If anyone knows Melissa…

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

Years ago a traveling exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls came across the nation. Maybe you saw this exhibit when it came to Charlotte. I heard a story this week about the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls that moved me and I want to share today.

In the mid-1940s Bedouin shepherds, which are shepherds that lived out in the wilderness, were out tending their sheep and goats and one of their goats went into a cave. Before a Bedouin shepherd would ever go into a cave, they would throw a rock in there to be sure there wasn’t some kind of wild creature inside that would attack them. So they threw the rock and heard what sounded like the breaking of glass or pottery. One of the Bettuans went in the cave and found a set of clay jars lining the side of the cave. When they looked in them, tucked inside each one were leather strips that had writing on them. They were so excited because they had made this great find but they didn’t know what to do with them initially. They hung them in their tents and brought them out occasionally to show others in their families. Eventually, they took them to an antiquities dealer in Bethlehem but the dealer feared that they were stolen from the synagogue so he sent them away telling them they were worthless. They went to another dealer, a Syrian Christian, who offered to buy them.

Thankfully that is where they took them because it ended up that these were parts of scrolls and the writing was the actual writings of Essene priests who in fear of the persecution of the Romans went to this little place and hid these scrolls so that they would not be destroyed by the Romans.

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Don’t you love that our Lord did NOT have these to be discovered by Biblical scholars or theologians or archaeologists but they were discovered by what I think is one of His most favorite professions – a shepherd? Because so many of those He used greatly in the Bible and throughout history and even today spent time as shepherds and had a humble shepherd’s hearts.

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After the initial discovery from 1946-1956, 981 different texts were found in 11 different caves in the West Bank. These texts were the remains of between 825 to 870 separate scrolls. Not all the scrolls were Scripture. Some were community rules books and commentaries. BUT of the scrolls found there were fragments of every book of the Old Testament except Esther. 25 copies of Deuteronomy; 30 copies of Psalms; 19 copies of Isaiah –The longest scroll found was 26.7 feet and it was a TEMPLE scroll. They were made mostly of animal skins, papyrus, and copper and were written with carbon based inks. The book of Isaiah was the only scroll that was completely intact. And that intact scroll was 1000 years older than any other known copy.

If you go online and look at the images of the exhibits of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibits they had fragments in glass cases along with the translations of them. Those translations are incredibly similar to what you and I hold when we hold our BIBLES. Part of the exhibit regarding Isaiah also contained Luke 4:16-21:

And HE (He being Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias (this would have been a scroll at that time). And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

You can’t help but wonder if the scrolls that you see in the pictures of this exhibit is the scroll that Jesus Himself held in His hand that day. There are some scholars that believe that is the case.

But whether they are or not we don’t know. We do know that these scrolls are not just ANTIQUES; they are ANCIENT. And that moves me. It also moves me to think that these Words on these scrolls are God-breathed words, that were breathed into these men who wrote and that these men loved the Lord and His Word so much that they wrote each and everything as led by the Holy Spirit and they wrote them all so carefully. And revered them so much that they would when led by the Holy Ghost go and hide them.

When we hold this Bible in our hand, we can’t forget how long ago it was written, how it was written, and that these are HOLY Words. They are UNCHANGING WORDS. They are ETERNAL WORDS. They are not to be added to or taken away from…not in content but also not in our hearts!!! If the Word says it that needs to settle it for our hearts
whether we understand totally or not…because one day we will understand.

And I feel like the Lord wants me to say today – The Essene priests hid these scrolls because of persecution that they were facing by the Romans and because they feared the scrolls would be destroyed. Just as the Romans hated the Jews and Christians, we as Christians are becoming increasingly hated and under fire today even in our own country. The Lord says in Psalm 119:11, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Hide His Words in your heart!!! That is something He tells us over and over in His Word and is crucial in these days. Be led by His Holy Spirit even as these priests were led to getting it into your heart and do with it as He leads – speak it, write it out, hide it away. He will lead you and He will empower you. Put them in your heart and if called to do so, be it tomorrow or 10 years from now, be prepared that if He directs you to, hide the scriptures in the natural to preserve them. Don’t think it is a strange request!

But also hide His Word in your hearts to give you strength and to empower you in these days and so you don’t fall prey to the spirit of fear. I want to end with two short readings from that Book of Isaiah that were written on those scrolls.

Isaiah 40:28-31
Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 41:10
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;
So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger forever.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as heaven is high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
So far hath He removed our transgressions from us.

