2 Chronicles 20:1-34 – – – [I ask that you read that lengthy passage later]

First, giving you virtually an entire chapter to read is probably a bit much for a devotional post. Still, I thought it necessary, and I will keep my remarks as brief as possible because the account itself is so descriptive of what I want to say.

Judah was facing what was likely “complete destruction” from a unified advancing army of multiple nations.  The people were “fearful,” and there was tremendous danger of “revolt” unless there was “clear” and “courageous” direction from their leader, King Jehoshaphat.  He was afraid and turned to the Lord, which was the right thing to do.  If something is causing fear, whether justifiable or not, the “first place to turn” is to the Lord!  He gathered the entire nation to a solemn assembly to seek God.  How I long to see America do the same!

I find verses 5-13 incredibly informative as Jehoshaphat addressed God, and his prayer reflected his fear and faith.  In some ways, it appeared that he was trying to convince himself that God was who he believed God to be.  He seemed a bit uncertain at the moment. 

Then, at his prayer’s conclusion, he makes a powerful and much-needed statement, “…we are powerless before this great multitude…. Nor do we know what to do… But OUR EYES ARE ON YOU.”   He got it!  That is the secret to the whole thing.  We find an acknowledgment of the situation, an admission of our inability to handle it, and an expression of hope and faith in God.

In verses 14-19, we find God responding to their honest, open prayer and promising deliverance and victory!  It is not just a promise to help them in battle but to do the battle for them, and there is a difference!  Sometimes, God allows us in the battle, and sometimes, He fights the battle for us and tells us, “You just stand there and watch.”  This is one of those times!

In verses 20-25, we see what took place.  I love Jehoshaphat’s declaration and instruction to the people found here.  “…put your trust in the LORD your God, and you will be established.  Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.”  Let that get into your hearts; you will find a key to success if you receive it.  Then, he takes another step that is certainly not taught in “Schools of Military Tactics.” 

He put the choir or the praise team out in front of the army.  That took a great deal of courage and faith on their part.  They would be the first people the enemy encountered, and they would be “unarmed,” just singing the Praises of God! 

The incredible reality is that their only weapon would be the Praises of God in their mouths!  As they sang, God, not Judah, put ambushes against the advancing enemy army, and incredibly, they turned on each other.  Judah did not have to shoot an arrow, throw a spear, or wield a sword – GOD DID IT for them!  It took three days to gather the spoils of the battle.  That is a lot of booty to gather!

The result was a rekindled faith and commitment from Judah toward the Lord and a fear of God instilled in the enemies of the people of God.  Devils fear and tremble when the people of God obey God’s directive in humble obedience and faith! 

They were completely vulnerable and trusting, and God came on the scene.  He will do the same for you, so stop trying to figure it out and do it yourself.  Instead, “call upon Him” in honest, humble sincerity, and I will guarantee that He will respond.  He will guide you and even fight the battle for you, but He will give you the direction you need to go through the situation.

May God be with you as you go through this day in Him!  Blessings abundantly!

Luke 21:19 – “In your patience possess ye your souls.” KJV

I am fully aware of the context of this passage but want to use it to speak to a particular issue that I have been aware of in my life and much of the Christian world – IMPATIENCE! 

Most Christians have been trying to live as Christians with a“Microwave Mentality” for way too long.  We have been spoiled with the instant everything in our lives.  Unlike our parents and grandparents, generations where they had more of a “Farmer Mentality,” we have a “Magician’s Mentality.”  We want it yesterday!

My mother and grandmother cooked most things from scratch, as they called it.  I remember when my mother bought an “instant cake mix” and baked a cake with it rather than from “scratch.”  Then, we were introduced to “instant potatoes” rather than real potatoes that had to be peeled, cooked, and mashed.  Next was “instant coffee,” which did not make it in our house because my dad could not tolerate the thought of not having his coffee brewed or boiled. 

He usually would take a stovetop percolator, remove the insides, leaving just the pot, put his water in, pour in the coffee grounds, and boil the coffee.  That was fine until you reached the bottom of the pot, and your cup would be filled with those pesky coffee grounds.  He did graduate to the more modern coffee makers, such as Mr. Coffee, and that was a significant step for him. 

The Farmer knows that the seed he plants today will not be harvested for weeks or months and has no expectation of waking up the following day and having corn ready to harvest or any other crop.  Today, we expect our food and everything else to be virtually instant.  We do not like to wait! 

I am probably one of the world’s worst about waiting, especially at a restaurant.  I do not like to sit and wait 30 minutes or an hour for a table.  I would rather go somewhere else.  I do not like waiting at the doctor’s office or in the examination room.  I want my computer to operate with blazing speed, and when I go to the ATM, I expect my cash to be instant. 

