Isaiah 61:7 – “Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs.”  NASU

Previously we laid a foundation for The Law of Double Portion and now it is our objective to consider some of the inner workings of ‘Double Portion Blessings’ and how they relate to today’s believer in 2014.  I personally believe that we are living in the time of THE DOUBLE:  Double Rain, Bread, Anointing, and Restoration spiritually.  It is my personal conviction that if we catch this in our spirits we will develop a hunger and thirst for the things of God in a new and deeper measure and elevate our anticipation spiritually.

If I could guard against anything it would be to keep us from ‘stagnating’ in history (memories) of what used to be and from ‘fanaticizing’ in futuristic dreams and wishes about what God MIGHT DO someday.  Instead I desire for us to take history and use it as a foundation and anchor to walk into what God IS DOING and bring those dreams and aspirations into current realities – POSSESSING THE PROMISES!

As stated previously this DOUBLE PORTION is something good!  It is not like the cartoon, ‘The Wizard of Id’, I saw some time ago where the short, fat, squat King is trying out his speech to one of his servants and tells him:  “I’m going to try my speech out on you.  You listen and when you hear something wrong you stop me.”  He began:  “My fellow peasants.”  The servant immediately said:  ‘WRONG!’  Then the king went before the crowd and said:  “I promise you two cows in every barn, two chickens in every pot.  In short, whatever you have I will give you double.”  Two peasants below were listening and one said to the other:  “Good deal, eh Ernie?”  The other said:  “You call a quadruple hernia a good deal?”

That raises a very important point about this DOUBLE PORTION.  It really does matter what you are getting DOUBLED.  Today, I want to embark on the ‘responsibility’ of receiving the DOUBLE PORTION from God.

Zechariah 9:12 – – We are called ‘Prisoners of Hope’.  God has promised that He will render DOUBLE to us.  That is a very powerful prospect and thought.

We need to ‘desire’ God’s Blessings be poured out in our lives and I would say that most do, but is it a ‘consuming passion’?  We need to ‘desire’ for God to use us in His Kingdom and I readily acknowledge that a person could have a wrong, selfish desire in all this but I do not believe that is you.  If we do not ‘hunger’ and ‘thirst’ we will not be filled!

There is assuredly nothing wrong with wanting to ‘know’ more about God and ‘know’ God more!  There is nothing wrong with wanting to be ‘blessed’ more, ‘used’ more, ‘have’ more.  It is okay to want God to bestow upon you so that you can give more in terms of ‘money, anointing, power, and revelation’.  The focus is not you it is the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.  So, today, I want to begin dealing with the ATTITUDES not just ACTIONS.  My motivation is we can be ADJUSTED in our walk so that God can use us in a dynamic manner in the days to come.  I fully believe that you desire that!

Next session we will take up the seven (7) examples given previously of the DOUBLE PORTION and focus on the ‘responsibilities’ and ‘privileges’ in them.  Hopefully it will be informative and exciting.  So until next time, may God go with you in all you do!  BLESSINGS!

Luke 5:31-32 – “Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” NKJV

When religious people who are sectarian and hold deep prejudice in their hearts see what God is doing in reaching the lost outside their sect they become upset.  I am reminded of what a man once said to me in which I served as pastor, “We want to reach quality people for our church.”  QUALITY?  I was somewhat taken aback and almost without thought responded, “What quality were you before you came to Jesus?”  Jesus came to ‘seek and save’ that which was lost not a particular segment of society.

Here the LORD clearly identifies that it is the LOST in need of His mercy and grace.  I have contended for a long time that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a lost man found until that man knows he is lost.  In the natural if you do not know you are lost you will seek no help in finding your way and in the spiritual until you know you are LOST you will not reach out to the reaching hand of God for Salvation.

I grew up in a rural church and watched things transpire in that church that caused me great confusion and helped me develop a mentality that prevented me from seeking God’s salvation.  My attitude was, ‘if some of these people are going to heaven, God cannot send me to hell.’  That was a wrong premise but it was where I stood.  I was justifying my life based on my comparison to others and that is not how God views us.  When He looks at us He either sees the blood of Jesus or He does not.  It is not how I stack up in comparison to Bob, Jim, Tom, Joe, or whoever it is am I covered with the Blood of Jesus.

