He’s listening

On March 19, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Peter 3: 12

For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. Who among us is righteous? We all are but not because of anything we have done. Today’s scripture can be a great breakthrough for someone but it has to be read through 2 Corinthians 5: 21 which reads, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” God made Jesus to be sin so that we could be the righteous. There is nothing you can do about it; you are the righteousness of God. This is a part of the substitutionary work of Jesus.

Now if you have fully accepted that you are the righteous then you can get very excited about today’s verse. God’s eyes are upon you. That is shouting ground right there but read on. It also says that He is paying attention to your prayer. His ears are tuned to your prayer line.

Did you ever wonder if God was listening to you when you pray? You no longer need be concerned about that. He is listening. He is waiting for you to say something and His angelic host is standing by to carry out their marching orders when you speak out words of faith. Everyone is attentive and listening. Now, what would you like the angels to do for you? Speak to your Father in positive, Word inspired, action words. If all we do is complain about our circumstances the angels have nothing to act on. We need to direct their actions in affirmative ways and the absolute best way to do that is to say what the Bible says. They know how to implement the promises of the Bible. So now that you know God is listening say what the Bible says about you. Speak the promises of God into your life. Ask God to fulfill His Word in you.

He is listening. What have you to say?

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Let God be God

On March 18, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 46: 10 King James Version

Be still and know that I am God.

I am again on this journey to better know God. It is a daily journey for us all but do you also have seasons where your search is hungrier and your need to know Him more compelling? That is where I am and I would like to take you along with me on this journey and really I have little choice because I cannot separate anything I am doing from this deep need to know Him better. It is my prayer that my exploration will benefit you.

Clearly God is telling us in this verse that to know Him better we are going to have to be still for a bit. I wonder if he had our time and our culture in His mind when He gave these words to the psalmists. We are a busy people and being busy is a badge of honor most of us wear proudly. I have found that I can fill up a day with no trouble. Sometimes I get to racing around so fast that even when I sit down to have some quality time with our father my insides are still racing a mile a minute. I don’t think we are ever going to know our father at the deepest levels if we do not learn to slow down and be still. This stillness certainly starts in our bodies. It is difficult to quiet your mind if you can’t first slow down your physiology. How long can you sit absolutely still? You should time yourself. I found I was terrible at just being physically still.

Next, can you release the thoughts going through your mind? I found that I had a very undisciplined mind. It was constantly on one thing or another. So I focus on a picture. I have a couple that I use. Sometimes I picture Christ on the cross. That is very sobering for me and slows me down. At times, though, seeing our Lord on the cross is too much so I picture him beside a stream at one of my favorite places. It is a spot along the Appalachian Trail in South Carolina where I used to like to stop, take off my boots and put my feet in the cool water and its being very picturesque and detailed helps me to focus. Still sometimes that doesn’t work either and then I imagine a single candle burning. I watch the flame dance around. When I can slow down I invariably find Father awaiting me. I am sure that you have ways of quieting your mind, heart and body. When you do, there is the place where it is easiest to hear the father.

However, there is something deeper in this stillness than just slowing our spirits, souls and bodies. In this passage I hear, “Cease your endless striving and experience me, know me as your God.” So many of my prayers over the years have asked God what I should do. Increasingly the answer has been, “Nothing. Just pray.” Now I hear Him saying “Be still and know that I am God.” In other words, He wants us to let Him be God. He wants to show Himself in our lives and through our lives. The key for me is to let God be God and endeavor not to get in His way. “Don’t worry. Don’t strive. Don’t let anxiety have a place in your heart. Be still and at ease knowing that I am your God. I will keep you and care for you.” This is what I hear God speaking to us.

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God’s Spirit

On March 12, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Numbers 11: 29

But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”

The backstory here is that the Lord told Moses to bring forward the seventy elders and He would take of the Spirit that was upon Moses and share it with the elders. Moses gathered the elders at the tent of meeting and then the Lord came down in a cloud and spoke with Moses. Moses then took of the Spirit and “put the Spirit on the seventy elders” (v. 25). When the Spirit rested on the elders, they prophesied.

Well, meanwhile, back in camp, two men whose names were listed among those of the elders but who did not go to the tent of meeting began to prophesy for the Spirit of the Lord rested on them. Joshua was dismayed at this and implored Moses to stop them from prophesying. Moses’ response is today’s verse. I believe Moses’ response was God’s heart. Moses not only had God’s Spirit but he also was a man who walked with God. He knew God’s heart.

A couple of years ago I did a study on the Holy Spirit and created a spreadsheet listing every verse I could find on God’s Spirit. I discovered that there was very little known about the Spirit in the times of the Old Testament. Of the roughly 242 verses I found on the Holy Spirit only about 37 of them are from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit remained yet a promise. He would rest upon people from time to time and when He did they would perform amazing feats. In today’s passage, though, we have a glimpse into the future. Moses said that he wished that every person would have the Holy Spirit. That wish is mostly fulfilled in our time. Every person today has the right to receive the Holy Spirit and have him not only rest on them but actually come live within them and be with them every minute of every day.

