There is Life in God’s Word

On April 21, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 4: 20 – 22

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their whole body.


This is very similar to the advice God gave Joshua when he appointed him to take Moses’ place (see Joshua 1: 8). Interestingly enough, it seems that when God’s people have their backs to the wall God gives them the Word to help them break through their obstacle. In today’s verse we see that God’s Words are literally the stuff of healing and health. It is as if God wrote a prescription for what ails us. His Word fills us with life which and that filling overcomes sickness. Jesus said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6: 63).

Jesus’ words are actually life and he is the life. So, as we continue to ingest the Word we literally saturate our tissues with the life giving, healing power of the Lord Jesus. I can imagine that it is difficult for some people to die because they have so filled their bodies with life.

God tells us to give our ear and our sight to the Word. Then He tells us to keep His words in the midst of our heart. This tells us that the attention that we are to give to the Word is not an intellectual endeavor but rather one of the heart. We are to open our inner being to the ministration of the Word. He is not calling us to become great theologians but rather to allow the Word to penetrate us and change us. It is not, then, what we do with the Word but rather what we allow the Word to do in us. The Word of God has the power to change our lives but it needs the fertile soil of our hearts in order to work rather than the sterile, antiseptic planting of our minds. Fill up on God’s Word. Keep it ever before your eyes and in your ears so that it can bring the abundant life that is Jesus’ will for you.

 

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He Has Healed

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

Psalm 107:20

He sent His word and healed them.

I recall once when I was sick and running a high fever. I kept putting cold towels and ice packs on me to try to bring the fever down. As I lay on my bed with ice packs on my head and chest I began repeating, “I am the healed of Israel, I am the healed of Israel.” I said it over and over again. Where did that phrase come from? I have to believe that God gave it to me. Interestingly enough He didn’t tell me that I was going to be healed or that healing power was coming to me. He gave me words which confirmed that He had already sent healing to me. After three or four days the fever finally broke. The doctors never did discover the cause but the phrase that God gave me stuck with me.

For those of us who are not Jewish by birth our adoption in Christ has placed us firmly in the sphere of all blessings so that we can boldly claim the blessings of Israel. Today’s verse tells us unequivocally that God has already healed “them”, which means us and it shows us the means by which He effectuated the healing. God gave His spoken Word and His written Word and the power in His Word provides for every need we have including healing. But let us overlay this Abrahamic blessing with a little New Testament glory.

The great apostle, John, reveals to us that Jesus is the Word (John 1: 1, 14). I do not believe that the church has yet to grasp the enormity and the power of that simple truth but it makes great sense when you combine that reality with today’s verse. Most of us believe that Jesus is the great healer so it is a fairly easy leap to imagine that when God sent His word it had healing power in it.  

Jesus is the fulfillment of all promises and he has come to us, to live in us and to fill us to overflowing with the miraculous anointing and power of the Father of Grace. When Jesus lives in your heart then, truly, you have everything you need in order to manifest the abundant life that he said he came to give each of us (John 10: 10). Regardless of your need today, Jesus is the answer. He is the way, the truth, the life (John 14: 6). Reach into the depths of your heart and touch the love, the love that heals all wounds, all sicknesses, all disease, all brokenness. He is your healer, your Lord and abundant grace.

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Power in Obedience

On April 17, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Joshua 7: 5              NIV

And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent, so the hearts of the people melted and became as water.


So to recap, Joshua is in charge of the nation of Israel. They have crossed over the Jordan River by a miracle of God and enjoyed a supernatural victory over Jericho. Jericho was a strong and fortified city but the Israelites took it without a struggle. Now they have gone up against a small town called Ai. Joshua’s advisors told him that he only needed to send up two or three thousand men because the enemy was few. So Joshua sent up about three thousand men but the text says, “They were routed by the men of Ai” (v. 4). So what has happened here?

