Hear the Lion Roar!

 A Lion is roaring (Amos 3:8), who can but respond to His majestic voice and spring into action?

“There is a snake in the grass,” my son reported.  Children play in our yard, so it didn't make sense to keep sitting in my easy chair and pretend there was no problem. This threat was real and demanded action. Therefore, with determination I got a shovel and went into the yard and hunted until I found the snake and took care of it.  

However, many believers hear Jesus’ message that the devil is roaming about to “steal, kill, and destroy” and yet do nothing.  The Word in James 4:7 tells believers to “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  Paul reminds us that the victorious Christian life calls us to “fight the good fight of faith.”   2 Corinthians 10:3-4 points out that we are fighting a war, not in the flesh, but using the spiritual weapons that are mighty in God. The reality of our present situation demands action, that we fight.

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Since He only did what the Father showed Him, clearly it is God’s will to destroy the works of the devil.  In Luke 9:1 when Jesus sent out the twelve disciples, the first thing He gave them was “power and authority over all demons.”  Likewise, after the seventy return they excitedly declared, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.”  

Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall hurt you,”. Furthermore, Jesus’ final instruction in Matthew 28 was “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”  Jesus has overcome the devil and we are commanded to “go therefore” in His name  releasing the power and authority of Jesus over sin, sickness, and the devil.

Rather than staying comfortable in our easy chair ignoring the onslaught of the devil, it is time to hear the Lion roar!  In the authority of God’s Word and in the name of Jesus, take your God-given authority and command the devil to stop.  In the words of Jesus when tempted, “Be gone, Satan.”

The Lion of Judah roars and seeks for willing servants who in the same divine intensity hate evil and the destruction of the evil one enough to cast out demons and take authority over all the power of the evil one.  Rule in the midst of your enemies (Psalm 110:2) until every tongue in heaven, on earth, and beneath the earth confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Fathet (Philippians 2:10-11).

Do With Time You Have Left

 “How long do you plan to live?” asked the social security advisor.  Of course, only God knows our time when our mission on earth is complete.  A more important question is “What are you going to do with the time you have left in your life?”

God has given to each one only a certain time to sow godly seed and “lay up treasures in heaven” which will make a difference for eternity.  The Spirit encourages me to do all in my power “while it is day because when night comes no man can work.”

Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.  Job received four times as many blessings in his latter days. The path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter until the noon day (Proverbs 4:17).  The Kingdom of God increases.  Therefore, God has put it on my heart to ask the Holy Spirit to make me at least twice as fruitful in my remaining days as I have been in all my past times.  

Jesus declares in John 15:7-8 that if we abide in Him and His Word abides in us we would bear much fruit, which glorifies the Father. Scripture accurately points out that “the outer man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” or as Psalm 103 states, your youth is renewed like the eagles.  The power and anointing of God living in us is as the small mustard seed that has grown into a large tree (Luke 13:19).  

Therefore, the point is that the reason that we continue to grow into the fullness of Christ’s nature and have more wisdom, ever increasing faith, and are more constrained by the love of God is to accomplish His purpose   To whom much is given, much is required.  As we mature, we are meant  to be the most productive, most effective instruments in God’s white harvest fields. 

Once I was complaining to God about the poor, unfortunate people at the nursing home that are just waiting to die. The Lord spoke into my spirit, “That was never my intention or purpose for nursing homes.  They were meant to be powerhouses of prayer and blessing, because these people no longer have to busy themselves with life demands but rather have the experience and wisdom to be intercessions for their family.”

Doing nothing as one gets older is such a waste of all God has given.  The Spirit desires to give new direction, renew our strength, and let us become fruitful to the very end of our mission on earth.  Be like Paul who expressed his life passion, “Reaching forward to the things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

Join me in praying, “God, make me more fruitful in the time remaining in my life than I have ever been.”  May God be glorified.

His Word is His Will

 God’s will for you is to be transformed into a new creation, a child of God Himself, while putting away the old sinful nature.  He desires to live in you, making you into the nature of Christ, and presenting you holy and blameless before the Father.  Jesus became sin (our old fallen nature) so we could become the righteousness of God.  As 2 Peter states clearly “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious, that through these you may be partakes of divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

This transforming work seems too good to be true, beyond what we could think, ask, or imagine.  How can we ever believe God would treasure us so much that He would do all for us and purpose for us to live in abundant life and glory with Him forever? The answer is to receive God’s Word, His exceedingly great and precious promises until this truth renews our mind and soul.

