Hebrews 11:6-7 – “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”  NASU

I have long desired for myself, my family, my friends, and the Body of Christ to rise above the theoretical into the realized experience of the victorious plateau of KNOWING who we are in Christ and FULLY enjoying our inheritance in the Kingdom of God.  I would think it obvious that faith is an essential element in that objective.  Just as faith is an essential for the Christian Life, doubt and unbelief are enemies.  If we are to ‘know’ who we are in Christ and move from the theoretical into the experienced reality there are some things that must happen.

• We Must Be Born Again. [ 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 3:3; John 10:27]
• We Must Apply Ourselves. [2 Timothy 2:15]
• We Must Discipline Ourselves to Do What God Instructs. [Romans 10:17; Luke 8:21; Matthew 21:29; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5; Psalm 119:11]

For faith to become a functional reality in my life it must move from the theoretical (mental) into my heart.  I must move from a general knowledge into an ultimate intimacy of becoming one with truth.  That brings several things into focus which I would call ‘Gates’. 

• The Eyes – – (Visual). What I see.
• The Ears – – (Audio). What I hear.
• The Mind – – (Imagination and Meditation). What I think on.
• The Will – – (Choice).

I readily acknowledge that everything that comes through the gate of my eyes and ears enters my mind and becomes subject to my will.  The question is:  “Do I give it place in my life?”  Paul instructs us in Ephesians 4:27 not to ‘give place’ to the devil.  Then Philippians 4 gives us a list of things to allow into our minds for meditation and ultimate entry into the heart.  If I think on these they will enter my heart and Proverbs 23:7 will become reality.

When something passes the Eye, Ear or Mind gate I can choose its disposition but for it to enter my heart it is only there by an exercise of my will.  I chose to allow it there.  They eyes and ears can only report what they see and hear. The mind meditates, contemplates, associates, connects and rationalizes but the will chooses according to its strongest foundation.  It is either the flesh or the spirit; the world or the word. 

 Psalm 141:3 is the Psalmist’s prayer for God to ‘set a guard’ over our mouths and Psalm 101:3 is a commitment to allow no wicked thing before our eyes.  It is making a choice! It is making a covenant with our eyes, ears and minds to be totally God’s.  Clearly, everything I see, hear and think has the potential to strengthen or weaken my faith.  Some things come into my sight, hearing and enter my thoughts but it is in the mind that I have the option and ability to cast it down and bring it captive to the obedience of Christ.

Thomas doubted and Jesus allowed him to see and touch the wounds which restored his faith.  The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were experiencing doubt and Jesus walking with them rehearsed the Word and events but it was not until that evening when he broke bread with them that the visual reignited their faith.  Gideon was a coward at the time the angel appeared to him but something happened.  God spoke a Word to him that passed through the gate of his ears into his mind and as he meditated on that word faith soared in his heart and he moved from the theoretical to the realized.  God gave Abraham a visual to constantly remind him of the covenant and keep his faith level high in the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.

Understanding that our eyes, ears, minds and wills are Faith Gates can help us carefully guard what is allowed through those gates and help propel us from the theoretical to the realized.

            God bless you as you go through this day!

Psalm 139:7-10 – “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.”  NASU

I have used the phrase or made the declaration, “Wow!  God showed up this time.”  Did He?  Did He just suddenly show up as though He had been somewhere else?  Where was He previous to that moment in time?  What was He doing before that particular manifestation and demonstration of Himself?  I am quite serious! 

When we read about the experience of the early church in the upper room we think how wonderful it would be for God to show up like that again.  I am not trying to split hairs and speak in semantics but WHERE IS HE NOW?  Did not Jesus say in Matthew 18, “…where two or three are gathered in My name I am there in their midst”?   Did He not say, “Seek and you shall find”?  David in this Psalm identified that no matter where he turned God was there.  That theme is repeated time and again in Scripture so I must ask WHERE HAS GOD BEEN if He just SHOWED UP?

The problem is not God’s absence it is the lack of our willingness, determination and commitment to PRESS INTO HIS PRESENCE.  He never left and stands ready to manifest Himself anytime our hearts are open to His presence and lordship.  I had someone ask, “How frequently does God speak to His people?”  My response was, “He never stops but we do not always hear or listen.”  I see this, the same for God is ALWAYS PRESENT we are not always open and receptive to His presence.  The problem is not God’s absence it is our entrance into His presence.  Proverbs 15 declares that God’s eyes are in every place and if His eyes are there He is there.  Psalm 145:18 declares, “The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.”  David in Psalm 16:8 cried, “I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”  The problem is US.  The problem is the vessel.  If we open our vessel to the Holy Spirit HE IS THERE!

Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  If He dwells IN us how can he not be where we are and when we are?  So, while I am not being critical of anyone saying that God showed up or wanting God to show up I know what they mean.  I am suggesting that we shift the focus from looking for God to show up to preparing our hearts for His presence.  I am totally convinced when we do we will realize His presence in a way never experienced before and on a frequency we have not known.

It is time for us, as believers, to begin asking, seeking and knocking and not being satisfied until we are AWARE of His presence.   May God be with you as you go through your day!

1 Peter 1:6-9 – “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith — the salvation of your souls.”  NKJV

The life that we have been called to through the Blood of Jesus is based on Faith and that Faith is the most precious possession we have on planet earth.  It is more precious than gold and it is only when we are exercising faith that we are at our fullest potential as human beings.  That is why we are here on planet earth!  We are to demonstrate and manifest the fullness of God in our lives.

That faith is always ‘tested’ and ‘tried’.  It is not a sideline hobby but a life!  Faith, in reality, is ‘my response’ to the revelation of God.  It never initiates anything new it responds to God.  God is the initiator and when He comes with a revelation of Himself and we respond, trust and rest in that revelation we manifest the demonstrated character of God who cannot lie!  Man was created to walk in faith.  It is as natural to human life as breathing.  It is not a ‘work’ it is a ‘demonstration of life’.  Remember we are made in the ‘image’ and ‘likeness’ of God and God is faith so if we are created in Him image and likeness we have the deposit of faith He has placed in our hearts.  It is our responsibility to ‘respond’, ‘trust’ and ‘rest’ in His word and it is there we operate in faith!  We are to live ‘in His presence’ and that is the atmosphere of faith!

Faith is life and that was the goal or target toward which man was created.  We were created so that we could be filled with the fullness of God’s Glory or filled with the fullness of God!  God is love and as we are filled with Him we are filled with love and out of that flows God’s love to the world.  That is a life of faith!  That was the goal but a problem occurred along the way.  It happened in the Garden of Eden and the problem is called SIN.

We use the words ‘sin’ and ‘sinner’ and sadly they are old English words that few truly understand in our modern world.  Too often I have heard church people looking down their noses as others say, “Sinner!”  The word SIN means ‘to miss the mark’.  There is an obscure verse in Judges where is says the men of Benjamin were says that the men of Benjamin were left handed but they were ‘experts’ with the sling and they never ‘missed the mark.’  Therefore since they always hit the target they were not sinners or mark missers!

Unfortunately for many it is not they we have been trying desperately to ‘hit the mark’ and just keep missing.  It isn’t that the target has been set up and no matter how hard we try we ‘miss the mark’.  NO! NO!  The problem is that man set up an alternate target.  It isn’t just that he missed God’s mark but he set up a completely different target.  So we are missing the mark because we are shooting at the wrong target.  The devil inspired man to set up a different target thinking he could live independently of God in his own strength.  It is not that he does not believe God exists it is that he believes God is over there doing His thing and man over here doing his thing and occasionally they will get together and discuss things then off you go again on your own.  He is ‘up there’ and we are ‘down here’.  We might not admit it but too often we view Him as an ‘absentee landlord.’  Man believed THE LIE and exhibited faith in that lie rather than faith in God.

When Jesus went to the Cross He ripped down the veil and not only exposed our sin and opened the door to forgiveness but opened the door to access to God.  Now through the work of the Cross we have access to the presence of God and a life of faith!

I want to address this area a little more but for now I pause and say, “May God bless you and be with you as you go through this day!”  

Matthew 5:6 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  NKJV

Some time back as I was driving a preacher on the radio said, “People have about as much of God as they want.”  That hit me like a ton of bricks and as I mused on that statement I knew it was true.  I hesitate to take one portion of the Beatitudes for I seem them all interrelated and connected but I will for the purpose of addressing the thought of ‘hungering and thirsting’ for righteous which is for God.

Most of us have declared that we are HUNGRY for God but are we really HUNGRY?  Before you turn me off and disregard what I’m saying consider being hungry in the natural.  Most of us have been hungry and there may have been times we were really hungry but how many have faced the grim prospects of starvation?  That’s the imagery in this statement of Jesus.  This is like the hunger of someone crossing a barren wasteland with no food or water.  They search everywhere for even the slightest morsel and droplet of water and would do anything to get it.  Nothing would be more important than finding nourishment and the water that will sustain life.  Have we been that hungry for God?  Are we that hungry for God?  Before you contend that you do give it a moment and allow the Holy Spirit to address that in your heart and then reflect on your priorities, habits, actions and life.

They shall be filled is the promise!  This word ‘filled’ carries with it the idea of being satisfied and successful is woven into its fabric.  There is a complete dissatisfaction and uneasiness in a person that realizes that they must find food or perish and they become singular in their focus and devote their efforts to that cause.  That is the approach of someone fighting to live but there are those that ‘give up’ and resign themselves to perishing.  Jesus is telling us that if we develop that kind of ‘driving hunger’ for God and His Righteousness we WILL BE SATISFIED. 

