Live so the Lord can Brag on You

About a month ago I had a mental vision. I had just woke up and I was sitting on the side of my bed communing with the Lord. I begin to see myself sitting in my mansion Jesus had built for me in heaven. There was a knock on the door so I went to the door. To my surprise, there was Moses at the door. Of course I was shocked to see him there. He said, “I have heard of the great things you did on the earth and I just had to come by and hear for myself.” (As Christians, we all want to see those great saints from the Bible and speak to them about their recorded times here on earth. They might just want to see us when we get there.)

The Lord begins to speak to me and say that was not necessarily me in the mansion but all of us. Then He said we should all have great stories to tell when we get there.

I remember a song from the past, “Only what we do for Christ will last”. That might just be the lyrics, not the title. We need to be bragging on the Lord every chance we get. If I know the Lord, when we get to heaven He will be bragging on us. He is just like that. What a thought, Live so the Lord can brag on us.

Assurance

While seeking the Lord this morning, the following verse in Zephaniah stood out to me.

Zephaniah ^2:3 

Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth,

Who have upheld His justice.

Seek righteousness, seek humility.

It may be that you will be hidden

In the day of the Lord’s anger.

Zephaniah had been prophesying the destruction of the land of Judah; harsh judgment for the people and the land. He inserts this hope to the meek, “It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.”

Nations that do not seek God incur judgment from God. People that do not live for righteousness and humility incur judgment in their personal lives. What the prophet is implying here is that when your country is being judged you can seek to be hidden from the wrath by having a right conscience. There is these words “may be” - hope but not assured of protection. From my understanding, God was more severe in His judgments under the old covenant than He is under the new covenant The new covenant incorporates the covering of Jesus’ blood.

Jesus came and gave us assurance. We have hope with full assurance. When we come in humility and ask Jesus to take over our lives, He does. Our sins are covered by His blood and we are forever under His protection and assured of everlasting life, and assured of citizenship in God’s Kingdom. We are made heirs of God’s promises.

If you do not have this assurance in your life, please use the comment link below and let us discuss it. Okay?

Judges Chapters 1-3

I was praying for Abraham Matthew and Rick Kingham who are doing ministry this week in India. I started reading Judges, chapters 1 -3. God had instructed the Israelites to wipe out all the nations in Canaan and they had made great progress under Joshua as their general. After Joshua passed away the Children of Israel began to compromise and never totally drove out the Canaanites.

Although God had commanded they drive out all the inhabitants of the land, He must of knew this would not be accomplished. In Judges 3:1-2 we see the deeper strategy of the Lord, 

^“Now these are the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it),”

The Lord has given us a battle field on purpose. We must learn warfare. The Lord knows that in our human nature we seek the place of comfort, but He also knows we don’t mature in that place of comfort. I look at my son as an example; he left the comfort of home, he went into the military, he went to the battle field and he matured. He relied upon the power and influence of the United States backing him up. Likewise we are not only backed up by a mighty God and the heavenly host but He even goes before us.

Eph. 6; 10-12 ^“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

As if I knew the mind of God I would say He wants to make us overcomers in this life, and also develop an appreciation in us for when we will be with Him. After seeing and experiencing the crud of this earth, why would we want to sin.

Get the Plan

Get the Plan

Have you ever been in one of those places of turning? Things are changing and you are just not sure what the change will look like. This seems to be what I am going through now. I have many questions for the Lord but He is not letting me see clearly. I can feel He is doing a realignment in the things around me. It is not so much a change in schedule but a change of direction or focus (a change in what is important in this season).

Nehemiah Chapter 1

I feel like the Lord just led me to the Book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah, the kings cup barrier, got a word that eventually changed his direction and focus. First he was refocused and then he was redirected. This word that came to him so effected him emotionally that his boss the king noticed. The major reason of the king noticing and making enquiry was God’s plan.

I have watched as God has done, or is doing a realignment in missionaries lives this year. Like Nehemiah’s time, this realignment is for something major God is about to do in the earth. We see signs; America is losing its dominance, the Far East is being organized and materially blessed, Africa is the main Muslim-Christian battle ground, South America is for once at peace and Europe is being shaken.

Nehemiah had a burden from the Lord. A burden from the Lord will effect you emotionally. This is something God has ordained for you to be concerned about. Something in your skill-set is useful to the Lord for the object of this burden.

I’m sure Nehemiah felt he was powerless to do anything about his object of concern. He did do what he could. His burden, object of concern, was the redemption of his people, God’s people, the Jews. He remembered the promises God had made and Nehemiah fervently prayed into those promises. He sought the Lord, knowing God had the power to rectify the situation. Although the text does not speak of this, I believe as Nehemiah prayed God downloaded a plan to him. When the king (who was the powers that be at that time) lined up with God’s plan, Nehemiah had the plan.

So we ask ourselves, do we have God’s plan yet for the burden He has placed before us.

