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Isn’t our walk with the Lord wild? I mean, let’s just look at some current events… Revival is literally
global as millions are gathering to worship the Lord. Millions of Muslims (not an exaggeration) are coming to Christ, renouncing their religious identity, because they report Jesus is personally coming to them (physically or in dreams and visions) and telling them Muhammed was wrong, the Q’uran is wrong, and that He is God. They are not being taught to say these things. As a matter of fact, they face death when they say these things. Indonesia has hundreds of thousands of Muslims turning to God right now, just like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq are reporting. Indonesia is seeing a great outpouring, which has lasted about a year so far. South America is experiencing another burst of revival: Brazil has been in revival for about 4 years. Bolivia and Peru are just now getting a new birthing of revival. Buddhists in Southeast Asia are turning to Jesus by the thousands, daily. In Africa, there are hundreds of thousands of people gathering together all over the continent, desperately seeking God. In Northern Europe, I have seen pictures and heard reports of football stadiums being filled with young adults worshipping God. They are gathering in the tens of thousands to cry out for God to move in their cities and towns. Here is America, universities are exploding with revival as students have had enough of the world telling them what they can and can’t do. They just want more of God. They want Him. He is at the center of everything that is happening. His holiness and sovereignty seems to be the most important revelation people are experiencing. At the same time, we could choose to look at other current events… a significant portion of Christianity doesn’t want to acknowledge what God is doing, saying it isn’t God at all. Our culture is falling apart; men and women are trying to be each other, no longer desiring to be who they were created to be. Pastors are coming out as gay on a fairly frequent basis. Our politics and government are a mess. Our government, at this moment, more closely resembles 1933 Nazi Germany than it does 2007 USA. Our media can’t be trusted, regardless of what channel you watch. Science no longer uses science. Our public schools/education systems are so lost at this point, I’m not sure we can ever salvage it. Why am I saying all this? There are so many terrible things going on at the same time God is moving. Our eyes truly need to be focused on the right thing, and God is calling on us to join with Him. Today, as I drove into town, I was listening to talk radio and listened to two different stations. Both stations were talking about the same thing, but one side blamed “right-wing nut-jobs” and the other blamed “left-wing anarchists.” They just spewed their own opinions and twisted half-truths to sound like full truths. It was sad and even worse I began to feel emotions stirring up within me. I quickly became critical in my thoughts and desires, motivated to fight. As soon as I realized what I was feeling and thinking, I felt a check within me. God reminded me of what He is doing all over the earth. And this got me to thinking… What are we supposed to do? There seem to be two ways to go about all this stuff… We can either ignore the bad, choosing to only focus on what God is doing (which feels like we are passively choosing to allow these bad things to increase), or we can get active. The first line of thinking often quotes Exodus 14:14- “The Lord will fight for you. You only need to be still.” This sounds great. Let’s just continue to ignore the problems, just stay focused on Jesus, and let God fight the battles. The problem is Exodus 14:15… God rebuked Moses for saying verse 14. It’s not what God wants from us. He wants more. So if the first line of thinking isn’t God, then it seems we have to go to the second which can be summed up by the quote- “God helps them who help themselves.” The problem with this is it isn’t scripture. It is NOT in the bible. This is definitely not from God, and it would be dangerous to think it is what God wants from His children. So then what? What are we supposed to do? Allow me to take a step back for a moment. I love this question. Typing it, I feel like it’s the first time I’ve ever asked this question, and that makes me laugh. This ought to be the most important question every Christian asks. “What are we supposed to do with all this evil in the world?” So far, the only scripture I’ve mentioned is bad advice, and then I’ve quoted the wisdom of this world, which produces death… but there are actually a whole lot of passages and verses that help us to know what we are supposed to do “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in who we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” – Colossians 1:10-14 “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” – Ephesians 4:1-3 “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” – 1 Timothy 6:11-12 These are only a few of the many scriptures. 1 Corinthians 10, Ephesians 6, Romans 8, Galatians 5-6, Romans 13 are others. God is calling us to war, literally. But it isn’t the warfare the world knows… it’s a call to Spiritual Warfare, first and foremost. God is calling you, specifically to do the things that only you can do. This can only be done 1 way: we must be in prayer for direction. I think too often, our prayers are about our wants and desires, and the result is that our actions are about our wants and desires. What about God’s desires? That’s why it’s so amazing to see revival all over the world. We get to see what God is desiring: for all to know Him. He isn’t concerned with our politics, our economy, our culture, or our problems in the way that we are. God is concerned about people knowing Him. Instead of looking at all the problems the world is facing, maybe we should look at what God is doing in the world. And lastly, most importantly, walk in the manner that is worthy of His calling on your life. How do you do that, you may ask? In prayer, find out God’s heart. Get His courage. Get His confidence. Get His calling. Look at where you are needed and fill the void, for God. Don’t feel the void for your own agenda. After all, “Whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it unto the Lord.” It’s not about what we need to do or not do, it’s about what He wants. God doesn’t help those who help themselves. He helps those who diligently seek Him. I believe God wants us to fix the problems of the world. But He wants us to do it His way, not ours. He wants to transform hearts, and let’s be honest here, we all need that, even Christians (maybe especially Christians). I guess I’m trying to say talking and worrying about things doesn’t do anything for us. God is moving, so we need to learn to pay attention to how He is moving, and realize it’s time for us to move, too. Bless you…
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Does anyone else think it odd that Christians area always reacting to the attacks of the enemy, often not prepared for the storms and circumstances they are going through? So often, I find people asking for prayer after an attack has begun. I have a question for us: where are our intercessors? In other words, is anyone close enough to God to hear His warnings? Are we so selfishly focused on our own situations and issues that we don’t ever listen to what God is saying about others?
