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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And the Victor is…?

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

1 John 4: 18

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 

When we receive a full revelation of love we will no longer have fear. We will also find that anger, resentment and other powerful negative emotions disappear because the truth is that those negative emotions are based in fear. We are afraid of losing face, afraid of someone taking advantage of us and so on but when love becomes perfected in us, we will have no consideration for those things. Trust will prevail, an unyielding trust in God’s willingness and ability to take care of us.

We often find it difficult to live in this unbridled trust. Too many of us hear judgment and recrimination in our imaginations of facing the Lord but that is only because our revelation is still being exposed. We fear punishment for our shortcomings because we have not fully embraced the truth of who God is and what Jesus has done for us. Perfect love casts out fear because when we allow that perfect one to explode within us then we see only grace and beauty. Even when we botch things, His face shines on us as a proud parent who thinks we are awesome despite our mistakes. He takes us gently in His hands to teach us so that we don’t err again but this isn’t out of anger but rather out of love. He wants to save us from making the same mistakes over and over again. Then as we learn to trust Him we get better at hearing His instruction before we act and then we don’t have to make as many mistakes in the first place. He leads us so that we place our feet on the right path rather than rambling around in the brambles.

We need not fear punishment. We need fear no thing because our God is not a God of fear. The author of fear lives in hell and he is a defeated foe. All fear belongs to him but Jesus has already cleaned his clock so we need not have any part of him, including his infamous weapon of fear. Love conquers fear. Always has, always will. That is what today’s verse is really saying. With God alive inside of us we do not have to endure the enemy’s tortures. So, focus on the love. Meditate on love. Look up love scriptures. You will find that love is your strength and the mightiest weapon of all.

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Warfare Made Easy

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

2 Chronicles 20: 15, 17

Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.   You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed.

How easy is a war that you don’t even have to fight in and yet you prevail? That is exactly what happened for Jehoshaphat and Judah. They were living peaceably when three nations rose up against them. Do you know what they did? They prayed, yeah, that was their great strategic ploy. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, stood before the assembly and magnified God and sought God’s solution. And God answered, “Don’t worry about it. This battle isn’t yours. I will fight it for you.” And that is exactly what He did. The next morning as the three armies rose against Judah God moved and the three invading armies ended up killing each other. When Judah arrived there were bodies strewn all over. Among the slain soldiers were weapons, clothing and “articles of value” (v. 25). In fact, there was more booty than they could carry.

Sometimes people wonder what relevance the Old Testament has for modern Christian believers. Well, here you go. This is the model for spiritual warfare. You face battles almost every day. Think about it. How often do you feel like you are fighting an uphill struggle? Well, no longer. Today God is giving you a battle strategy. Wisdom recommends that you read the prayer that Jehoshaphat prayed before the assembly. It will probably inspire your thinking and your prayer. Next, assemble your crew whether that be your family, your office, your employees, your church or your team. Whoever will be impacted by the result of the battle should congregate with you. Then you, as the leader, stand in the name of the Lord and pray the prayer of faith. Let God and everyone else know upon whom you rely. Then just cast the entire problem into His hands. In the example from today, the Holy Spirit alit upon one of the assembled who prophesied telling the nation of Judah what it should do. Today’s verse is taken from that declaration. The next thing you do is to follow God’s instructions. If He says march around the city, do it. If He says get out your guitar and sing, do it. His ways are not our ways and we do not need to question His logic. Just accept it and obey. And if it sounds a little bizarre, it probably is God because the spiritual realm operates in an almost diametrically opposed manner as does the worldly realm. Part of the beauty of the assembly is that if you have doubt you can take the pulse of the crowd. “Did that resonate in your spirit as the instruction of God?” I would ask this question too; if the instruction you receive sounds odd like going and washing in the river what would it hurt you to do it? Marching around Jericho had to sound pretty nuts to Joshua but they won the city without a fight. 

So, today the battle is yours. The hard part is not in battling the enemy. The part that challenges us is standing up as a leader and doing what we should do. “Dare I pray in front of my whole family or my employees?” Well, this is why many of us do not live in the victory that Jesus bought for us. There are still things that we must do that challenge us on the inside. But Jesus will help us to grow and accept these new responsibilities with grace. The first prayer might just have to be, “Jesus, help me.” He will be with you all the way and you will win every battle because Jesus has already overcome. Now, we just have to stand in the power that grace has provided. Go win your battles today in the might of the Lord.

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Never Disappointed; Never Disturbed

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

Romans 10: 11

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

In the New American Standard Bible, from which I quote verses, small caps, as you see in today’s verse, denote a quote taken from scripture. In this case Paul was quoting Isaiah. I would encourage you to follow these threads when you encounter them. Paul is pulling forth a quote from his education and cultural background. So even though today’s verse is found in the New Testament, its roots are in ancient Hebrew tradition and teaching. You will gain a fuller appreciation for what Paul is trying to relate in a specific instance if you can also see what he is drawing on. The specific quote Paul refers to is Isaiah 28: 16 which reads, “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.”