Unfortunately, that also spills over into our relationship with others and God.  I am virtually Never late unless it is beyond my control, and then I do everything I can to notify those waiting for me.  I do not like waiting for someone who habitually arrives late because I consider it inconsiderate and an expression of the lack of value of my time.  I like meetings to begin on time, and I want an immediate answer when I pray.  God works on me on that part quite a lot.

We need to learn the value of a patient spirit.  It will help you eliminate frustration and even enhance your health and well-being.  Amazingly, with my lack of willingness to wait on many things, I love to fish and can sit all day long fishing without getting a bite and be content.  I am patient.  I can hunt the same way.  So, I realize it is a mindset I can change concerning other things I cannot control.  I can learn patience and, in so doing, learn to rest in the confidence that God is in control, and I can trust Him.

If you are an “impatient” person, you need to hear what I am saying today and, as I’ve been told before, “chill out.”  I know that is not a term used today and dates me.  I remember once being single before my wife and I married. I was out on a date, and the lady with me slapped my shoulders and said – “Roy, relax.”  I had no idea I was tense, but it was so apparent that she did that.  God has done the same thing to me on more than one occasion. 

So, as you go through this day, ask the Holy Spirit to help you to be patient.  In developing patience, you will encounter things that test your patience, and you may not like my advice, but it is worth it to learn patience!

May the Lord be with you as you go through your day!

Galatians 3:1-5 – “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain — if indeed it was in vain? 5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”  NASB

At the risk of upsetting my entire readership, I will say that most Christians have some difficulty in the area of ‘Performance Orientation.’  It is easier to be a legalist, walking in bondage to man-made rules and regulations, than to walk free. 

If you maintain a ‘list,’ you can easily measure how you are doing (performing) by your standard and compare yourself to those around you.  In that mode of operation, developing a relationship is unnecessary because you have a ‘balance sheet’ in which you can see if you have kept more rules than you did not.  It is fleshly security.

When I first came to Christ after Vietnam, many in the church had a list of rules they were eager to share with me.  That list included all the ‘do not’s’ – – No to movies, tobacco, cards, dominos, dancing, alcohol, doing virtually anything on Sunday, etc. 

The list was exceptionally long and sometimes quite detailed.  Of course, the way God made me caused me to question WHY?  That did not go well.  Many who had their lists and touted them piously were guilty of exhibiting – hate, bitterness, judgmentalism, back-biting, and more.  They could never see the real issue was that they were performing, not developing relationships, and it was all flesh!

People who ‘perform’ to be accepted have difficulty experiencing or giving Unconditional Love!  Their mindset of needing to ‘perform’ (though they would never have called it that) caused them to judge and respond to or accept others based on performance!  There is something in us that strives for ‘acceptance.’  Even though we have been set free by the Blood of Jesus, the Grace of God, and the Spirit of God, we often tend to drift back into the ‘fleshly mode’ of earning acceptance via performance.

The IF I DON’T Syndrome…

• If I do not go to church, God will not love me.
• If I do not read X number of chapters daily in the Bible, God will not love me.
• If I do not pray X number of hours each day, God will not hear me.
• If I do not witness, God will not love me.

Hear me, please!  It is good to be a part of a local fellowship and attend regularly.  It is good to read your Bible daily.  It is good to pray daily.  It is good to witness, but be sure that all of that is not focused on you and performance rather than relationship.  The motive should be Love, unconditional, unsolicited love.  Attend church because of Love, not to get God to accept you.

In Romans 8, we are reminded that nothing can separate us from God’s Love!  We are reminded that God’s Love empowers us!  That it is all God and not us!  Our problem as humans is that the entire world is a stage, and we learn early in life to perform.  Performance reaches not just into the actions but also the motives and is foreign to God’s desires.  We can be free!  We must be free!  The world needs us to be free! 

To be free from the Spirit of Performance and move into Relational Christianity requires the development of Trust, Knowing, and Becoming!  We have to Know God and ourselves.  We have to Become vulnerable, not performing to be loved and approved but acting out of love.  Remember, in 1 Corinthians 13, we are told that LOVE does not seek its own.

As children, we learn to ‘perform,’ have it reinforced as teenagers, and then practice and teach it as adults.  The mentality that says, ’If I don’t or can’t do what is expected, I will not be accepted.’  That produces fear, anxiety, striving, and shortens and diminishes the quality of life.  It does not necessarily produce insecurity because some are quite confident and secure in their own rules, list, and ability to perform, so they feel SAFE!

