Heavenly Perspective – Part 3

Let’s look at Colossians 3:14, “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

How do you put on something? How many of you know that you don’t just get up without thinking and get dressed? If you do, you will be embarrassed when you go out.  You’ll say, “What a mess!”  When you look at yourself may find you got buttons buttoned wrong, you got two different colored shoes and two different colored socks.  When people meet you they will say, “What’s wrong with you? Did the lights go out at your house?”  See, you don’t just get up and put on anything without thinking about it. By the same token, you do not just become something without thinking about it.  To become something different than you are, you are going to have to think about it. Now with that being said, that means if you are acting in fear, doubt and unbelief, you have given it thought.

Let’s stop for a moment and think about what we just said, “If you are acting in fear, doubt, and unbelief, you have given it thought.” No one can fear unless they are thinking about something that provokes you to be afraid.  No one doubts unless you happen to be presented with something that sound far-fetched and hokey.   When situations present themselves in your life, it causes every person to think and analyze what they are experiencing which creates an emotional response deep inside you.  You have consciously or subconsciously gotten up, walked to your closet, got out the helmet of damnation and started putting on doubt, fear and unbelief. So the Bible says, “Above all put on love”.  Spiritually speaking, you walk to your spiritual closet and look around.  Seeing what you are looking for, you say, “Oh, love, there it is. I’m going to put that on.”  That is a decision you make.  That means you have to meditate on the Word of God and find out what the love of God in the Word is, and as you do, that love will live on the inside of you.

Now Paul is talking to Christians telling that the Bible says, “the love of God has been shed in their hearts by the Holy Ghost (Rom 5:5).”  If God has shed His love in our hearts by the Holy Ghost and we receive the Holy Ghost upon receiving salvation, that means the love Paul is referring to has always been in our hearts, but it is not enough for love to be in our hearts, we have to put it on.  The Bible says that “the Lord will beautify the meek with salvation. (Ps 149:4)”, yet all of can attest that we have seen some really mean Christians.  Yes, they are saved, but they just haven’t made the decision to put on God’s love.   Now what does it mean when it says the Lord will beautify the meek with salvation?  It means that the things you have experienced through God will become the predominant influence in your life.  Why? Because you have been thinking about them, meditating on them until you know that you know that you are saved. Your words will show it.  Your actions will show it. Everything about you will show it because you have been beautified by it.  Everyone who meets you will say, “There is something different about you” and they will ask what it is. Tell them, “I put on the love of God.”

Colossians 3:15, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.”

Now how many of you know that in order for the peace of God  to rule in your heart, the thoughts of God have to be in your mind.  You cannot have anxiety while you are meditating on God’s Word and God’s goodness.  You only have anxiety, lack of peace and turmoil in your heart when you have been thinking the wrong way.  Now what did you do? You stopped mortifying the deeds of the old man on the earth.  You stepped out of who your heavenly identity/position in your thought life and came right down to the earth realm by allowing your old nature to rise. You became double-minded and unstable in all your ways (Jms 1:8).

Colossians 3:16-17, “Let the Word of Christ, dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts, to the Lord. ¹⁷And whatsoever you do in word and deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

 Isn’t this awesome!!! He said, “put on love”, “let peace rule in your heart and be thankful”, and then “let the Word of God dwell in you richly” and this can go beyond that.  When there is peace in your heart and love is being worn by you, people will see it over you both inside and outside, and you will have thanksgiving in your heart.  Now what do you thank God for?  You thank God for what He has promised.  If you wait to thank God for it when it happens, you will see very little results happen in your life.  Thanksgiving looses the hand of God to perform what you already believe.  Remember, you cannot thank God effectively unless you remember you were seated with Him in Christ spiritually.  You have to know where you are and when you know where you are, you will know that what you have been promised is done. Now that is reason to be thankful to God.

Have you ever had something happen in your life that was so good you couldn’t contain yourself?  Well, in those times you were so full of joy that you shouted and hollered.  You may have been so overjoyed that psalms, hymns and spiritual songs rose up inside you.  Next thing you know, you are talking and admonishing one another, and people say, “there’s grace in your heart.”  See, it all came about by a decision to meditate, think upon, dwell amidst, and make the things of the Spirit of reality.  You are so consumed by them that they become the very thoughts you think, but the very feelings you feel.  Now there is not only grace in your heart, but hymns, psalms and spiritual songs in your life.  But the Bible doesn’t stop there.  It says, “whatsoever you do in word and deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”  Do you know what that means?  It means do all on behalf of Jesus.

Have you ever listened to someone pray?  You hear them asking God to do things on their behalf, but God is saying, “I gave you power, you do it?”  They will say, “Lord heal them, because I can’t” and God will say, “You heal them, I gave you the power.”  Why do they think they can’t?  Because they still see themselves as the old man they used to be.  That old person they were before Christ didn’t have the power to do, but you are not that old man.  That old man died with Christ and you are now a new man seated in Christ.  You are a new man that has Christ’s name, Christ’s power and has been sent by Christ to do on His behalf and what can that man do?  He can do all things (Phil 4:13). You are risen, you are not going to rise in the rapture, you are risen already.  In the rapture, you are just going to catch up to what Jesus did for you already.  Your identity in Christ is right now.  It is in Christ.  When you get into that holy place in prayer, you walk right into the Holy Place of God and “with boldness, you obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:16).  Wait! Did you catch that?  That means you don’t even pray in an earthly realm, you pray in the spiritual realm, in a dimension that gives you immediate access into the presence of God where you get out of God the strength you need to minister in the power of the Spirit.