Probably the first thing one notices is that God was speaking and secondly that He was talking about Jesus. Jesus is the cornerstone. We could spend all day in Isaiah 28: 16 but we won’t. The point Paul makes is that whoever believes in Jesus will not be disappointed or as Isaiah says, will not be disturbed. Won’t you agree with me that is good news? Just taken on its face that is really good news but some interesting things happen when you look at the words disappointed and disturbed. Paul used the word disappointed which is the Greek word kataischunō. This word is interesting. It literally means “put to shame.” Therefore, people who believe in Jesus will not be put to shame. If you look it up in Strong’s you will find that other words associated with it are disgraced and humiliated. All you have to do is to take each one of these words and replace them for the word disappointed. As you do so you will begin to get a full sense of what Paul is saying to you. One of those words will likely go off in you more than others. That is the word that God is speaking to you. Beyond what you personally hear in this passage, Paul is saying that those who believe, and here he would mean a belief which is acted upon, will not be humiliated, disgraced or put to shame for that belief. They will not be disappointed because living out of that belief will yield victory.

Okay, that takes care of the word “disappointed” in Romans 10 but you really need to see the word which was translated as disturbed in Isaiah. The Hebrew word is “chush.” This one threw me for a loop until I spent some time with it. The margin notes of my Bible say it means “in a hurry.” What? How does that make sense? That would make the verse say “Those who believe in Jesus will not be in a hurry.” But stick with me here. This is going to make sense and be a blessing to you. As I sat and thought about being in a hurry I tried to associate the kinds of feelings we have when we are rushed or hurried. The word that came to my mind was agitated. Well, when I looked up chush I found that agitation was one of the synonyms. The concordance entry reads: chush (301c); a prim. root; to hasten, make haste: – agitation (1), disturbed (1), hasten (8), hastened (2), hastening (1), hurried (1), make haste (2), quick (1), ready (1), speedy (1), swooping (1). Taken all together what I think this means is that when we operate in an active faith in Jesus we will not be hurried, harried or agitated. The real crux of it seems to be that we will be able to enter into God’s rest. The cornerstone, Jesus, has provided the way for us to live in divine ease. We can embrace the shalom peace to which we are entitled and in which we are meant to abide.

This is just another way the great prophet, Isaiah, and renowned apostle, Paul, relate an apex truth to us; that in Jesus is victory. Everything we need and everything we think we need are found in Jesus. The most important of these is the calm assurance that we have when we abide in the peace of our Lord Jesus, the Christ.

 

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Remedy for Trouble

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

Psalm 27: 4

One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple.

I have used this verse before but the Lord led me to it today and He showed me some new insights which I would like to share. First, though, let us look at the NIV version of it; “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” This psalm, not surprisingly, was written by David. As I read it today I reflected on all the trouble that David had to deal with. In order to really put this verse in perspective you should read the whole psalm or at least the verse before it and the verse after it. Both the preceding verse and the following verse reveal suffering and concerns of David. In the midst of those challenges, though, David focused on his Lord and God.

David experienced tribulation from every angle. His family was a clear thorn in his side. When we first learn about David his father has neglected to present him to the prophet Samuel who approached Jesse saying that one of his son’s would be king and that he, Samuel, had travelled there to anoint the chosen one. Then we see him at the battle lines with the Philistines. David’s brothers were serving in the army and his father sent him to deliver bread and grain to them. When David volunteered to fight Goliath the scripture records that his oldest brother became angry with him and insulted David. Later in life his own sons betrayed him, sought to kill him and take the throne. His wife hotly criticized him for his dancing before the Lord the day they brought the Ark to the city.

Then there is the whole conflict with Saul. David began his relationship with Saul when Saul asked that David be sent to him in order to play musical instruments and sing for him. David served Saul faithfully. He even refused to kill the tormenting Saul when on several occasions it appeared that God had delivered him into David’s hands. He was devoted to Saul but Saul persecuted him. Isn’t that the way of things?

All of these torments were by the people that loved David. Can you imagine how painful this was for David? And supposedly these were not even his foes but rather his friends, his family. But David had other trials too. First as a warrior and then as king David knew what it meant to have many enemies. There is no author who wrote about being surrounded by enemies as much as did David and there is no author who is more inspiring in his expressions of trusting the Lord through the trials.

Imagine yourself surrounded on every side by enemies and then add to that all of the betrayal by friends and family. That is the context in which David writes these inspired words. I believe that he is saying that the only way for him to survive this turmoil is to put his eyes fixedly on the Lord. David’s response to these attacks was to run into the presence of the Lord. In this context re-read today’s verse. Can you see that David learned that the only way to deal with the enemies and challenges of life is to dwell in the presence of God? I doubt that any of us has ever been under more intense pressure than was David and this is the way God taught him to not only survive all of the threats but to triumph. It is no accident, either, that no other Old Testament author speaks about the Holy Spirit as insightfully or as often as does David. He learned that the only way to deal with these kinds of overwhelming problems is to focus all of your life energy on the Lord. You cannot fight all of the battles. You could never have the strength. And you certainly cannot win. There is only one solution. Jesus! He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the breath that we breathe and the morning sun.

David survived impossible odds. Yes, he made some mistakes, even some big ones but I think you will find that the throne of David has been established and will endure forever and the reason why is because he knew who his strength was and he loved the Lord with all his heart.

This is, I believe, what David is teaching us. Don’t fight the battles. Don’t put your eyes on the enemy. Turn your face to God the Father. Let Him be your righteous sword, your unassailable champion. Even when it looks like the battle is lost and you are going down for the third time, keep your trust and faith in your Father. Do not waiver. Run into his presence, lock yourself in the sanctuary of your heart and behold your salvation.

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