For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;
And the place thereof shall know it no more.
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting…

Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great;
Thou art clothes with honour and majesty.
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment:
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
Who layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters:
Who maketh the clouds His chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Who maketh His angels spirits; His ministers a flaming fire:
Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment:

The glory of the Lord shall endure forever: the Lord shall rejoice in His works.
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: He toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live:
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
My meditation of Him shall be sweet…

Praise ye the Lord
Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise Him in the heights.
Praise ye Him, all His angles: praise ye Him, all His hosts.
Praise ye Him, sun and moon: praise Him, all ye stars of light.
Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the Lord: for He commanded, and they were created.

Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling His word:
Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
Let them praise the name of the Lord: for His name alone is excellent;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary:
Praise Him in the firmament of His power.
Praise Him for His mighty acts: praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet: praise Him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance:
Praise Him with the stringed instrument and organs.
Praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals.
LET EVERYTHING THAT HATH BREATH PRAISE THE LORD!!!

(Psalms 103:1-17; 104:1-6, 31-34; 148:1-5, 7-13; 150:1-6)

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:8 – I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

• When we lift our hands to heaven, we are presenting everything we are, everything we have done, everything we have to God.
• When we lift our hands to the Lord we are lifting up our families, our loved ones, our relationships, our work, our money and everything else to God.
• When we lift our hands in praise and worship we are saying, Father, we adore You, we love You!
• When we lift our hands in prayer and song we are saying, we exalt You; we praise You; we trust You; we surrender to You.
• In fact, holding up your hands is and was a sign of complete surrender and dependence. You can’t touch your weapons when your hands are lifted.

Paul specifically said he wished all men everywhere would pray in every place, public and private and that they would lift up holy hands. The word “holy” is the Greek word “hosios” which describes something that is consecrated or dedicated to God. So when Paul wrote of lifting up holy hands he was expressing his deeply felt longing that men everywhere would present themselves as dedicated and consecrated to God. Pure from all known sin. Lifting up holy hands without wrath. What is wrath? Is it anger? Every temper or emotion of our soul that is not according to LOVE – is wrath. And then also Paul said, lifting up holy hands without doubting – which is contrary to faith.  When you lift your hands to heaven, what does God see?

• When we lift up our hands it is an act of thanksgiving.

According to Strong’s no 8426 the word “thanksgiving” (todah) is derived from the verb “yadah”.  It means to hold out the hand, an extension of the hand, especially to revere or worship with extended hands. It is to thank and praise God with one’s hands extended. The word for hand is “yad” and in 2 Chronicles 5 when Solomon had finished building the temple and it is time to dedicate it, the ark of the covenant is brought in, singers begin to sing, instruments begin to play. King Solomon stands to pray the prayer of dedication…and pictures depicting the scene have the priests (4000 of them) standing all around with their hands raised (their YADS raised) and the king says, “Hallelujah! For He is good!” and the entire company of Levites proclaims in unison, “and His mercy endureth forever!” And God blessed them by giving them the Shekinah glory. It was so bright that the priests could not minister.

• Holding up your hands means you have put all your faith in the Most High God/His plan.
• Holding up your hands, whether you know it or not, is an admission of weakness and that you have no power apart from the power of His Holy Ghost and His anointing.
• Holding up your hands means you have VICTORY!!!

A great example of this is when Moses’ hands were used to win a war in Exodus 17. I love this. Moses’ hands were used to combat physical war and spiritual war. When Moses lowered his hands, the enemy won. That physical sign of keeping his hands in the air no matter how hard it was for him revealed his devotion to God and that he knew he needed God’s help.

I love this because sometimes when I put my hands up in worship they suddenly feel like lead. So heavy, but I remember Moses and his devotion and I pray to the Lord for His help because I am ever so aware that I can do nothing unless He helps me, even keep my own hands raised up in praise and surrender. When you raise our hands we are are praising God and both publicly and physically demonstrating to Him that we know we need Him.

Moses kept his hands raised with help from others during this great battle and it was then that God revealed Himself as JEHOVAH NISSI – THE LORD IS MY BANNER. What is the purpose of a flag or a banner? The most important thing is that it identifies you. (OLYMPICS) But a banner also is a mark of victory. It is well understood that the conquering army in any battle has the right to remove the defeated country’s flag and replace it with their own, usually in the highest spot possible for all to see. The country with the conquering flag has won and now they are in control. Now remember this as you read EXODUS 17:11-16.

