A MAJOR ENEMY WE ARE FIGHTING IN THE CHURCH…

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Romans 16:17 – “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.” NASU

Philippians 3:17 – “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” NASU

Let’s take a brief look at this enemy we are fighting in the local church today. There are a number of things worthy of note and will help us to understand our struggle and how to defeat this defeated foe.

He Wants to Cause Division in The Church.
The Way He Causes Division is by Working on Us Individually.

The only people the devil can use in any local congregation or those in that congregation. Tragically, he sometimes manipulates and uses people without them being aware of what is happening. HOW? By encouraging temper outburst, critical attitudes, dividing into cliques, and much more.

The devil never makes anyone an ‘outlaw’ immediately. No, he slips in with a Bad Attitude and maybe the pastor calls for someone to pray or do a certain task and the devil suggests, “Why didn’t he call on you? He must have something against you.” Maybe the pastor rushes down the aisle after a service and fails to shake your hand and the devil suggests, “Well, did you see that? He didn’t shake your hand so he must be purposefully avoiding you.” Suppose that happens two or three times and then the devil has his foot in the door and says, “SEE, He Avoided You!”

When we love each other and have confidence in each other through Christ we know that we or they would never hurt another intentionally. So, reject a Bad Attitude. When the devil suggests things like that REJECT IT and the Bible says that if we resist he flees. If a brother or sister prospers twice as much as you, REJECT a spirit of jealousy and say, “Praise the Lord.” It is well to remember the Law of Harvest and understand that if we sow, a Bad Attitude we will reap a Terrible Attitude. Our Attitude must be right and that is another reason to have on the Helmet of Salvation and to have our minds renewed through God’s Word, Grace, Spirit, and Love.

The Devil Then Moves You into Fault Finding.

Some people will love you and embrace you but gradually their attitude changes toward you. As far as you are concerned, nothing has changed but they begin to find fault, become critical and stab you in the back and you do not know why. The devil would like for you to ‘find fault’ with others, become ‘critical’ of them, and engage in ‘criticism’ and ‘gossip’. I have heard people complain about everything in the local congregation such as the order of worship, song or choruses were sung, the music director, the teacher, or preacher. I’ve heard people criticize the way the pastor or his wife dresses, what they drive, where they live, and much more. Much of it is trivial and has nothing to do with the kingdom of God and the lost.

I had a man tell me once, “We want to attract quality people to our church.” Quality? What quality were you before you were saved? I refuse to cater to anyone. I love everyone equally and want each person to make it to heaven. If a man wears overalls or has a $5,000 suit they are the same to me.

If you look for fault you will have an easy time finding it in me. I’m human, I make mistakes. I asked a church board once, as a visiting speaker, “Do you want your pastor to live in a nice house, drive a nice car, and wear nice clothes?” They all agreed that would be good and right. I then said, “If he cannot because of the wages he is paid, then it is not a reflection on him it is a reflection on you.” It is not easy being a Good Shepherd. He cannot please everyone all the time. A preacher is somewhat like a politician in that his success often depends on public opinion. Remember he has to walk with God and if he is pleasing God we should be pleased as well. Not all shepherds are good defenders of the sheep but an elder who does well, according to Paul is worthy of double pay. I never asked for nor wanted double pay, I only wanted to care for my family and be able to give to good causes that God set before me. My heart is people and winning the lost for the Kingdom not amassing material wealth.

Briefly, I will mention but not address a few more things. The devil then encourages people to develop an “Unforgiving Spirit” engage in “Fault Finding” and “Sow Discord.” He then seeks to encourage people to become “Self-Centered” and participate in the “Me, Me, Me” world in which we live. One of the deadliest things that people in a congregation can participate in is “Wearing their feelings on their sleeves and being easily offended.” The next is “Gossip” and that destroys relationships and taints spirits like little else. Never allow yourself to be drawn into “cliques” and refuse to participate in “secret meetings” or become one who “shifts the blame.”

Every church is in one of two categories: A sinking ship that needs to be abandoned or a leaking ship that needs to be repaired. Every person comes in one of two categories: We are either part of the problem or we are part of the solution. You can either plug the holes or make them larger and be a part of the problem or part of the solution. WHICH ARE YOU?

God, bless you as you enjoy His love, mercy, and grace on this wonderful day!

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POWERFUL ENEMY OF THE LOCAL CHURCH…

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Romans 16:17 – “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.” NASU

Philippians 3:17 – “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” NASU

Paul gives us two groups of people to MARK or IDENTIFY and definitive directions regarding each group. One is an enemy of the Local Church and the other is a Powerful Witness for the LORD in the Local Community. Both are to be noted and marked.