After the defeat of Jericho, God gave the Israelites specific instructions regarding the disposition of the spoils of war. Some of the spoils they were allowed to keep but other material was designated for the treasury of God. After the defeat at Ai, Joshua fell on his face before the Lord perplexed at how a small band of men could defeat the nation that took Jericho so easily. Wouldn’t you know, when the army of the Lord entered Jericho some of the men took what belonged to the Lord and kept if for themselves. There they sealed their fate.

This would be an appropriate place to talk about the tithe and stealing from God but there is another facet of this behavior worth considering also. Our behaviors, our hearts condemn us. It is hard to receive from God when your heart tells you that you don’t deserve His mercies and kindness. One might argue in one’s mind that the benefits of being a child of God still accrue to them but their heart will not allow them to receive. True, God still loves us, Jesus still died for us but we separate ourselves from God because of the guilt and shame in our heart of hearts.  

If there is any sin keeping you from full fellowship with the Lord of Grace simply confess it and pour the blood of Jesus over it. You never have to feel guilt over it again. But make sure you renounce it and turn away from it too. You are made clean in the blood of the lamb and in Jesus you can and should enjoy the fullness of the abundant life. Be filled with the loving grace and mercy of our Lord.

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God’s Logic

On April 16, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Joshua 6: 2                 NIV

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”

Score massive points for Joshua. Not only did He register that God had spoken these instructions but he also followed them to the letter. I am glad for Israel that I was not the leader of the nation because I would probably still be sitting there saying, “That can’t be God.”

Sometimes we need to follow the Lord in spite of logic because His instructions do not always make sense to our mortal minds but they will deliver wonders and victory when we follow Him. You know the rest of the story. The priests, on the seventh day, blew the long blast on the trumpet during the Israelites’ seventh circuit around Jericho, the people shouted when they heard the blast and, as the song says, the walls came tumbling down. The soldiers did not have to file through a few gates but rather each person just walked straight up and they took the city with ease.

What do you think distinguishes Joshua from those of us who would have questioned the logic of God’s battle plans? Can you picture Joshua arousing this great multitude of people and getting them to march around the walled city of Jericho for seven consecutive days? He must have been very sure that he had heard from God. If you knew beyond all doubt that God spoke specific directions to you wouldn’t you also find the strength and courage to follow His instructions to the “T” just like Joshua?

In all the years that Joshua followed Moses one surmises that Joshua witnessed what was necessary in order to lead the nation of Israel. He must have observed Moses fellowshipping with the Lord and learned how to separate himself from the fray of everyday life so that he could hear the Word of the Lord. I am also reminded of the advice the Lord gave Joshua when he took Moses’ position. God’s sage advice was two-fold. First, be strong and courageous and second, do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth but rather meditate on it day and night being careful to do all contained therein (Joshua 3: 8 – 9).

In conclusion, having walled cities, or any other challenge for that matter, crumble at your feet comes from precisely obeying the Lord’s instructions. We can only have faith and confidence in those oft times seemingly illogical, nonsensical directions when we know beyond doubt that we have heard the voice of the Lord. That kind of confidence and faith comes only from fellowship with the Lord and in His word but fellowship in the Word and in the presence of the Lord yields the bold courage that frees one to follow uncharted paths, it emboldens the heart to do all that the Lord has spoken and it sees obedient zeal in place of questioning critical thought. It gives an ordinary human being the fortitude to do that which seems unreasonable to the human mind and to do such in confidant assurance of the prize.

So if what God is telling you does not seem to make good sense to your logic center, rejoice. You have joined very good company for no one who has ever done anything great for the Lord has not had to face the same fears, doubt and indecision. Just get alone with your Father and let Him confirm His will to you and don’t worry if His logic doesn’t agree with the world’s. That is where the fun begins.

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Time Away

On April 15, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 5: 16

But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

This passage is speaking about Jesus. As you read the accounts of his life, you will discover that Jesus frequently went off by himself for time alone with his Father. Likewise, we need to learn to get away, alone with God regardless of how busy we are. We will never walk in the way of Jesus without doing the things he did. Surely if he needed time alone with God, then we do too.

