Month: March 2018
Numbers 23:19
My Church! This is Awesome!
Biblically there is no such thing as my church or the local church. We are all part of THE CHURCH-THE BODY OF CHRIST. Fruit of having my church is that we focus only on MY and OUR and we only focus sometimes on building this church. And we want to build the Kingdom but the only way we can see to do that is to build this. How can this attitude not bring division?
God is saying that my church of America has become a narcissistic church. Narcissism is a morbid love and admiration of self. Comes from Narcissus (Greek mythology died from hopeless love of his own reflection in water and was transformed into a daffodil). Church has become so self focused and enamored with ourselves that we died. We are irrelevant and in many ways dead. We are changing nothing in our nation. Thing about daffodils is this…they are beautiful but they have NO FRAGRANCE. Says in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 how we are supposed to bring forth the fragrance of Christ. No one can say if they are honest that the church in America has mirrored to the world the reflection of Jesus Christ for when they smell us the fragrance they smell is of Him.
Sometimes in our thinking everything we do for God has to flow out of the local church to build the local church. Because we only focus on the local church we only focus on our success.
Not against corporate worship but against an, in some ways unbiblical human centered, need based, self centered organization that is the focal point. Something that was built to satisfy people, not God. Doesn’t mean you don’t have nice facilities it means you don’t focus on the “sheep pen.” It is just a place where God houses His people to help them extend His Kingdom into the earth. Becomes much more than a gathering center, becomes a sending center. The goal is not to be how many we can gather, but how many we can send. Yes we will have facilities but facilities will be used for the vision, vision won’t be to have the facilities. They are to equip the church, not to draw or impress people to build a church.
Never in the scripture is the standard for success built on speed or size. Our responsibility is not to help build a local church. Our responsibility is to help extend the Kingdom of God into the earth.
We don’t go to church to worship. We are the church so we gather to worship and we worship everywhere we go every day.
We don’t go to church to pray. We are the church so we pray everywhere, everyday.
We don’t go to church to be taught. We are the church so we gather to equip and disciple so that we can send and equip and disciple elsewhere and we disciple nations. As a church we are to gather but we are also to send.
We don’t go to church to be pastored and to be ministered to. We are the church so we pastor everywhere and minister everywhere.
We don’t go to church to fellowship, build relationships, etc… We are the church so we fellowship in many places and we not only gather but we are the church so we pastor everywhere and we minister everywhere.
We don’t go to church to get people saved and healed. We are the church so we save and heal everywhere we go and then people can get saved and healed more than two or three hours a week.
We don’t go to church to minister our gift. We are the church so we minister our gift everywhere we go.
We don’t go to church to build up the church. We are the church so we build up one another and He builds the church. That is what He said…”I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.” No verse in scripture anywhere that says a person is supposed to build a church.
We don’t go to church to hear from God. We are the church so we hear from God all week, anywhere and everywhere.
Quotes that Speak To Me
I didn’t write it, think it, or say it but I sure do like it and want to remember it…
The man/woman that loves to voice the things he/she has given up for God, has yet to fully and truly count those things as rubbish for the sake of knowing Jesus.
Beware of anyone who sacrifices Isaac in public. For these are private matters between the heart of God and the heart of man. (hard one!)
Good Word from Barbara Yoder — Why are you waiting for someone to give you a position? Go out and do the works of Jesus. Feed the hungry, care for the ophans and widows, heal the sick, help people, release the kingdom everywhere you go. Don’t wait for someone to notice you, your gift will make room for you. Until you release it, there will be no room. You create the room. 2/11/2010
In His presence the things that seemed big to us become so insignificant. We wonder why we let the devil fight us over that thing, make it so important, and magnify it so much. When we’re in God’s presence, the things we think are so insignificant become big. He shows us His true concerns. – Ruth Ward Heflin 10/18/2009
SAFETY is the greatest risk of all…because safety leaves no room for miracles…MIRACLES are the ONLY sure thing in life!!!! 10/18/2009 Pastor Sammy quote during sermon
When you are worshiping you look into His face, and you are changed from glory to glory. We become like that which we worship. We become like Him Whom we worship. Ruth Ward Heflin
A fellow facebooker wrote this on Reinhard Bonnke’s wall and I love it: What caused John Wesley to rise daily at 4:00 a.m. to pray and then go out in the fields to preach Christ to the dying multitudes? What caused him to preach the gospel even when churches barred their doors to him and crowds hurled rotten vegetables in his face? John Wesley had a passion for souls.