So Paul tells us, “whatever you do, do on behalf of Christ, do in the name of Jesus, do with an absolute knowledge that you have been made a recipient of the full power of attorney.”  What is a power of attorney?  It is a legal and binding contract or agreement that permits the holder to do all things on behalf of the person giving the agreement.  With that, we can now read Colossians 3:16, “whatever you do, do knowing that Jesus gave you a letter, His will, His living testament, His authority/permission to do all things on His behalf.”  Simply said, Jesus is telling you, “Go, you can sign on my behalf.  You got all my power behind you. Go out and conduct biblical business as if I was there doing the work myself. Whatever you do, do it as a representative of Me, so everybody will know that you are doing it in My name.  Whatever you do, do it in My name!”  Now when Christians and the body of Christ gets a hold of that revelation, they are going to see changes happen before their eyes.  Remember, we are not talking about getting this revelation in our minds, we are talking about getting this revelation into our very spirit, so that we diligently pursue this thing.  Things just don’t happen, we have to diligently pursue them. We have to go after them and get a hold of it.  Whenever you get a hold it, your life will begin to resemble Christ’s life.  You will begin to see people prospering.  You will begin to see people ruling over circumstances.  You are going to see people that nothing can defeat because they got a revelation of this very fact.

“And whatsoever you do, do in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father by Him”.  How do you give thanks to God by Jesus?  How do I give thanks to God?  You first identify who you are in Jesus and then you identify Christ is your life.  When you do that, you identify you have the Spirit of Christ and you identify that “as He is so are you in this present world (1 John 4:17).” So when you identify that, you lift your heart and hands to God without doubt and fear, and say, “Abba, Father. It is by Jesus…” Guess what happens at that moment?  Your praise goes right out of your heart into Jesus who is sitting at the right hand of God and right out of Jesus’ heart to the throne of God.  That power of praise hits God.  So how do you give praise by Jesus.  You give God total praise by giving the old man absolutely no access to your thought life whatsoever.  You do not identify with the old man you used to be, remembering that man is dead.  You remember, you owe nothing to the flesh.  You are free and you choose to follow God and do what He says. Now when you give praise like that, what happens? When you give the Lord total praise, the praise goes right through the spiritual realm into your life that is hidden with Christ in God.  Only your new life in Christ can gain access to God.

When we pray through the new nature, life goes right into the life that is in Jesus Christ and praise is made unto God by Jesus.  When God turns around, He is excited because praise is emanating right out of Jesus to the throne of God.  Remember God is omniscient (all knowing).  He can identify every individual’s praise in the body of Jesus.  He is not going to mistake my praise for your praise. It is all coming out of Jesus, hitting the throne and God knows whose praise is whose.  Did you know that every praise that has made its way to the throne, has already qualified for an answer?  Once the thanksgiving says “it’s done”, it is put into motion and all things begin to work for your good (Rom 8:28).  So the only way to give Him praise, is to make the throne and the only way to make the throne is to sever yourself from the old person and identify yourself with the new person.  Now once you allow this new nature to operate in you, that new person is living.  He is linked in good with Jesus.  He’s tied to Jesus.  He’s hooked up to Jesus and has the boldness and access to God.  As a result, God hears him, identifying both his petition and his praise.

Romans 13:11-12, 14; “And do this, knowing that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹²The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

Now the Wuest translation of the Bible says,

“and this, knowing the strategic season, that it is an hour now for you to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. ¹²The night has been on its way, and the day has arrived. Therefore, let us at once and once for all put off the works of darkness and let us once and once for all clothe ourselves with the weapons of the light. ¹⁴But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and stop making provision for the sinful nature with a view to a passionate craving.”

You are in a strategic time! Now the Bible is clear about your heavenly identity. So clear that we have to really misappropriate biblical warfare to step out of the authority that He paid for us. Here it tells us that the time we are living in is a strategic time.  There is an opportunity to rise out of sleep.  How many of you know that sleep and slumber spiritually speaking is a byproduct of a lack of knowledge of the Word of God or a lack of willingness to act upon what we know is in the Word.  So when it is talking high time to awake, it is saying, “it is time to get a revelation of the Word of God and do the Word.”  And then it says, “to put on the armor of light”.  How many of you know what the armor of light is?

The Bible talks about putting on the whole armor of God (Eph 6:10-19).  It talks about the helmet of salvation.  How do you put on the helmet?  You put it on by thinking and meditating on the salvation He gave you, Scripture relating to that salvation and what that salvation provides.  All of a sudden, your mind is guarded by a weaponry or piece of armor that God provided for you.  Now how many of you know that the devil attacks the mind?  That is why you need the helmet of salvation.  You put on the helmet of salvation by making a conscious decision to wear it.  So the armor of light is the armor of God and every piece of that armor you put on is put on by consciously deciding it is available and wearing it.  When you put it on, you are protected.  When you know the Word and you have it in your mind, your mind is protected by the Word so that when lies and doubt come, you will say, “No!” to them because you know the Word.  When you got the belt of truth on, then you are prepared to run, you are prepared to fight, you are prepared to move, you are prepared for every activity in life because you know the truth.  When you are prepared to spread the gospel, it is like you have shoes on that can lead you to the battlefield. When you know the Word of God, it is like you got the sword of the Spirit.  The point I am trying to make is that you can consciously meditate on who you are in Christ, your heavenly position through Him and by getting that revelation out of the Word of God, you can be dressed for and be protected in the middle of any battle.

