Thu, Jun 10th - 10:28AM

Powers That Be

Even before November 2008 it began. The Right-wingers and otherwise Conservatives, gradually began to realize that a tragic mistake was happening in the halls of power. Some were slow to admit it, but as of today, most of us realize the gloves have come off and tyranny is reining in Washington. Every new day we face seems to wipe our noses with more governmental abuse, as governmental wickedness becomes the norm, rather than the exception. The powers that be, have corrupted themselves without shame or remorse.

I get emails every day from friends, indeed Patriots, who express their hatred towards our government and the “professionals” – a cadre of fools, shamelessly exposed by their own arrogance. The “King has no clothes”, and doesn’t realize himself that his own arrogance blinds him to what is painfully obvious to everyone else.

This morning as I was praying, the Lord changed my heart so I could see I needed to repent of my brand of “Patriotism”. And while God’s children are never to negotiate with evil, we are never to let it control us either.

So what should we do about the great evil that comes out of Washington like an never- ending stench? Until this morning I would have said bullets + prayer, but now I would put prayer first. Why the change in perspective?

I won't write them all out, but if you look up the word “Impossible” in the Strong’s Concordance, within the gospels you will find (NASB): Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37 and Luke 18:27.

Mark 10:27 records, ‘Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (NASB)

So here’s the message for today – our God is much (very much!) bigger than the President, his Cabinet, his advisors, senators and congressmen, and yes, even unions. He alone (not the upcoming elections) is the decisive factor we cry out for. He alone is the Savior, and He alone will never fail or forsake us.

While we are to make no compromise with evil – ever – we should not fall into the tender and appealing trap of letting hatred, disguised as patriotism, rule our hearts. That position is already filled (or should be).

So I’m praying today that Almighty God will break the hearts of the powers that be with the weight of their sin; that they might look in the mirror today and cry out, “My God – how I need you!!”

Two years ago, I heard God speak this to me, “You must guard your heart.” At the time it came out of the blue, and made no immediate sense, but it does now.

My heart belongs to God, and it beats at His pleasure – not Obama’s. I will not let patriotism take the place of God in my heart, and for my God, ‘nothing is impossible’.

And I vote. 

John

Thu, Jun 3rd - 3:57PM

Prophecy, Deliverance and Miracles

 Back in the early 70’s I became part of what was known as the Charismatic Renewal, and from 1972 until 1979 I watched as the movement gradually corrupted itself. I became fed up with the cycle of excitement-pride-envy-plateau doldrums. I left the state and the movement in 1979. By the time I left, I had been involved for some time with various local churches within the movement, and had had a hand in supplying them with the Christian materials they needed for their seminars and book tables. The Pride part of the cycle was particularly ugly.

 Routinely I would come into contact with “Charismatics” who didn’t know me, and the meeting-ritual was almost always the same. They would begin by asking me about my “credentials” in an effort to categorize my brand of Christianity. After they had established what I believed concerning the gifts of the Spirit, they would try to establish how much, of what, I had personally experienced. Only after this vague, but necessary ritual was complete to their comfort and satisfaction, would I be accorded the respect I needed in order to “be one of them”. It should come as no shock to learn that when I moved out of that religious environment I felt like I had escaped prison.

 Currently, in my part of the U.S., the Holy Spirit is beginning to get Christians ready for a dynamic, end-time move. I’m very excited about it and don't want to miss it, but I feel obligated to throw in some caution.

 For the benefit of those credential-checkers out there, I firmly believe in the gifts of the Spirit, and their operation within the church today. In fact, I also firmly believe this should be considered “the normal Christian life” within the church, and it just goes to show how far in the wrong direction many churches have moved from this normal. But having said that, may I interject Matthew 7:21-23?

  ‘Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he

 who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on

 that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out

demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?”  And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

 Then in verses 24 – 27, Jesus contrasts the two houses, one built on the rock, and one on the sand. But verse 24 begins with the word, ‘Therefore’. As Derek Prince used to say, when we see a ‘therefore’, we should ask ourselves, “What is it there for?”

 We’ve heard all the standard sermons about the two houses, and we all understand ‘the (R)ock’ is Jesus, Himself, but I think we miss the lesson highlighted by the ‘therefore’. The same lesson was apparently missed by many of the Charismatics I once knew. While they extolled and coveted the gifts of the Spirit, they focused a lot more on 1 Corinthians than Matthew 7. Pride snapped many of them up, and destroyed much faith.

 So for all you older Charismatics out there, here’s the lesson: NO GIFT IS GREATER THAN THE GIVER. ‘Therefore’, prioritize the Giver over the gifts. You will be building on sand if you don't. 

