1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 – “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. 9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”  NASU

Through the years I have had many interesting and frustrating conversations with people regarding God and gods.  There are some questions that are impossible to truly answer and to even attempt to often can frustrate one’s faith.  I want to emphasize these words – “LIVING AND TRUE GOD” and that God is ‘living and true’ in our experience.  Somehow that subject seems to have lost some of it ‘awesomeness’ in much of today’s church world.  He is THE LIVING GOD!

I have noticed that many talk about prayer in an ethereal way more as a theory than a reality.  Prayer is ‘discussed’ and ‘debated’ with little or no actual involvement and for much of the world Christianity is nothing more than a theory.  We tend to ‘discuss’ God and I contend that debating God is virtually impossible.  You cannot simply ‘discuss’ God you EXPERIENCE HIM.  We can talk about electricity but we are talking about ‘touching it’ and I suggest that it is IMPOSSIBLE to debate electricity when you are TOUCHING IT!

Christianity is a religion of ‘walking with God’ and ‘experiencing God’.  It is the religion in which you can talk to God and expect something to happen.  I heard someone use the illustration that you can no more debate God than two fish could sit on the table looking at an aquarium and debate water!  Fish do not debate or discuss water they LIVE IN and BY IT.  So to sit outside God and debate Him in the Ivory Towers of some seminary, church, parlor, or street corner is not what this is all about it is LIVING IN and BY HIM.  It is Christ IN US the hope of glory.  We experience God!

Look around you at CREATION and no matter what you call the world in which we live it was created by the hand of THE LIVING GOD.  Nature is nothing more than the footprints of God.  The sun rises and sets because THE LIVING GOD deemed it so.  Even in the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus spoke of the lilies of the field and the birds of the air he was telling us that in creation you see the hand of God and He knows every minute detail.

In salvation God takes the initiative as Paul said in Philippians – “He that has begun a good work in you…”  Before man fell into sin in the Garden God had a plan in place for He is THE LIVING GOD!  At the Cross Jesus cried IT IS FINISHED so we find the culmination of God’s plan for man’s redemption, the price paid, the door open, the offer extended to ‘whosoever will’.  We declare, “I found the Lord” as though He was the one lost not us.  No, He found us!  Romans 2 tells us that the ‘goodness of God leads to salvation…”

The Hebrews always referred to Jehovah as THE LIVING GOD in contrast to all other gods of men.  He is not up for discussion or debate He is THE LIVING GOD!  Imagine sitting down at the breakfast table and telling those dining with you, ‘We are going to discuss and debate whether you are here or not.’  GOD IS and your debate won’t change that, enhance or detract from that.  HE IS!  All life is dependent upon Him – HE IS.  Without Him nothing was made that was made – HE IS!  He was there with Moses and Israel in the Exodus from Egypt. He was there with Daniel in the lion’s den.  He was there with David facing Goliath. He was there with Joshua at Jericho.  HE IS THE LIVING GOD!  It is not in our ability to ‘debate’ God but in our ‘experiencing’ God that produces life.  In Matthew 16 Jesus is called “… the Son of the Living God…”  He said, “I am the resurrection and the life…” 2 Corinthians 3:3 tells us, “You are the letter of Christ written in the Spirit of THE LIVING GOD.”

Prayer, real prayer believes there will be things in the world tomorrow that would not be there had we not prayed.  Ephesians 3:20 [Amplified] – “Now to Him who is able to carry out His purpose and to super abundantly, far over and above all we dare ask or think.  Infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams.”  THAT GOD instructs us to bring our ‘highest prayers’, ‘greatest desires’ and ‘wildest dreams’ and He will move on our behalf for He is THE LIVING GOD!  The world needs the church to be relevant manifesting THE LIVING GOD in our lives.  It needs to see people who go to their jobs, meetings, organizations and become known as that person who is the FRIEND of the Living God and a person who can TALK to Him and receive answers to their prayers.  He is THE LIVING GOD and if He is LIVING why would we not expect Him to work His works in our midst.