Consider what Jesus said about His Word  “If you continue in the Word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32  In His final prayer He asks the Father to “Sanctify them (us) by Your truth, Your Word is truth.” To sanctify means to set apart for His own special purpose. 

The Apostle Paul also understood this life-giving power of the Word, when leaving the Ephesians (Acts20:32), “I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Faith, or believing God’s amazing love and plan for us, comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.  Jesus even joins the Word and His presence as conditions of believing prayer.  “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” He further states believing prayer and fruitful results glorifies the Father and shows you are a disciple, one who follows God’s ways.

In the beginning was the Word according to John 1, and in Revelation 19, His name is revealed as The Word of God.  Everything begins and ends, the alpha and the Omega, with Jesus revealed and manifested by the Word.  His Word enlightens every man.

Over and over the Scriptures declare the benefits of and instructions of how to let the Word of God dwell in us richly.  Young men are strong and overcome the evil one because the Word abides in them.  Jesus countered the devil’s temptation by pointing out man doesn’t live by bread alone but by every Word of God.  

In short, you will never know the truth and the glorious future God has provided for you unless you read, reflect, let dwell in you, and absorb the promises of the Word.  You can know His will for you by being in His Word.

Job Done Right

 If you want the job done right…

How do you complete that sentence?  The wisdom of the world says “Do it yourself.”  But Jesus shows the way of God which is to teach others.  “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” His plan was to teach and demonstrate Kingdom living and then entrust the work to His disciples, with the promise to equip and guide them by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can’t do it without His help and He has chosen to allow us to be His body whom He sends and equips to complete the task.

We see Paul follow the same principle in dealing with Timothy.  “The things you heard from me, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2. 

A more important question is teach and do what?  Christian parents and Christian schools spent great effort to educate and train their children. However, often the goal is to be able to get a good job and have a successful and comfortable life, perhaps realistically defined as a well paying job, a lovely spouse and good family, a nice house and car with all the comforts this world can give. 

What is the distortion of this objective?  Is that really the goal that God has given?  What about “Seek first the kingdom of God.” or “He who loses his life for My sake will find life.”? Rather than being a worldly success, we must teach and be an example of living for the Lord.  James gives a stronger warning, saying if we love the world, love of the Father is not in us.

The heart of our purpose is to love and serve God, and love our neighbor.   Jesus obviously came to take care of sin and to establish the Kingdom of God on earth  Each of us who know God have the assignment to share that love and truth in our sphere of influence.  In the words of Jesus, you are the light of the world.

Following the pattern of Jesus who demonstrated and taught the ways of God, thus making disciples who could continue His mission, we are told to make disciples.  

So if you want the job done right, make godly disciples.

Are You the Most Blessed?

 You are “most blessed forever,” according to Psalm 21:6.  Most blessed in what way?  His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), so it follows that when Jesus is our shepherd, I shall not want.  My needs are met according to His riches in glory.  By His stripes I am healed.  He always leads me in triumph and no weapon formed against me shall prosper.  All things work together for good for me because I love Him and am called according to His purpose.  Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. 

Are these statements true for you and are you  really “most blessed forever,” as the king before God?  Since Jesus has made you and  me to be priests and kings forever (1 Peter 2:5, Revelation 1:6) we are the ones this psalm is talking about as kings, and joint heirs with Jesus receiving everything He has purchased through His death and resurrection.  It is true and more than we could ask, think, or imagine. As children of God who by grace share His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), we have intimate relationship with Jesus, our living hope of eternal glory forever!

In the Gospel of John, Jesus explained various truths as “now is and will be.”  There are times we “feel” and easily declare these positive Scriptures are true in our lives, but there also may be times when circumstances and feelings are screaming against them.  In these challenging times we are called to “fight the good fight of faith.”  We live by faith and not sight, 2 Peter 1:4 reminds us that “through these precious and great promises we escape the corruption that is in the world and partake of divine nature. 