There have been times in my life when I had such a driving desire to press into God’s presence that life itself was unimportant and times when I was much less driven.  I have never been faced with starvation in the natural but have seen it and know the preciousness of food to those so affected.  The words of our Lord here and elsewhere are not designed to condemn us but to inspire us to press in to the promise.  Many, including me, are very concerned about the condition of our world socially, morally, politically, economically and spiritually.  That being said I am 100% convinced that along with all our other efforts the MOST IMPORTANT and MOST PRODUCTIVE is making this passage a reality in our lives.  If we so press in to God the resulting transformation in our lives will affect change around us even in the face of opposition.

Nationally the call should be 2 Chronicles 7:14.  Personally the call should be Matthew 6:33 and Matthew 5:6.  I cannot escape the reality that I and we have about as much of God as we truly want.  If we do not there should be such an unsettling in our hearts that nothing can keep us from HUNGERING and THIRSTING as a person facing starvation.  No wonder David said in Psalms 42:1-2 – “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” NKJV

             Let this be the hour, day, month and year that we become consumed with HUNGER FOR GOD!   May God bless you is my sincere prayer!

2 Timothy 1:12 – “…I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”  NKJV

I believe in God and Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior!  I am troubled over what I perceive to be a lack of commitment in much of the Christian community today.  I know that sounds judgmental but I honestly do not mean it to be.  I just question and do not understand some of what I see.  I am startled by the lack of vision for the whole and the abundance of vision for self that I hear in churches and from believers.

I could allow myself to think as I used to think before I experienced the Christ of the Cross but I will not.  I have an option to either blend in with the crowd and popular thinking or I can opt to swim upstream against the current of much popular thinking.  I choose to invite the Holy Spirit to enable me to think God’s thoughts!

I have been amazed at how many people come into local fellowships declaring that God has called them to be there and then depart over frivolous things.  I have witnessed people starting churches only to find it difficult and declare that God said shut it down.  My question is always, “Did God instruct, you to do it initially?”  If so does that mean God is fickle and changes His mind at the first sign of difficulty?  If difficulty is a justification to quit, how did the early church survive?  James suggested we both expect trouble and respond to trials with joy for it is helping develop our faith and courage.

I declare today that I do not have all the answers and sometimes wonder if I have any but I do not have to have all the answers.  I know the one who does!  I can trust God to be who He declared He was and is and rest confidently in the fact that He knows my need before I even pray.  I trust Jesus to be Lord!

I make the choice to think according to the Word of God and base my thinking on what God says not how I feel, desire, wish for, or prefer.  I choose to adjust my life to fit what He says rather than try to adjust His word to fit my life.  I choose even when I cannot see in the natural and it seems the promise is delayed or will not come. I choose to believe and trust God.

I choose to stand against the powers of darkness, not in my strength but on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus and His Covenant revealed in His word.  I choose to roll myself onto God and trust Him in all things and at all times.  I choose to allow God’s word adjust my thought processes bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.  I confess that I have had a lot of practice in wrong thinking and now invite the Holy Spirit to reprogram my thought life.  I ask that He convict me every time I drift toward the old thought patterns and bring me into conformity with the Word and thereby transform my life.

That is my declaration today!  What is yours?   May God be with you as you go through your day!

Galatians 6:7 – “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”  NKJV

Let’s pick up again on considering the Law of Harvest.  We considered five things regarding harvest in our previous devotional:

• Seed Must Be Sown Before You Can Have Any Harvest.
• That Sown Seed Must Be Rendered Useless To The Sower.
• The Seed Sown Determines the Type of Harvest.
• The Size of the Harvest is Determined at the Time of Sowing.
• The Seed Must Be Sown in Good Soil.

             Each of those is critical to obtaining a good harvest.  Now we move on to further elements involved in the harvest in our lives.

• The Crop Must Be Cared For to Have a Full Harvest.   Matthew 13:7 – “…and the thorns sprung up, and choked them…”   In the natural and spiritual you cannot leave the seed unprotected against the ravages of a hostile environment – – [bugs, birds, weeds, drought, etc.]  Jesus commanded us in Matthew 6:33 to ‘seek first’ the kingdom of God and His righteousness with the promise that ALL THESE THINGS would then be added to us.  If we place God first in our lives we will find the sown seed protected.

• The Sowing Is Always To Harvest Size Not From Harvest Size.  Genesis 26:12 – “…Isaac sowed in the land, and received… an hundredfold…”   There was a famine in the land and the world’s way would be to have gone to Egypt but he stayed in the land and saw the harvest.  Farmers understand this principle in agriculture, but most miss it in finance or most anything else.  We normally sow ‘from’ our need rather than ‘to’ our need.  Why?   Fear of insufficiency. 