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

Isaiah 9:2 – “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” NKJV

Mark 16:15-18 – “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  NKJV

We hear a lot about ‘Radical Islam’ and when that term is used it is referring to jihadist who terrorize.  It seems that much of the media world considers any Christianity that is remotely ‘normal’ by biblical standards is ‘radical’.  What is ‘Radical Christianity’ from a biblical perspective?  I believe that what some would call ‘radical’ God calls ‘normal.’  We find in Acts 11:26 that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch and that was a radical departure from the accepted religion of that day, region, and people.  They were identified as ‘trouble makers’ (Acts 17:6).  The entire city of Ephesus was turned on its ear when they came to it.  (Acts 19 ) We find according to Acts 19:10 that in just two short years every Jew and Greek in the whole of Asia had heard the Gospel of the Kingdom.  In Acts 5 the disciples and believers were used of God in signs and wonders so much so that even the shadow of Peter brought healing to the sick.  Sounds Radical to me but when I read the Bible I find that what we call ‘radical’ God seems to deem ‘normal.’  Maybe I should say they were ‘Radically Normal’ in following Jesus.

RADICAL ANOINTING….

I am convinced that too often we have settled for second best rather than pressing in to receive the anointing God desires us to walk in.  Too often we reminiscence rather than press forward and have adapted and adopted a mentality to let clerical George do it rather than the entire body pressing in.  Isaiah 40 tells us that if we wait on the Lord we will renew our strength, mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary and walk and not faint.  Too many times we run before the tank is full and operate on half empty rather than full.

RADICAL CHURCH GOVERNMENT…

I know that is taboo to even bring up church government but the Bible is filled with it in the New Testament and pictures of it are in the Old.  In Acts 2 we have reference to continuing in the apostle’s doctrine.  They had leadership and order and coupled with the radical anointing they began seeing a great harvest and those harvested were being assimilated into the Body of Christ to function.

RADICAL COMMITMENT…

That’s a tough one!  Most of the Christian community today is not focused on ‘commitment’ because we have been taught to be ‘self-centered’.  The Bible teaches a vision of heart that I call Kingdom Vision that transcends me.  The complaint I hear and have heard for decades is “I’m too busy”.  My question is, “When did Jesus change?”  A radical commitment produces a radical lifestyle and obtains radical results but it begins with commitment.  I am not talking about ‘church attendance’ but COMMITMENT.  The Radical Christian fears nothing because he/she knows that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent having overcome the enemy of our souls and relegated him to utter defeat.

RADICAL GIVING…

Surely you can’t expect a preacher to present something without getting to the pocketbook sooner or later.  One major goal of Christian giving is so that everyone in the fellowship has their needs met.  If people in the local fellowship are forced to go to the government for help, it is my conviction that the fellowship is not walking in and practicing fully the pattern, provisions, and promises of God.

It is my conviction that we will also be RADICAL IN PRAYER and that will result in being RADICAL IN EVANGELISM and the reports of souls brought into the kingdom will make us RADICAL IN PRAISE and the end result is we will become RADICAL IN FAITH.  Some might say that what I’m presenting is ‘Radical Thinking’ but I believe it is ‘Normal Christianity’ and not radical at all.

            May God bless you as you go through your day!

Ephesians 4:1-6 – “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” NKJV

Those who know me well know how much I tend to harp on the UNITY OF THE SPIRIT and the BOND OF PEACE in the Church preaching COVENANT.  I have long been appalled at the ‘turf wars’, ‘place protecting’, ‘position guarding’, ‘numbers gathering’, and ‘personal promotion’ while there is often abject failure to become fitly framed into a singular body in Christ.  Oh we may continue to have individual local sheep sheds but if we are the BODY OF CHRIST that sense of protectionism and competition MUST END.

One of the greatest detriments to the advancement of the Kingdom of God today is the lack of harmony and unity in the local churches.  It seems that each local fellowship deems itself as THE BODY OF CHRIST without comprehending they are a part of the body not the body.  They may be a hand a foot, a toe, or finger. They may be the lips, ears, eyes, noses, elbows, kneecaps, or some other less comely part but part is part and we are parts!  We want the CHURCH of Jesus Christ to be and it will be GLORIOUS but want that to happen in our local fellowship as the whole but the part will never be the whole.

As the human body’s parts lend that which is needed to the other parts to make it a functioning whole body so is it in the Kingdom of God.  It is not just each member in a local fellowship being fitted and framed into the position and come to the condition God desires it is for the local corporate entity to be incorporated in the Body of Christ Universal.  It is to realize that all we have locally belongs to Christ Jesus therefore if He desires it shared with other fellowships to enhance their ability and use what they have to enhance yours how that is deemed a bad thing.  Oh I know it is because we are keepers of the aquarium, tenders of the herd, counters of the coin, and growing our church into a success.  How can it be a success in God’s eyes if we fail to become fitly framed into the Body of Christ universal?  Isolated we are limited in what we can do even if we develop a mega church with tens of thousands members we could be much more powerful for the Kingdom and detrimental to the devil if we stripped away our competitive spirit, personal pride, and ceased guarding our turf and began seeking to advance the kingdom first and foremost and as new people come in we rejoice and report it turning immediately to helping them become fitly framed into the work of the Lord as they mature.