Sadly, some are ‘good people’ and because they are ‘good people’ and do as I did comparing themselves with others they see no need for God’s forgiveness, pardon, and mercy.  They do no harm, give to the poor, and serve the community and somehow deep inside feel that their service and human goodness will purchase acceptance with God.  It will not!  The only access to the Father is through the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.  It is only as we are forgiven and the Blood of Jesus applied to our sins that we are accepted in the beloved.  It is GRACE not our works.  It is God’s gift not our efforts that brings us into the family of God!

So as Jesus said it is the sick that need a doctor, the lost that need a savior it is also true that those who do not know they are sick or lost will ask for and receive no help.  I was lost and did not truly know it for a long time.  When I realized I was lost I also believed that I had gone too far and my case was hopeless.  God’s incredible love penetrated that deception and through the love and persistence of some fabulous people of God He drew me out to the light and THANK GOD I AM SAVED!

May God help us know our condition so we can receive that which He has for us!  God bless you and be with you as you go through your day!

Romans 8:31-39 – “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:

 “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”  

 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  NKJV

Being a ‘conqueror’ would be significant but being ‘more than’ a conqueror is nothing short of amazing!  The apostle Paul in his discourse regarding difficulties of life, the troubles we face, the temptations that come, and the assault of the evil one against our faith says, “What then shall we say to these things?”   Great Segway into a most powerful and needed truth in every life in every generation!  Here he gives us some specific and powerful truths to digest:

•  If God is for us, who can be against us? [To take that to the logical conclusion, what difference does it make who is against us?]
• If God was willing to allow Jesus to go to the Cross for us how could we not anticipate that He will provide for us everything we need to walk this walk?
• The condemnation we receive is not coming from Christ because He paid the price for us, is making intercession for us and will NEVER leave us nor forsake us.
• No matter what we face we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through Him that loved and loves us.

Paul goes on to tell us that NOTHING can separate us from God’s Love!  NOTHING can ever cause Him to stop loving us.  We may reject Him, turn our backs on Him, abandon Him but He will FOREVER Love us and reach out to us.  He has provided everything we need through His Word and Spirit to not only be victorious but MORE THAN CONQUERORS in this life.

I quoted this passage once and a person in the audience interrupted and said, “But brother that is for the next life not here on earth.”  REALLY?  You really want me to believe that victory and conquering is reserved for heaven.  You really want me to dismiss the scores of passages from the Bible about victorious living and the fact that Jesus defeated the devil and made an open show of him making us MORE THAN CONQUERORS.  You want me to ignore the promises of God regarding the help He provides for this Christian walk?  NO THANKS!  I’ll stick with the God of Victory and lay claim to His Promise that I not only can be but am MORE THAN A CONQUEROR through Jesus!

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

Isaiah 61:1-3 – “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me

To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”  NASU

Let’s get right to the discussion…

4.   2 KINGS 2:9 – – Elijah and Elisha – – (Double Anointing)

Elisha had served Elijah for 10 years in practical service.  Elijah knew he was about to be taken to heaven, so he asked Elisha:  “What would you like for me to do for you?  You’ve been a good and faithful minister serving me.”  Elisha asked for a DOUBLE PORTION of Elijah’s anointing.  Oh how often we are willing to settle for too little.  Many times Elijah tried to dissuade Elisha from pressing in but Elisha refused and received the DOUBLE PORTION ANOINTING.

Prophecies in the Old & New Testaments reveal that the spirit of Elijah will be operating in the earth before Jesus returns.  Remember that Elijah brought forth Elisha THE DOUBLE PORTION.  We need to develop a hunger for more and more of God.  Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be open.  DOUBLE PORTION?

5.  JOB 42:10 – – Double Restoration

God always rewards those who suffer righteously. There was no pride no self-sufficiency there was Trust and Dependence on God!  This double restoration may cost something but it is well worth it.

6.  MATTHEW 25:14-30 – – Talents Doubled

One of the servants in this parable was given 5 talents and through his diligence and labor that 5 became 10.  He was then given more and the Bible tells us that there is a reward for faithfulness and service.