LET ME USE SOME LIFE EXAMPLES:

How about Potty Training – – When we tell a child, “You did good, Mommy or Daddy loves you.”  That easily translates to the child over the long haul that they would not be loved if they had not performed to expectation.  They did not hear, ‘You are loved no matter how often you soiled your clothing.’  The danger is that they hear, “IF I do it right, I’m loved, but if I do it wrong, I’m not.”   (Is that extreme? Possibly, but hopefully you can see what I am saying).

How about Appearance – – “Oh, you look nice in your new dress, pants, etc.  Mommy/Daddy loves you.”  But we love you regardless, right?  Can you see how the child might miss that point over the long haul and translate it to ‘good appearance earns love, sloppiness does not’?   (Is that extreme? Again, catch what I am saying)

How about Correction – – When the child misbehaves, ask, “Where did my little boy/girl go?  They were here a minute ago, but this cannot be my child because they do not act that way.”  We just told the child that they are unacceptable and have to be someone who is ideal to be acceptable, so they must perform to be accepted.

Let me go out on a limb and say that children are not always little angels, but they are ALWAYS to be loved!  Proverbs 22:15 says, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will remove it far from him.”  The negative behavior is stopped by firm, loving, consistent discipline while constantly communicating that they are loved, and that love is unconditional while the behavior is not.  That is security!

I have heard people say, “I can’t love you when you act that way.”  What?  “Go to your room, and when you can act like you, you can come out.”  Okay, that is what the child did: act like themself!  “Leave the table, and when you can come back wearing a smile, you can be part of us.” 

Okay, so now you want them to be hypocritical to be accepted.  I am not saying that you allow any behavior to exist. We need to stop teaching performance and focus on relationships.  If we learn in the home to be ourselves and know that even when we do not perform to expectation, we will be loved, we can translate that into life and develop relationships!

The person bound by Performance Orientation has to work extremely hard for all the wrong reasons.  Some of the things I have observed are that the Person who is a PERFORMER:

• Requires Constant Affirmation.
• Cannot Handle Criticism.
• Is Dependent on the Reactions of Others.
• Any Reproof makes them Defensive.
• Cannot readily admit Guilt or Blame and never takes Responsibility.
• Often, they are afraid to try new things because of the fear of failure.

If you recognize any of this in your life or those you love, I urge you to take it to the Lord and ask His help to break the Spirit of Performance and move you from Performance to Relationship!

God bless you as you go through your day!

Matthew 8:28-34 – “When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, ” What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.”  NASB

It is interesting to consider how many times, in the Word of God, people encountered Jesus only to turn Him away and lose their “Chance of a Lifetime.”  I can only imagine how the heart of God was grieved each time.  That grief was compounded as city after city and group after group rejected the offer of the Lord Jesus to experience God’s Abundant Life.

The very presence of Jesus spoke of the Abundant Love the Father had and has for the world.  John 3:16 is pounding in my ears as I consider this reality.  That truth was demonstrated and evidenced in the very person and presence of Jesus.  God is Love, and Love was walking in their midst, yet they repeatedly turned Love away.

In this incident, we find that Jesus had just ministered to several different and difficult cases, bringing the miraculous into the midst of those observing.  He had healed the Lepers, the Centurion’s servant, and Peter’s mother-in-law and had quieted the storm on the sea. 

His followers observed and were amazed at the incredible power of God in the person of Jesus.  Now, He had come to the country of the Gadarenes and was met by two demon-possessed men.  Mark only identifies one, but Matthew tells us there were two.  These men had been bringing terror into the hearts and lives of those around them.  They were violent and dangerous.

The demons recognized Jesus as the Son of God and knew they were powerless in His presence because of His faith, not simply His divinity.  They requested, and Jesus granted that they enter the herd of hogs in the area and cast them out.  The keepers of the hogs went to the city and reported what had transpired.  They told of the exhibition of supernatural power and divine authority they had witnessed.  I am sure they said, “Something miraculous has transpired, come and see.”  Talk about advertising eyewitness testimony!

THE WHOLE CITY WENT OUT TO MEET JESUS.

According to the biblical account, there were about 2,000 hogs lost in this incident, but two souls (human beings) had been liberated from the power of darkness.  One would think that even with the financial loss, they would be ecstatic about the two men, but as the story progresses, we find that mammon was more important than people.  Is today really that much different?

Imagine this scene.  The Messiah had come to their country.  Talk about the opportunity of a lifetime.  Unfortunately, they did not come to see a savior. They came to see a sign.  They came out of curiosity.  They came because of carnal greed and concern for their livelihood.  Their focus was not salvation.  They came out of curiosity, question, and concern for their way of life.