The first group to MARK are those “that cause division” and the second group are those who ‘set the right example’. We are to MARK both groups. We are to ‘avoid’ the first group but ‘cling to, immolate, and copy’ the second. The devil wants to infiltrate the local church with the first group and diminish the influence of the second. He does everything he can to create division in the church. Sadly, he has been somewhat effective in many churches across America today and rendered them powerless forms but not substance and lasting impact on the community. I wish it were not so, but in some churches so divided by the devil there is no life, vision, spirit, power, or tears and the devil has backed them into a corner where they are holding the fort but not impacting their community. That is unfortunate and incredibly sad. They fuss and fume and cannot have a business meeting without war and no board meeting is devoid of conflict.

I personally refuse to engage in a brawl in the church. The work of God is too important and time is too valuable to waste it on what is often pettiness. There are too many souls perishing and this is no time for the Body of Christ to engage in childishness and act petulant throwing temper tantrums and pouting if we don’t get our way. If we are going to fulfill God’s Purpose and Plan for the local church we must identify the division, call it what it is, and reject it completely. The devil cannot defeat the church from without, he can only defeat us from the inside. Those on the outside can label us however they please, call us anything they desire, spin fabrications about us, assignation of our character, and attempt to shut us down physically but they will never truly be successful UNLESS we allow ‘division’ to rule in our midst. If we do, we step outside the protective covering of the LORD and stand on the devil’s turf and he will make mincemeat of us if we do. That is not God’s Plan, Purpose, or Promise and we must not settle for less than His best.

The only thing that can destroy any local church is “the people” in that church. The devil can only defeat the local church from the inside but he can never win fighting from the outside. In order for the devil to hinder the progress of the local church, he must get in the middle of the church and divide it. Have you ever seen a local congregation where there was a division on the board, among the elders, or people in the pews who will not speak to each other? Disunity and disharmony run rampant. Then and only then can the devil hinder the church local.

We are engaged in a WAR, a Spiritual War and the first thing that we must seek to do is learn all we can about our enemy. That was one of the areas in which we were often bogged down in Vietnam. President Johnson often lamented that his intelligence reports were terribly inaccurate. You have to know all you can about an enemy to fight that enemy effectively. In WW II we had spies even one of Hitler’s inner circle was forwarding notes of Hitler’s meetings with his generals to the Allied Commanders and often we knew every move he planned. We got information on the U-2 rocket that Germany was developing. Had Germany perfected that rocket or the jet engine earlier there is a real possibility they could have won the war. They had superior technology when the war broke out, superior forces and yet we won the war. HOW? We knew more about them than they knew about us and we had prayer backing our forces.

We need to know our enemy and we must never forget this enemy HATES US and his prime tactic is ‘divide and conquer’. I want to look more closely at the enemy of which I speak and will need another devotional to accomplish that task or objective. So, I pause here and wait until the ‘morrow to delve a little deeper into God’s Eternal Love and expose the devil and his strategies.

God, bless you richly is my prayer and desire!

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THE GREATEST ENEMY OF THE LOCAL CHURCH…

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Proverbs 6:16-19 – “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.” NASU

The Bible is filled with instructions as to the individual Christian life and the life of the Church of Jesus Christ. One of the areas in which God has chosen to devote a lot of focus is UNITY. There are several key passages that relate to that and I will list them here and hope that you will take the time to read, examine, and study them: Proverbs 13:10, 10:12; 26:21; 29:22; 17:14; Philippians 2:3; and 2 Timothy 2:24. These passages are direct and provide incredible understanding on this subject. There is nothing that the Enemy of our souls would like better than to destroy the local church. I believe that is a prime objective of the devil. He hates any local church that is impacting its community for God. He probably sees the potential of the local church more than the local church sees itself.

Romans 16:17, “Now I beseech you, brethren, MARK them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine you have learned; avoid them.” That is the kind of language and instruction that comes under fire from many facets of the world and the church today. It involves Church Discipline and engages in the idea of being separate, not isolationism but separation from sin and sinful lifestyles. Paul says, MARK THEM THAT CAUSE DIVISION AMONG YOU. Before you say, “But Roy, that would be judgmental,” remember this is the Word of God and God never puts things in His word without purpose. This is a warning designed to preserve the unity and functionality of the local church. I am convinced that the only way any church can truly rise to greatness is they learn to dwell together in UNITY. They have a common vision and become Christ-centered and Others-centered.