·         Let us do an inspection of where He has brought us to.

·         Ask for Him to clarify the burden.

·         Listen for the sent word from Him that deepens our emotions.

·         Repent and get right with God.

·         Pray into the burden.

·         Anticipate God to release His plan to you.

The world is changing, get ready for your release.

We are to be His Witnesses

We are to be His Witnesses

“I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior. I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the LORD, “that I am God.” Isaiah 43:11-12 NKJV

God spoke this to the Jewish people to reassure them of His power, position and faithfulness. Then He says, “you are my witnesses” even to the point that you prove “that I am God”. This is also true of all that have become Christians.

All God has done in our lives is to prove His attributes to those who do not know Him. Those that are serving false gods should be able to look at us, His people and see Him. We should reflect one or more aspects of His Glory. Others should not be able to see foreign gods in our lives.

This comes to commitment, dedicated to learning to be like Him. Then we act out before others what we have learned. They see Him in/through us, therefore we are His witnesses. He even trains us to be a blessing to others. He shares with us His gifts for helping others. Therefore we not only can show Him to others but we can be a vessel He uses to bring redemption to others.

Romans 12: ³ For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. ⁴ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Watch out, handling God’s gifts carries a high responsibility. Paul wrote, “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly,”. We need the right attitude before handling His gifts. It is all about being His witness. In all we do are we pointing people to Him?  The founding pastor of my church has been my pastor for over thirty years now and I have watched him be a faithful witness. He never exalted himself but rather through his exhorting, teaching, prophesying, etc, he showed me Jesus. Even if I tried to exalt my pastor, he deflected that exaltation to the God he faithfully serves.

We as the church, that were grafted into the spiritual nation of Israel, are to be His witnesses.

Restoration (Prophetic word)

Restoration has been decreed by the King. (Prophetic word) 

2 Kings 8: 1) Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.”

 2) So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.

3) It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land.

4) Then the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha has done.”

 5) Now it happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had restored to life, appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.”

6) And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now.”

There has been a time of drought for Christians and for the Church but now Restoration has come and is coming. Restoration is a continuing thing, with the total restoration being when we are restored to His arms. The Church has been through a time of waiting on restoration; a drought. This is not so much a time of restoring things Satan has stole from us but rather a time of restoring things the Lord actually had to put aside for us until He could reposition us.
Now the famine is over and from heaven God has said “Let there be rain” The time of famine has given us a new perspective. Now we are being given new position and new tools to work with.

The heavens are open to you; make your appeal to the King. Just as He appointed an officer to assist the woman whose son was raised from the dead, He is appointing angels to assist you.

Now add this:

It is the Jewish Rosh Hashanah, “Head of the Year” Jewish New Year.

Rosh Hashanah thus emphasizes the special relationship between G‑d and humanity: our dependence upon G‑d as our creator and sustainer, and G‑d’s dependence upon us as the ones who make His presence known and felt in His world. Read More at http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/4762/jewish/In-a-Nutshell.htm

The bottom line here is that it is a new year, a new day and most of all a new season. Have a healthy relationship with the Lord, and expect His perfect restoration for you.

The Sinner is Waiting

The sinner is waiting on the Gospel but he doesn’t know it. Actually his spirit-man is subconsciously and constantly reaching out to God. Jesus gave us the example, we are to go walk among them. Jesus walked among them and their spirit-man was activated.

The Devil is very crafty; he is a master at hiding the spirit-man of our triune nature. Man is made of three parts: flesh (body), soul (personality) and spirit. In the spirit-man is where we meet with God and He transforms our soul. Also the flesh can affect our soul in an ungodly way. The Devil is a master at coming at us from the flesh. Jesus is a master at activating the spirit-man.

Who were the people attracted to Jesus? Not the righteous but rather the sinners and children. The children came to Jesus because He opened His arms to them and put them on His lap. Any children worker knows the joy of having children cling to you. The sinner, why would the sinner be attracted to Jesus? They did not feel a threat when He entered their world. He was good at freeing up their spirit-man while not condemning their soul-man. Jesus had a way of establishing trust and the unrighteous just opened up to Him.

We can do likewise. We are to be in the world but not of the world. The sinner needs redemption and we have the Redeemer living in us. We have been reconciled to God and we are commissioned to reconcile others.

1 Cor. 5: 18-20 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

The sinner is unknowingly waiting for a sincere friend.

The formula seems to be:

1)      First let the Holy Spirit create Jesus’ character in you. (Make sure you know your place in God. Know that you and Jesus have dominion over Satan and his works.)

2)      Go seek the lost (pray for direction)

3)      Build a relationship (sometimes this takes time, finding ways to serve them can be an open door)

4)      Just let the Holy Spirit flow through you to them. (Don’t let your plans or past performance get in the way) Watch the Holy Spirit use you to reconcile them.

You will have so much fun doing this that you will enjoy hanging out with the lost.