In my years of Christian service, I have noticed that if something supernatural transpires, people will drive hundreds of miles to see what has happened.  It does not have to be a miracle; it may be an act of incredible evil through demonic, but the interest and curiosity peak, and people come in droves.  People are naturally “sign seekers” and “supernatural hunters.”

What an opportunity this city had.  The entire city was on the scene, and Jesus was in their midst.  This is an opportunity to hear the Messiah speak and work miracles in their midst.  This is their Day, their Opportunity.  The question is, what will they do with Jesus?

What were they thinking?  In this event, I saw the entire city come out to meet Jesus and see the supernatural occurrence.  I am pretty sure they were apprehensive, probably fearful, and curious. 

WHEN THEY SAW JESUS, THEY REALIZED THAT HE WAS DIFFERENT.

The presence of Jesus always brought light into the darkness and caused men to realize their sinfulness.  His Holiness made them uncomfortable, and it still does. I do not doubt that they conjured an image of Him in their minds as they came to the scene, but He was not what they expected.  Their curiosity morphed into fear and trepidation, and the conviction they were feeling made them incredibly uncomfortable.

Remember what the soldiers said to the rulers who had sent them to arrest Jesus.  As revealed in John 7:46, they returned and said, “…never man spake like this man….”  We have never heard anything like what He is saying, and we recognize a power in His words and an authority we have never witnessed before. 

I have little doubt they expected to see something spectacular and watch the show.  They were not expecting the moral and spiritual demands that His presence brought into their midst.  The holiness of Jesus touched them, and when God comes into the presence of sin, sin is made incredibly uncomfortable.

I suggest that it is impossible to come into the presence of Jesus and go away the same way you came.  You may not accept Him, but you are impacted eternally.  His presence brings the holiness of God into whatever situation He enters.  Jesus’ presence made them uncomfortable, and they reacted as carnal, sinful man often does in the presence of God.

THEY ASKED HIM TO LEAVE.

Their actions suggested that they preferred hogs to liberty.  They did not give Him the opportunity to teach them the truths of God and bring to them the Light of God’s Love; their fear and focus on the material drove them to reject Jesus.  They were uncomfortable in His presence, and His presence represented a loss of economic gain, so they asked Him to leave.

Jesus brought disorder to their order.  He brought the abnormal to their normal.  If He remained in their midst, there would be some changes required, and they wanted to stay in their comfort zones and their way of life.  His presence brought conviction to their hearts.  Conviction will either break us and bring us to Jesus or prompt us to build a wall, a barrier, and reject Him.  He had come to bring Liberty to these people; they missed the opportunity of a lifetime!  They turned Him away.

I suggest that they are not very different from people today.  Jesus has come time and again to people only to have them refuse to open the door.  He stands at the door and knocks today as He did then.  How often do people do what these people did and ask Him to “leave their coasts or region.”  They were like the person who told me, “Preacher, I cannot accept Jesus because if I do, I will have to stop doing what I like to do.”  He meant, “I enjoy sin and don’t want to stop.”  The Bible tells us that sin is pleasurable (Hebrews 11:26).

Jesus has come to us today. The only question is, “What Will We Do With Him?”  He has come to Save, Heal, Deliver, and bring us God’s Abundant Life.  He has come to provide whatever we need.  Opportunity is knocking at our door today.  The only question is, “What Will We Do With Jesus?”  I pray that we will say, “Enter, Lord Jesus.  I receive You and want to Live in Your Presence.”

God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!

Psalm 90:12 – “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”  NASB

As the song of years gone by, ‘Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die,’ we often live our lives with a sense of permanence that is deceptive.  Most people I have dealt with or worked with in my years of ministry seem to believe that they will have ‘more than enough tomorrows’ to do the things they either did not do or did not want to do today. 

Too often, people neglect the vital, focus on the important or trivial, and demonstrate little concern because they believe they will have time to do it later.  We call that Procrastination!

Any student of the Bible knows that there are a number of promises from God in His word that are seldom claimed, appropriated, and stood on in individual lives.  I have observed that too many live ‘beneath their privilege’ in God. 

I have had people tell me that I focus too much on God’s Promises, but I fully believe that God gave them because He wanted us to enjoy, appropriate, stand on, and live them in this world.  With each step closer to becoming ‘like Jesus,’ I believe we find more Spiritual Power in our lives, touch more Souls of men, and experience more Victory in our daily lives!