Some illustrations of the Double Portion often just show God dumping His blessings on us but in these examples we find that diligence and faithfulness is required and desired of God.  Each of the examples shows different ‘responsibilities’ and possible ‘pit falls’.  God wants us to understand this Law so that we can be people who can contain the DOUBLE BLESSINGS of the Lord and not have it squandered.

Believer I declare that in these last days God is seeking a people upon whom He can bestow a DOUBLE PORTION in our lives for the cause of the Kingdom of God.  Will you be that person or persons?

            May God be with you as you go through your day and we will look at the Double Portion in more detail in future posts!  Blessings as you go through your day!

Isaiah 61:1-3 – “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me

To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”  NASU

In the interest of time and space let’s get right into the other examples mentioned in the last post.

1.  EXODUS 16:5, 22-30 – – – Double Manna.

Each day for five normal week days they received their daily portion and if they gathered more it had worms and rotted!  The issue was not the provision but TRUST.  Every day they had to trust God not some contingency plan or nest egg.  The sixth day was different because He wanted them to honor Him on the seventh so they gathered DOUBLE and it lasted two days.

Not to go off on a tangent but consider this prophetically.  If one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and we have seen about 6,000 years in recorded human history could this be the time of DOUBLE PORTION?  Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” so we are receiving ‘double bread, double strength’ through Jesus.  (John 14:12).

2.  JOEL 2:23-27 – – Double Rain.

Normally the early rain came at the beginning of the growing season to get the crops started, followed by a dry season and then the latter rain would come at the end of the season to ripen the crops for harvest.  But God says “NOW the rain will come all at once and be a DOUBLE PORTION OF RAIN”.  What does that mean?  Double faithfulness and a double harvest!  In verse 24 the floors are to be full of wheat, verse 25 God is restoring the years that were lost, and in verses 26-27 plenty to eat, praise abundant to the Lord, no more shame, and God’s presence in a most powerful way!

Hosea 6:1-3 declares that God will come to us as RAIN.  This is the LIVING PRESENCE of Jesus in the midst of His people bringing a DOUBLE PORITON with DOUBLE FAITHFULNESS.

3.  EXODUS 22:4 – – System of Retribution – – (Double).

This system kept crime at a very low rate in Israel when observed.  If something was stolen the thief was forced to restore DOUBLE.  I like it!  God never says, “Grin and bear it.  I know life is hard, so just tough it out!”  NO, NO NO!  He says, “DOUBLE, You get back double when you catch the thief!”   Remember the thief is the devil and all he has stolen is being restored through Jesus!

I must again pause and pick this up next time but until then may God whet your appetite for DOUBLE BLESSING and be with you as you go through your day!

Isaiah 61:1-3 – “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me

To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”  NASU

In Zechariah 9:9-12 we find cause for rejoicing in the coming Kingdom of the LORD.  In verse 10 we find that His Kingdom is a peaceful kingdom and He will rule all.  In verse 11 we read about the Blood of the Covenant and His deliverance of the prisoners out of the pit.  This is such a beautiful description of the ministry of Jesus.  He does not come with a physical sword but in humility going to the Cross as our sacrifice.  He came to provide salvation so that the Gospel of Peace could spread across the earth by the power of His Blood bring us the New Covenant and SETTING MEN FREE!  In verse 12 we find that we are to return to the stronghold with HOPE for we are NO LONGER prisoners but we are to be restored DOUBLE!

What a promise!  Set free and restored DOUBLE!  Hope means you have a confident expectation of something and are sure it is coming to you!  We have been richly blessed by the LORD but there is more to come for the Body of Christ.  We are not on the losing side!  I can hardly contain myself as I write just contemplating what God has in store for His Church in these last days!

THE LAW OF DOUBLE PORTION:

I want to give you ‘Several Examples’ of the DOUBLE PORTION in Scripture.  Each gives a different aspect and insight as to what this is all about.  Each shows different responsibilities we have with regard to the DOUBLE PORTION and the different PITFALLS we must avoid.

Deuteronomy 21:17 – – The Right of the Firstborn.