What caused David Brainard, though racked with tuberculosis, to weep in prayer for lost Indians in early America until the snowy ground was stained with his own blood? He had a passion for souls.
What caused John Knox, who led his whole nation to Christ, to rise in the middle of the night and cry, “Give me Scotland or I die!” John Knox had a passion for souls.
The very reason Jesus shed His own blood was for lost souls. It is the reason why He cried out,” My God, my God, Why have you forsaken Me?” If we lose this I believe we lose our purpose. May God the Holy Spirit give us a passion for the lost. I can’t wait for the day that I am completely set ablaze!
-Dylan Lupton
and I, Melissa Flood, say to that ” ME TOO DYLAN”
Steve Chase wrote on his status “One of the costs you must consider in following Jesus Christ…you don’t get to choose what that cost will be.”
Following God’s will for our life is a pattern of hearing God, doing what He says, and then waiting to hear God again, and then doing what He says, and then waiting to hear God…”
The pursuit of revival, before the fire or the extreme presence of God is there, before the weighty grace of God is upon us, will require us to change. If we want to experience revival, we must do now what we’ll be doing then. Change comes before the fire is lit.
John Burton http://www.praytherevolution.com
Faith is not a feeling! If you can feel it, it is not faith. Bill Winston
Will just keep adding, so check back soon…
Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart – Psalm 55:22
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. ~ Psalms 55:22
Study and Meditation
Cast – to throw or set aside, hurl, fling, to part with, lose, to shed or drop
Burden – that which is carried; load; that which is borne with difficulty
Sustain – to support, hold, or bear up from below
Suffer – to endure; to tolerate or allow
I am to give my entire burden to the Lord, not just part of it. Casting means throwing it off, not only slipping it off, laying it down gently and walking away. Sounds to me like there is aggression or a type of violence involved in getting rid of burdens.
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Recently, I heard a lady speak of the turmoil going on in her life. She described her emotional state “like waves tossed to and fro.” Sounds like a lot of moving, doesn’t it? Anxiety and fear can cause emotional instability, and when you are unstable, you are more likely to say things and make decisions that you will regret later.
In light of this description, I remembered James 1:5-6. In the first part of the passage, he advises us to ask God for wisdom.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
But then, he gives a warning:
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
So this lady’s description of her emotional state like “waves tossed to and fro” tells me that she is wavering. In other words, doubt is ruling her mind at the moment. Boy have I been there!
Today, in particular, I am tired, so I have been vulnerable to this kind of emotional reaction regarding some burdens I carry. Instead of casting them to Jesus as I should have, I have laid them down carefully, and because of that I can see them. I am tempted to pick them up again as if I can now do something about them. I can feel myself begin to waver under the heaviness and I know if I keep my eyes on those burdens before I know it I will start to react with fear, anxiety, and worry. Such a vicious cycle.
Today though my prayer has been Lord change me! If the burdens are always a part of life, Change me God! I am just tired of these things in me, honestly. I felt that old mindset rise up and I looked toward the burdens as is my habit but then something rose up inside me. It was the Spirit of the Lord, and as though He were carrying a great big stop sign, He brought those feelings to a complete halt by commanding,
“Stop!”
And then He said,
“I don’t want you going down this road, no more than you want to. I want you to get into My Word for ALL of your reactions and turn from this road down a hidden path. And when you are safely on this path, I want you to seal every step in your heart by writing it all down.”