I recall a heated debate at a church convention where the contention was that church buses were picking up people too near another church and that there had to be a certain mileage restriction on how near churches could be established.  I infuriated on fine brother who was one of the most vocal and said it really is not a problem since it is Christ’s church not ours.  He immediately got in my grill and said, “Well you wouldn’t like it if they did that to you.”  I said and meant, “I don’t care if they run their buses through the parking lot at our church for if people choose to go with them they are not with us and we can only do what God has given us to do with those whom God has given us.  If they are not with us and committed then it is probably best they go down the road where maybe they will become committed and fitted.”  He and several others threw up their hands and walked away thinking I was either not being honest, or was one of those ultra-liberals who just didn’t get it, or heaven forbid maybe I wasn’t saved.  No I view the church local and the church universal as GOD’S CHURCH and if it is His Church then He can share assets, expertise, personnel, or anything as He deems best for the Kingdom and I will shout for joy whether I get any recognition or not.  This is not about being recognized it is about the Kingdom of God and the Harvest.  It is about fitly framing the living stones into the house where they can function powerfully.  It is about equipping the saints to do the work of ministry.

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

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  NKJV

I have given this passage much thought many times and on one occasion while discussing it with some friends one said, “My afflictions are not light like Paul’s.”  I thought, seriously?  Do you realize how much the apostle was ‘underplaying’ what was happening and had happened to him?  If you continue reading in 2 Corinthians to Chapter 11 beginning in verse 22 you find a stunning account or list of things he has endured, things he calls ‘light afflictions.’  Consider his list of how he has been imprisoned, labored, received stripes from flogging and faced death.  Listen to his detail:

• FIVE TIMES he received 39 stripes the maximum allowable by Jewish law.
• THREE TIMES he was beaten with rods.
• THREE TIMES he was stoned and I don’t mean drugs but rocks hurled at him.
• SHIPWRECKED spending a day and night in the deep.
• THE INVENTORY of serious issues he faced including dangerous journeys, perils in water, from robbers, danger from countrymen, Gentiles, in the cities he ministered, in water he traveled, wilderness, the sea dangers, and those of false brethren. In weariness he labored, in sleeplessness and hunger, being cold and improperly clothed or provisioned.

Yet in all that his major concern was the health and safety of the churches never focusing on his problems or circumstance!  He faced multiple death threats, was physically abused, lacked proper food and clothing and in all that he declared that he had learned to be ‘content’ in whatever state he found himself. Why?  He had an incredible unshakable confidence in God being and doing what God had promised and just being God.  He reached the point that he had to decide whether he would live or die and while longing for his heavenly reward he saw the need as more pressing and choose to live, minister, suffer bringing hope to the hopeless and life to the lifeless.  Yet, he calls all this ‘light afflictions’.  I am shamed by this because there have been times when I faced a financial crisis I ‘complained’ to the Lord.  I faced an issue with family being falsely accused and even wept before God feeling sorry for myself saying, ‘God what is going on.  I would not treat my children this way.’  This was nothing more than a ‘pity-party’ in which I was not just questioning God but accusing Him of being lesser of a father than I.  He let me live in that squalor for a few days then arrested my heart and I wept bitterly for days repenting and was reminded of Paul’s sufferings and how he handled it.  From that time to this I have found that my choice is to see the good in my situation and see how God is working all things together for my good so I can be encouraged and encourage others to ‘stand fast’ in the faith and rejoice in Him.

Light affliction?  I met with some wounded warriors and while I had whined about my hip and back I observed them learning to use new prosthesis as their prosthetic limbs were fitted.  Some were learning to walk, use robotic hands and manipulate a motorized wheelchair due to being quad or paraplegic.  In that moment my shame was enormous, my cry of repentance deep and genuine and I shook myself, rose from there with a heart of thanksgiving for what I had.  I am blessed and I know I am.  I have a few aches and pains that go along with aging and years of abuse of my body but my mind is strong, my faith is solid, and my confidence is God is ever reaching toward the throne.  My afflictions are ‘light’ especially in comparison to the apostle Paul and many of our wounded warriors.  God is working in my life and these light afflictions are teaching me dependence upon the Lord.  I am not promoting difficulties I am promoting the God who overcomes them and cause us to triumph in Jesus.