When a man had a number of sons and time came to divide the inheritance he was commanded by God’s Law to give a DOUBLE PORTION to the Firstborn Son.  It did not matter if he thought this son was more deserving or not it was GOD’S LAW.  Hebrews 12:23 tells us that the Church of Jesus Christ is called the ‘Church of the Firstborn’ so we are God’s Firstborn.  How is that possible?  God has ONLY ONE firstborn and that is JESUS.  No argument there in Romans, Hebrews, Colossians, and Revelation Jesus is called God’s Firstborn.  So how can the church be God’s firstborn?

James 1:18 – “God has begotten us and we are the first fruits of His creatures.”

1 Peter 1:3-4 – We find that when we are born-again we are born-again to receive an inheritance.

Romans 8:16-17 – The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God and because of this we are HEIRS or as the Bible declares “JOINT-HEIRS with Jesus”.  So, Jesus as God’s firstborn received the DOUBLE PORTION and because we are IN Christ and Christ is IN us we also become God’s firstborn.  He is the HEAD and we are the BODY. We are called the ‘one new man’ so we are DOUBLE PORTION HEIRS.    We do not just get a blessing we get what Jesus has!  HALLELUJAH! 

Wow, I am taking too much space and only got one example.  But I will pause there and try to be more brief and give you more next posting.  May God be with you as you go through y our day!  BLESSINGS!

Isaiah 61:1-3 – “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me

To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”  NASU

You read my title and my text and just wondered how this connects?  Give me a few sessions to connect the dots before you come to a conclusion.  I want to lay a foundation upon which to build a truth from God’s Word that, in my view, is being missed by much of the Church today.  Life does not go on without changes.  Human history is not just going on in a continuous cycle of often confusing events.  God IS involved in history and is not an absentee landlord as some contend.  I believe that we are on the cusp of some incredible things in the spiritual realm that will bring radical change to the spiritual world around us.  When God acts things change!  Therefore, it is imperative that we do not settle into a rut just coasting along in the status quo spiritually.

It is my personal belief, based on my understanding of Scripture that we have come to a time when there is going to be some major shaking and changes.  God is doing things and as that day approaches things are going to change at the speed of light and many will wake up and say, “God, what is going on?  Clue me in.  I want to be a part of what You are doing.”  I believe we have an opportunity like no generation before us and we dare not sleep through it!

DOUBLE PORTION is a truth in Scripture that I fully believe in and believe that it is largely focused on the Last Generation or Last Days.  There are some things about what I will call The Law of Double Portion that are crucial for us to understand and we can lay the foundation in our text.

ISAIAH 61 is a Messianic Prophecy or a prediction of the ministry of Christ.  Jesus told us in Luke 4 that this was so.  He is our Messiah, our Pattern, our Model.  We understand this in Isaiah 6:1-2.  Then in Isaiah 61:3 we find that we will be allowed to trade our ‘ashes’ for the ‘beauty’ that God gives to us.  Trade our ‘mourning’ for His “Joy”.  We will be called ‘trees’ of righteousness, the ‘planting’ of the Lord and He will be glorified in the fruit that comes from our lives!  I find that exhilarating!

Isaiah 61:4 – – RESTORATION comes into the picture.  He will ‘rebuild’ the waste places.  He will ‘raise’ the former desolations.  They will ‘repair’ the ruined cities and the desolations of many generations.  I have noticed in my walk with God that when things look bad and do not seem to be working out God never loses hope, never gives up, and never quits!  He never says, “I tried to do something with these people, but they flopped so I guess I will just forget them!”  DOES NOT HAPPEN!!!  God made it and He can fix it for in God there is no such word as HOPELESS.

In verse 6 we are called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God and we will ‘eat’ the riches of the nations.  In verse 7 God declares that for our ‘shame’ we will receive DOUBLE, and for our ‘confusion’ we will rejoice in our portion.  So in the land there will be DOUBLE!  The last portion of the verse says:  “Everlasting Joy shall be upon them.”  That is a clue as to what DOUBLE means and it is something incredibly good because it is going to bring EVERLASTING JOY!   That will be the evidence that the DOUBLE PORTION has been received and is operational in our lives!  Verse 8 refers to an EVERLASTING COVENANT and in the Old Testament the theme of DOUBLE PORTION is always tied to COVENANT.  So our Covenant in the New Testament is enacted by the Blood of Jesus!  It is a better covenant established on better promises and those of the Old were not too shabby!  The reason it is connected to Covenant is to demonstrate just how serious God is about BLESSING us!  It is not wishful thinking it is biblical fact and promise!