So it is high time to wake up and you wake up through revelation of the Word of God.  It is high time to put on the armor of light, but it also high time to put away from you once for all the works of darkness.    God said, “Make a decision to peel off, to take away, to put away from you the old nature.” That tells me that God is telling born again Christians to remember that they were born again and to make a decision to once and for all say “I will no longer struggle with my old nature.  I will never again doubt whether or not I am what the Bible says I am.” How many of you know that it doesn’t mean you will not be tempted?  You can never just make a decision to put away the works of darkness and never have to deal with them again.  No, you can make a decision to put them away from you, by disassociating them and disclaiming them.  You say, “No!, that ‘s not me!” Now they will keep trying to come around but because you made a decision that they are not you, you can have authority over them every time they try to come around by saying, “that’s not me! I put that away from me.  I am a new person.  I am wearing the armor of light.”

Now watch what it said here and this is the key verse, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.”  The Wuest translation says, “clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ and stop making provision for the sinful nature.”  Simply said, Wear the Word. The Word is alive (Heb 4:12).  Put it on. Put it in your heart.  Put it in your mouth.  Put it in your mind and put it on your body.  Put on the Lord Jesus.  That means when you put the Word on, you remember that you are everything that the Word says you are in Christ.

Break Open Your Alabaster Box – Learning to Pray – Part 3

“Praise is the Christian’s heavy artillery; praise is more effective in spiritual warfare than is an atom bomb in military battle (Duewel)”

“While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman?  She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.  When she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare me for burial.  (Matthew 26:6-13)”

[This story perfectly illustrates the meaning of true worship.  Can you see it in your mind’s eye.  This woman rushes to her room and runs to her chest of drawers.  Ruffling through its contents, she finds a carefully wrapped alabaster bottle filled with the most precious of perfumes.  As she looks down at it, she remembers it worth, but inside her heart she bursts to share it with the Master.  What would He say? What would He think if she poured it upon Him out of the love she felt in her heart?  Would He be angry or would He see into the depths of her soul and see how deep her love was for Him?  As her thoughts imagine that moment, she can hardly contain herself and rushes to the object of her adoration.  This woman gave her most valuable possession to show her heart felt love for the Master. Now that is some kind of worship!

Yet, worship is a important key to answered prayers.  In fact, most fail to realise that worship is a powerful form of prayer that brings Gods glory down and puts the enemy to flight. Sadly, most Christians are ignorant to this fact.  Yet still, God is looking for true worshippers.

Worshipping God is critical and vital for true worship in the Spirit as it ushers you into the Holy of Holies, that is, into the very presence of the Father.  It is a divine encounter with God.  For this reason, it is important to understand what worship is, so lets begin by looking at its meaning.  The Greek word for worship is “proskyneo” meaning to prostrate oneself, give reverence to.  Did you catch that?  It is an act of adoration and reverence, a rendering of divine honor, esteem and love towards God and Christ.  That’s right, it is an outward display that brings us in direct contact with God. Through worship we give value and worth to the object of our worship. While worshipping the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, we are pouring out our love for Who They are rather than what They have done for us because worship centers on Who God is, while praise and thanksgiving involves giving to God and thanking Him for what He has done. The Bible tells us,

“He who brings as offering of praise and thanksgiving honors and glorifies Me” (Ps 50:23)

Thanksgiving is an aspect of prayer whereby we recognize and give thanks to God for all His blessings. Like praise, it is a type of prayer that draws the heart away from self and centers it upon God.  This is why when we come before God we need to begin by worshipping, thanking and praising Him before we present our needs.  Jesus said that true worshippers would worship in spirit and in truth.  In a world of idolatry, man has turned his back on God to worship power, money, sex and the world’s pleasures.  God is searching for true worshippers.  He desires those who will build a living memorial to Him through worship, like Mary, who poured out lavish worship on the Lord Jesus.

Many Christians in the church are holding onto idols in their hearts.  Many have placed their families, careers and pursuit of worldly pleasures first place in their lives instead of the Lord and their worship for Him.  These things have become their idols.  There are others who have put the work of the Lord and ministry, above the Lord.  Ministry has become their god.  They have exalted the work of the Lord above the Lord Himself. They have become so busy in their work for the Lord that they neglect to spend time in His Presence worshipping Him.  This is spiritual idolatry.  The Father is looking and yearning for those who will worship Him wholeheartedly, who will not just honor Him with their lips and say they love Him, but will truly worship Him.