Be thankful for that you have and rejoice considering this a light affliction and minor in light of what God is doing in us.  We are more than conquerors through Jesus.  So may God guard, guide, and grace you as you go through your day.  Blessings!

Romans 12:3-8 – “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”  NKJV

I find this a most fascinating passage for in it we find that one of the ‘key’ elements of who we are as Christians is that we are ONE BODY.  We are uniquely fitted and joined together in a spiritual body, the same as our physicals bodies in the natural.  The list contained in this passage speaks of the various ways the INFINITE CHRIST lives His life through His body – THE CHURCH.  It not an exhaustive list but comprehensive enough to give us a tremendous foundation for understanding the process!  Paul tells us, “You have a measure of faith.”  Therefore each of us has something we are uniquely fitted for in the Kingdom.

Having said that I always get the question, “How do I know what I am uniquely fitted for?”  LET ME SHOCK YOU!  When all is said and done, don’t bother.  I am serious, we try to make it far more complicated that it is and in our efforts tend to put God in a box seeking a formula or equation.  LISTEN CAREFULLY the ‘mark of maturity’ in Christ is to move beyond formulas and equations to God Himself and in so doing we live ‘spontaneously’ just being who He has made us.

The ‘new self’ in Christ through the ‘new birth’ is CHRIST IN YOU so just be you.  When you do that you the way opens before you, the door swings wide and the pathway is lighted.  You find yourself walking in that lighted path being who He has made you with the gifts and talents He has given.  That’s when you will find that you are walking exactly where you should be and everything fits.  In that condition God will speak, if necessary giving expanded instructions for sometimes God only speaks when we are about to make a ‘wrong turn’.

Your function might be PROPHESY where you speak forth on behalf of God.  It is not just ‘foretelling’ but ‘telling forth’ and being a spokesman for God.  Some are uniquely fitted for this function and that is what their role and purpose is.  Some are uniquely fitted for SERVICE.  Some are born to serve and if you put them in some other position they will fail miserably. They cannot lead.  Only in America do we have the mistaken idea that everybody can lead.  You might be fitted to be that ‘unknown’ person like the widow of Zaraphat.  Before you were born God carved out a niche for you and if it is service you will be a prince or princess in service.  For some it is TEACHING.  I have heard some contend their understanding, doctrine, or revelation is the TRUE REVELATION that they somehow are THE ONES. I suggest that you can only have Him who is truth you do not have a corner on truth, revelation or understanding.  Some are EXHORTERS, those who encourage. They are always there holding up the hands that hang down, pouring oil on the wounds, and water on the hands they EXHORT, EXHORT, EXHORT!  Some are GIVERS.  That is interesting because we all give but there are some for whom giving is their intercession or ministry.  God has put in the hands of some to be rich for the singular purpose they can GIVE it is their ministry!  Some are LEADERS.  Have you ever attended a meeting that flowed like it was oiled?  You hardly knew you were in a meeting because of the leadership then another time you go and it is an epic disaster. What happened?  They rotated leadership responsibility and handed the reins to one who was not gifted to lead.  Some show MERCY.  This too is interesting because we are all to be people of mercy but some are especially gifted in this ministry.  It is not something they think about they just do what they do.

That’s why some seem to have blinders on for a particular ministry because it is the driving force in their hearts and they cannot understand why everyone is not so motivated. There is a process and maturation in becoming what you are uniquely fitted to do.  We move from being spiritual children to teenagers to fathers.  Children can go into the garden to help dad but wander off and that is perfectly okay.  Teenagers will start a project and become bored and move on to something else that is part of growth.  Fathers have to get the job done they cannot go play or become bored they are FATHERS with responsibility and maturity.

There is tremendous authority and anointing when you have been placed and begin to function in that which you are uniquely fitted for.  So as you go through this day just be who you are and allow the Holy Spirit to provide the unction to function.  May God bless you richly!

1 Corinthians 12:27 – – “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” NKJV

Today I want to continue and address the characteristics of GOD’S TRIUMPHANT ARMY that we are to become.

• THE TRIUMPHANT ARMY WAITS FOR A CERTAIN (SURE) SOUND FOR BATTLE.

        1 Corinthians 14:8 advises that we are not to go into battle UNTIL we hear a SURE SOUND.  2 Chronicles 7:14 not only promises ‘sins forgiven’ but our ‘land healed’.  God is concerned about His people and His creation.

• THE TRIUMPHANT ARMY MUST HAVE DEFINABLE LEADERSHIP.