Remember the biblical account of Elijah in 1 Kings 17?  God told the prophet He had prepared a widow in Zarephath to SUSTAIN him.  The widow had not heard that word and when the prophet asked for food she resisted telling him that she had only enough to prepare one meager meal for herself and her child then they would die.  HOLD THE PHONE…  Didn’t God say He had commanded her to SUSTAIN the prophet?  She relented and obeyed and the miracle (harvest) happened.  Disobedience would mean death but obedience meant harvest.   Blessing or death is our choice!  

• Expenses Are Always Greatest At Harvest Time.  Matthew 20:1 – “…a man that is an householder… went out early in the morning to hire laborers…”   When the harvest is ripe there is unction, in your spirit that says: “It is time for harvest.”  That is the time to give (whatever it is) in a greater measure.  In the natural you have to hire laborers, bring in the equipment, etc.   It is expensive to gather the harvest!  In the spiritual why not let the laborers loose in your fields.  That just might be the key you have been looking for.

• A Portion of Every Harvest is For Sowing.  2 Corinthians 9:10 – “For God, who gives seed to the farmer to plant, and later on good crops to harvest and eat, will give you more and more seed to plant.”  (TLB)  You never want a ONE TIME harvest!

• A Portion of Every Harvest is For Eating.  1 Corinthians 9:7 – “…who plants a vineyard, and eats not the fruit thereof?”

• Every Harvest is a Miracle.  1 Corinthians 3:6 – “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”

2 Corinthians 9:6 advises that if we give little we reap little.  The size of the planting directly affects the size of the harvest for the law of multiplication comes into play.  That is never questioned in farming but frequently not understood in spiritual things.

 Luke 6:38 – “Give and IT shall be will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

IT – – is not just money it is everything!   May God be with you as you go through this day!

Galatians 6:7 – “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”  NKJV

           Sowing and reaping is a very real truth in life.  I would venture that not one person who reads this could not use a positive harvest of some kind in their lives.  The reality is that a harvest is coming because we have sown seeds in our lives that will produce a good harvest or a bad one.  That fact makes it vital that we understand harvest.

In the natural we can readily understand the laws of harvest. So why is it that we sometimes fail to understand them in the spiritual?  The more I study the Laws of Harvest the more I realize that those laws are universal and affect the believer and unbeliever.  However, believers have a greater promise and hope but the principles apply to both.  I would like you to engage in a brief consideration of the Law of Harvest and see if it can prove beneficial in your life.  I will mention a number of things in passing and trust that if the resonate with you they will be pursued in greater depth in your studies.

• Seed Must Be Sown Before You Can Expect A Harvest.

John 12:24 – “…except a grain of wheat falls into the ground… it abides alone…”  Remembering a basic principle that we reap what we so, more than we sow and later than we sow it is easy to realize this applies to every dimension of our lives.  If we do not sow we do not reap.

• The Seed Sown Must Be Rendered Useless.

John 12:24 – “…except a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies… it abides alone.”

The seed enters into a state of uselessness to the planter once it is sown.  It cannot be eaten or otherwise used.  IT DIES!  At that point the process of multiplication begins.  It leaves your control once sown.

• The Seed Sown Determines The Type of Harvest.

Genesis 1:12 – “…herb yielding seed AFTER HIS KIND.”  What you plant determines what you harvest.

• The Size of the Harvest is Determined at the Time of Sowing.

2 Corinthians 9:6 – “…a farmer who plants just a few seed will get only a small crop, but if he plants much, he will reap much.”  (TLB)

Simply, you cannot wait until the day of harvest or need to determine the size of your harvest.  That determination is made at the time of planting.  Now I don’t know about you but it would seem that abundance is better than shortage so let that be your sowing rule.

• The Seed Must Be Sown in Good Soil.

Matthew 13:8 – “…other (seed) fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.”

In agriculture only good ground produces good crops.  Why would we think that anything but ‘good ground’ spiritually would produce good crops?  Remember Luke 6:38 that what we give we get in kind and in abundance.

• Harvest Is Always After Sowing and Never Before.

In Mark 4:26-27 we are taught that we sow then the seed sprouts and grows even if we do not understand how.  I am convinced that about the only ‘instant harvest’ is received by planting a big smile, all others seem to take time.   Ecclesiastes 11:1 tells us that if we cast our bread upon the waters; we will find it after many days.  Patience is essential.  If we become impatient and dig up our seed to see what is happening we will negate the harvest.

Galatians 6:9 – “…let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”   That is a key component in your harvest – – DON’T QUIT!  DON’T GIVE UP! 

We will pause there and pick up tomorrow with a further look at the Law of Harvest and how it applies to us and our part in the process.   May the Lord bless you richly is my prayer!