To gain a clearer understanding of what true worship really is, lets look at the life and example of Abraham.  God wanted to know Abraham’s heart and whether or not he loved Him above everything else.  He directed Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac.  Abraham obeyed God. When he reached the place of sacrifice, where God had directed him to go, he left his servants saying, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.  We will worship and then we will come back (Gen 22:5)”.  Abraham, in obedience to God, was on the way to offer Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice to God. Yet, he said, “we will worship”.  He believed God, who had given him the promise that through Isaac and his seed he would become a father of many nations.  He was willing to offer his son in worship on the altar knowing that God would be able to raise him from the dead.  Abraham’s worship involved his willingness to give God the thing of greatest value and that was dearest to his heart – his son, Isaac, for whom he had prayed and believed God for.  It involved more than just words.  He didn’t just tell God how much he loved Him.  He worshipped God and poured out love through his act of obedience and faith.

True worship involves our verbal expression of adoration and praise as well as our actions.  As you give yourself as a living sacrifice to God and come before Him, pouring out your love and worshipping Him for Who He is, He receives your worship and in turn, gives Himself to you.  His glory comes down and His Presence is manifested.  The Father is not withholding Himself from us.  He is just waiting for us to break through all man-made traditions and formalities and come into His Presence and worship.

Ignite the powerful weapons of worship, praise and thanksgiving to defeat the enemy.  We are to face our circumstances and things coming upon the earth before the Lord’s return, not with fear, but with the “High Praise” of God in our mouths and the two-edged sword of His Word in our hands.  This is an hour when God’s people must declare His praises among the nations.  God has made us to be a “royal priesthood” to proclaim His praises to the end of the earth.  Something happens in the spirit realm when God’s people begin to truly praise, sing and worship Him.  There is a release of new freedom that comes forth.

Begin your time alone with the Father by first worshipping Him for Who He is: The Great I AM; Jehovah Jireh, Abba Father; Jehovah Shalom; Jehovah Nissi; Jehovah Rapha; All powerful; Ancient of Days; King of Kings; Lord of Lords; Savior; Redeemer; Deliverer; Lamb of God; Lion of Judah and soon coming King.  One of the first things to do during worship is to recognize the awesome glory, majesty and holiness of God.  He alone is holy.  As you come into His Presence, honor and praise Him for His holiness.  He is perfect in all His ways. Praise Him for His mercy, His loving kindness and His faithfulness.  Begin to thank Him for what He has done for you. Throughout your day, wherever you go, praise Him and tell Him how much you love Him.  During your worship time, shut away with Him, God wants you to abandon yourself in worshipping Him.  Worship and praise God with a passion, forgetting everything, losing sight of what anyone will say and totally losing yourself in Him.   The key to experiencing God in His fullness is to humble ourselves before Him, lay aside all pre-conceived ideas and cry out to Him with all our hearts.  Cast off your robe of pride and self-sufficiency and begin to sing, shout, and dance before Him.

Pray this prayer:

Father, my heart rejoices to know that You love me with an everlasting love and that You desire my worship and praise. You alone are worthy of all praise, honor, glory and blessing! I am hungry for You! My spirit cry out to know You in a greater capacity. My love you and desire You above everything else.  You are the only true and living God.  You are high and holy and I lift You up and exalt Your holy name. I praise and worship you because You are full of mercy, grace and truth. I desire to know You in Your fullness. With all my heart I want to worship You in Spirit and in Truth.  Teach me to open my alabaster box of true worship and worship You in Spirit and truth. (Cerullo)]

Beyond Ordinary Prayer – Learning to Pray – Part 1

     There are many of us out there aggressively seeking a more intimate relationship with God, but where do we begin that pursuit? How do we get there?  I am so hungry for God, hungry to know him experientially, hungry to get beyond just Him being words on a page of a Bible. I bet there are many who are looking for their burning bush or their “on the Road to Damascus” experience, but I must ask you a question. Would you open your heart’s secrets and desires to just anyone? What would it take for you to open yourself up and share those most cherished dreams and heartfelt desires?
Yet, many of us enter into God presence whether that be in a sanctuary or in the privacy of our own home carelessly. We come to Him with our minds preoccupied with our daily activities, our circumstances and while we sit, God fights for our attention in the midst of the tangled ball of thoughts. Let’s take this point home, have you ever sat in church and while the pastor speaks, your mind wonders to what you will do when church lets out or what you will eat because you are hungry or even looked at your watch to see how much longer before church is over? The answer to these questions will give you an indication of the true spirit of your worship.  How do you approach God?  Do you see Him for Who He is are for what He can do for you?  Do you reverence and awe Him or treat Him like one of your best buds?  Your attitude toward Him determines your level of intimacy as no one in their right mind will open up their heart to someone who really truly doesnt care.  Just as you guard your heart from hurt and disappointment, sharing it with only those who earn your trust, so too, does our Father in heaven.

      God has always desired for us to draw close to Him, as evidenced by His creating Adam at the very beginning of time. This is the only time that any man walked with God as He truly intended and though Adam fell, God never stopped yearning for our intimacy with Him. How do we know? He sent Jesus so that we would be restored. Through Jesus’ sacrifice we were given access to God’s throne room where we can present our prayers and petitions before Him. God cries out from the depths of His being for us to come to Him in true worship and praise.  Prayer is one vehicle in which God made available to do that, but so many who pray really do not pray as they should so we are going to take a journey to learn how to pray in the same powerful, unlimited dimension as Jesus, that place where nothing is impossible to us. Now whether you get there is determined by you and the attitude you take. Ask yourself, are you satisfied with living as you are or are you ready to experience the full potential of the true power of prayer that Christ intended for His people?

