Christian Leadership

On August 6, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 15: 1 – 2           NIV

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

This is one of my least favorite scriptures in the Bible. I can hear that voice in the back of my head saying, “So … you think you are a strong Christian, do you? Well, here is what strong, mature Christians do.” Then I look at my life and I am not sure that I measure up and it causes my heart to seize.  

This was written by the Apostle Paul who learned these lessons himself. Then, as though, he just didn’t have time to soften his expression he unleashes this teaching upon us all. One gets the sense from his tone that this is something very important but also urgent. The church was growing by leaps and bounds but there was no leadership in place. Everyone was new so they had to grow up fast and Paul was the leader in teaching spiritual maturity. 

I feel that same sense of urgency today. We are living in the closing chapters of the story and the time is short. I do not believe that we can afford the casual Christianity of our past. We must each put on our big boy pants and grow in the things of the Kingdom. I know that I fall short of the mark but as I look around I am convinced that I am not alone. We have played around with our Christian faith and used it as a convenience rather than adopting it as a lifestyle. Now Paul is calling us to higher ground. Awaken! The time is at hand for all of the children of God to grow into spiritual maturity.

There are three clear mandates in this short passage. Each one of them is a message unto itself but you will have to preach those three messages to yourself since this format does not lend itself to that level of comprehensiveness. First, there is a recognition that there are those who are weak and whose weakness is seen by their spiritual failings, chief among these failings is their inability to live up to this passage. There is an assumption that we are not one of the weak but rather the strong. Everyone was new and weak at one time but by now we should have grown up a bit. So, the first admonition is the carry your brother who is not yet able to stand for himself, bear him up on your shoulders. This necessarily precludes our judging them, by the way.

Second, we are not to spend our energies pleasing ourselves. How, then, do we spend our effort? First in supporting those who are weak and secondly in the third admonition; please your neighbor building him up as you do. We really are not supposed to have ourselves on our minds all of the time. Our thoughts are not to be consumed with our perceived wants and needs. It is God’s job to meet all your needs and you know how to pray. So, you say your prayers thanking God for meeting all of your needs today and then that is the last time you have to think of your needs. Now you can use your mental and physical power meeting the needs of others. You have it in your power to bless others. What are you doing with that power? Look around you. What are the needs of your family members and friends? How can you be a blessing? Are there those at work who could use a spiritually mature person to help them? Of course there are. Everywhere you look today are people you could bless if you should choose to do so.  

It is time for us to go to the next level of growth. Are you with me?

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The Essential Prayer

On August 5, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Samuel 7: 18

Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?

I would like to continue some thoughts on prayer from yesterday’s devotional. Prayer is an interesting topic because everyone knows what prayer is and yet doesn’t seem completely comfortable with their knowledge. All across the country and the world ministers continue to teach on prayer, as did Jesus, because there is so much room for deeper insights.

I like this passage from David because David asks such a basic question, one that probably most people think about at some point in the relationship with God. Who am I, Lord? Another way to think of this is, who am I in relation to you? What is my standing with you, Lord and why do you even show me such kindness? When I wish to study this mystery of an interpersonal relationship with the Lord of Hosts I most often turn to David. He loved God and God actually called him “friend”. Yet, David pondered these same questions that we too stumble over.

When we say the prayer of salvation acceptance and confess Jesus as our Lord and savior a new creature and a new life is born. We are born anew and begin a journey of transformation with our Lord. Being born again is far from the end. It is supposed to be a beginning. We accept discipleship to the Lord Jesus and begin to allow ourselves to become unified with him. This is a fascinating process and not all together easy or comfortable at times, which brings me back to prayer. 

The most powerful prayer we can ever pray is a prayer of submission. In that prayer we can even daily ask the Lord this important question, “Who am I?” Perhaps the question we really want to ask, though, is, “Who am I becoming?” This can be a challenging question, but I know the answer. We are called to allow ourselves to manifest the beautiful creation that God first created. You were made in the very image of Christ himself but as we live in this world that perfect child begins to take on the corruption and taint of the world. That is not to say that you are corrupt but rather that the things of this world get on us and they can be difficult to shake off. Jesus, though, has come to our rescue. He has saved us out of the mire of this world and given us a beautiful new garment. That sounds great, and it is true but how many of you know that there is a transition period? That is why the scripture says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3: 18).

