God The Breaker

" The one who breaks open will come up before them; they will break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it, their king will pass before them, with the LORD at their head."    ~ Micah 2:13

The Gospel: Food or Medicine

The current stress and strain of making a living has given rise to new levels of nervous, fussy, neurotic temperaments in our society. We are showing signs of increasing instability in our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual equilibrium. We are played out with business, pleasure and fatigued with formality & fashion.

In order to cope & combat we seem to be reaching out for some five hour like stimulant to spice us up and whip our jaded nerves into line just to make it through the day or week. I am concerned that we are not turning to Christ and the Gospel as our source of wholesome thinking & living but instead we are looking for the new religious "pick-me-up" get us by.

Recently I taught a series on The Lords Prayer. During this time I was deeply moved & convicted that this was far more than a prayer teaching but an actual model of the way Christ lived out His life. He said that we are to pray to the Father, "give us this day our daily bread". There is something very powerful about the daily bread... Jesus said that He was the "bread of life" in John 6:48 and He went on to say "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he shall live forever; and  the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of he world". 

And on the night He was betrayed, "...when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me".  In remembrance involves more than just memory; the word suggests an "active calling to mind".

As we "actively call to mind" Christ death, burial & resurrection we are living by the Gospel.
The Gospel to the hungry becomes food, daily bread and a way of life rather than a medicine for temporary pain and pick-me-up.

"...The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel"
 ~ Mark 1: 15

The Lord Willing

Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power. ~ Psalms 110:3 

By nature, God's people have wills as stubborn as have the rest of the sons of Adam. But when God's grace reaches us, the will surrenders and yields the sweet fruit of the spirit. The formerly self- willed rebel soon begins to cry, "What will You have me do, Lord? May Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Authentic Christian Peacemaking

"The incentive to peacemaking is love, but it degenerates into appeasement whenever justice is ignored. To forgive and to ask for forgiveness are both costly exercises. All authentic Christian peacemaking exhibits the love and the justice--and so the pain of the cross" --  John R.W. Stott

Perishing

"We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders." 
— G.K. Chesterton

Harvesting Hope

Hope produces confidence, safety and security. Hope is the expectation of salvation, deliverance, restoration and healing.

I Timothy 1:1 "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope"

The Apostle Paul not only acknowledges Christ as our Savior, and our Lord but also our Hope.  The word Hope as it is found in the third chapter of Joel verse 16 literately means "a place of repair".

The Prophet Isaiah says  that God is " ...the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in..." The Lord longs to repair the breaches in our life and heal the breaches in our soul. The God kind of Hope actually restores and gives back the losses in our lives.

False hope is hope that is based on human promise, pride and power. Human hope always disappoints unable to deliver and keep its promises. Read the following account of the God kind of Hope in the middle of  hopeless circumstances found in Lamentations 3:13-24;

 "He has caused the arrows of His quiver to pierce my loins. I have become the ridicule of all my people--Their taunting song all the day. He has filled me with bitterness, He has make me drink wormwood. He has also broken my teeth with gravel, and covered me with ashes. You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.

And I said, My strength and my hope Have perished from the Lord.


Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and gall. My soul still remembers and sinks within me.


But this I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassion's fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.


The Lord is my portion says my soul,  Therefore I hope in Him!"

Every Christian

"Every Christian should be both conservative and radical; conservative in preserving the faith and radical in applying it."   John R. W. Stott

For Thine Is The Kingdom

This coming Sabbath we will conclude our teaching on the Lord's Prayer at Fernvale Community Church. "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever," are the final words of instruction from Christ to His disciples regarding prayer. (Matt. 6:13) As we examine the Lord's Prayer from the beginning to end, we discover that it opens and closes with praise,  beginning with "Our Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy name"...and concluding with "For Thine is the Kingdom, and power and the glory forever". Praise is the most dynamic commandment in God's Word and it is evidence here in the model prayer of our Lord.

In the Old Testament, seven levels of praise are expressed by seven Hebrew words.

Todah - "to extend hands in thanksgiving."
Yadah - "to worship with extended hands, to throw out the hands, enjoying God."
Hallal - "to be vigorously excited, to laud, boast, rave, celebrate."
Zamar - "to pluck the strings of an instrument, to praise with song."
Barak - "to bless, to declare God the origin of power for success, prosperity, and fertility, to be still."
Tehillah - "singing in the Spirit" or "singing psalms".
Shabach - "to commend, to address in a loud tone, to shout."

Praise has always been a mark of the people of God. Clearly, there are many acceptable ways to express our love, gratitude, and worship of God.

In His teaching on prayer, Jesus instructs us to return to praise after we have brought our petitions before the Father. But there is also significance in the words he uses: "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and glory forever."