I am encouraging you to find time to be alone with God because that is where your intimacy with him is found. No matter how much we go to church or how big our ministries are, the relationship with the Father is built in the quiet times together. Show him how precious he is to you by giving him a few minutes of your time. If you cannot give God some of your time, then how important to you is he really? I promise you that the rewards are well worth the time spent.

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Enemies Defeated

On April 14, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 81: 13-14

 13  Oh that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways!
 14 I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries.

I well imagine the Lord is of the same mind today; that we would turn our ways to him so that he can subdue our enemies for us. He would squash our problems if only we would let him. We are often so busy trying to fight battles in our own might that we do not leave room for him. We forget to walk in love but rather walk in our own self-centered, self-serving ways. God cannot work in that environment. The bible says that faith works by love. If we would only listen to him, he would solve all of our problems for us. We lie, cheat … whatever we have to do to get our way. It really is too much work. If we would give away what we want, we would receive back many fold that which we desire. How frustrating it must be for God, sometimes, to want to do for us and yet not be allowed to because we refuse to create an environment in which his power can flow. His power flows through love and faith.

Do you want God to subdue your enemies? Do you want Him to turn His hand against your adversaries? Maybe your adversaries are sickness or injury, or poverty or bad relationships or disobedient children. Re-read verse 13 again and substitute your name in place of “Israel.” If you want God to overcome them for you so that you don’t even have to fight those battles for yourself, then listen to him and walk in his ways. It really can be that easy.

 

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Poverty like a Thief

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

Proverb 6: 9 – 11

How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and your poverty will come in like a vagabond, and your need like an armed man.

God has promised to bless the work of your hands. In fact, in Deuteronomy 30: 9 He promised to “prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand.” The point is, though, that you must set your hand to the plow, as it were. In Colossians 3: 23 Paul teaches that in “whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” 

We were never meant to be idle beings. God created the sloth for that purpose. Even in the Garden of Eden humanity was expected to work and produce. The Garden of Eden was nothing more than a seed garden. Adam and Eve were supposed to take those seeds and create a planet of Eden but they failed miserably. Fortunately, despite our failures God always has an alternate blessing plan. If you read the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy you see that He filled the environment with blessing. About the only blessing you will not find is the couch potato blessing.

Have you heard the expression “work hard, play hard”? Is there a reason that work comes before play in that expression? We must first work and then we play with glee.

Your work is meant to be a source of blessing not just a source of income. As a matter of fact, you may be retired. That does not mean that your work has ended. God may have called you into something new. And work doesn’t have to be a bad word. It is meant to be part of our fulfillment. Meaningful work is a delight. Truth be known, when we dedicate it all to the Lord it is He who does the heavy lifting anyway and we get to walk around in the blessing.

No matter what you are called to do it with all your energy as if your boss is Jesus because in truth he is. Do your work with joy. Your joy comes through the Holy Spirit and the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8: 10). You see work doesn’t have to be drudgery. If the Lord has given you something to do, do it with all your might and with joy blessing the Lord that you have something to which to set your hand. There are thousands and millions of people who do not have the opportunities that we have. God is blessing us.

If we do not arise and do what He has called us to do, He will take away what He has given us and give it to someone else to do. Then we will understand that our work was a gift and a blessing. Just a little folding of the hands, just a little laziness and all of a sudden you have moved yourself out of the blessing and into the curse. We have to understand that God has always, since the beginning of time, been trying to bless people. You see it all through the Old Testament. Then Jesus came to bring us abundant life (John 10: 10). You can see the parallel of God’s will in Deuteronomy 30: 9. It has always been about abundant blessing. But there is a thief among us so God began warning us early that Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). If we fold our hands and slumber the devil will take free rein with our blessing. Guard diligently what the Lord has given you. He has put all things in your hands for joy and blessing. Don’t let the devil steal your blessing. Instead work diligently with a joyful heart giving the Lord thanks for the multitude of blessings He has given you. Make your work a praise offering to the Lord. Go to work with Him, take Him with you. When you take Jesus with you, then all things are a joy.

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