¹¹ And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³ And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. ¹⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. ¹⁵ And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi: ¹⁶ For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

We can be victorious by lifting our hands in worship! Here instead of raising a flag, Moses shows us that He raises God HIMSELF. After the victory instead of raising a flag at the highest point, Moses built an altar because, in those times, an altar was often used as a place of remembrance or marking an important event. Here Moses called God, Jehovah Nissi because he understood the revelation that GOD HIMSELF is our banner, GOD HIMSELF is our victory. He is the one who won Moses’ battles. He still winning our battles today. When Moses wrote that story down for Joshua, he was also writing it down for our benefit so that we will remember it as we go into battle. When you gather under Jehovah NISSI as your banner, trust Him that the outcome of your battle will be the same as it was for Moses and Joshua at Rephidim. As long as we are on this earth, there will always be war; don’t be surprised by it. Because we are also reminded in this passage that – Our GOD, JEHOVAH NISSI, HE IS ALWAYS THE WINNER!!!

What is your battle right now?

Drugs? Bitterness? Loneliness? Sickness? Jealousy? Depression? Hopelessness? Bankruptcy? Injustice? The list goes on and on…if I didn’t name yours, you can fill in the blank. You know what you are at war with and you know that in the heat of battle it is hard to see the victory at the end. BUT Remember JEHOVAH NISSI. Call upon JEHOVAH NISSI. Raise your hands in prayer the way Moses did. Don’t give up. Ask others to hold your hands up if you get tired. God is faithful to fulfill his Word.  When your battle is over you will have the right to replace your enemy’s flag with your own. Why? Because HE IS ALWAYS THE WINNER….and we know today that if YOU are in Christ Jesus you already have the victory too….so lift your hands and set your banner on high for all to see that Jehovah Nissi is your God. He has secured your victory.

God bless you today!!!

In three months I will be on a plane heading to Moshi, Tanzania, Africa! Wow! If God says it is going to happen you can count on it. I can’t wait!!!

We pray a lot of prayers and I am sure that as Moses led the children of Israel he prayed many and many kinds of prayers as well. But this prayer of Moses that we read here stands entirely alone – a category to itself. No other request can be compared to it. God’s glory is the sum total of who he is. It is God’s power plus his wisdom plus his justice plus his plus his holiness plus his love plus every other attribute of his character. God’s glory is the shining forth of who God is.

Moses had just spent 40 days on Mount Sinai communing with the Lord. During those days on the mountain, God revealed to Moses his law and wrote the Ten Commandments on the tablets of stone with his finger. While Moses was with the Lord, the children of Israel grew restless so Aaron gathered gold earrings from the people and constructed a golden calf and the people offered sacrifices to the golden calf. The Lord knew all about it and told Moses that he was going to destroy Israel and start over with a new nation that would worship Him and not turn to idols. But Moses interceded with the Lord for his people and reminded God of the promise he made to Abraham. So the Lord relented.

Then Moses came down from the mountain. When he saw the people and what they were doing, he threw down the stone tablets in anger. He burned the golden calf, ground it to power, mixed it with water, and made the Israelites drink it. Then he called for those who were still loyal to God. The Levites stood with him, and at his instruction, they went through the camp killing the idolaters. Three thousand died that day. The next day Moses pled with God for forgiveness for his people. He even asked God to blot his own name out of his book in order to save the people of Israel. God told him to lead the people away from Mt. Sinai and toward the Promised Land, but with one significant condition: “I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way”

Isn’t that our greatest fear too? —that when we go, the Lord will not go with us. So Moses intercedes again and says, “If you don’t go with us, we’re aren’t going to go.” Leaving God behind wasn’t an option for Moses. If the Lord has led you out of Egypt…you’d better not leave him behind at any point along the way and especially at your Mt. Sinai. You need Him & definitely are going to need his help to make it thru the wilderness.

Be encouraged today. In a time of crisis and probably feeling very weak as a leader, Moses dared to pray a magnificent prayer to the Lord. He asked for more than any man had asked for before, and he received more than any man had ever received.  Isn’t it powerful that the prayer and also the answer came in a time of crisis through a revelation of Moses’ own weakness?

Your trials are not meant to destroy you. God intends that you should use the hard times to draw near to him. Today whatever trial you face or struggle you are feeling…if you are willing to be made weak, you will learn things about the Lord that you never could know in strength and success. This is always God’s way. The strong think they have no need of God. But the weak are hidden in the cleft of the rock—and they are the ones who truly see God. Amen.

Hebrews 13:3 – Remember that that are in bonds as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body.

