Monday, October 26, 2009

Power

What comes to your mind when you read or hear the word "Power"?

Electricity? An avalanche? A flash flood? A charging bull or rhinoceros?

Allow me to read to you a brief description of real power! It is taken from Revelation chapters 4 and 5

"...a throne was standing in heaven and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting on the throne was like jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance....and from the throne proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder...And the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and will cast their crowns before the throne saying, "worthy art Thou our Lord and our God to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou didst create all things and because of Thy will they existed and were created".

"And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?" An no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was found to be worthy to open the book or to look into it.

And I saw between the throne and the elders a Lamb standing as if slain...and He came and He took it out of the hand of Him who sat upon the throne. And when He had take the book the...twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb...and they sang a new song saying, "Worthy art Thou to take the book and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain and didst purchase for God with thy blood men form every tribe and tongue and nation."...

And I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders... saying "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and honor and glory and blessing..."

This is the one and same Lamb that told us to:

"Ask for anything in MY name" John 12:13

And

"Ask the Father for anything in My name" John 16:23-26

Apparently it was very clear to the Apostles where the power resided. We read of one example in the Book of Acts chapter 3

Now Peter and John were gong up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.
And a certain man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate to the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those were entering the temple.

And when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.
And Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze upon him and said, " Look at us!" And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, "I do not posses silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene--walk!"


And seizing him by the right hand he raised him up..and with a leap he stood upright...

Peter said, "what I do have I give to you". What was it that Peter had? Certainly He didn't have the power to make the man walk. The scripture doesn't indicate that Peter imparted any part of faith or hope. It seems that the only thing that Peter had was the very same thing that we have available to us: The POWER that is placed in the name of Jesus!

Scripture tells it that it is at the name of Jesus that every knee in heaven and earth will bow and tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God. (Philippians 2:10)

Spend some moments with God asking Him to show you, convince you, make real to you the immense Power the resides in the name of Jesus!

There is no name under heaven by which we may be saved!

Monday, October 19, 2009

War

War -

So many different thoughts come with the mention of the word. Political, patriotic, fearful, questioning, uncertainty, grief, pride...

For a moment, I would like for you to consider the state of war as a symptom not just an event.
Earlier this week while reading an article I came across a thought that I would like to share with you. The point of the article is unimportant. The extreme importance is the thought that was presented by the following statement:

'If people live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war, and such a war as is of every man against every man...' in that state there will be 'continued fear and danger of violent death and the life of a man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short'". Forbes, American Idealism and Realpolitik, March 12, 2007

So, let me ask you...when was the last time that you felt a sense of awe?

Perhaps the easier question is: are you at war?

Are you at war with your job, with your neighbors, your family, your weight, your circumstances or your priorities?

Clearly we can see the results of a society that has lost its sense of awe.

Long past gone is a sense of awe about an Almighty Benevolent God. Also past, is a sense of awe over living in the greatest nation that has ever existed. We have become so inoculated toward anything and everything that could possibly bring a sense of awe.

There is a fear of being seen as immature or simple if we dare to see things out of the ordinary.
The results are everywhere evident The "brutish" ,the "fearful", the "solitariness" and separateness of lives. anger and suspicion are common.

Little is there that can be done about this issue in our society until we address the issue within our own hearts. That is why the earlier question asks about the war in your heart; the "brutish", the fearful, the solitariness, the anger, the suspicion.

So, have lost (or have you ever had) a realization of the awe of our Glorious, All-Powerful, beyond description God?

We will never have the proper perspective on life; we will never have the proper understanding on the power of prayer until we develop a sense of awe over the God who invites us to talk to him about the hurts, the needs, and the wants of ours and of our friends.

I implore you to beg God to show you his awesomeness! It won't be a brief encounter, Cliff Notes are not available.

Whatever it costs you the price will be minuscule in terms of what you receive in exchange.

Monday, October 12, 2009

THE EDGE IS THE CENTER!

You shall make no other gods before Me. Exodus 20:3

How is it possible to walk on the edge and still be in the middle? It isn't easy unless you see it the way our God sees it. The edge of our comfort zone is the exact center of God's will.

Romans 1:17 says "The righteous man shall live by faith".

We have exchanged the desire to live God's way for our comfort. We far prefer to be secure and unembarrassed than to live on the "lighted path". "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" Psalm 119:105

If we in fact have chosen our comfort, security and pride over knowing God in a personal way have we not chosen another god? You see we can not possible KNOW the truth of the Bible until we put it into action! Striving after anything over God's heart for the lost is idolatry, nothing short.

So where does that leave us? Frustrated at our work, or lack of personal time or accomplishments, or with our kids or our wife. Being unsettled; lacking deep peace is a spiritual indication that something is out of alignment!

"Mother" Theresa said, "we will never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all we have".

This applies to this issue because EVERYONE seems to think that "I don't know enough about scripture" to witness or "no one I know would be interested" and “I wouldn't do a very good job and might mess it up". Sound at all familiar?

Jesus said, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit…will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” John 14:26

Do we believe that? NO! Let me ask again, do we really believe that?

There is a quantitative difference between the belief that we commonly think of and the belief of the Bible. I have used this story to display the difference:

"If I were to place a rickety old chair in the middle of the room and ask you if you believe that it will hold you when you sit on it, it would be very easy to say “yes”. If on the other hand, I asked you to sit on the chair we would quickly discover whether or not you truly believed that it would hold you!"

So do you truly believe Jesus when he says, that the Holy Spirit will give you everything you need when you need it? We will never know that Jesus is enough; until Jesus is all we have. Dare to walk on the edge of your comfort zone. That is where true life is located. “…I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” John 10:10

Jesus gives us both side of the picture in a very familiar scripture. I encourage you to not walk past this too fast because of the familiarity. Consider what the Master says: “Whoever wishes to save his life shall lose I; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it”. Matthew 16:25-26

Choose life!

Monday, October 5, 2009

You Are Not Your Own

Purpose; there is a reason that you are here! You are not an accident; you are not here by chance; however you are not your own.

…do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price… I Corinthians 6:19-20

Most of us continue to live as if we belonged to no one. Sure there is some responsibility to our families and to our employers but outside of that we think we are in control.

Sadly mistaken is this view. We are free to continue to wander through our own “wildernesses” thinking we are getting somewhere when we are only walking around in circles. The day rapidly approaches each of us when we will look up and discover all that we have been living for is a mirage!

God never intended this to be the case.

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book they were written, the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them. Psalm 139:16

Before you were born, God had His eyes on you. You are His delight:

As for the saints, who are in the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all My delight! Psalm 16:3

You delight God’s heart. There is nothing more that you need to do to be delightful in God’s eyes. You are His and He chooses to sing over you. (Song of Solomon). That is how He sees you!

How do you see yourself? You have been bought with a price; have you sold yourself to the highest bidder? Do you work for a wage or do you minister to Him and see the reward for your work as a gift from His hand?

For the shepherds have become stupid and have not sought the Lord; therefore they have not prospered and all of their flock is scattered. Jeremiah10:21

The folly of our pursuits leads only to scattered flocks and empty lives.

I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself; nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. Jeremiah 10:23

From the beginning God had a different idea for you: “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for blessing and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you, and you will seek Me and find Me when you will seek Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:11-14

May I suggest that you might like to consider bending toward His desires for you? For too long we have been “stupid” shepherds and our flock is scattered. The height of foolishness is to continue doing the same things while expecting different results. If you don’t like what you have been getting, try doing it His way!

Do you have a purpose or do you just exist day to day?