The Red Sea

On July 7, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment


Exodus 14: 15 – 16

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.”

I want to share something important today, something we don’t talk about often. Who was it that divided the red sea? When confronted with the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptians chasing behind them, the Israelites cried out to God. Take a close look at God’s response to Moses. Yahweh told him, “You reach out your hand.” This is a critical point. Most of us think that God parted the sea but it isn’t true. Moses divided the sea per the Lord’s instruction.

Jesus said, “Nothing will be impossible to you” (Matthew 17: 20). What he did not say is that nothing shall be impossible to God. While that is true, it is interesting that Jesus did not tell his disciples to pray because everything is possible with God. He told them their failure was due to their own lack of faith, because if they had even a modicum of faith nothing would be impossible to them. Another time he said, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19: 26). The key word in this quote is “with.” God was with Moses as He is with us but it was Moses who had to step out and part the sea. God wants to do amazing things “with” us too.

I truly believe this is a major principle in Kingdom dynamics and one we have mostly overlooked. There are revelations embedded in here that if we were to flesh them out would change the body of Christ overnight. We believe we are awaiting God but the truth is that He is waiting for us. I have written before about Christian bravado and I believe this is where it comes into play. Sometimes we have to act in boldness. We have to take a chance and take God very simply at His word. It takes a person of courage and faith to boldly believe God and act on it. Wouldn’t we rather God show up of His own accord and work miracles in our lives? Apparently, that is not how it works.

The real wake-up call for me is that Moses lived in the Old Testament Age. The Holy Spirit, who is the power of God, had not yet been poured out. So, in truth, we have more than Moses had. We have the life of Jesus, both the historical record and his life within us, and we have the Holy Spirit. All that Moses did, we ought to be able to likewise do. We must inquire of the Lord and allow Him to lead us in these miracle producing acts. Nothing is impossible to us because we have God. It is just a matter of are we “with” Him. Seek the Lord; seek His counsel. I believe He will give you good advice and lead you into a victorious daily existence.

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Couch Potato

On July 20, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 14: 15

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.”

I have been having an interesting conversation with a friend of mine this week. The gist of it is that as Christians, we sometimes wait around for God to do things for us when He has already provided everything we need. We live a very passive Christianity when God has in mind a partnership. Perhaps we do not cognitively think that we can be idle and God will do everything for us but our behaviors indicate that we may believe this is the case.

Moses and the Israelites certainly had that mentality. They were backed up to the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army was closing in. Can you imagine the wailing and caterwauling that must have been going on? God said, “Why are you crying out to me?” In other words, “You have and the sons of Israel have all you need for this situation. Stretch out your hand and part the sea.” Wow! Isn’t that something? “You lift up your hand”, God says.

But now, wait a minute. Haven’t we been taught that we are not supposed to be working in the power of our might? Absolutely! But do you really think Moses parted the Red Sea in the power of his might? Of course not. This is called moving in the power of God’s might, using your authority in Christ. This is the secret. We don’t sit on our hands and wait for God to drop things in our lap because He has given us His name and His authority. Likewise, we don’t move in our power or wisdom but rather in His. We are partners with God through Christ Jesus.

I see so many ineffective, powerless Christians and this just ought not be. Our Father is the big guy, the creator, Yahweh but we go around like orphans. Look, if you were the child of Queen Elizabeth would you go around like you had no authority? Of course not but one key is that you would need to understand your authority.

This is a really big deal. We need to learn to walk in the power of God. We must learn to work with the Holy Spirit and live in the blessing of our Lord Jesus. This is a life of balance, neither relying on our strength nor resigning ourselves to the couch awaiting miracles to fall upon us. I encourage you to ponder this subject and send us your thoughts. Perhaps we can have a good dialogue about how this actually works out in real life.

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Vigorous

On April 27, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 105: 37               King James

He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

We saw from Deuteronomy 34: 7 yesterday that Moses died at age one hundred and twenty but that he was not feeble when he died. Today’s verse is about when God led His people out of Egypt. There were several million people in that great exodus but not one of them was feeble. Isn’t that amazing? There had to be people of all ages in that group yet every one of them was able to walk without stumbling.

Yesterday I wrote that we do not have to get old and feeble but let’s now look at a broader picture. Moses was eighty years old when he led the Israelites out of Egypt. He was strong and full of vigor. All of the people of Israel, regardless of their age were able bodied. They packed up their entire households and marched out into the desert. Honestly, how many of us today could walk in the desert day after day?