      Now it doesn’t matter where your prayer life is now. Christ is calling you to rise above your current state and join Him at His side where your prayers will change cities, nations and groups by His power. To do that you must set aside all traditions and preconceived ideas of what you thought prayer is and be willing to move into a new realm and experience in prayer. True prayer is more than reading prefabricated prayers from a book or repeating eloquent words to impress those who are listening around you. Prayer is a means to move God’s hands to produce His will here on earth. Our natural minds can not get us there. We must move from the natural into the realm of the supernatural where there exist no limits and where all things are made possible. To get there, we need the power of the Holy Spirit for prayer is born of the Spirit.

      It is only through God’s Spirit we can truly learn to pray for He is the giver of all prayer. Though there are many books that can teach us the prayer, there is no better teacher then Jesus, our Great Intercessor. Through His Spirit we will be enabled to pray prayers that are motivated, directed and divinely energized by Him. Remember, we are not alone in our quest to learn. Even Jesus’ disciples (Luke 11:1) sought out Jesus, asking, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” I am sure these disciples were much like us, praying traditional prayers learned from their worship in their synagogues through the priests. One of the greatest experiences of the disciples was witnessing the prayer life of Jesus who lived in unbroken communion and fellowship with the Father. Any Bible reader knows that He would rise early in the morning long before others and slip away to pray. Before every major event in His life, He would spend time alone with the Father.

“The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son
likewise.” (John 5:19)

     The great victories Jesus experienced during his ministry on earth all began in prayer. Prayer is the key that unlocks the storehouses of God’s infinite grace and power (R.A. Torrey). Jesus was no different from us. He could not win these victories by His own strength no more than we could. He came to earth as a man stripped of His divine abilities. He walked as we did and toiled as we toil, but through it all, He never depended upon Himself. He did absolutely nothing independent of the Father. Everything was a result of what the Father revealed to Him while He was in His presence during prayer. Jesus sacrificed time to be in the presence of God. It was there that God would reveal His will to Him. It was there that He penetrated enemy lines. It was there He fought the battle and won. Can you imagine what was running through the minds of His disciples as they listened to Him pray? I am sure they hungered to pray just like Him. In answer to their heart’s cry, Jesus began to teach them the Lord’s prayer. This prayer set forth a pattern for us to follow, breaking the traditions set forth by the religious leaders of that time and even today.

True prayer must come from our hearts, not our heads.  It is not just words and phrases we repeat as a routine or formality.  It involves us coming before the Father with our hearts, in total admiration and submission.  God does not desire for us to give Him only a portion of our heart, He wants it all.  That’s right! God wants our whole heart.  How do we know?

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your hearts” (Jeremiah 29:13)

It is said to say that many Christians pray what they learn, their words empty and hollow because they are spoken through the ability of their mind and do not pour out of the depths of their hearts.  To go beyond ordinary prayer, we must get beyond the head knowledge and traditions and cry out from the midst of our heart “Lord, break through the dead, dry traditions and teach us to pray!”  God is not a God removed some where in heaven, far from our reach.  He is not a God that is unapproachable or inaccessible.  He is a loving God who desires to be intimate with us.  There is no place in the Bible where He did not reveal Himself to His people looking for intimacy and fellowship.  How do we know?  Before we were ever even created, God already had a plan to redeem man.  He gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be restore to Him in intimacy and communion.  Through Jesus, we were given another chance to have a new intimate relationship with God.

     To get beyond an ordinary prayer, we must have a fresh revelation of God.  We must know Him, not just talk about Him.  We must know that He desires to p0ur out good things in our life.  We must know that He has provided everything we need and is just waiting for us to ask.  We must know that He is looking for opportunities to manifest His power on our behalf.

 “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

When we live in the place of intimacy with our Father, the prayer of faith and its answers will be the natural result..  To go beyond ordinary prayer, we must know that we must come before the Father with our whole heart, knowing Him intimately as our Father. True prayer is much more than asking our God for things.  It is a vital, living relationship with a childlike simplicity, in faith, trusting and knowing He desires to pour out into our lives.

Now we must understand that it is through Christ that we have divine access to the Father by the Spirit.

“For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Ephesians 2:18)

 True prayer begins in our spirit.  We are commanded to pray in the Spirit.

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” (Jude 20)

God is a Spirit and is not bound by time and space.  The only way we can know Him is by the Spirit dwelling inside us.  It is our Spirit who ushers us into God’s presence.  It is our Spirit that prompts us to pray.  It is our Spirit who teaches us to pray.  It is our Spirit who guides us in our prayers, giving us a faith and strength.  To become a great prayer warrior, we must be willing to go beyond ordinary prayer to a place beyond the natural mind. We must develop a total dependence on the Holy Spirit because only He can enable you to know the heartbeat of God, only He knows God’s priorities and will.