We are told in Psalm 133:1, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” Unity does not mean compromise but having a common vision and a common set of core values. In Acts 4:32, we read, “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.” That was not a plea for a lifestyle of communism, communalism, or socialism but a plea for UNITY. Paul instructs believers in Romans 12:16, “Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.” Then in Romans 15:16 he prayed, “That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then in 1 Corinthians 1:10, his plea and prayer was, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

UNITY is essential if we are going to become the Church that Jesus promised to build and the Church that will shake up its world for God. UNITY IS ESSENTIAL not just desirable. A house divided against itself cannot stand and it is critical that we have the same judgment and vision. We are enjoined by the apostle Paul through the Holy Spirit to “Endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3). He instructed believers, “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see or else be absent, I hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” (Philippians 1:27). A few verses later he urged them to walk by the same rule and have the same mind.

But back to the instruction to MARKING people. Although few pastors today and fewer Churches would be willing to engage in this practice it is a biblical concept and something we have abandoned to our hurt as local congregations. I do not mean nor suggest that we become as the Pharisees but follow the careful instructions of two passages considering the entire Bible. In Romans 6:17 we are told to MARK a certain group of people and then in Philippians 3:17 we are told to MARK another group of people. Both are critical if we are going to be what God wants us to be and for the local church to impact its community as God desires and has designed.

I have laid a foundation that I wish to continue in the next devotional and identify both groups that we are charged to MARK and what we are to do once we have marked them. We want to discuss the importance and impact of this kind of action as a local church. So, until next time, I pray that the LORD will be with you, guard you and guide you in all that you do.

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WHO ARE WE and WHY ARE WE???

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1 John 4:7-11 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” NASU

The Law stirs up sin but Grace applies the healing balm of the Gospel. Humanity stood steeped in sin and The Law came. What many missed is that The Law was continually pointing to LOVE. Man, would look at The Law and Commandments and say, “That is a wonderful idea. I wish I could do that.” Mankind has, in many ways, acknowledged that a Society of Love is needed but man’s heart resists and rejects that idea. The root is that we want the rest of the world to demonstrate Love but allow us to continue in our selfishness. That produces incredible despair in the heart of man.

Let me offer something that might sound controversial, Jesus came as the first true human, who walked on this planet and lived God’s kind of Love! That is the very reason that religion was always so angry with Him. The political powers of that Day did not care about Jesus, He meant nothing to them. The people who were threatened by Him, those who were violently angry with Him were the Religious. The best that religion could produce were the Pharisees. Tragically, they would fit in well in too many churches in our day. They were scandalized by Jesus because the Love of God is scandalous to Good Religion because it loves the worst and the bad. It loves people that, other human beings have given up on. If you will recall, Jesus sat and ate with prostitutes. Not to partake of their sin but to love them as people. He went to the sinners, the tax collectors, and those considered the dregs of society. HE LOVED EVERYONE! It often upsets legalist, when I say, “The first miracle of Jesus was turning water into wine.” Imagine that! What in the world was He doing at a party where there was drinking? He is the Messiah, shouldn’t He have been at a prayer meeting not at some worldly event? The Religious got together in their self-righteous societies and said, “He eats & drinks with SINNERS!” He embraces people who are not like us! Does that sound familiar?

That happens today. I remember back in my early years of ministry there was much ‘clothesline preaching.’ There were sayings that were meant to poke fun at the over stressing of the outward like, “I don’t drink, I don’t chew, and I don’t go with girls that do.” Tragically, too often, we draw our circles and say, “We are other. Those not of us are less than we are. We are holy.” The Pharisees would not even talk to the Samaritans because a Samaritan could never be saved, nor could prostitutes or tax collectors. It was a very exclusive society and in their minds, if a Tax Collector began to confess his sins today, he’d be dead before he could possibly finish confessing.

I find it very interesting that Jesus drew out some of His best friends from among the Tax Collectors. He went to Samaria and even sat down in public with a woman – GOD FORBID! The Religion of the Legalist may come disguised as Love but it does not fit or follow the rules of Love. That religion is horrified by God’s Love because it only knows how to love like a good human being. It wants the best people in its membership and LOVE destroys that! Jesus was their thorn in the flesh and they crucified Him. Little did they know that in crucifying Him, He was dying for them. They didn’t even know enough to say, THANK YOU.

Just before Jesus died to take away the sin of the world He made some incredible statements that are critical for our understanding. He said, “Except a corn of wheat fall to the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it drops into the ground and dies, it brings forth much fruit.” What a simple but powerful illustration! We know exactly what it means. If you only have one grain of wheat and plant it, the Law of Harvest comes into play and it springs forth producing many, more than the original seed. The fruit is exactly like the original. I know you see it. Jesus was saying, “There is only one of Me. No one has ever lived God’s love before Me. I am going to fall into the ground and die. If I do not there will never be but one of Me. BUT, if I do, then I’ll bring forth much fruit.” There are and have been MILLIONS LIKE HIM and that is the desire of God for mankind.