There is a period of time wherein we allow the transformation to take place within us so that we become the version of ourselves that God saw in the beginning. You will not be changed into someone else. You are just expected to allow the Holy Spirit to work out the transformation within you that reveals the glorious you. We are transformed from glory to glory, from one little success to another. It is a process. It would be great if the Holy Spirit just swept into our hearts and recreated us into that perfect manifestation of Jesus but that is not how it works. None of the three persons of the trinity are ever going to do anything within you without your permission and your participation. Furthermore, transformation does not come from God waving a spiritual wand. As I said, transformation is a process. A caterpillar does not transform into a butterfly in an instant. Now, here is the key piece of information. We are in charge of this personal metamorphosis. We are the captains of this ship. God is not going to change you while you sleep. I wish it worked that way. Instead this is a process of conscious surrender and determined purpose. We have to be dedicated to this process and we must put the car in gear. Having so done, God always supplies the power. This is where prayer at its most basic and perhaps most powerful level is engaged. We must go to the Father in our prayer time and ask for Him to change us. We must prayerfully surrender all of our idols, whether they be our ego, previous injuries and the subsequent scars, our protective walls, our schedules and everything else that would interfere with the transformation process.

This is essential Christianity. It is so easy to get caught up in all of the business of modern life and fail to recognize that Christianity is far more than a one-time prayer. It is not about receiving salvation and accepting the Lordship of Christ in a singular prayer and then never allowing that lordship to impact our lives. Our prayer lives could be much better spent if, instead of praying for our needs, we humbled ourselves before the Almighty and asked Him, “Who am I? Who have you created me to be? Father, I beseech thee, transform me into the image of that vision you have had for me since the dawn of time.” Then we must stop, listen and be honest with ourselves. God will meet you on this sacred ground. He does want to change you and although that sounds very uncomfortable, the truth of it is healing. God will restore you to that healed and perfect you.

As you think about prayer today or when you enter your prayer time think of what significant and important conversation you can have with the Lord. You have the ear of the Almighty; do you really want to talk about trivialities? Look into the heart of God and your own heart and begin to pray this most powerful prayer, “Help me, Lord, to be changed. Help me to embrace this transformation process so that I can be a disciple of yours and follow you wherever you lead.”

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Praying the Will of God

On August 4, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 30: 18          NIV

Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they at the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God – the Lord, the God of his fathers – even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

At first glance it appears that Hezekiah convinced God to do something for the people that He was otherwise either not thinking of Himself or had no intention to do. Let us look at this story through different eyes today and I believe we will see the dynamic of working with God open up before us.

God has always wanted to and offered to lead His people both individually and collectively. This passage reveals the prayers of Hezekiah who was, in fact, the king and a man of God. He called the people back to God, called them back to worshipping Him but the people had wandered so far that there were not even enough ceremonially clean priests to perform the rites. Hezekiah witnessed the people partaking of the feast without being clean. For the moment let us leave aside the prophetic nuances here that reflect forward thousands of years to us being unclean and partaking of the lamb and just look at this event on its surface.

God saw the people’s actions just as clearly as did Hezekiah. God didn’t judge them, though, and rain fire down from heaven. What did He do? He spoke to Hezekiah’s heart and led Him to pray for the people so that He could rain forgiveness down upon them. So many people have an image of a vengeful and angry Old Testament God and because of this preset in the minds of people they miss the gentle kindness that was actually present. God knew how to handle the situation so He spoke to His anointed one and just had Him pray. It was that simple. The problem was taken care of in an instant.