“True prayer is the Holy Spirit releasing the mind and will of the Father in us, and then giving the divine unction and utterance to speak the word of faith to accomplish it. (Cerullo)”

To go beyond an ordinary prayer, we must break through the natural barrier so that the Spirit inside us can pray, that is, we must stop trying to pray according to our natural understanding.  When the Spirit prays, the will of God goes forth.  His prayers never go unanswered. We must seek to be filled and under the full control of the Holy Spirit. The more we surrender our life to Christ and die to self, the more we allow the Holy Spirit room to work in us to release His power through us.   True prayer is a way of life.  It is the highest and holiest work to which man can do.  The extent of the abiding is the exact measure of the power of prayer.

Pray this prayer:

Father, thank you for placing Your Spirit within us giving us divine access to Your throne room.  We submit ourselves fully into Your hands.  Holy Spirit, have full control in our lives! Teach us to pray! Reveal to us the Father’s heart, His will, and His vision for our lives, families, cities and nations.  Father, impart to us divine ability to pray prayers that will release Your power and anointing to bring salvation, healing and deliverance.  Anoint us to pray prayers that will result in Satan’s strongholds being destroyed and Your Kingdom and will being established in every nation.

Soft Music for a Hard Heart – A Study of David – Part 3

Regardless of who we are, music seems to be the very thing that soothes the soul.  Music dates back to the times of Jubal (Genesis 4:21) and is spoken of throughout the book of Psalms.

The Bible says that “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him (1 Samuel 16:14-15)”.  The Bible doesn’t tell us why God allowed the evil spirit to terrorize Saul, but we can assume that God wasn’t too pleased that he had walked against His will.  Can you imagine Saul’s struggle?  Saul only struggled with an inward feeling of depression at the rejection announced to him, but he felt melancholy, insane and without peace.  The evil spirit stirred up feelings, ideas, imaginations, and thoughts within his soul that drove him to the point of madness.  No one around Saul knew what was happening within Saul’s soul, but they realized he needed help and boldly suggested that to him (1 Samuel 16:16-17).

In Biblical times, music was thought to soothe passions, heal mental diseases and even hold riots in check.  It is interesting how God used these beliefs to set the stage for David.  Someone happens to hear that Saul is looking for a musician and the door now opens for David to come on scene (1 Samuel 16:18).  Wow! what a resume! This verse describes David as a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, prudent at speech, handsome and the Lord was with him.

David didn’t know it, but he was getting ready to enter boot camp on the road to becoming a king.  David had to be all God said he was as he never once pulled rank on Saul, never one became jealous or envious of the king’s position, he was truly anointed to let the Lord open all the doors to his future.  David was a man after God’s own heart.  When David walked into the king’s presence, Saul had no idea that he would someday replace him on the throne.  David did what God had called him to do.  With a servant’s heart, he tended to Saul, becoming his armor bearer.  The Bible tells us that Saul came to love David because “it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hands; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him (1 Samuel 16:23)”. Can you picture Saul lying on his bed or pacing like a caged animal, writhing from the madness raging within him and there in the corner David sits playing his harp, maybe even singing?

God was definitely with David whose music would not only soothe the soul of a king, but would someday fill the pages of Scripture in the written Word.  The king not  only found relief from his torment, but he found love in his heart for the young shepherd boy whose music touched his soul.

Like David, a spirit filled saint is a song-filled saint.  God’s antenna is always attuned to the praises of his saints.  Never mind how beautiful or pitiful you may sound. Sing out! Sing Loud!, making melodies with your heart to the King of Kings, the Lord your God. If you listen closely, you may even hear the angelic hosts answering back.

Soft music for a hard heart is what David provided Saul.  That’s the soul music that Christ provides and that’s the place we must begin.  He died, was buried, rose from the dead and was resurrected that we may have life and a desire to live a positive, fulfilling life free from depression and despair.  He is our Shepherd and we are his sheep, needing the music of His Voice.  We can rejoice and exult in God together.

Six Kinds of Prayer

1) Intercession is standing in the gap to reconcile a supplier with the needy.  It is learning to bear up people, places, or situations in prayer.  (Isaiah 59:16)

2) Faith.  The prayer of faith is asking God to intervene in a situation. It is urgent and therefore comes up when an immediate result is desired (James 5:15)

3) Consecration. The prayer of consecration is offered when the believer needs to know or do the will of God. At such times, the expressions “if it be thy will” or “let they will be done” become appropriate (Matthew 26:39)

4) Petition. The prayer of petition is often called supplication in Scripture.  It gives the believer the opportunity to petition God until the answer comes.  While the prayer of faith is prayed once and requires immediate response, the prayer of petition may be presented several times, either an oral or written request (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

5) Praise. Praise if a form of prayer.  It is praising the supplier without focusing on the need (Jeremiah 32:17)

6) Agreement. When at least two or three people band together in the name of Jesus to request a thing from God, God promises to grant it. The power of this prayer is in the quality of agreement and the strength of unity among those who are praying (Matthew 18:19-20)

The Place of Sacrifice – The Brazen Altar – Prayer Part 6

Once you have washed in the brazen laver, it is time to be purified at the brazen altar.  This is the second stage of our outer court step in God’s pattern of prayer.  The brazen altar is where you let go of your will and embrace everything the Lord wants to do in your life.