Prayer points

• Protect them and deliver them Lord
• give them the right words and help them to know how to share the Gospel; give them wisdom and understanding Lord; help them live the joy of the Lord before their persecutors
• help them to make Christ known
• that they will see your grace as sufficient and your power perfected in their weakness
• keep them safe and strengthen them Lord; help them to endure
• when necessary Lord help their praises to You to fall on deaf ears; when for Your glory – help their praises to draw all men unto YOU.
• Increase their faith Lord and we pray that they would know the hope You alone give.
• Help them to rejoice in sharing in Your sufferings Jesus and to love YOU more than life itself; bring to remembrance Your promise of their unbelievable future glory
• Help them to trust You completely
• Help them to love their enemies
• Help them to have real manifestations of Your love for them

• make a way for them to have Your Word; give the access to a Bible
• give them the courage to remain in their homelands for the sake of the Gospel
• keep their families safe and focused also on You; provide for their needs Lord
• for those that have been rejected by family and friends, surround them with a new Christian family to loves and supports them
• give them jobs and safe places to live
• for those that can’t feed their families today Lord, provide for their needs
• we ask for deliverance and mercy for those who are being persecuted for Your Name’s sake
• for those facing death today give them grace to finish well
• let your light shine through into the darkness as you shine through Your servants today
• make them brave and courageous; bold and fearless and full of unspeakable JOY!

• Help us to not forget them Lord; help them to know they are not forgotten
• Help us to remember that each persecuted Christian is a person just like us. Help us to remember to pray for them.
• Let the persecution of Christians weigh heavily on our leaders both in our country and our churches and that they might lead the fight in prayer
• Help us to see that persecution against any Christian anywhere is persecution of the entire body of Christ.
• Help us to wake up to the needs of our brothers and sisters here and across the world and to speak out and pray as one. Unify us Lord.

1 John 2:6: He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.

Some see salvation as a gift that enables us to barely make it through life and into heaven, but Scripture tells us over and over that there is so much more. It tells us that in Christ we are empowered to live as Jesus did.

How did He live? Jesus lived in extraordinary holiness, godliness,  and power. He walked in wisdom and creativity and He influenced His society. In His earthly life, there were many things He did but the one way He lived that I want to focus on today is that: He met the needs of the world around Him.

Throughout His time on the earth, Jesus healed the sick, cleansed the diseased, delivered people from bondages, opened blind eyes and deaf ears, make the mute to speak and the crippled to walk. He multiplied food to feed the hungry and He even raised the dead.

Says in John 10:10b, “…I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Jesus was sent to bring abundant life and while He was here, anywhere He went that He saw that lack or devastation threatened, He brought restoration. We may know this and we may hear the teaching of it and celebrate it even but we often miss or we ignore the charge to believers that follows those teachings.  One of these is in John 20:21 says: Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

We are empowered and commissioned to carry the miraculous power of God into our world. There are so many who hurt and who are suffering around us and there are many people praying for healing and deliverance or a breakthrough to meet their needs. Many, many times the Lord answers those prayers through us. WE are the response to their prayers and WE are God’s response to their needs.

How are we supposed to do this? The first step is obedience to do what He tells you or you feel He is leading you to do. But the outcome is all on Him and whatever outcomes they are they are through the free gift of God’s grace!

The Bible records of the early church in Acts 4:33 says: and with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

They did what God asked them to do BUT it wasn’t in their own strength or power or provision…it was God’s grace that was given to them to carry out and walk in obedience. It is the same with us. He might ask us to step out and do some things but He supplies to us too with the strength, the power, the provision and even the FAITH to believe!!!

All throughout the New Testament, we read of God’s people walking in His power to bring wholeness to the broken. This same power is available to you if you are a believer and it is available to me. Whether those we meet along the way face physical sickness, bondages, an addiction, mind battles or spiritual distress, God wants us to see ourselves as the carriers of HIS redemption…and to walk even as He walked, by His grace.

What would our world, our communities, our churches, our homes look like today if every believer acted on His promises that go along with this commission? What would our own lives look like if we took the commands of scripture seriously? Such Scriptures as

Matthew 10:7-8: And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdome of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

• Has it grown increasingly convenient to stay home from the church even though the Word tells us directly not to forsake assembling together?
• Has your personal prayer life and your Bible study and your worship started to disappear?
• Have things crept back into your life…attitudes, habits, sins?
• Do you keep silent at things in our country that are wholly against the Word of our God?
• When you see someone in need can you turn away or cross the street?
• Have your soul-winning efforts become confined only to times, places, people …when, where and to whom it is convenient for you to share the Gospel?
• Have you heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and turned away from Him or said not today?

• My Trust
• My Lord
• My goodness
• My delight
• My cup
• My inheritance
• My Lot
• My glory

• We see that He will direct our paths. He will guide us if we need guidance. He will put us on the path to seeing His perfect Will accomplished in our lives. He will show us how to walk this walk so that we look like Him; so that we have LIFE.
• We see that He will counsel and preserve us; we can trust Him.
• That when Jesus Christ is your Savior, your REFUGE, Your Lord…that you will experience God’s GOODNESS even in the midst of trials.
• That with the Lord beside us we can STAND. That we can find not just JOY but FULLNESS of JOY in His Presence.