Jesus came to forgive us of our sin. That is the handle on the door of the kingdom. He came to produce persons who LOVE like He LOVES. In the Law of Harvest, the original brings forth after its kind. MILLIONS JUST LIKE JESUS. We are the New Creation that God brought forth after His kind. He brought forth LOVERS who Love Like Jesus! The fascinating thing is that the disciples heard things like this but did not understand UNTIL after PENTECOST when the Holy Spirit began to teach them. They were fascinated with the POWER and missed the most important, LOVE. But Love is the Greater Work. It is greater than miracles. If we can love like Jesus loved, then we won’t have to worry about keeping the Law it will become second nature to us and an outflow of Love. If we Love like Jesus loves we won’t need a law that says, “Thou shalt not kill or steal, etc.” Love, not only does not kill, it lays down its life for its enemies.

What the world needs now is Love, Sweet Love! God, bless you as you embrace the Love of God being shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit.

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THE GOOD NEWS…

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1 John 4:7-11 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” NASU

The reality that God who is love, makes His best friends out of unholy, bad, messed up, rotten and selfish people is Good News and nothing short of Amazing! That is the Gospel! That is another word that often falls short in our human vocabulary and understanding in today’s world. Many people think that the Gospel is the first four books of the New Testament. The word gospel in the original meant, “The good, glad, merry news that makes a man fairly leap for joy!” I hope you wrap your head around that and rejoice in the Gospel. When we realize that God loves the messed up and less than perfect people and includes them in His family that is GOOD NEWS. That is news that makes us leap for joy! That is the Gospel.

If God is the God who will come to people who do not deserve His love, and He is, that produces another wonderful word, “Grace.” Grace means that God gives to us what we did not and cannot earn. It is the opposite of what we deserve. That is Good because He is Love He must deal with us in Grace. Everything that God is to people who do not deserve it He gives freely or Graces us with His love, mercy, and forgiveness. That means that something has happened to us. If you do not deserve something but it is given to you what do you do? Hopefully, you say, THANK YOU! The New Testament calls that FAITH, which is our response to the Gift that God has given or gives.

I hope that resonates in your spirit. God gives, through nothing we have done, because of nothing in us, simply because of Who He Is. The only thing that we can do is respond and receive saying THANK YOU! When we do that, we discover that He means it and we can rest in that truth. That is the Good, Glad, Merry News that makes the heart leap for joy. THE GOSPEL! God is Love, He acts in Grace, and we respond in Faith. It is not trying to be better it is not trying to do good. It is FAITH. It is simply saying, THANK YOU and when we do that a miracle transpires and we are BORN AGAIN.

But, what happens in this New Birth experience? We are birthed into the Family of God. That begs the question, “What is the character of the Family of God?” LOVE! The Love that God is comes into us and we become new people or new creations. THAT IS THE GOSPEL! To demonstrate just how much mankind needs God’s Grace, God threw in an extra ingredient that has produced confusion for many. God put it in at Mt. Sinai and took it out at the Resurrection, THE LAW! He gave the “Ten Commandments” but I suggest that it only looks like ten but it is actually ONE. In Leviticus God boils it down to TWO, “Love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.” That is the heart of it all.

If you love your neighbor, you won’t murder, steal, or slander him. Love takes care of that. The commandments are simply manifestations of God’s incredible Love. You can get away with the first Nine without Love, but the last one is impossible outside of LOVE. “Thou shalt not covet…” Covet deals with motive and means that you not only do not do it, you do not want to! To fulfill that commandment, we have to find something that will cause us to NOT want to. That is LOVE! When you LOVE as God loves you will not hurt your neighbor. You will want to do the exact opposite and bless your neighbor. That is where man has completely failed and missed the mark.

Remember Israel at Mt. Sinai? God sent Moses down the mountain to see if they understood what they were getting into. Israel said, “We’ve Got it and we Agree.” They promised to do everything that God said. Moses went back and reported to God, “They understand.” God sent him back three times and in thirty days they had blown the whole thing. We focus on the DO NOTS of the Commandments. It is not simply, do not murder, steal, slander, etc. No! No! It is that we LOVE! That was God’s desire from the beginning that man should walk in Love. That is the will and purpose of God before the Law and since the Resurrection it is unchanging. So, He gave the Law to show man just how much we needed Him to take over and enable us to LOVE! He gave the Commandments to show us that we were unable to keep them. Have you ever tried to not do something? The more you determined you would not the more you were tempted to and the less successful you were. The Law stirs up sin. The Law was never given as a path to salvation but was given to reveal to us how hopeless and helpless we are without Him.