At a recent prayer meeting in Tulsa, the Lord gave a word that the enemy was throwing firry farts designed to “destroy our will to fight.”  Therefore, the Lord is calling us to stand strong in His power, cast down every thought and imagination that is contrary to Christ, and equipped in God’s armor take up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit declaring the Word of God as Jesus did in the wilderness against the devil. 

Faith and patience inherit the promises. In Revelation Jesus reminds us that trying times call for the endurance of the saints. We encourage you, like Abraham, to not waver in your faith, but continue to give Him glory for what He has promised.  We will make it and every word of God will prove true.  He is faithful.

Run with Horses

Jeremiah 12:5 exhorts us, "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you run with horses?"  

 Get ready.  The pot is starting to boil!  Prophetic warnings sound across the world that the time of the Lord's return is short and the intensity of the battle with the powers of darkness is increasing exponentially.  However, Jesus shifts our attention from what is happening in the world to focusing on the glory of His plan, “When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:28.

 Sudden or tragic events do not mean it is a time to panic, but rather a fresh awareness to put on the armor, stand equipped declaring the Word, and seeing the kingdom of God overcome all.  Jesus promises, "in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  Furthermore, as 1 John 5 states, because He overcomes, all who are born of Him also overcome!

Several times in John 14 Jesus explains to His disciples that He is telling them what is coming so that when it comes they continue to believe.  Since we have His assurance that He is working all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, we can afford to rejoice, trust Him, and simply “see the salvation of God,” as He told the Israelites at the Red Sea.   The book of Revelation is the “revelation of Jesus Christ” according to verse 1:1 and the message is clearly that He is King of kings and Lord of lords who triumphs over all evil establishing the kingdoms of the world as kingdoms of our Lord.

Praise God forever!  Heaven and earth declare He is worthy of all glory and honor and praise.  Therefore, every time we hear of one more negative thing happening, it is time to praise the Lord more for being greater and conquering this area too   Let’s turn every enemy work into thanksgiving and praise for the victory of Jesus, because God is not mocked, every act and word will receive His just retribution.  Yes, rejoice and give Him glory for His faithfulness and perfect plan.

  

Know the Word is From God

 “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God” or simply your own human authority, according to Jesus in John 7:17.  Jesus not only declares His sheep hear and know His voice, He also tells us how to know the difference between His voice and the voice of “strangers” (John 10).

When we receive thoughts or images, our first goal is to determine whether it is from God or just our own manufactured ideas.  The truth is God is much closer than most of us realize.  As Paul explains in Acts 17:28, “In Him we live and move and have our being.”  We are temples of the Holy Spirit and by His presence Jesus further declared that the Father and Jesus would also make their home in us.” Jesus told Pilate everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.  

Since we have asked the Lord to speak, by faith choose to believe and receive it from Him.  Don’t question it at this point (we will provide a means of testing it later.), but faithfully write down everything that comes to you.  Yes, write it down rather than assume you will remember.  Take time to let the Lord say all He wants, don’t take a small bite and run away.  The real objective is to have fellowship,, a relationship where He and you can share what is on your hearts.

I repeat, write it down.  God told Moses to write it down.  God told Habakkuk (ch 2, v 3) to write the vision clearly on tablets so all could read it.  Now you have the  written message to examine its authenticity and godly instruction.

The first test, always, is does it agree with God’s Word.  God does not change and will never give a message contrary to His eternal nature and direction.  For example, He won’t tell you to lie, or steal, or be involved in immoral sexual behavior when His Word has clearly stated His commands.  

Secondly, James 3:17 states the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy  and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  Proverbs reminds us the wisdom of many counselors and this is a good time to have a wise counselor, a spiritual person who can help you determine if it meets God’s standard, especially if the spoken Word demands major changes.

The point of these past four posts is that God loves you and delights in sharing His heart with you  Rather than believe the lie that “I don’t hear God,” try following these simple steps and enjoy His presence and personal messages for your heart  1) Get alone and prepare your heart with thanksgiving, praise, and praying in the Spirit, 2) Lay down your thoughts and desires, and take authority over the devil forbidding him to speak, 3)  Ask the Lord to confirm His Word and speak to you as His child that wishes to do His will, 4) Receive and believe the words and thoughts that come to you are from Him by WRITING them down, and finally evaluate the message jin light of God’s Word and godly counsel.

Jesus, who loves you so much that He willingly died for you, longs to spend time with you and speak to you.