It is not automatic, though. You have to invite him to come live in you and be with you but asking is the only requirement. Believe and receive the anointing and indwelling of the Holy Spirit of promise.

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Walk with God like Moses

On March 11, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Numbers 9: 8

Moses answered them, “Wait until I found out what the Lord commands concerning you.”

What an awesome lesson from the leader of the Israelites. The time of the Passover was at hand but some men became ceremonially unclean because of contact with a dead body. A conversation ensued about whether or not these men ought to be allowed to receive the Passover supper.

Isn’t that the way of the law and of small minds? There were people whose first response was exclusion. Legalistic people of all ages seek ways to exclude others from the graces of the Lord. How incredibly sad! Thank our dear Lord for Moses. You see, this was the first time this issue had presented itself so the people had no answer apart from their own reasoning. So Moses said, “Wait! Let’s ask the Lord and see what He says before we make any decisions.” Wow! Now that was a bold and faith filled answer. Oh to have that kind of response to problems today. And consider this. Moses was an Old Testament dude. He didn’t have Messiah but brother, he had a revelation. That is why we can still learn so much from Moses. If we will look at how he walked and talked with God it will inform our lives. It is especially illustrative if you will carry these verses forward and see them in the light of the New Testament.

And here is the very exciting part. God, through the work of Jesus, has sent us the Holy Spirit of promise so that we can today, in this time, walk with God the way Moses did. We can have God speak to every problem we face and every decision we make. Finally, God has come to walk with ordinary people. Glory, Hallelujah! If you can’t get excited about that you need to have your pulse checked. You can walk with God like Moses did. Truth be told, we have an even better deal than he did. We are living in the times of God with you, God in you. Inquire of the Lord in every circumstance and be blessed!

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What it means to be a Christian

On March 10, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 2: 20

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.

I believe this is what it means to be a Christian. The life we formerly lived we have sacrificed on the altar of love to the one who gave all. It is no longer I who live … that person we knew as ourselves is dead and gone and behold a new creature is there, in her place. All things have become new. The life we now live is the life of Christ. He lives in us and through us. It is a life of faith no longer living and walking according to the evidence of our eyes, no longer living according to the flesh and the things of the world. The life we live is the expression of the love of Christ as an outflowing communication, the rivers of living water issuing from within yet reaching out to a hurting and dying world. We wear Christ’s heart on our sleeve.

Is this an easy way to live? Yes and No. It is a wonderful way to live but putting the old self on the altar and even more so leaving him there is not so easy but Christ is our strength, our Father our strong tower. The old person isn’t so great but she is familiar and therefore comfortable but that momentary comfort is in exchange for a lifetime of peace and the glory of the Lord. The old is easy and comfortable but it is death, a living death, and not the way of the Lord. Jesus said that he came to give us life (John 10: 10). Why, then, do we persist in continuing our existence through the dead former self when we could be alive to the life in Christ? Is it habit? Is it fear? Is it that we have lacked leadership? Has there been no one to show us the way?

I pray that you allow this life in Christ to fill you up to overflowing so that you fully experience this great miracle of Christ in me, the hope of glory (Col. 1: 27); that His glory will fill your days and your nights, that the glory of his life within you will permeate every cell of your body and that you may know the full breadth of his love and his guidance in every minute of every day. May the glory of the Lord fill you and settle upon you as in days of old so that you are never alone and never out of His presence. This is the hope. This is what Jesus came and died to give us. May the life of Christ within you be fully realized.

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They will stand in awe

On March 7, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 28: 10 New English Translation

Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, and they will respect you.

In the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy God revealed the blessing and there is much good news there. We know from Galatians 3: 13 – 14 that the blessing of Abraham has been fulfilled in Christ and has become the right of every believer. So now let’s look at verse 10 of this important chapter.

God told the Israelites that the people of the world would see the blessing on them, in operation in their lives and would realize that they were the chosen people of Almighty God. Some versions read that when the people of the world saw the effect of the blessing they would be afraid of Israel. I like what the Living Bible has to say. It says that people will stand in awe.

I have noticed that when God moves He gets more than one effect. The same is true with the blessing. His purpose is to bless you but in so doing the uninformed are witnessed to. They see the effect of serving God in every aspect of our lives. The more we allow God to fill all the rooms of our hearts the more of the blessing manifests in our lives. That is good news for us but it is also good news for the world. People who don’t know God or who are marginalized get to see the love of God in a tangible way. As we allow God to minister His grace to every part of our lives, as we yield to His ministrations the world will see the overflow of His blessing and they will stand in awe.

If you do not believe that you are living in the fullness of the blessing then ask God why not. There is no aspect of the blessing which has not been fully realized in Christ Jesus. Open yourself to hear from Him so that He can bless you and the world. Then all shall see the greatness of our God.

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