I pray that God will richly bless you as you enjoy His love and this wonderful day!

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THE WILL OF GOD – Man’s Problem in the Process…

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We have considered the Big Picture in finding the Will of God for our lives and called attention to the fact that GOD IS LOVE presents a problem for man. It is a blessing and it is a problem at the same time for the flesh. What do we mean when we say, LOVE? I am quite serious in asking that question. The word “love” in the English language is often a useless word in attempting to convey true meaning. WHY? Because when we use the word in various contexts we often have to define how we understand love. What we mean, often, is that we reach out to someone we deem to be in Our Class. I would argue that it is rare for someone to have real love for someone that is not perceived to be in their class. Don’t get self-righteous and exhibit a false humility on me here.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. In Europe of bygone eras and still somewhat true today, if a member of Royalty falls in love with a commoner they are fired. You did and do not marry outside your class. When we, humans, fall in love we tend to do so within our perceived status. We gravitate to those who are deemed to be in our tribes and we maintain our boundaries. I know many will argue, that they do not, but if you carefully evaluate life you will see that what I saying is true more often than not. We don’t talk about it and rarely admit it but we do it.

When we say “Love” we are saying of that person we express love toward the person who is the object of our love we are saying, that they call forth our highest admiration. When we look at them we admire them. We look at them and the bells begin ringing, our hearts begin racing, and our emotions scream WOW! When we talk about that person we describe them as the cat’s meow and there is an element of worship involved. When we love somebody, they answer to what we feel is beauty. Beauty, we are told is in the eye of the beholder or something that happens inside our heads. That’s what we understand love to be.

The Problem for man is that when we read, “God is Love” we tend to view God as loving the way we love. Every religion in the world has a concept of God that is based on human love. We have equated what we define love as with God Who is Love. Therefore, if God loves like we love then when He comes to us what does He find? First, He finds someone that is not even remotely in His class. That eliminates us! If God were to get friendly with us He must fire Himself for we are not in His Class. Second, He finds people that are not even remotely in Harmony with Him. We do not jell with His holiness and Love. We are selfish, like it, and have no genuine plans to change. There is nothing in us that would cause Him to say, “That’s the best person I know!” If God loves like humans love, we are doomed. That is where the religions of the world find themselves.

I heard an illustration that conveys my meaning wonderfully. A missionary went to a tribal witch doctor and said, “You preach to me now. If I come to you with a problem, how would you tell me to contact the Most High God?” He said, “I know you have many gods, but I want to reach the Big One, the Most High God, how do I do that?” The witch doctor said, “First you have a big problem because the Most Hight God is not interested in you. You are not good enough for Him.” That is where the religions of the world and human love comes short. You may say, “Well that’s not how I or my church views God.” But, consider with me how we used a more sophisticated language but arrive at the same destination. Most have the idea that they are not good enough for God and therefore He is not interested. Some feel that they have to make themselves ‘good enough’ for God before He will accept them. Isn’t that the same thing? That is incredible and completely contrary to the biblical report.

I believe that once we understand the biblical definition of the Love of God we will immediately realize that our human definition and usage is worthless in describing God’s Love. God’s love is completely other than our kind of love. When the Bible says, “GOD IS LOVE” it does not mean that he reaches out to His class. No! No! No! It means that He reaches out to ALL PEOPLE or more importantly He reaches DOWN TO ALL PEOPLE and lifts us up to His level. Human love reaches Up to those we deem the most beautiful or worthy but God’s Love reaches down to us. That makes no sense to the human mind but GOD IS LOVE and because of His Love He Gave that which would purchase our redemption and He deemed us worth the Blood of Jesus. God loves the bad, messed up, twisted human beings, and makes us His friends and that is AMAZING! That is GOOD NEWS or the GOSPEL.

I want to continue in this vein of thought at least one more time so until next time God bless you richly is my prayer and desire!

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LORD, What Shall I Do With My Life?

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Last time we talked about the Will of God and the fact that God is Love, as well as Love, being the prime identifier of a Christian. Now, it is my desire that we press into this a bit further and consider some additional realities concerning the Will of God and the Believer.