This story is significant because it reveals the true heart of God which is and always has been to help His people but also because it is a pattern for today. God is still working the same way. He sees the problems and He knows the solution. He wants to send soothing comfort to His people but He so often cannot find anyone who will pray. You see, the earth and the heavens were created by God and He owned it all but He gave the earth to humans and He gave us the authority for its administration. Although God is sovereign that does not mean that He is without restraint. He is Holy and because He is Holy and cannot lie He must abide by the rules that He has set out. That means that He cannot intervene where He has delegated His authority. That shouldn’t be a big problem for Him, though, because He has thousands of us to pray, inviting Him into situations, right? Well, there you see the problem we have faced. This is not a new problem but is a persistent one. In the second verse of Isaiah 50 we find this lament from God, “Why was there no man when I came? When I called, why was there none to answer? Is my hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver?” God, through the prophet Isaiah, is lamenting the times that He could not find someone like Hezekiah who would be His earthly partner and follow His leading. 

There is a really large lesson in here for modern day believers. We can see through this example that there is a role that we are to play in the administration of the earth. We are God’s partners in the earth. We pray and He the answers. How is He send prayer answer if someone does not first pray? As the Apostle Paul taught, helping us to pray is one of the significant roles of the Holy Spirit. “For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;” (Romans 8: 26). Another translation reads, “… But the Spirit intercedes along with our groans that cannot be expressed in words, (God’s Word Translation). God sent an intermediary to help us with our part of the equation. When we put all of these pieces together we begin to see the picture emerge of how we are supposed to function in the earth and what our role is. Our prayer time, so often, has become nothing more than a “bless me” session but that is not as it should be. We are each powerful warriors in the elite forces of God’s army. We are each strategically placed. As we understand this dynamic and open up our hearts and ears God will, through the Holy Spirit, lead us into what to pray even as He did Hezekiah in today’s passage. From there an avenue of God’s power and mercy is opened up in the earth.

God wants to send healing, forgiveness and blessing into the earth and into the lives of people that we each know. Each of us provides that portal when we hearken to the voice of our Lord and pray as He leads. Get a revelation of what a prayer life can and should be. See yourself as a key logistical asset in the Kingdom of God. You may not have been able to imagine how significant you are but hopefully as you meditate on the effect of Hezekiah’s obedience and on his partnership with God you will begin to see the great influence you can extend in the earth. God is just looking for a few folks who will pray His prayers.

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Dwelling in the Presence

On August 1, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Genesis 3: 8

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

As I read through the Bible one thing keeps being impressed on me and that is that God has always longed for close, personal fellowship with us. That idea begins with today’s passage. Imagine living in the Garden of Eden and in the evening God comes to walk along the garden path with you. Doesn’t that sound idyllic? Well, God’s original intention for the earth was for it to be a perfect garden where we could enjoy His company. Unfortunately, we spoiled the garden.

All through the Bible you see God return to this idea of living with His people. In 1 Kings 6: 13 we witness God expressing this very idea saying, “I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.” When he saved the people from their captivity in Egypt He went along with them, leading them day and night by His presence. He was in the cloud. He was in the fire. He was their rear guard as well as their guiding light. Later He told Moses to “let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25: 8). Then He gave them the instructions for building the Ark of the Covenant. And His presence came and rested in the Ark and with the people.

Time marches on and King David sits on the throne. Finally there is peace in the land and David has a desire in his heart to build a temple for God but God forbids David from building the temple because he, being a man of war, has too much blood on his hands. So, his son, Solomon builds the temple. In 1 Kings 8 we read about the dedication of the temple. These interesting words appear in verse 10: “When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.” Again God came to live among His people.

This recurrent theme does not end with the Old Testament saints, however, nor with the Israelites because we have now become the temple of the Most High. “For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (2 Corinthians 6: 16).

God has not changed. His long held desire has been to live with His kids. Ever since the Garden of Eden God has longed to be in close proximity with us both physically and emotionally. He has made us His temple so that He can be with us everywhere we go. And again, as in 1 Kings 8, He wants to fill His temple with His presence.

Today He wants to walk in the cool of the day with you. He longs to chat with you and hear what is on your heart. He deeply desires fellowship with you. This revelation will prevent you from ever being lonely again. You have a close and abiding friend and He is the Lord of creation. So, let us all stop thinking of God as high and removed. Don’t imagine Him far away in the cosmos. He is in the room with you right now. He is as close as your next breath. Begin to talk with Him as your best friend. It will change your life.