He has and is raising ‘generals’ for His army and they will never be self-appointed but God appointed.  The troops must understand why they are fighting and some dying in the battle. The generals must become those who consistently go to God for their strategy not some ecumenical board.  Hopefully that ecumenical board is going to God.  They must become people who know how to sound the alarm and reject the temptation to fight the wrong enemies over symptoms rather than the purposes of God.

• THE TRIUMPHANT ARMY MUST FIGHT WITH STRATEGY GIVEN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.

John 16:7 – “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you…”  

Our Lord left us a Master Strategist who will lead, guide, inform and empower us for battle.  He knows the mind of God and the heart of every matter.  Nothing is left to chance.

• THE TRIUMPHANT ARMY MUST HAVE ADEQUATE RESOURCES AND SUPPLY CENTERS.

        Imagine what would happen in just a short period of time if the CHURCH decided to share its resources with each other rather than competing.  Imagine the pooling or opening the door for computers, television equipment, revelation, skills and personnel.  Instead of collectively fighting the good fight of faith much of the church world is protecting its turf, guarding its territory and hoarding its resources failing to remember IT IS HIS CHURCH.

• THE TRIUMPHANT ARMY MUST HAVE PROPER DISCIPLINE.

Undisciplined ministries open the door for religious spirits whereas discipline means seeing the job through to the finish and completing the assignment.

• THE TRIUMPHANT ARMY MUST PROVIDE A PLACE FOR WOUNDED WARRIORS.

        Galatians 6:1 tells us “You which are spiritual RESTORE….”  The spiritual order that God is establishing in this Last Day’s Army will seek to and learn how to RESTORE the wounded rather than kill them.  They still have value!

•  THE TRIUMPHANT ARMY IS BUILT IN AND ON TRUST.

Trust in the ranks is incredibly important in warfare.  How can you fearlessly face an enemy when you have to be concerned you will be shot in the back by friendly fire?  If the church could somehow lay aside its battle for turf and position and become THE BODY OF CHRIST the world would beat a path to our door.

Your brother/sister is not your enemy.  There is no armor for the types of battles and wars we wage within the church world today.  The Whole Armor of God is for offensive warfare not protection from the rear.

Jesus is raising up His church and it will be a triumphant army and an army that is disciplined, unselfish, and singular in purpose.  If that is not what you see then I suggest that you may miss out on the most significant and powerful move of God in the history of man.

            God bless you and may God be with you as you go through this day!

1 Corinthians 12:27 – – “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” NKJV

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus declared ‘upon this rock I will build My church.’  My title embodies a very important question for the Body of Christ today.  Is what we see when we say Church a ‘vision’ or are we living in a fantasy land of ‘daydreams’?  Sadly, some, if not much, of the Christian world is living in a ‘daydream’ rather than following a God inspired ‘vision’ that consumes them.  So I ask you, ‘What is the mental image or descriptive term, thought or idea that comes to mind when you hear the word church?’

• When we speak of the FUNCTION of the church we think of it as a BODY.
• When we speak of the church RESPONDING TO GOD in praise & worship we call it a TEMPLE.
• When we focus on the FELLOWSHIP & RELATIONSHIPS of the corporate body we call ourselves a FAMILY.
• When the church is addressed as a GOVERNMENT or KINGDOM we call it a NATION.
• When we speak of the BELIEFS of the church we call it the HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH.
• When we speak of the BATTLES of the church in the spiritual realm we call it an ARMY.

Therefore what you see is very important because it identifies the focus, function, ministry and purpose we are addressing.  The Old Testament prophets spoke boldly of the conditions of our generation.  Their words address the circumstances of our lives at this very moment.  Amos 3:7 tells us that God will do nothing without first revealing it to His prophets.

If we are to understand our purpose and destiny we must come to a clear understanding of what the prophets have declared and attend to our mission in this life.  Following a God inspired vision is not doodling in daydreams and fantasies.

WHAT DID THE PROPHETS PROCLAIM?