 Jesus apparently isn't as awed by our use of the gifts as we are; he’s more impressed by our persistent, continued and carefree – adoration of God. I think Psalm 37:4 applies:

 ‘(First) Delight yourself in the Lord; and (then) He will give you the desires of your heart.’ - parentheses mine.

 So for those of us who long to enjoy the rush of participating in the use of God’s gifts, this is not only a warning, but a roadmap to never hearing Him say, “I never knew you..”

John 

Thu, Jun 3rd - 11:53AM

Spiritual Digestion

 In both Ezekiel 3:1-3 and Jeremiah 15:16 we see two of the major prophets eating (and swallowing) God’s Word. And in eating God’s Word, both prophets allowed spiritual digestion to occur, and as it occurred, the nutrients from the Word permeated their bodies and lives, both nourishing them and those who received their ministry. We are still being nourished today by what they ate.

 It would be unsightly for me to rub broccoli all over my body, or bind it to my body parts, in an effort to receive nourishment. My human digestion is designed to benefit me from the inside-out, not the other way around. The design of our digestive systems was created to point us to an understanding of spiritual digestion.  

 With this analogy in mind, let’s look at what should happen when we take in food. Digestion starts immediately when we begin chewing our food, and as the pieces of food decrease in size and increase in number, they flow through our bodies to eventually nourish our cells. People external to ourselves see the results of all this activity in our physical appearance. We should do the same, and experience the same results on a grander scale when we internalize God’s Word. But how?

 There are several ways we can receive God’s Word, but just reading our bibles and seeing the black ink on the white paper is like chewing our food without swallowing it. I would suggest that just like God presented the Word to Ezekiel and Jeremiah, we accept in faith and trust that God will feed us, presenting our daily portion at His pleasure. It is His menu.

 Today I was feeling like a desert of dryness when I began to worship God. My fallback position for the dry days is two-fold. First, He never changes, so whether I “feel” like it or not, He is just as worthy of my praise every day, regardless of my circumstances. Second, I firmly believe that any genuine praise from the valleys and deserts is even more meaningful to Him than that from the mountains. Mature believers will praise Him – no matter what they “feel”, and rather than a duty of drudgery, it is an incredible freedom!

 And as I praised Him, I felt a gentle desire to open the Bible, so I opened it by “chance” to the beginning of Ezekiel 3, and as I read what was written, I could feel His words soak into me – and my dryness disappeared like morning fog. The sun began to shine and my praises got a little boisterous (and a lot more fun!) as I felt the Holy Spirit taking the nutrients throughout my body – He is The Enzyme of God’s digestive system, and without Him, poor digestion is guaranteed. And now having had a divine feeding, I can meditate on what I ate, because it is meditation that allows the Holy Spirit to completely break down the food. 

 For both Ezekiel and Jeremiah, the result of eating God’s Word was their call to speak the truth, and I believe it’s the same for us today. I don't mean we should be harsh and judgmental – spoken truth from God will create enough negative reactions, but it is our honor, to honor Him by speaking His Word. 

 Maybe we are not called to be prophets, maybe we are, but either way, we should allow His Word to digest, and produce unique results in us as the changes occur from the inside-out. And as they do, we will fulfill our destinies in God.

  Thank God, some things never change! 

John

Wed, Jun 2nd - 5:17PM

Family Ties

 Much has been written about the commonality of fractured families in our time, but most of the information has focused on statistics involving divorces, one-parent homes and latch-key kids, and so on. To my knowledge, not much information has addressed the underlying issue of “Island mentality” we have fostered for over 30 years. I know what I’m talking about – my credentials are intact, unfortunately.

 I had an overt, un-fractured family. My dad worked and my mom stayed home – common in the 50’s. My parents never made me feel unloved, or gave me cause to question their love. They never divorced, seldom argued, and actually never stopped loving each other, yet I grew up with a ridicule of family festering in my heart. It festered until quite recently, when God revealed it to me. And that’s what it took for me – a revelation.

 In spite of all my un-fractured family benefits, all I wanted of “family” was to be left alone. In fact, my standard complaint was, “Why can't they just leave me alone?” This complaint ran all the way to my bones, and had begun before I had conscious memory. To varying degrees, that complaint was alive in my heart until after my divorce, and only then did I begin to suspect I had jeopardized more than I was willing to lose.

 The truth is, God chooses our families for us. He alone is responsible for our placement, and He alone knows what each individual will need to fulfill His will. He also chooses when we live, where we live, what gender we are and what our unique placement is within the family he chooses for us. He chooses what country we live in, and specifically where within the country. In fact: NOTHING IS LEFT TO CHANCE.