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The Hour is Late

On July 31, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 13: 11        NIV

And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Awaken O Mighty Church of the living god. The time is at hand. This is the awaited hour. God is on the move and calling for His soldiers, the disciples of Jesus, to arise and establish the Kingdom of God in the earth. God has given us the tools. He gave us the Son and the Holy Spirit. He has saved our lives by grace. He has sent His messengers, the prophets, teachers and pastors to arm us for this age. There is nothing left for God to do. The call has gone out, “Arise! Awaken! Your time is at hand.”

You have been called by the Almighty to a great and glorious work. Shake off the everyday humdrum existence and look out upon the horizon. The army of God is assembling and you are part of this great and mighty force. Jesus bought you, saved you and redeemed you for this day. You are the hand of the Lord, the voice, the heart. Arise! Cast off your bedclothes for the voice of the Lord is calling out your name. Can you hear Him?  

God saved you because you asked Him. He saved you because He loves you but it does not end there. He called you even before you had a heart for Him. Your receipt of salvation was the acceptance of His call to you. You have been ordained for this time; to be a mighty force for the Kingdom of God. God did not send Jesus into the earth to save us only so that we might spend eternity with Him. He sent salvation into the earth while we are still living here so that we might partner with Him to accomplish His great purposes. Your salvation is not just for the end times; it is very loudly for today. God had a purpose for salvation and it was not so that we can continue to live carnal lives, lives that look very much like our lives before we were saved. If Jesus’ sacrifice and the resultant salvation was only about our lives in eternity then God could have chosen an after-death time of choice for us. Salvation came into the earth so that we could do something with it while we are here. We are to be alive to Christ now. Rise up, Paul says. Awaken from your slumber. This day, today, is THE day of salvation. This is the day that God marked for His children to awaken and become the active and powerful body of Christ. 

We must each live our lives as alive to Christ. What does that mean? Well, it may well be a question that each of us must take up with the Father but at one level it must mean that the lives we now live in this fleshly body are lived to and for Christ; that our relationship with the Lord is the most important thing in our lives. Furthermore, this dedication to the Lord and Father must show in our everyday existence. Our lives are to be more that earthly work and recreation. Our priority for Christ should be something we cannot hide. Our lives should be consumed with doing the work of Christ through love and the power of the Holy Spirit. I am not teaching a works doctrine. I am preaching a heart decision; a decision to answer the call on your life. Up ‘til now we’ve been in training but it is time for us to graduate and get out in the world and bring the power of God forward. It is time for global unification around the person of Jesus forsaking useless doctrinal debate.

What would it look like if all who profess to be followers of Christ would all at once stand up? Can you imagine looking at the body from outer-space and seeing it arise? No longer are we isolated and cut off from the hearts of other believers. The job of the Kingdom is too big for us individually but together we are a mighty force. We have only to hearken to the call and awaken. Visualize the body of Christ rising from its slumber. Each one of us is an important part of that body. Even if you are only a toe in the body of Christ imagine the body without that toe. We may stumble and fall without you. Today is the day. Let us all lift our voices in harmony answer the voice of our Lord. This is the day. This is the hour. Awaken from your slumber and arise.

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Free for the Asking

On July 30, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

James 1: 5

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

There is not one among us who does not, at some time, lack wisdom but we have good news delivered to us by Jesus’ brother, James. James walked out his beliefs through experience with God and Jesus. James wasn’t always a believer. Once James, along with Jesus’ other brothers went to seize him and take him home because they thought he was out of his mind (Mark 3: 21). But James watched and listened and he became a pillar of the church. He learned the ways of God even though he began in doubt and unbelief. Therefore, when James speaks, we can trust that he came by his knowledge through experience with the Christ. When he tells us that we can receive wisdom freely from our Father then we can trust that he knew what he was talking about because James lived it. The first step to receiving wisdom from God is believing that God will give it to you. Hopefully having James the unbelieving tell you from his own experience that God gives wisdom freely resolves the first problem.  