Jesus said, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom," (Lk. 12:32).  The Apostle Paul encourages us in Colossians 1:13-14, that God our Father has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has brought us into the Kingdom of His Son. When we pray, "For thine is the Kingdom," we should praise God because he has invited us to be participants in His Kingdom. We can declare: "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his Heavenly Kingdom," ( II Tim. 4:18)

The Lord has also made us participants in His power. He gives power to the faint. (Isaiah 40:29)  He gives us power to attain wealth. ( Deut. 8:18) We are kept by the power of God. (I Pet. 1:5) He will raise us up by His mighty power. (I Cor. 6:14)

 Jesus promised:
"Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:and nothing shall by any means hurt you, " (Lk. 10:19)

"But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me," (Acts 1:8)

We can praise God because He has invited us to be participants in His power. Jesus also taught us to pray, "For Thine is....the glory." God's glory is the manifested perfection of His character, especially His righteousness. All men fall short of God's glory, but Jesus, through His suffering for the sins of mankind, brought many sons unto glory. (See Romans 3:23 and Hebrews 2:9-10)

As believers behold the glory of the Lord -- the character and ways of God exhibited through Christ--they are changed into His image, and the character and ways of the Father and Son are formed within them.  (II Cor. 3:18) Is it any wonder that Apostle Paul charges believers to "walk worthy of God, who hath called you into His Kingdom and Glory"? (I Th. 2:12) We should also praise God because He has invited us to be participants in His glory.

The Kingdom, power, and glory all belong to our Father. They're all His, yet He shares them with us, because of the provision of His Son. The lifeblood of Jesus has made all blessings possible. May we never enter or leave the Lord's presence without humbly bowing before Him and offering a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

Put On the Whole Armor of God

This Sunday October 2nd I will be teaching on the armor of God. The armor of God is our major defense against the wiles of the devil. Speaking to the Church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul  admonishes them to arming themselves against the enemy by believing and applying the promises of God. (Ephesians 6:14-17)  Below is a brief outline of our armor and the significance of applying each piece.
Each day we need to prepare ourselves to stand against Satan by girding our lions with truth.

Truth:  He is "...the way, the truth and the life" ( John 14:6)  and we gird our lions with truth each day.

We also  put on the breastplate of righteousness, by confessing that Jesus became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. ( II Cor. 5:21)

When we shod our feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, it brings a readiness and awareness in our spirit that can walk out our day with confidence and courage. (Philippians 4:13)

The shield of faith is how we extinguish the fiery darts and missiles of the evil one. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. The shield of faith is the victory that overcomes the world. (Gal. 2:20)

The helmet of salvation covers my head/mind through the day as I declare that Jesus is the author of eternal salvation. (Heb. 5:9 & Psalms 140:7)

Our final piece of armor we apply is the sword of Spirit, which is the word of God. Jesus was the word made flesh and dwells among us even now. (John 1:14)

As we put on the armor of God each day we are readying ourselves to fight the good fight of faith. In case you may not have noticed, all the amour described in Eph. 6 is on the front side of the believer. In other words, God intends for us to be on the offensive not defensive warfare. "The gates of Hell will not prevail against us...".  We are marching everyday and possessing the gates of the enemy. So lets suit up in His provision and strength. No more waiting on the other shoe to drop.  Go forth and conquer, Go forth and conquer !!

The Fuel of Unhappiness

Unhappiness is fueled by three key emotions: Anxiety, Fear and Shame.

"Lead Us Not Into Temptation"

This coming Sunday I will continue my teaching series on what is commonly referred to as “Lord’s Prayer”. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” Mt. 6:13. When Jesus instructed the disciples to pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” He was telling them to pray that forces beyond their control would not lead them into trials. He was also teaching them to watch and pray against entering into temptation through their own carelessness or disobedience.

As Jesus faced the prospect of the cross, He Himself, prayed, “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt,” Mk. 14:36

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had cautioned the disciples to pray lest they enter into temptation. (seeLuke 22:40) But when He arose from a time of prayer , He found them not praying, but sleeping. (vr 45) Before the night was over, at least one of the disciples, swore he didn’t even know Him, and then wept bitterly because he had failed the Lord.

Jesus knows our potential weaknesses also, which is why He has instructed us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation”. As children of God, we do not have to learn everything the hard way . We can be instructed, warned, and trained by His Word and the examples of others. (See 1 Cor. 10:11) God desires for us to learn by example and revelation as well as by discipline and difficult personal experiences.

Jesus also taught His disciples to pray for deliverance from evil. Specifically, through prayer as we put on the whole armor of God, according to Eph. 6:14-17. When we do this we build a hedge of protection as it were around ourselves and stand firm in the victory Christ has already won. Likewise Psalms 91 gives us several reasons why we can claim God’s protection. For example in verse 9 we read from the Amplified Bible “because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,” We invoke God’s protection, when we make the Lord our habituation. Psalms 23:3 says “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.” As we sing and pray to the Lord He dwells among us, enthroned upon our praises and prayers.

Finally, we can claim protection “because he knows and understands My name,” (vr 14, AMP). We must know His name. Proverbs tells , “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run into it, and is safe,” (Pro. 18:10)

As we submit our lives daily to His will and acknowledge that His name is a strong tower, we can be certain in all knowing protective will. We can prayerfully declare “You are my refuge, my fortress, my God, In You do I trust.” We can stand secure in the victory Christ has won for us.