Let’s review: You have entered prayer through the gate of Jesus Christ with thanksgiving and praise for what He has done.  You have drawn near to God by moving through every distraction in the outer court.  You have submitted to the “washing of the Word” at the brazen laver, and now you know exactly what “manner of person” you are.  The transformation has begun.  You have come through “the way”” (the gate), but you are still in the outer court realm of prayer.  You have reached the “truth” level for your personal life, but your prayer experience isn’t fully matured; you still have to be broken before the Lord.

What is an altar?  The word “altar” in the Hebrew means “a slaughter place”.  In the Greek, it’s called “a place of sacrifice”.  The brazen altar is the place where natural earthly things that hinder your walk with God are consumed by the fire of God.  It’s the place where you become a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1-3).  Everything within you that does not line up with God’s perfect will comes to an end at the brazen altar.  They are set on fire and consumed in the Spirit.

What does it mean to be set on fire and consumed in the Spirit?  This describes what it feels like after you become committed to a life of prayer, when the Lord allows you to be confronted with certain situations that will become the very trying of your faith. You must always remember that once you confess and declare that you believe the works of Christ and what He has done in your life, then every work of the Lord in your life shall be tried by fired (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).

For example, gold jewelry is forged by being placed in the fire.  The goldsmith’s purpose for doing this is to draw the impurities and black tar particles to the surface.  Then  he pulls the gold out of the fire, scrapes off the impurities and foreign particles, and puts it back into the fire.  He does this repeatedly until he’s gotten to the deepest interior of the lump of gold.  During this process, everything that would cause this piece of jewelry not to shine, not to be declared as costly pure gold, is burned out so that the value of the gold increases.  God is doing the same purifying work in our lives.  When we allow God to put us “in the fire” we are cooperating with everything He is doing in us.  We are releasing every impurity that would hinder us from becoming a most valuable resource to Him and to His work.  When these impurities are burned out of us, nothing in prayer can be hindered – because the forging process strengthens us to carry the weight in the Spirit.  This makes us valuable instruments in His hands, not shallow believers.

God gave Moses very specific instructions for the construction of the altar in Exodus 27:1-8.  The altar was to be “five cubits square and three cubits high”  Five is the number of grace and three represents the Godhead.  When you go to the brazen altar, you are submitting to (proving) the work of the Godhead – and you will be transformed through His Word.  Jesus has already perfected the fire, meaning He has already tempered the flame to facilitate each and every person that will enter.  No two people go through the same trial.  No one goes through the same fire.  God tempers the flame so that it only burns up what He cannot use.  It will not consume the part of you that He desires to use.  Though the fire gets rid of the bad elements, it allows “that which remains” and “that which is good” to be formed and shaped until it adheres completely to His image.

God gave specific measurements for the altar.  “Make horns for it on its four corner; they shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.  You shall make pots to take away its ashes, and shovels, basins, forks and firepans; make all its utensils of bronze.  Also make for it a grate, a network of bronze; and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.  And you shall put it under the ledge of the altar, so that the net will extend halfway down the altar. And make the poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood overlaid with bronze.  The poles shall be put through the rings on the two sides of the altar, with which to carry it.  You shall make [the altar] hollow with slabs or planks; as shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.”

The brazen altar was made out of wood and then overlaid in bronze.  Wood represents humanity, and whenever humanity is involved, there are limitations.  Bronze symbolizes judgment, so the brazen altar is where God atoned for the limitations of man through the shedding of blood.  (Isaiah 53:5-7)  As you approach the altar of sacrifice, your ability to hold fast to your confession will be tested.  When you die to the flesh in prayer, the laver and altar enable you to rise up in the Spirit and walk into the holy place.  Sacrifice always comes before service.  Put yourself on the brazen altar and God will lead you to the second and third realms in prayer.  You won’t carry thoughts, ways and ideas to His throne – you will receive divine knowledge and revelation from Him as to how you should pray.  That is why you must go beyond outer court prayer.

The brazen altar was three cubits high, which symbolized the Godhead.  It also matched the height of the Ark of the Covenant, which rests behind the veil in the most holy place.  The base of the ark was two and a half cubits, but it extended to three cubits when they mounted the cherubim on top of the cover.   I believe this indicates that the glory of God will be equal to the sacrifice you make on the brazen altar.  If there’s no communion with God at the altar, you won’t have a match or connection in the most holy place.  To be effective in prayer, your sacrifice must measure up to the level of glory you want to experience with God in intercession.  Too many believers want great power with little or no sacrifice.  The danger comes when you think you are operating in the light of God, but in reality you are still functioning in natural light.  In the outer court, in natural light, daylight ends and night comes.  That means sometimes you are able to see your way, and sometimes you cant.  In the third realm, the light is supernatural.  It always shines because it comes from the glory of God.