Here is the good news though, the power that gave their bodies strength is just as available to us as it was to them. In fact, we have a greater mediator and intercessor than they did because we have Jesus. Jesus has conquered death, hell and the grave but guess what, that is not all. He has conquered infirmity. Hallelujah! You’ve got to get this idea deep down into your bones. Let it sink in deep. When you do, you will find that it gives life to your body. You have a promise and a heritage of strong, able and vigorous strength for every sinew, bone and cell of your body. Focus your mind and attention on the truth. Every day remind yourself that none of the Lord’s people are weak or feeble. The more it sinks in, the more invigorated you will be. Tell yourself the truth, and the truth really will set you free.

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Feeble or Able?

On April 26, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 34: 7

Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated.

So, if Moses’ vigor was not abated, of what did he die? We have gotten this nutty idea that the cycle of life ends with getting old, getting sick and dying of that sickness. That is an incredibly skewed view of life. Moses died of having run out of years. God had already told mankind that He was limiting their life span, “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years’” (Genesis 3: 3). God told Moses his time was at hand and for him to make arrangements for his succession. So, at one hundred and twenty years of age, Moses simply transitioned to the next phase of his life. He left his mortal body and moved to heaven. He wasn’t sick, He wasn’t diseased. He was just done. He had finished his race.

This is the revelation we all need for our own health. We weren’t designed to get old, get sick and die. We were meant to live out the number of our years fulfilling our destiny just like Moses did. Then we simply change addresses. We lay down this body and move to eternity with Jesus.

There is just one more question which plagues me, if Moses could live to one hundred and twenty in the Old Testament, before Jesus, what should our life spans be?

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Get a Life

On October 23, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Genesis 6: 3

Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

Many of you know that I have been studying diet and nutrition for the last several years. It has been the subject of much of my prayer and conversation with the Father. I have also been very interested in the expected life span of humans. Last week I drove to Huntsville, Alabama for a ministry conference which gave me plenty of time to listen to CD’s. One I listened to was by a doctor. He has no ministry affiliation and his talk was not about the God connection to our health.

Imagine my surprise when he said that we ought to be living to 120 years. Wow! Now why did he pick that number? Does he know what the Bible says? He explained that physiologically humans should be living to 120. Of course, I knew that. God said that thousands of years ago. But, to tell the whole truth, that should be the minimum. You see, in Genesis 6: 3 God was speaking to a disobedient and rebellious people. Today’s verse isn’t really granting 120 years, it is limiting people’s life span to 120 years. Human beings were wearing God out. He said, “I am not going to strive with man forever!” So, he cut their lifespan off to 120 years. Isn’t that amazing? So, this doctor sees physiologically the result of God’s words in Genesis 6: 3.

Now then, the first response I often get when I tell people they should live to 120 years is that they don’t want to live all crippled and feeble. Really? Are you kidding me? Do you really think that was God’s intention? Did God say, “I am going to limit your years on the earth to 120 but I am going to make you decrepit and feeble at 60 or 70.” Of course, if you listen to the world today you will hear that we should begin to fall apart at 50. I’m sorry guys. I am just not going to do it and I hope you will join me. I have a vision for riding my bike at 120 years old. Moses wasn’t feeble at 120 years old and I am not going to be either.

So now let’s allow the big revelation to go off in us. If Moses and all of those rebellious Israelites were allowed 120 years, honestly, what should we, the redeemed of God, expect for a life span. Since we are covered with the blood and resurrection power of Christ our Lord, shouldn’t we have a bigger vision than those desert wandering, lost in the fog, idol worshipping, rebels? I mean, I love them and I want every one of them to be in heaven but they weren’t washed in the blood, were they? Their sin stuck to them whereas ours is washed away. So, if the sin stained live to 120 to what age should the redeemed of Christ live until?

So, sign a new lease on life. Renew for another 50, 60 or 70 years. Renew for 100 if that is what is in your heart. I believe with you. And be healthy until the day you decide to change addresses. Jesus is health as well as life (Psalm 107: 20). Go on, get a new life today!!

For additional insights Please See the Word of the Day for July 22, 2015.

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The Promise

On October 6, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Numbers 11: 16 – 17

The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, who you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you , and will put Him upon them.