• MICAH – – Cried out for JUSTICE and MERCY and exhorted God’s people to do the will of God.
• ZEPHANIAH – – Promised RESTORATION of a PURE LANGUAGE [3:9] God dispersed the human language at the Tower of Babel but the prophet spoke of a time when all people would hear a PURE SOUND that they would KNOW and UNDERSTAND.
• HAGGAI – – Depicts God’s covenant people as being His SIGNET RING, His STANDARD, His WITNESS to all people [2:23] It is what they are not just what they do.
• ZECHARIAH – – Declares that the nations will come to the anointed places to worship. [1:14-17]
• HABAKKUK – – Instructs us to WRITE the vision and PUBLISH it. [2:2]
• MALACHI – – Instructs us on how to FINANCE God’s plan [3:8-12] Then he finishes by prophesying FAMILY RESTORATION both natural and spiritual [4:6]

The prophet JOEL warned us to prepare for WAR. [3:9] He prophesied the release of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh.  EZEKIEL saw that SPIRITUAL ARMY. [37] Both Joel and Ezekiel saw the birth of a new prophetic order and Peter declared its beginning on the Day of Pentecost.  Although the church has taken a number of detours we are, I believe, coming back to the reality of Joel and Ezekiel’s prophesies.  We are going to become an ARMY that is VICTORIOUS in battle!  I want to take this one step further and will do so in the next post but until then may the Lord be with you watch over you, guard and guide you as you proceed through your day.  Blessings abundantly!

John 4:10-14 – “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”  11 She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 “You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again;  14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”   NASU

Then came, THE FALL springing from THE LIE – You shall be as God.  If you cast God aside then you will be independent, in charge and in control was THE LIE.  The suggestion was that once they did that they would be ‘self-sufficient’, ‘all-powerful’ and LIKE GOD.  When man believed THE LIE he was united to it.  It was not a thought or theory it was linked to the foundation of his being and since that event mankind has been built upon THE LIE.  In believing this LIE of hell they severed themselves from GOD now they are independent rather than dependent.

Deep inside the heart of every person is the knowledge that we are GUILTY that we have MISSED THE MARK and with guilt comes shame.  THE LIE said, Declare yourselves independent of God and you will become god so man did and instead of being fulfilled he found himself empty and full of fear.  Since he finds it difficult to believe that all this was a LIE he then must conclude there is something wrong with him.  The league between man and the devil is a true tragedy.  Man partnered with the devil who, hates the human race and is identified in the Bible as “the accuser of the brethren”.  Man’s insecurities and failures are reinforced by the devil so that man left the Garden feeling worthless filled with shame and demonstrating emptiness within his being.  He had an incredible THIRST.

He is thirsty but he’s in control of his own life now so, if his thirst is to be satisfied he is going to have to find a way so the endless search for significance, purpose, worthiness, and value begins and continues to this day.  Jeremiah said, “My people have committed two evils. Forsaken Me, the fountain of Living Water in order to hew out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”   They rebelled against God and then had the audacity to substitute self for God.

No wonder the words of our Lord as He cried out, “Everyone who is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”  No wonder the Psalmist declared, ‘As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul longs for thee O God.’  Think of that imagery!  A deer in drought!  That’s me, Lord that’s me!  Every part of my being is panting for you.  I long for you!

Psalms 63:1 – “…I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.” NASU

THE WOMAN AT THE WELL….

Jesus told her you had five husbands and the one you are now with is not your husband.  Please hear me:  If you are going to understand people you cannot get a burr under your blanket over what they do you seek to understand why they do it.  Jesus never seemed concerned with the what, but the why.

We have a twisted view of being loved, having significance, and gaining respect.  We desperately want others to like us for if they like us, if they smile at us, if they accept us we will feel good and therefore we seek to do anything to achieve that and thereby become slaves to that mentality.  We do that with our children trying to force them to turn out right so others will respect and accept us.  We do that with possessions for if we have enough we will be valued and significant.  That’s why some go on spending sprees and over eat they are hungry for acceptance and when they feel low or rejected they react.

Jesus said:  “I am the Bread of Life.  He who comes to Me shall not hunger.  He who believes in Me shall never thirst.”  (Amplified) = Shall never thirst anymore at any time!  The only way to quench that thirst in the heart of man is a personal union with God.  If you have received Christ you are LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY.  You are VALUED.  The value of any object is what someone will pay for it and consider what God paid for you!  In Christ we are LOVED, have SIGNIFICANCE, and VALUE.  We have a mission and everything is of eternal importance.

If the president of the United States were to come to DFW and clean toilets all the news networks would be here too.  The world would watch a man clean a toilet.  Cleaning toilets is a menial task but suddenly it would become important.  WHY?  It is not the task but the person who does the task.  So it is inconsequential what your occupation is, if you are made in the image of God and you are if you have been purchased by the Blood of Jesus, indwelt by Christ THEN whatever you do you bring importance to it that it never had before.  Do not allow a mentality of slavery overpower who you are in Christ!

            May the Lord bless you as you go through your day!