellect and reasoning. I didn’t “feel” my way through life. I listened to people talk about connecting with God in their hearts and honestly, I couldn’t even feel my heart when I meditated. It was pretty humbling. And I don’t claim to have laid hold of the prize yet but I do know that an intellectual relationship with God is not what He sent His son to the cross for. Intellectual relationships are what we have with professors and with books. It is not the basis for a relationship with our resurrected Lord, he who gave his life for us. We are intended to be as close to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as we are to our spouses and children. It really is a matter of the heart. How satisfied would your spouse be if your relationship was solely intellectual? Boring!

Here is a bit of good news though. Father says that if we will seek Him, He will be found by us (2 Chronicles 15: 2). But what does this really mean, to seek Him with our heart and soul? It seems that we must not only abandon the pursuit of our minds but that we must also turn our perspective in so that we connect first with our own hearts and souls. Then as an exercise of our inner person we engage the Father. When we were born again the Father, Son and Holy Spirit came to live inside of us. They have taken up residence in us. Therefore, if we wish to find the Father we need not search the heavens or the air about us. We need only turn our attention inward. Unfortunately, many of us have divorced ourselves from an internal life. We were either deceived about the primacy of the intellect or we closed off our hearts because we had not the strength to endure. Often it might have been a bit of both. But we are not cowards. There is nothing in our hearts that Jesus can’t handle. In fact, he has already healed all of our wounds. He is the salve that coats and heals. Therefore, we needn’t be afraid any longer. Our Lord is bigger than our fear, bigger than any past injuries. No matter how badly we may have been injured nor how long we have made it a practice to cordon off our hearts, he is greater than those obstacles. He can restore to us a tender heart which is our divine right and our divine construction. We were made to be tender and when we really understand who we are in Christ we will also appreciate that there is no weakness in tenderness. A tender and compassionate heart is what gave Jesus the strength to go to the cross.

If we want to live in Christian victory; if we want to have all that Jesus came to give us; then we must live our lives integrated with him. We must set our hearts and souls to seeking him and he will be found by us. We must have an impressionable and open heart in order to succeed. Jesus is our perfect way and He has provided for us strength and security. Fear not! Seek the Lord with all that you are and you will find great joy and victory in him.

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Prayers for the Needy

On February 12, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Philippians 4: 19

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Paul wrote to the Philippians assuring them that because they were meeting his needs God would take care of their needs. That is a good perspective from which to view our needs and our prayers. God meets our needs when we meet the needs of others. Still I suspect most of us spend a good bit of time praying about our needs. I noticed in the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus gave “needs” one line; “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6: 11). When Jesus went up on the mountain to pray, what do you suppose he prayed about? I suspect he didn’t spend much time praying about the things he needed. I imagine he prayed for people and for his calling.

I think what God is showing me is that we need spend very little time praying about our physical needs. In fact, I am beginning to think we need not spend much time at all praying about any of our perceived needs for two reasons. First, Jesus said, “Ask and it shall be given to you” (Matthew 7: 7). So ask and be done.

Secondly, I don’t think we really know what we need. Sometimes we pray (ask) for something that we want but don’t need. In fact, sometimes the thing we are praying for would destroy us if we received it. Take for example the Israelites who prayed and prayed for a king. God told them, “No” at first time saying that He would be their king. He told them that their desire would only lead them to ruin. They kept on and on until finally he relented (read this story in 1 Samuel 8). And if you know the story of Saul, the first ever king of Israel, you know that God spoke to them truthfully.

I think our prayer time is better spent asking God what we need. In other words, I think we should pray about ourselves rather than for ourselves. We need God’s revelation on what we need and it may well be something that He wants to do in our hearts. At least that is what I am finding. If we back up a little bit from Matthew 7: 7 where Jesus said, “Ask and it shall be given to you,” and go to the end of Chapter 6 we find something interesting. Bear in mind that this is all one teaching. When Jesus spoke this it wasn’t divided into chapters so just a few moments before He said, “Ask and receive” he said, “Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6: 33).

I believe this is what was happening in Philippi. The people had finally turned their hearts from seeking after their own needs and desires to seeking the kingdom. When they got back into a spiritual state, reconnected with the Holy Spirit within them they sent a gift to Paul for his support and maintenance. Then Paul said that their gift to Him would insure that their needs were met. You see, the Holy Spirit will speak to us about what we need in our lives. He will even lead our prayers. He will also direct our actions so that what we need will be provided for us. The Philippians didn’t send their gift to Paul in order to get their needs met, they were just connecting with God in their hearts. They were seeking the kingdom and the Holy Spirit led them to send a gift to Paul. In that act, their needs were met, as well as Paul’s. So, we need to seek God in our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to lead our actions. When we do we will not need to pray unceasingly for our needs and wants. They will become a by-product of what God is doing in our spirits. It seems then that the key to the kingdom is what we have all been told time and time again. Seek the Lord, our God and He will take care of everything else.

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