The path was hidden by many, many bushes full of huge thorns. I saw them as the burdens surrounding the entrance to keep people from going down this little trail that was just barely traveled.
His care for me and His value of this hidden path He has sent me to, surprised me!
At that moment, with His touch and His leading, I set my mind on the path of faith. I determined that I will be single-minded. I will trust the situations of my present life to God no matter how I feel or how it looks to my natural eyes or to others.
God also reminded me of something important during this experience: Faith is a supernatural act. If you limit your mind to the natural (only what you can see, hear, feel, or think), then you narrow the options that God has to work on your behalf. But if you elevate your mind to the supernatural through faith, then you are able to take action based on complete confidence in God’s care for you and your journey.
Prayer
Help me, Lord to cast all my burdens on You. Not just today but every day and minute by minute if necessary. Help me to not waver in doubt but to trust both the old paths and the new paths that are all your path for my life. Change me, Lord. It is my prayer. In Jesus Name! Amen!!!
Psalm 51:1-2
Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart – Ruth 2:2-3
“Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.” ~ Ruth 2:2-3
Ruth had no idea.. She didn’t just “happen” upon the field of Boaz who was kin to her deceased father-in-law, Elimelech. No, nothing just happens and truly God’s divine working in our lives is both a joy and a mystery. His plans are perfect.
God is constantly working with us to accomplish His purpose and plans.
“And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” ~ Mark 16:20
God is constantly working in us to accomplish His purposes and plans.
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” ~ Philippians 2:12-13
God is constantly working for us to accomplish His purpose and plans.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” ~ Romans 8:28
With us, in us, and for us He is constantly working.
We fast and pray, we Read His Word, we seek His will, and then we make decisions (and sometimes we mess it up and make bad decisions); but it is God who orders our steps and the steps of those we encounter. In a vision, Ezekiel saw the works and plans of God depicted by a throne set on a “firmament” that was moved by “ a wheel in the middle of a wheel” (Ezekiel 1:16).
We can’t explain all of that, but thank You, God we can believe it and rely on it!
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The phrase “wheel in the middle of a wheel” made me think of this song. Truly Jesus is my Rock, my Sword, my Shield…my Wheel in the Middle of the Wheel. He’s the Lily of the Valley, He’s the Bright and Morning Star!
Complaining and Criticism: Issues of the Heart
Today through His Word He spoke directly to me regarding issues of my heart and issues of the hearts of those I allow to speak into my life. Some of what is spoken are words of darkness (things like complaining and criticism) going into my ears and/or coming out of my mouth instead of words of light and truth and praise. Words that kindle His anger and grieve His Spirit instead of words that make Him smile and rejoice.
My prayers and meditations from today’s Word is:
Psalm 51:8 “Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bone which thou has broken may rejoice.”
Psalm 51:15 “O Lord, open my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.”
Well, probably should just read all of Psalm 51. It says so much…like Psalm 51:6
Numbers 11:1 – and when the people complained it displeased the Lord: and the Lord hear it; and His anger was kindled. Number 11:10 – Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly: also Moses was displeased. (complaining, whining)
Mark 14:4 – and there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said why was this waste of the ointment used? (Criticism)
Mark 14:4-9 my thoughts – Then Jesus rebukes the disciples for their criticism.
This also struck me although off topic. In Mark 14:16 it says, “and he sought how he might conveniently betray him.” That word “conveniently” made me incredibly sad. To be betrayed is one thing but conveniently betrayed. I wonder how often we conveniently betray or disobey or sin in any way?!?
Conveniently: ease in use, easy, comfortable, at hand, easily acceptable, hand.
Proverbs 10-11 The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongues shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
Froward: willfully contrary; not easily managed; obstinate, wayward, difficult, fractious.
Only God could have prepared such a feast for me for this morning.
Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Help me oh Lord to apply this Word to my life today. In Jesus precious and holy and magnificent Name, I pray….AMEN!!
(Originally written 3/8/2013)
Ruth (Part 1)
Mark 13:32-33, 37
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