I have often been amazed and at times amused at the thinking of some Christians regarding this matter. Often, we spend so much time seeking the Will of God that we never get around to Doing His will. One of the reasons is we make the Will of God so mysterious we overlook the obvious. After all, God’s will could never be what we wanted to do could it? I suggest that before God reveals His will to you, He ALWAYS prepares our hearts for that will. He helps us to want to and then asks, “Would you like to?” or “Will you?” That’s just how He operates and it is not something weird or mysterious. It is usually what the heart has been crying out to do all along. I have become convinced that I do not have to worry about finding the Will of God for He has been preparing my heart and leading me to it all along. I do not diminish seeking Him but do encourage everyone to not stress out over it as though it were a deep hidden mystery virtually undiscoverable. I take comfort in the reality that “IF” God walks me into it, then I do not have to be overly stressed about the minute details. I can, through the Holy Spirit, look at the Big Picture. That begs the question, “What is the Heart of God for my life and yours?”

That is a very important question. When we see His Big Picture or a bigger picture than we have heretofore seen, the details of HOW will work out as we FOLLOW Him. But, “What is the Big Picture?” Is there a picture that is true for everyone? I suggest the answer is a qualified yes. The details may and will likely be different as to HOW it is worked and walked out in life but the Big Picture is consistent and the same. I believe that the DESIRE of God for each of us springs forth out of Who He Is. I hope you follow me in that. Because God is the way He is, His desire for us is, “That We Become the Manifestation and Demonstration of Him in Life.” Who is more perfect than God? Since He is perfect, there could be no higher call than to “manifest” and “demonstrate” Him before the world. That, in a nutshell, is the Big Picture of which I speak. It is His Will and Design for every person living on this planet. He wants us to MANIFEST Who He is and be the DEMONSTRATION of Him to the world.

GOD IS LOVE! That is a cornerstone of our life. Everything we know about God must be filtered through that prism. We think about God being ALMIGHTY and He is. He does not have power He is power. He said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” That is a dynamic demonstration of power. But, imagine if you will, a God with that kind of power who is not LOVE. That is terrifying! He would be the ultimate monster of monsters. LOVE controls everything else that we know about God. He is OMNISCIENT and knows the past, present, and future. But, imagine, a God that knows what we have done, are doing and will do but without LOVE. Most of us are ashamed to tell even our closest friends some of our thoughts and this God KNOWS them, but without LOVE He would squash us like bugs. He would be a monster of epic proportions. The Bible does not say, “God is Power,” but as we study the Bible we realize that is a factual reality. But, the Bible does say, “God is Love.”

That presents a problem for mortal man which I hope to delve into in the next devotional, but for now, we will pause and hold those thoughts for the next discussion. May the Lord bless you richly as you embark on today’s journey in Jesus!

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GOD, What Do You Want Me To Do and Be???

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Many, if not most people struggle with what God wants for their lives. Often, we unnecessarily complicate the issue but the fact that it remains a struggle for many makes it an important issue for the present-day church and believer. I am reminded of a song from the past recorded by Jackie DeShannon, “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” The lyrics begin, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing there’s just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. No, not just for some but for everyone.” That is powerful and true! We talk about Love but what we call love is not the love the world needs.

When we talk about biblical love we must come face to face with the truth and reality that LOVE is from God. John informed us that everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. That would suggest that love is an incredibly rare commodity in our present world. John also told us that, the person who does not love, does not know God, for GOD IS LOVE! Two immediate realities leap forward in my mind as I read this passage. First, LOVE is from God. It issues forth from Him. The imagery in my mind is a living spring a geyser with water gushing forth from it. Water comes from that spring naturally. Then, we realize the greater truth that GOD IS LOVE. He does not have love, He is love and because of Who He is we receive Love from Him naturally. I may have money but I am not money. I may have knowledge but I am not knowledge. I may have wisdom but I am not wisdom. But, GOD IS LOVE!

The simple reality is that if we say we KNOW and LOVE God that is recognizable by everyone because we LOVE. If God is living in our hearts, LOVE is living in our hearts and that Love will come forth from us in expression and demonstration. I believe that it is impossible to KNOW God and not LOVE Him and LOVE others. God is LOVE and if we have Him, Love is a natural product of our lives. That is something missing in much of the world today and even in some of the church. You do not have to pray about LOVE if He is in your heart, Love is in your heart. Love, biblical love is natural because it is supernaturally deposited and spread abroad in our hearts.

One of the problems is that we make assertions that are mental assents, not experiential realities. If God is Love, and Love is from God, and we say that we Know God then we Love! The word KNOW is important because it does not mean ‘know about’ it means ‘intimate personal relationship.’ The word in the Greek means ‘to penetrate.’ Remember Adam KNEW his wife Eve and she conceived. It was more than recognition of the existence of the other it was a deep intimacy that joins the two as one. KNOWING GOD is not mental assent it is deep personal intimacy where we are joined as one with Him. If God has come into my heart and I have received Him, I LOVE naturally and consistently. I do not have to try to Love, I Love! The singular most prominent identifier of being a Christian is LOVE. Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, that you LOVE ONE ANOTHER!” You can’t fake real love and 1 Corinthians 13 is a beautiful picture of Love in Action and Expression.