This Psalm is attributed to Moses.  He is interceding for God to remove the curse that every Israelite over twenty would die before the nation could enter the Land of Canaan.  He even identifies that most are dying at seventy, though some are reaching eighty years of age. 

If verse 10 could somehow be attributed to us as a gauge of longevity, it would produce an interesting possibility.  [80 years or 16 – 5-year segments].  I wonder how we would live if we evaluated our lives in 5-year increments?  How many have you lived?  How many do you have left?  (Please understand that I do not believe that this means we can only live 70-80 years, but I use it as an illustration).

Time is either the greatest asset or enemy that we have.  Paul urged his listeners to ‘redeem the time.’  Time is one thing we must learn to use effectively to become the most effective in our lifespan.  We are notorious ‘time wasters,’ at least most of us are.  In order to tap the resources available to us and utilize the ability and power God has given us, three things must take place.

1. PERCEPTION – – – We must Perceive.

• We must perceive ‘who we are.’ 

Initially, we were sinners in need of God.  We are created in the image of God, and as John 1:12 tells us, we are sons/daughters of God.  Romans 8:17 identifies that we are ‘heirs of God’ and Galatians 3:29 that we are ‘heirs according to the Promise.’  We read of the Promises of God in Deuteronomy 28 and find in Hebrews 8:6 that we have a ‘better covenant established on better promises.’

• We must perceive ‘where we are.’  

Or the condition or level of maturity in which we find ourselves.  Some of us are like the little boy who fell out of bed, and when asked why, he replied, ‘Because I stayed too close to the edge.’  Some of us have stayed too close to the condition we were in when we first came to Christ.

• We must perceive ‘where we are going.’  

That applies both spiritually and in this natural life.

• PREPARATION – – We must Prepare to get where we are going.

We must know the promises of the Book (Bible).  We must understand that the Bible is a tool, a weapon, a light, and a resource.

We must KNOW our inheritance as children of the Most-High God.  We must prepare mentally, physically, and spiritually.

• PROCEED – – We must Proceed on the Planned and Purposed way.

We must see our potential in God, understand and believe the possibilities, and trust God!  If God says we are to be a Moses, Elijah, Paul, John, Peter, or Daniel, why can’t we?  What made them unique was that they were fully surrendered and teachable.

We must believe we can be overcomers because God says we already are in Jesus.  We must believe that God can work miracles through us.  Remember who God says you are – – ‘A Child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.’   Remember that His charted destiny for you is to ‘do His will in this generation.’  Therefore, we must allow God to guide and guard our hearts, thoughts, and lives.  Remember, ‘except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.’

So, as you go through the rest of your life, will you go as a Possibility or a Procrastinator?  The choice is yours.  

May God be with you as you go through your day!

Revelation 18:9-10 – “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘ Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ NASU

Okay, this will be a little different, and I am not trying to prove something about interpreting prophecy or defining end-time events, so stay with me, and you will see my purpose.

Recently, I heard someone using the Book of Revelation and calculating time, based on the formula that one day is one thousand years and determined that 1 hour would equal 41.67 years.  That same individual calculated the three ½ years or the 42 months that the Anti-Christ would have an unbroken treaty or pact with Israel as literal. 

My difficulty with that method is, that if an hour is calculated according to 1 day being one thousand years, then each month would have to be calculated the same way.  In my view, this illustrates the problem of trying to be too clever in interpreting God’s Word. 

Who determines which is figurative and which is literal?  I realize that God says some allegorical things using types and shadows, and some things are amazingly literal, and it is often challenging to determine which is which.  That is another reason for me to let the Scripture interpret Scripture and not insert Roy into the equation too much. 

What is my focus and purpose in saying this?  Simply that, we talk about TIME. 

How much TIME do you have left on this earth?  I do not know, you do not know, no one knows, but in 2 Corinthians 6:2, we read:  “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.”  Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” NKJV Jesus impressed upon us the importance of the immediate in John 4:35 – “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” NASB

James 4:13-17 – “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” NASB

Jesus addressed the issue of not knowing how much time we have in His parable about the rich man who looked at his possessions and planned to build bigger and better barns to house his goods and planned on a life of ease and luxury.  Jesus said: “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’” (Luke 12:20-21)

My point is simple – – Your life is a vapor, and at any moment, it could be over, so the only sure course is to address the needs of your spirit man every day and at all times.  Do not worry about things you cannot control; focus on what you have before you RIGHT NOW! 

God has a plan for your life, and if you see some of the dire things in the Book of Revelation, you can face them with assurance in your heart that God is Omnipotent!  You can go home rejoicing if you are taken home before those events.  Either way, our ultimate end is to BE WITH THE LORD!  

God bless you as you go through your day!