Genesis 35:1-5 – Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once to Bethel and live there.   Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”  ² So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you.  Purify yourselves and change your clothes.  ³ Let us go up at once to Bethel.  Then I will make an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress and has been with me wherever I went.”

⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession and the rings that were in their ears.  Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem ^5, and they started on their journey.  The surrounding cities were afraid of God, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.”

During the winter, I was reading, praying, and meditating on the word.   Snow covered the ground, and the trees were flocked, glistening white under the lights.  The air was damp and cold, making staying inside inviting.   But, in my heart, there was a warm glow powered by love.  Love from and to God and love from and for people!

As I prayed, read, and considered the Word of God today, the thought of completeness captured my thoughts.   Complete obedience, complete surrender, and complete transformation all tugged at my heart and mind.

Long before Jacob was born, God had forbidden the worship of any other being.   His directive regarding idols was to destroy them.  That makes Jacob’s action in Genesis 35:4 intriguing and perplexing.   His family gave him their foreign gods (idols) and earrings (associated with those gods).  “AND Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.”

He hid them, rather than destroying them.   I suggest that hiding them left a doorway for them to be retrieved.   That failed the completeness test.   The question is, “Was that the doorway through which some of the troubles Israel faced came?”   Completeness in obedience and surrender is the only sure way to victory and our best defense.   If God has our whole heart, He also has our actions.

In the Book of Acts, we see completeness in obedience and surrender in the apostle Paul. In Acts 20:26, Paul makes a powerful declaration that is filled with comfort, hope, and revelation.

We know Paul’s history as Saul of Tarsus before the Damascus road experience.   He had caused believers to be imprisoned, punished, and murdered.  But in Acts 20:26, he says, “I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all.”

What?   But, Paul, what about your history?   You helped shed innocent blood.  How can you say you are innocent?  How?  By Grace, through repentance!   Paul’s completeness in surrender and obedience gave him a New History!

That is what we have in Salvation.  We have a brand-new history with no past!  Our lives truly began and can only be traced to the day of our conversion.

We remember the past; God does not!   He has cast our sins into the sea of no more remembrance and put them behind Him, as far as the East is from the West.   They are never remembered again!   It is an insult to God’s grace to bring them back up and rehearse them in our minds.

Salvation is complete forgiveness!   It is a complete transformation!  It is newness of life, DNA, and a second chance!   Therefore, it is important that we leave no room or place to go back.   Don’t hide the idols of the past.  Surrender them to God and be made complete!  

We are New Creations in Christ with no past before the day the Blood of Jesus washed away our sins!   We are New!  We are Complete!   We are those who live in His fullness!  We have His promise of victory, so let’s seize the promise and live in His fullness.

LORD, help our surrender to be complete and our obedience to be total.

Genesis 26:12-13 – And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold.  The Lord blessed him, ¹³ and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.”

Sometimes, a simple word or phrase ignites something powerful in my heart!   In Genesis 25, Esau’s selling his birthright for a meal is revelatory.   Here, we see this battle illustrated and how easily natural cravings can become elevated above the development of the Spirit.

In Genesis 26, we have the revelation of obedience to God; following the Spirit rather than allowing the eyes of the flesh to rule brings God’s blessings.   God commanded Isaac to ignore the natural and be obedient.   He reminded Isaac of how, through obedience, Abraham was blessed in covenant.   In verse 12, it is revealed, “And Isaac sowed IN THAT LAND and reaped IN THE SAME YEAR one hundredfold.  AND Yahweh blessed Him.”   One hundredfold return AND… the blessings for obedience were uncontainable.

To walk in obedience by faith requires total confidence in God.   It transforms us and enables us to joyfully obey regardless of what we see.   The eyes of faith are unmoved by the eyes and cravings of the flesh and the natural.

In Acts 16:25, Paul and Silas were in the dungeon, bound in chains and stocks.  They were examples of transformed lives and complete confidence in God.

Acts 16:25 – “BUT about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, AND the prisoners heard them.”

Think about that.   How we respond to adversity or blessing is our testimony.   The prisoners heard them!   They had no reason in the natural to act that way.  Their confidence and commitment had transformed them.  It was who they were, not some faux pious religious act.  It was who they were.  They didn’t have to manufacture it.  It flowed out of them.

If we live controlled by carnal desire and thought, we will not receive the covenant blessings.  We will fret, fear, grumble, and try to manufacture the right response.  But if we are filled with confidence that God IS, and we are His, we will discover the river inside flowing out of us, and the chains of the flesh will lose their power.  Our testimony will be heard, and the grace of God will touch us and others.

Peace, power, and provision flow to us as we die to ourselves and surrender to Him.   Two dogs are inside us, fighting.  The dog of the flesh and the dog of the Spirit.  The dog that wins is the one we feed the most.   Victory is ours!  Believe it and receive it!

God’s promises are as sure as God Himself, and if He says that He will do something, He will.

Genesis 18:9-15  – “They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” ¹⁰ The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” ¹³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God, something exploded in my spirit.    I believe it is a vital key or link to faith and receiving God’s promises.  In Genesis 18, we have the account of the LORD and two angels coming to Abraham on the way to Sodom.

The LORD declared that Sarah would have a baby the following year.   Sarah found it so astounding that someone past the age of childbearing would have a child, so she chuckled.   Don’t be too hard on her.   She was reasoning in the normal way.   We do similar things regarding the promises of God.  We rationalize based on our natural abilities or the conditions we face.