I will pause here and pick up next post to lay the foundation further before we get into the nuts and bolts of The Law of Double Portion and its reality in our lives now!   So until then may God be with you as you go through your day!

Hebrews 4:12 – “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  NKJV

 Proverbs 23:7 – “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” NASU

I have had slips of the tongue in life and embarrassingly in the pulpit too.  I and virtually everyone I know justifies those by saying something like it was, a ‘Freudian slip’ and not giving much thought to it.  We are told that a Freudian slip is when a person has a slip of the tongue, where they say one thing, but mean another.  It was named after Sigmund Freud who was a medical doctor, physiologist, and psychologist.  But I want to probe a bit deeper into the so-called ‘Freudian slips’ we make or have made.  Are they inconsequential or indicators of something that needs to be addressed?

I am quite serious for as the aforementioned passages indicate that God knows our thoughts  and intents and we become what we focus on, mediate on, dwell on, and think.  But Jesus took it a step further in Luke 6:45 – “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” NKJV  So again I broach the issue, is this inconsequential and to be laughed at or an indicator of something more?

I am not trying to overly dissect Scripture or the human condition but how did the ‘slip’ make its way to our lips?  It had to be in the heart in some form or it would not have been uttered.  Oh, I completely agree that we did not intend to say whatever it was and would have taken it back if possible but it was said, it was in the heart somewhere.  I am not suggesting that you are ultimately evil because of it or mean-spirited because of the slip but could it be an indicator of something in the heart that has not been dealt with?

I do not even suggest that all ‘Freudian slips’ are happen are something dirty, profane, or anything of the like, some are just funny misspeaks but in those cases where it was completely out of character for you and something you would never have meant to say and even something you are shocked that came out of your mouth it might just be an indicator of something that is ‘in the heart’ somewhere and needs the ministry of the Spirit and Word of God to remove.

We find in Psalm 139:1-2 – “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.” NKJV  Even before we think something God knows.  He knew it was there and may have reached out to us to deal with it and found us unresponsive.  We may have allowed our religiousness and pride to suppress it because we would never say anything like that.  But, the Loving Father just may have allowed us to make the ‘slip’ to reveal to us something that is there and give us opportunity to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to address.

Therefore, instead of just excusing a ‘slip’ as ‘Freudian’ why not utilize it as an opportunity to seek the Holy Spirit’s help in addressing something that we do not really want to exist in our lives.

Again, I am not suggesting that this makes you bad but do suggest that we allow our ‘slips’ of the tongue to open our hearts for the ministry of God’s Spirit in continuing the transformation and conformation of our lives into that which God truly and fully desires.

May you walk in His blessing and May He place a guard at your mouth at all times!  Blessings as you go through your day!

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

            Have you ever been guilty of overlooking the obvious because it is so simple?  I have.  But the more I have studied the subject of ‘giving’ in Scripture the more I come back to this verse and them more one little item leaps off the page at me.  There is something simple yet profound in this passage that too many miss.

             There is a process, a principle, and a potential revealed here that if we grasp will transform our lives for the good.  I believe that or would not say it.  It all centers on a two-letter word that totally transforms this passage.  That word is ‘I T’.

             Few would question Jesus’ instructions regarding ‘giving’ and that we ‘give’ and ‘receive’ as part of God’s process.  But did you carefully notice this passage?  Jesus says, “Give, and IT…”  It will be given to you.  That return will be ‘good measure’, ‘pressed down’, ‘shaken together’, and ‘running over’ that men will give to you.  He further said that the return will be by the same proportion of the giving.  All that is powerful and frightening at the same time!  I have learned both in Scripture and experience that God will not be out-given. He notices what we do!