Today, I was reminded of how God speaks to people in the Bible. Now, I’m not saying He only talks to us one way. In fact, God speaks to us constantly, one way or another. He may speak to us by counseling us, or consoling us, or He may be speaking to us in correction or Fathering/shepherding us. But there are quite a few times where God speaks in a way of warning to prepare. Gideon was someone God gave warnings about the near future. God wasn’t there to pick up the pieces, because He was there before anything happened. He warned Gideon and gave Him instructions on how to prepare for the battles ahead, how to successfully navigate the problems ahead. Joshua was given the same instructions of preparation. Now, people made some mistakes and that required Joshua to gather information from God to find out what was wrong. But before that, God had given them direction and warnings about what not to do. God gave similar warnings to all of Israel through Moses in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Exodus, and Numbers. The Israelites knew they were supposed to be close to God, and throughout scripture we see God always warned His people about what was coming. Just consider Isaiah or Ezekiel, Jonah or Jeremiah. The scripture that spoke the most to me today was in Luke 22:31-32: (Jesus said) “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” My goodness, did that speak to me! Does this mean Satan came to Jesus and asked Him for permission to attack Peter? Jesus didn’t specify that, but He did say Satan asked. I personally assume Satan asked God for permission. If you know the context then you Jesus was referring to Peter denying Jesus 3 times. I don’t see that Satan came to Jesus to ask permission, but I do think Jesus saw Peter would struggle with Jesus’ capture and trial, and He knew the temptations were coming, that Peter would struggle. But Jesus didn’t just stop there, He gave a warning. He told Peter what was coming. I find this to be a true challenge to us. Does Jesus still warn His friends? If I consider myself to be His friend and a co-heir, am I close enough to Him that I am warned about what is coming, or am I often caught off guard by circumstances. It’s fascinating. Jesus told Peter that he was about to be tested by Satan, but just as fascinating is He didn’t stop it! Jesus told Peter he was going to get through it because Jesus prayed for him. Are you kidding me? It seems that so much of today’s Christianity is people gathering together to pray for the circumstances we are facing to cease, crying out to God with questions like, “Why?” But Jesus didn’t rescue Peter from the trial and temptations, and instead interceded for Peter to make it through. That’s pretty different. Just reading it, I felt like I was trying to swallow this huge stone, and that was truly a reality check. So often, we don’t realize the value of the trials and temptations. God wants us to conquer them! He wants us to find the joy in the midst of the problems, and to also realize we are there because of our own choices. Satan doesn’t tempt us by any other way than to look at our own evil desires and he just brings them to us. But it’s in this same temptation that we work through that the voice loses its appeal. Romans 8:34 says Jesus is our intercessor right now, this very moment. What is He intercessing for? Hasn’t He already set us free? Hasn’t He defeated the enemy? Yes. Then what is He praying for? He is praying for us to get close enough to Him so that we would realize the trials and temptations are for our good because they have purpose. But just as important is that we need to realize Jesus warned Peter before the test! He doesn’t want us walking blindly into a trap. He warns us, if only we would listen. Today, I feel the challenge to get my soul still enough to listen to God… not for a blessing or comfort, but for warnings. I want to be equipped like God equipped Israel and Judah, like He equipped David, Joshua, and Gideon. Now the key question at this point is, “How do we prepare once we have the warning?” Peter didn’t prepare very well, and faltered. Israel didn’t heed the warning, Judah didn’t either. So what good is it to know or have the warning? Honestly, because it would change how we handle the circumstances. We wouldn’t lose our faith, our hope, or our trust. We wouldn’t blame God for the test. We wouldn’t get bitter or struggle. We would, instead, be filled with faith, hope, trust, and praise by understanding it has purpose. What is the purpose? Just read Luke 22:32 again, and focus on the ending- “… when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” I’m tired of being caught off guard, and I’m challenged today to hear the warnings so I can be prepared, not necessarily for myself… but for you. And I hope you are too. Bless you… Like many things these days, the enemy has seemingly stolen the tools required to grow in our knowledge of
God. The principalities of this earth have stolen the rainbow, attempting to redefine the meaning and purpose of the rainbow from being a promise from God, to being a symbol of people who typically reject God, mostly reject Christianity, and desire to corrupt people into believing they are not made in God’s image or likeness. They have stolen sex, turning it from a beautiful gift from God for 2 people in covenant with Him into a casual thing anyone can do (and typically done without a covenant with God). They have stolen dance, from being an expressive form of worship into a degrading form of sensuality. They have stolen our born again identities, now grooming our children by telling them they can be born again with the help of doctors and medicine (and omitting the necessity of Holy Spirit). They have stolen the purpose of fellowship, correction, and accountability. They have even stolen science- God is omniscient, meaning He has omniscience. Quite literally, God is ALL-Science, and yet today, they are trying to make science anti-God. Meditation is another that has been stolen. Many