Although Sarah was not in the room, God knew. In verse 13, He asked, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying Shall I indeed bear a son, when I am old?” Sarah protested, trying to hide what she had done. We do the same; we put on our masks and pretend to be faith-filled. We say the words and deny our thoughts.   God Knows! God knows All, sees All, and hears All.

The question was: “Is anything too hard for God?”  That reveals the key to faith and reception of the Promise.

• First, they had to believe that God Is! 
• Then, they had to believe God could. 

Nothing is impossible with God. 

• Then, they had to believe God would do what He promised.

That enabled them to receive His Word as their guarantee that it was as good as done.   Faith is not something we create through our human reason.  Faith originates in God and is released to us through hearing God.   Hearing is developed through God’s voice.   The creator creates in us through speaking.

Hebrews 11:3 – “By faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things which are invisible.”

In these last days, for us to participate in the promises and harvest, we must receive His provision in and by the Spirit.   As we truly embrace God’s reality and reliability, we can dare to believe that He not only can but will do what He says.   Then, we step out in that confidence, fully persuaded that what He said is a present reality.

We may not possess it, but we know it is.   The manifestation occurs after we have embraced the promise, not before.  We hear, then believe, then receive.   First, the blade, then the ear, then the full head in the ear.   The stalk, then the bud, then the fruit.  It is a progression, but the first is knowing God “Is” allowing us to believe He can, then that He will, and will for us and through us.  We have an assignment that can only be completed by believing!

God’s Word is as sure as God; banish all doubt and fear. Banish all thoughts of deserving or being worthy. Simply believe in Him, His purpose, and His expressed desire to use you!

I pray that you will have a victorious, faith-filled day and enter into His fullness today!

Genesis 12:1-3 – Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, Genesis 12 captured my attention.  Several things in Genesis 12:1-3 spoke to my spirit.   Almost an aside was that even in less than full compliance, the purposes of God transpired, and He blessed.   That’s not my focus, but a reminder that even in our human frailty and flawed character, God still uses us.

We know the account.  “And YAHWEH said to Abram, GO FORTH from your land, and your kin, and from your father’s house to the land which I will show you; AND I will make you a great nation, AND I will bless you, AND I will make your name great; AND you will be a blessing; AND I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse.  AND in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Immediately, we notice the ANDs and the I WILLs.  Look at the command:

Good forth from.   You can’t get to the ‘Go To’ until you ‘Go From.’   There is a leaving before there is a cleaving.   There is an emptying out before there is a filling with.  We have to leave the old to get to the new.  We repent to receive.

Go from your land, the lifestyle, and the identity you have followed. Go from your kin, that with which you identify.  Leave behind that from which you get your significance.   Go from your father’s house, the influence of the old way of life.

Abram did not fully obey immediately.   He only partially left the land, stopping in Haran, which was still an idolatrous land.  He took his nephew and his father.  His sense of natural obligation was strong. It took the death of his father to release him to a more complete obedience.

God gave The Promise – I WILL show you, make you, and bless you.  The Promise must be the driving focus.   God gave The Protection – “And the one who curses you, I will curse.” Psalm 91 comes to mind. Then the Provision – I will bless you, and out of that blessing, the entire world will be blessed.

God’s Promises carry with them God’s Protection and Provision.   The fulfillment of the Promise is not dependent on our ability, but on God’s.  The Promise only needs our obedience to become a reality.  If we believe the Promise and embrace the Protection, we will enjoy the Provision.

We must Go Forth to Go In.   We leave to cleave.   We die to live.  We believe to receive.  We empty out to be filled.   We leave the land (old way).  We leave our kin (lifestyle of the flesh).  We leave our father’s house (influence of carnal ideology).  We go to the land (relationship) God shows us.

The Last Days Harvest and Revival, Renewal, and Restoration will be experienced by those who Go forth from the old and Go forth to the new.  Total surrender!  Leaving all behind to enter into God’s Promise!

God’s Promise is NOW!

LORD, help us to Go From so we can Go To Your Place of Promise!

Zechariah 11:7-14 – “So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders.  And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union.  And I tended the sheep.  ⁸ In one month, I destroyed the three shepherds.  But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me.  ⁹ So I said, “I will not be your shepherd.  What is to die, let it die.  What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed.  And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” ¹⁰ And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples.  ¹¹ So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord.  ¹² Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.  ¹³ Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them.  So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.  ¹⁴ Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was stirred by a profound reality and reminder: God is long-suffering and merciful, but there is a limit beyond which He will not go.

In Zechariah 11:7-14, we see God’s desire and patience growing thin with shepherds who were either system followers or self-serving.  God declared He would destroy or remove them in one day.   In Malachi, God expresses His desire for our whole hearts, not just our possessions or performance.

His promise for obedience out of love and surrender was an open heaven.   Blessing and protection.  God’s blessings are always purposed for kingdom purposes.   We are blessed to be blessings.  We are equipped to equip.

In Acts, we find the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.   The purpose was not to make them have spiritual goosebumps but to ground them, open revelation and understanding, and empower them to be witnesses for Him and of Him.

The infilling of the Holy Spirit was transformational.  They moved from hiding in fear of man to boldly facing death.  They tapped into and entered another realm that experientially lifted them into the realized presence of God continuously.  They lived without fear and with confidence that no weapon could prevail and no obstacle or enemy could stop them.

They lived with a sense of supernatural power, divine favor, and open heaven provision.   Being saturated with God through the Holy Spirit transforms!  It enabled them to make Jesus real to others.  We need to realize that Jesus is only visible in the world through believers.  What they see and believe about Jesus is what they see and believe about us.  Christ in us, with us, and through us.

What do they see in us?

LORD help us to give you our hearts, not just our passion and performance!