This “Spirit” spoken of is the Holy Spirit of God. God reveals to us in this passage that His spirit was “on” Moses. That is a powerful revelation for anyone who has ears to hear. 

Moses did gather the seventy elders and God did put His Holy Spirit on them too so that they could help shoulder the burden of caring for the Israelites. When God put His Spirit on them, the Bible tells us that they began to prophesy (v. 25). That is the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is the same spirit which was spoken of in Acts 2. God promised in Joel 2: 28 that He would pour out His Spirit on all mankind. This outpouring was a monumental occurrence, the fulfillment of a long awaited promise. In fact, if you study all the verses which speak about the Holy Spirit you will see numerous references to the promise of his coming. Then in Acts 2 we get to witness the outpouring of the Spirit. 

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came “upon” people as was the case with Moses and the seventy elders. This resting of the Holy Spirit upon people gave them tremendous ability and power. Jesus told the disciples that when he left he was going to send the Holy Spirit (John 16: 7). He also told them that the Holy Spirit was coming to live IN them (John 14: 17). 

This is a new dispensation, if you will. We are talking about the same Holy Spirit which brooded over the waters in Genesis 1: 2. However, a new thing was happening. Jesus was sending the Holy Spirit into the world to stay. Not only that, but importantly, the Holy Spirit was sent to us individually rather than collectively. That is an important distinction. The Holy Spirit was with the nation of Israel as they sojourned to Canaan but He did not live “in” them. Jesus has now sent the Holy Spirit to each of us, to live in us and to be our constant companion. He said the Holy Spirit would be to each of us a go along, a teacher, a guide and a helper (John 16: 7, 13, John 14: 26).

Certainly there is an aspect of our own responsibility. We must each receive the Holy Spirit personally. He is not going to set up house within you without your permission. However, when you invite Him in, the power, authority and ability that was with Moses comes and takes up abode IN you. You become the vessel, the carrier of the power of God. This power and authority does not just rest on you and then remove Himself, He is with you and in you all the time. That is a much better arrangement than the Old Testament saints had.

I invite you to meditate on today’s verse and ponder the role of the Holy Spirit in today’s world but most importantly, in your own life. I pray that the Spirit who was upon Moses will come rest in you and with you today.

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Woods Afire

On March 9, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 3: 1 – 4

Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father–in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

Moses is one of the great heroes of the Bible but how close did he come to being just another person in the parade of folks who keep walking when God calls out to them? 

There are many great people from the past who walked and talked with God. Sometimes, though, I wonder about the people we never hear about. What if Moses had seen the burning bush but not turned aside to go look at it? I can well imagine someone seeing a fire and the reaction of their soul is to run away. When Moses turned aside and went towards the burning bush God Himself came down and spoke with him. How many would be heroes have kept walking when God called out to them? Moses could have said to himself, “I have all these sheep to tend, I can’t wander around looking at curiosities.” He could have responded in fear and fled. “When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush.” Don’t you wonder how many people just walked on by?

Abraham is another of our Old Testament favorites, the Father of Faith yet did you know that Abraham’s father, Terah, actually was the one who first started out for Canaan? Unfortunately, Terah got only as far as Haran and then he got comfortable and stopped. So God called out to Abram (Abraham) and said, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you” (Genesis 12: 1). We don’t know Terah’s whole story and I think the reason why is because he stopped. Had he continued on to Canaan we might be calling him the Father of Faith. For all we know, God called Terah out to go to Canaan, that is the way it appears anyway but along the way he found a nice, comfortable spot and he set up camp even though the scripture says that he left intending to go to Canaan.

The moral of the story is, turn aside when God speaks to you. I very much doubt that one of the bushes in your front yard is going to burst into flame so you are going to have to listen a bit more closely. By all means, though, if you see a burning bush, go up to it and inquire if it is God. Let’s be looking for God. Let’s be expecting God to speak to us. 

I love Moses’ response. “Here I am,” said he, but I wonder how many times God called him before He finally got Moses’ attention. Don’t make God set the woods on fire before you answer His call. He generally speaks in quiet, gentlemanly tones. I guess Moses couldn’t hear Him over all the bleating of the sheep. Look to God with the eyes of expectation and open your ears to His voice. Then when He speaks to you quickly answer, “Here I am.”

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