           Before I get to the ‘I T’ of this passage I want to address the principle of “Sowing & Reaping”.  In natural ‘sowing’ the harvest or reaping is always more than is sown, later than what was sown.  Simply, if you plant watermelon seed you will not reap a harvest of grapes.  The harvest is virtually never immediate but later and there is the cultivation of the soil, the care of the plants that spring from the seed, and the labor of harvest involved.  Some seem to want to sit like birds in the wilderness waiting to be fed and do nothing but give a token gift.

             Remember the widow when Jesus sat near where the worshippers were passing to put in their offering?  She put in two pence and Jesus was so touched by her sacrifice that He declared that she had given more than all the others.  NO SHE HAD NOT!  Not in the natural but proportionally she did for SHE GAVE ALL.  I’ve told people for years that if you do notice know it when it leaves you won’t recognize it when it returns.  If you didn’t feel it leaving you won’t notice it returning.  It is with the same measure, standard, or proportion that the return comes.

             But as I alluded in the natural sowing there is “I T”.  Jesus said, “Give and IT….”  It will be given to you.  This touches a principle of life and I’ve shared with people this simple reflection on this passage and life.  What do you need?  If you need love, give love.  If you need forgiveness, give forgiveness.  If you need money, give money.  If you need compassion, give compassion.  If you need a friend, give friendship.  If you need loyalty, give loyalty.  Now, I do not want to make it appear that God is a vending machine or a mail order store but if you are giving those things and more what I mentioned you will find that God is causing them to return to your life.  The Bible says if a man wants to have friends he must be a friend. (Proverbs 18:24)

             Consider what God has given to us in the Cross and you will quickly realize just how willing to give God is.  I would challenge you to study this passage and all the passages on giving and the principles of giving in the Bible and see if you do not conclude that the “I T” of this passage makes all the difference in the outcome and result.  You cannot give hatred, bitterness, deception, and envy and expect to find love, compassion, forgiveness, and openness in your relationships.  Take the natural to understand the spiritual and remember that in the natural you reap WHAT you sow, LATER than you sow, and MORE than you sow. 

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

Psalm 133:1 – “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!”  NKJV

I have long been convinced that the only thing that can prevent the Church from reaching this world and rising to greatness is US.  The devil cannot prevent it and God most assuredly has no desire to prevent it so that only leaves US in the equation.  One of the key elements in the Church’s success is U N I T Y.

It is important that we have a ‘common vision’ especially in the local fellowship.  It is vital that we become Christ centered and be as those in the Book of Acts 4 – ‘…one heart and of one soul…’  Paul urges in Ephesians 4:3 that we are to “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  He also declares in Philippians 3:16 – “…let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”

In the Bible (KJV) we are told to MARK two specific groups of people.  Sadly, I believe this is a message that has been somewhat lost by the modern church.

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

The first group to mark or identify are those who cause division.  The second group those who set the right example.  MARK THEM BOTH – – but – – AVOID the ones that cause division and cling to, immolate, and copy those who set the right example.  Pretty simple isn’t it?

The devil is not going to win!  However, he is going to do everything in his power to defeat you and defeat the church.  One of the reasons that too many churches across the land are powerless and dryer than last year’s corn shuck is the devil has them backed into a corner and robbed them of their vision.  They fume and fuss, bicker and squabble debating non-essential issues and act like children filled with selfishness and demanding their own way.

The work of God is too important for that and long ago I decided I would refuse to be a part of a brawl.  Satan can never defeat the church from the outside.  People can say what they want about us, criticize us, even commit character assignation, lay their hands to what we have, and seek to destroy us BUT GOD will raise us up above it all and set our feet on the solid rock victorious if we maintain the U N I T Y of the Spirit.  It will never be the outsider, the critic, the jealous preacher, jealous church on the outside – THEY CANNOT DEFEAT US!  The only thing that can hinder the Church is US.  We are the only ones that can hinder the work of God in and through us.  Therefore, let us lay aside every weight and sin that so easily besets us and realize that it is not us and the work is not ours but the Church belongs to JESUS and He is building His Church.   We have nothing to defend or protect so let us rest in Him and live at peace!

            May God bless you as you go through your day!