 The sad truth is that God also knows who will ultimately accept Him and who will reject

Him. He knows our eternal choices, made or yet to be made, and yet, knowing all this in advance, in His justice He still gives us all we need to succeed within His will. In spite of all this, many of us are chronically ungrateful, and we seem to live out our lives with one hand open and begging for more of God’s benefits while the other hand pushes God Himself away. And when we don't receive, and reap the harvest of our rejection, we become bitter, hateful, disbelieving, skeptical people – “God is dead” we tell ourselves, and live out that mantra in front of others.

 Last week I had one of my brief, mental pictures that impacted me while I was praying. I saw a long, windy road, snaking from long past to present like a convoluted set of intestines. The road represented my life; my journey so far. Much of the road was dark and had potholes; very little was straight and well lighted. As I watched, a door frame was placed over the road close to my vantage point, and a dark brown, heavy metal door swung shut, putting most of the road on the other side where I could not see it. 

 God said, “All those things are now dead; leave them alone.”, and I understood I was not to open the door. My sordid past affected me and shaped my unique perspective, but now, everything behind the door is gone – and should be. There is no benefit to my peering behind it. All those things are dead, and gone, if I let them be. 

 I am now overwhelmed with gratitude to God for the family he chose for me. I am realizing that he also chose my first-born position, and that it comes with responsibilities He knows I am able to perform at His direction. 

 Last summer I was praying and I heard God speak these words: “Rise to new life.” I stood to my feet in wonderment. Now I understand a little more of what He was saying. 

 God not only chose you, He chose every detail of your environment. And while some details may have been perverted (we do have an enemy!), if you let Him – you too can arise to new life. 

 I’m sure He would be greatly pleased if you would!

John

Wed, Jun 2nd - 12:00PM

Trust Versus Fear

 Today, in a brief quiet time, God asked me, “Do you trust me?” When I said I did, He told me that trust replaces fear.

 I admit that most of what God tells me isn't difficult to grasp, and to Him it must be first grade material, but I receive from Him what I need, and for a change, my grade level can't be calculated in comparison to other students. My Teacher isn't demanding or judgmental, rather, He is good and kind, and has perfect patience – but He does have a lesson plan. All I have to do is trust Him totally – and attend class.

 Have you ever marveled at fear? How come it is so powerful, so pervasive and so doggone ageless?  I know we have more people on the planet right now than were ever present during the first century, and I know we can communicate much more easily with each other, but I think the presence of fear in individuals has been an ongoing issue since the Garden. It is the devil’s obsession to destroy us, and leading the way to our ultimate destruction is the driving influence of fear. 

 Some clever wag once said that fear means: False Evidence Appearing Real, and I suppose it does. But it can also be: Real Evidence Demanding Decisions. Either way, we can only effectively choose to ‘fear not’, as Jesus was fond of saying, if we have a viable alternative, and the only one I know of is: Trust. And trust is an active verb.

 For some, the fact that they can choose to trust God is quite an epiphany, and that’s a great beginning, but we can’t afford to stop there. God’s family members have each been given the choice to leave fear behind, but so many of us avoid choosing, and wallow in as much fear as our non-Christian acquaintances. 

 It must be extremely grievous to God when our opinions coincide with “Man’s wisdom”, because man’s wisdom leaves God out, and lets fear in. God’s family has no business wringing their hands like the godless.

 If we could solve all of our national problems by administering a political enema in November’s elections, would we be any closer to solving our real problem? Our real problem is a national rejection of God and His standards, so how will a political change fix anything? We haven't lost our way politically, we’ve lost it spiritually, and that alone should be the deciding factor when we cast our votes this coming November. It’s not a party issue, it’s a relationship issue, and it should be recognized as such by Godly voters.

 By tweaking our politics, the best we can hope for is to buy a little more time until we have to face God again, but the longer we wait, we’ll be buying that time with devalued currency. And time is running out for us – even God’s patience has an end.

 Doesn’t it seem unusually coincidental to you that as a country, we are falling apart, and doing so while the civilized world is also falling apart? Don't you have a vague feeling of helplessness in your soul when you hear the daily news. Systems breaking down, people breaking trust while promoting deception over truth, scandals without end, evil endlessly triumphing over justice, no righteous leadership to be found and threats of violent, civil collapse worldwide – these are just some of the rising forests of fear that we are lost in – without trust in God. Would it surprise you to learn some think we are being “positioned” into end-time history?

 Right now we have a small window of time in which to choose to trust in the God we left behind. It may be the last window this country has.

 Right now is the time to exercise our faith, and like any exercise program, we can start small and work up – the point is: start.

John