The second part is hearing God. Sometimes our receptors malfunction and though God is giving His wisdom freely and generously we can’t receive it. Here is a technique that I use to help me see through God’s eyes. I counsel myself. More accurately, I imagine someone else with my problem and think about what I would tell them if I was advising them. In this way I advise myself but with the wisdom of God because with this technique I find it quite easy to receive the wisdom of God. Another method I use is to picture myself seated at a table with God. I explain the situation to Him and then I look at Him and hear what He says about it. This level of focus helps me to receive His wisdom because it takes the pressure off of me to “hear” the voice of God. I just look at this scenario I have set, see myself there with Father and just listen to what He says to the me in the image. 

One other thing that helps me sometimes is to get a new perspective. Move out of yourself and see yourself and your situation through someone else’s eyes or from their view. It’s like stepping back from the situation and viewing it from a third person perspective. Sometimes we are so close to a situation that we cannot see, so it helps to move away. And here is one last little trick that I often use. Picture yourself standing on the moon looking down at the earth. What do you see? Do some global issues take on a different appearance from out there? Now, can you zoom into your world? Look at your environment. What is really important there? Are you spending your energy on the things that are most important? If you and God could sit there together and look at your life with this perspective what, if anything, would you do differently? Which problems no longer look so big?

I believe these techniques will help you to relax and gain the Father’s perspective and wisdom. We try so hard to hear Him sometimes that we block the flow. He is happy to lead you by His wisdom so take every little and large situation to Him and let Him show you His way.

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Snakes and Stones or Fish and Bread

On July 29, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 7: 7 – 11

“Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or what if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

I know this is a very familiar passage of scripture but it bears looking at again and again. And even though it is well known I am unconvinced that it has really sunk into the hearts of believers.

We begin with the entreaty of Christ himself telling us to ask the Father for those things we seek. He would have no need to tell the people to make requests to God if they were already doing it. Moreover, Jesus knew well that the words he spoke while on the earth were not only for the people of that era but also for us. There is an emphatic plea in Jesus’ tone as he tried to encourage the Jews of then and us today to take our petitions to the Lord, our God. 

Ask, he says, and you will receive. Clearly the people were not asking but the important underlying point is that they did not ask because they did not believe God would answer. That is why Jesus went on to explain God’s willingness to answer prayer by comparing Him to an earthly parent. Surely, even a half-way decent parent would not give a child a snake in response to a request for a fish or a stone in place of bread and yet followers of Yahweh don’t even give Him that much credit. We have failed to recognize Him as a loving parent. Jesus calls us to look at ourselves and compare ourselves with the God and Father who created us. If we are virtuous enough to give our children that which is good how is it that we do not believe that our heavenly Father is virtuous enough to care for us? In our comparison somehow we subconsciously arrive at the conclusion that God is not a good parent. The result is that we don’t bother to ask because we do not believe that He will answer.

As I read this I am forced to ask myself if I believe Jesus. What was Jesus’ purpose in speaking these words? Is this just theology or is he trying to compel us to really treat God as a father? Does Jesus think that the comparison of God to an earthly parent is rational? And does he really believe that if you and I ask God for something that God will actually provide for us? Will God provide for me as He provided for Jesus?

As I sit here I invite you to join me in thinking about what you really want and what you really need. What is in your heart today? Is it something in the physical realm or something intangible? Can you imagine yourself seated at the kitchen table with your father God? What would you say to Him about this need or desire you have? Can you see Him as a loving parent who wishes to meet your needs and who also loves to bless you with gifts?

So much theology is put to right when we receive a revelation of God’s love. When we come to understand His heart and His deep love for us then all the pieces begin to fall into place. We have to shake off this idea of Him as a distant and removed God and get a revelation of Him as a loving parent. That is what Jesus tried to reveal to us and he is emphatic that we should treat God as a parent by asking, seeking and knocking. We have Jesus’ word that we will receive, the door will be opened and we will find that which we seek. Move outside of your experience and your philosophy today and attempt to hear what Jesus is saying. Sit with him and let him minister the nuance and implications of the words as well as their literal meaning. There is something important in this passage that Jesus is trying to convey to you today. Require him to give you the fullness of its meaning.

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