Back to my initial thought on finding what God wants for our lives. I have found, through the years of ministry, and was a participant in this mentality at one time, a fascinating attitude, and mindset. Many believers are, in my view, overly fascinated about finding the will of God for their lives. In fact, that is what I was taught upon coming into the Body of Christ and the church, that I need to seek the will of God for my life. The way it was presented was so mysterious and almost mystical, it seemed that this was a major undertaking that was almost impossible except for the most devoted believers or the super spiritual. I lived in the joy of knowing God and the frustration of not knowing my purpose in life. I am not suggesting that seeking the will of God is bad but that our being overly fascinated by it can be detrimental to our walk, work, and warfare as a believer.

Let me give you a clue about the Will of God for your life. Have you ever considered that it might be something obvious? Have you ever considered that God just might be directing you to the obvious as His will for your life? What tugs at your heart? What is your passion? What are your talents or abilities? Could it be that God put those in you because that is what He wanted you to focus on in life? What a novel concept! I have found that some people truly believe that if there is some place they do not want to go or something they do not want to do in life, that is exactly where God is sending them and directing them to do. God is not into masochism. We get bogged down in the minute and miss the obvious too often and that is tragic. It is also a scheme of the devil to prevent us from discovering God’s Purpose for our lives and hinders us from entering into the abundance of that life.

I have much more to say on this subject so I will pause for now and pick this up next time. God, bless you richly as you embark on His mission for your life!

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THE BATTLEGROUND…

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Romans 8:32 – “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” NASU

2 Peter 1:3 – “…His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” NASU

God’s vision is never cheap nor is it easy. Tragically, I have witnessed well-meaning believers and churches receive the Vision of God and try to accomplish it as cheaply as they could and with as little stress, pressure, or controversy as possible. If we are going to Wage Spiritual Warfare and Pull Down Strongholds, WE NEED POWER, the Power of God. Deuteronomy 8:18 informs us that God gives us power to ‘create wealth’ and we are told that the ‘wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just.’ God has plenty, He owns it all, for as the Psalmist declares, “The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof…”

But there is a Battle Ground that we must overcome and that is the Human Mind or the Subconscious Fleshly Mind. When we hear Truth all the old arguments surface, challenging and questioning that which we have not seen before. Too often we have attempted to operate in Human Understanding to achieve the purposes of God and we produce and Ishmael rather than an Isaac. Leaning to my own understanding prevented me from receiving forgiveness for a time and finally, the truth revealed in Proverbs 3:5-6 broke the chains and allowed me to receive freely and fully, His Salvation. In Salvation, we find entrance into the Kingdom. In Healing, we are fitted for service. In God’s Prosperity, we are enabled to fulfill the call and finance the vision.

I challenge you to rehearse in your mind and heart the Abrahamic Covenant as revealed in Genesis 12:1-3. When we recognize the scriptural directive for appropriating the Promise of God for Salvation, Healing, and Prosperity we can move into what God has for us powerfully. God has a Plan of Finance and while I never want to make wealth the focal point of my message, we must have money or a medium of exchange in this world. In Malachi 3, we are told to bring the ‘whole tithe’ into God’s storehouse and the Promise is He will Open heaven for us and bless us as is revealed in Malachi 3, 2 Corinthians 8; 9:6-16; Luke 6:38; Ecclesiastes 11:1-4, and Proverbs 19:17.

The Law of Multiplication can be applied to every dimension of life. If we follow God’s directives completely we will find that the Work of God never lacks and as in the illustration of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness in Exodus 36, the giving was so much the people had to be restrained from giving. Imagine that problem in the Local Church! God finances what He ordains and if we will be obedient to Him He will open heaven’s windows for us and bless us, spiritually, physically, and financially.

Many fail, to be charitable because their minds tell them that if they give away their money they will not have enough for themselves. Remember the Law of Harvest and the Law of Multiplication. We reap WHAT we sow, we reap LATER than we sow, and we reap MORE than we sow. If the need is God caused it will also be God funded. It becomes a matter of mindset and a trust. If we cannot trust God with our finances, we will find that we are unable to trust Him with virtually any area of our lives. The Battle Ground we must overcome and the Stronghold we must pull down is the Human Fleshly Carnal Mind and bring every thought captive to the obedience of our Lord Jesus.

God, bless you richly as you roll all your care upon Him and Trust Him today!

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THE FULL ATONEMENT – How Does It Affect the Church Today?