Christians are under the impression meditation is a bad thing to do or practice, and are unaware that God calls us to meditate on His Word daily: 1) I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. – Psalm 119:15 2) Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. – Psalm 119:27 3) I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. – Psalm 143:5 4) …but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. – Psalm 1:2 5) Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. – Joshua 1:8 As you can see, there are quite a lot of scriptures telling us to meditate on God and His Word. There are 5 reasons to meditate on His word that I can think of, and I would like to share them with you. Meditation has enormous benefits for our growth in God, and when we do meditate things happen: some mountains move, some cloudy things become clear, and I have also found that some things that aren’t exactly normal or natural for me before I meditate seemingly become critical for my life afterwards. 1 st - Meditating on the Word of God helps us to refocus on God, fixing our eyes on His ways and words. So often, we get distracted by the chaos and circumstances that affect us negatively and we take our eyes off of Jesus (just look at Peter when he was walking on the water). Meditating on the Word of God and His character aids us by helping fix our eyes on Him again. Meditating on the Word even helps us find clarity on what we ought to be praying for. It is so easy to lose focus, and one of the benefits of meditation is that it truly helps us refocus on God. 2 nd - Meditating on the Word of God helps us to learn and understand what God is speaking to us and doing for/in us. The more we meditate, the more we hear from Him, since we are refocused on Him, and the more we hear from Him the more we gain understanding about what God wants from us, as well as for us. Meditation not only refocuses us on Him, but clarifies what God is currently doing in us so that we can actually align ourselves with His will and plan. Without meditation, our focus and understanding are both quickly lost to God, and we become consumed with the storms around us. 3 rd - Meditating on the Word of God helps us to remember all God has done for us and through us. It is all too easy to get so wrapped up in our present situation that we can’t see or recall our past (the incredible things God has done), or even if we do remember we tend to belittle or simplify it. What used to be a powerful testimony, filled with gratitude, suddenly feels like a small thing that was taken out of context… all because the storm we are facing is so overwhelming. Meditation on God’s Word actually cleanses our lens so we can recall the wonderful goodness of God. It is in the meditation that Jesus calms our storms, brings peace and joy to our soul, and gratitude begins to flood the dry caverns deep within us. For example, David’s Psalm 8 is a beautiful result of Meditation. 4 th - Meditating on the Word of God helps us to worship. Meditation is a part of worship. Once we have gained focus, heard what God is speaking, and remembered all God has done for us, we find our hearts have been prepared for Worship. This is why Psalm 100 tells us we enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts and we enter His courts with praise. When everything in our lives seems to be going wrong, if we would get still and make time to listen to God and meditate on His word, my goodness the transformation that comes! I find that meditation is most powerful when I am not necessarily right with God. He points out my eyes are not focused on Him, He reminds me of what He has said, what He desires for me, and He reminds me what He has done and who I am. What happens after that, I find, is absolutely transformational. I find healing there, and my automatic response to that is I cannot contain the desire for worship. In short, meditation leads to true Delight. And those who delight in the Lord receive the greatest rewards… 5 th - Meditating on the Word of God helps us to learn how to apply the Word. In Joshua 1:8, we read the reason for meditation is “so you may be careful to do everything written in it.” Meditation doesn’t just heal our relationship with God, but it also corrects our actions, desires of our hearts, and our character. I have found quite a few places throughout the scriptures that tell us we must not simply hear or know about the scriptures, we must do what it says. It is critical for every one of us to know what God requires of us, not so that we look good or so people like us, but so that God gets glorified. Some of His commands are very difficult to do. Some are scary. Some are overwhelming. I have found the more I meditate on the Word, the more clarity I gain on how to do what God asks of me. Some things appear to be very difficult, but once we learn how it is easy. For example, the first time I tried to ride a bike, it was very hard. I fell over and crashed. I remember trying to learn in the alley behind our house in Taft, TX and crashing on the rocks as my dad was running after me to try to help. But when I learned HOW to ride, how to keep my balance, nothing could stop me from riding. The same principles apply to driving a car, building a cabinet, fixing plumbing, working on a car, making friends, and so many other things. Once we learn how to apply what we know, the actions aren’t very difficult. Meditation, according to the Bible, is the key. And above all, all of this MUST be done WITH Holy Spirit. It is only HE who can bring the Word to life, and who can teach us all things. So today, take some time to meditate with Holy Spirit over the Word of God. Take some paper and a pen, and be ready to fill up your sheets of paper with notes from the best teacher. You will find such refreshing as He heals your eyes, your thoughts, your heart, and your actions. Bless you… |
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July 2023
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