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3 John 2 – “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” NASU

I have no problem with the KJV translating it ‘wish’ but I would remind everyone that the apostles were not ‘wish-ers’ they were ‘pray-ers’. They earnestly contended for the faith and practiced the ‘effectual fervent prayer’ of the righteous. They were taught by the Greatest Prayer Warrior of all time, Jesus. They Prayed and Prayed with Faith and confidence in the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Promises of God. I call this the ‘Top Prayer’ of John and it dealt with three specific areas – Soul, Health, and Prosperity.

It would undoubtedly be beneficial for us to consider a bit of history as we pursue this truth. In the Dark Ages, just about everything that was important to the Gospel was wiped out by the religious hierarchy. No longer did salvation come by grace through faith, the organized church dispensed it. That is worse than horrendous it is heretical. I am convinced that most who read what I am writing believe and understand that the core of the Gospel is the Atonement. However, in Martin Luther’s day, if you were to ask a congregation how many knew they were saved or that they had been made the righteousness of God, not one hand would go up. The Atonement had been erased from their consciousness. Restoration of that truth began with Martin Luther but it was hundreds of years before it became commonly believed. What you and I take for granted took a very long time to be Restored.

Until the turn of the last century, the Atonement was viewed as ‘one-dimensional.’ But revivals in Galena, Kansas and in the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles God began to Restore more and more to the Church. Spiritual Gifts began to come back into many churches and lives and the understanding or belief that the Atonement not only included our Salvation but also our Healing through the Stripes of Jesus. I believe that is why and how John could pray as he did, for he was praying a basic premise of the Atonement and his prayer was for the powerful dual promise of the Gospel – Salvation and Healing. Healing both physically and spiritually. Someone said, “Salvation” gets you in the family and “Healing” makes you fit for the fight. But, what about the “Prosperity” part?

Imagine the difficulty that Martin Luther had in attempting to get people to realize that the Church had no power to save them. The move at the turn of the last century has endured the scorn and attack of the organized church, that embraced the message of Salvation by Grace through Faith but could not receive the second aspect of the work of Christ in the Atonement. Virtually all the church believes in the Atonement for Salvation but a much smaller percentage believes that the Gifts of the Spirit are for today. We have been on this restoration process for over 100 years, similar to Martin Luther’s plight in Grace. We are told that we have Salvation because Jesus, who knew no sin became sin for us. We are also told that we have Healing because He bore, in his body, the stripes for our healing as per both Isaiah and Peter’s writings. But, what about that third leg?

2 Corinthians 8 is important in our consideration of this third leg. Jesus is righteous and He became sin that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus is health, and He endured the stripes taking on our infirmities so that we could be well (whole). He is rich and He became poor so that we could be made rich. This is not a secondary part of the Gospel it is part of what God is restoring to the Church. I truly believe that the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous so that we can fund the Harvest of these last days! In a very real sense, Jesus bore our sins for us, bore our sickness for us, and bore our poverty so that we could be set free and have His abundant life.

Anytime God Restores something to the Church there is opposition from without and within and there are abuses to that truth. Our objective should be to ‘Seek His Face’ and allow the Holy Spirit to help us ‘rightly divide the Word of God’ and receive all He has. Let’s have the whole loaf, not a few slices. When revival comes, there is always trouble with the Old Crowd who resist change and fear moving into uncharted waters. Flesh and Tradition die hard and slow deaths. I encourage everyone to become diligent students of God’s word and just because you never saw it before does not mean that it is not real. Allow the Holy Spirit to ‘guide you into all truth’ and never become complacent or settled in the idea that you have All Truth. None of us do! As we grow and mature in Him our understanding broadens and we can move from glory to glory and grace to grace. If the Word of God does not verify and confirm it do not incorporate it into your life. However, do not assume that because you have been taught that something is not for today and fail to carefully examine the entire Bible. Learn to Listen to the Spirit of God and search the scriptures daily to find truth. God Promised that He would lead us into all truth.

What God is doing in these last days will cost BILLIONS if not TRILLIONS and He wants His Body to know Him in salvation, walk in health and healing, and reap the harvest and receive the wealth of the wicked so that we can have the funds for the harvest. Yes, God can supernaturally drop it in our hands and He can enable us to have a new idea, new opportunity, or new contact that will bring wealth to us. That wealth is not for us to lavish on ourselves but to finance the Harvest.

I pray that the Lord help each of us embrace the Full Atonement and not only experience the New Birth, but to become open to His Healing Touch, and His desire to put in our hands the Wealth of the Wicked for His Kingdom and Purposes. I pray with John that you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

God, bless you richly as you enjoy this day in Him!

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