The original flame that lit the brazen altar came directly from heaven! The Chumash states that the fire “went into the Holy of Holies and from there it went out to the Golden Altar and then to the Outer Altar, causing the incense and the sacrificial parts to go up in smoke.  Do you see the pattern?  In his first service for Israel, Aaron performed the sacrifices according to the pattern of prayer revealed to Moses. He followed Gods pattern and the Glory of God was revealed to all the people.  After this “day of obedience”, the priests were instructed that the “fire upon the altar shall be kept burning on it’ it shall not be allowed to go out (Lev 6:12). Each morning they were to burn wood on it and make a sacrifice.  From that day forward, wood, which represent humanity, kept the fire burning.  God requires us to lay ourselves on the brazen altar every day and say, “whatever doesnt please you, Lord, burn it up.  Consume my will, desires, emotions – anything that doesn’t line up with Your will”.  We are the wood that keeps God’s fire burning on the altar.

Even still, God doesn’t expect you to sacrifice without His help.  He provided for you by putting four horns on the corners of the brazen altar – which represent salvation, strength, and power! So when you lay on the altar of sacrifice, you receive salvation, strength, and power from Him to do His will.  Why?  Your flesh is being consumed in the fire of God, so it can’t hinder your prayer.  When you go into the holy place, you will be fully matured in prayer.

When the fire of purification is consuming your flesh (meaning when you are being challenged to walk in right standing with God in the midst of temptation), you must remember your salvation.  You must go back to the four works of Christ and learn to praise Him in the fire.   This also ties in to the four horns on the altar.  The number four represent the earth and its elements – the four winds and the four corners of the earth.  So Christ’s power to help you in prayer is unlimited! It extends to all four corners of the earth.

Jesus completed the pattern of prayer to help in time of need.  His sacrifice was great and can’t be ignored – we must embrace it.  We must be willing to go into the purifying fire of God with faith that Christ will help us.

(Teachings from Juanita Bynum)

The Place of Washing – The Brazen Laver – Prayer Part 5

I can’t tell you how many times I have read the Bible bypassing a lot of the scriptures that cover the genealogy and construction of the tabernacle.  To me, once read is enough as there wasn’t much I really saw that was important to me, yet years later, I find that the there was so much to learn about the tabernacle.  At first glance, you wouldn’t think so.  This study has so proven this way of thought wrong.  I can only pray that as we walk through each part, you will find that God hid away in these verses patterns for us to go by, even today.  Let’s continue where we left off.

If you remember from our last lesson, we have entered into the outer court, the place where the brazen laver and brazen altar.  Now prepare yourself for your journey through the outer court.  As you begin to walk through the outer court, you enter the brazen laver stage of God’s pattern of prayer. If you recall, you have passed through the gate that represents the works of Jesus Christ: His righteousness, divinity, kingship and sacrifice.  These four works of Christ allow you to enter His “courts” in prayer through expressing praise and thankfulness to God for what He has already done.  You have kept moving forward through the outer court, drawing ever nearer to God, becoming a reflection of Christ, Himself.  The brazen laver is the place of sanctification, where the Word of God cleanses and begins to prepare you to serve in your priestly function as an intercessor.  It is the first piece of furniture in the tabernacle and the first part of God’s nature that embraces your life.

Exodus 30:17-21 (NIV) says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die.  Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the Lord by fire, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die.  This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generation to come.”

Exodus 38:8 (NIV) says, “They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.”

In these times, the priest were required to wash their hands and feet, indicating that prayer is not suppose to stay on the personal level.  By washing, the priest demonstrated their total devotion to God’s service.  So what does this have to do with you?  By receiving Christ you were given access to the outer court.  It is important that you dont stop at entering through the gate.  God wants you to keep moving forward.  Whether you want to realize it, God must take us to another level in prayer, the level that prepares us to pray for others.   Since prayer is not only a personal relationship with God, but also a ministry, you must be taught that washing at the laver prepares you to minister to yourself, to someone else or to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:26 says, “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

So what does the Old Testament Washing at the laver have to do with us today.  We, as priests, don’t worship in a tabernacle the way the Levite priests did in ancient times, yet washing has an important significance in God’s pattern of prayer.  Washing at the laver is symbolic of our washing in God’s Word, which helps you to strip off the “old self” which is your flesh.  Until we wash at the brazen laver, we live “according to the desires of the flesh and are controlled by its unholy effects”.  In the outer court, we are still setting our minds on the things which gratify the flesh.  This is why you must wash.  Our sanctification at the brazen laver is accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit, our Life Giver.  God can’t use a fleshly intercessor.  There is no room for a flesh prayer.  You must wash at the laver to get cleansed and prepared for the next level of consecration.

Returning to the Bible, we find that the brazen laver was made of solid bronze, symbolizing God’s judgment – so it reminds us that He’s the final judge of whether we are spiritually clean.  It also reminds us that there’s a final judgment for those who reject the Word (John 3:18, Revelation 20:11-15). It is through the washing of the word that Jesus is able to begin transforming you into the image of God.  You can’t do this for yourself.  I believe that is why the laver had no recorded measurements and no wood in it’s construction.  The Word of God is absolutely unlimited in its ability to wash and cleanse you. Nothing is too deep within for the laver to reach, too far in your past to erase, or too distant in your future to control.  Its cleansing power is unlimited, so you can become exactly who God destined you to be in His kingdom.

In the Old Testament days, the mirrors that women used were made of bronze.  The brazen laver was constructed from the mirrors of the Israelite women.  I think it’s interesting and somewhat cute that women provided the mirrors, because the spirit of vanity is portrayed in women more than men.  It is almost as though God moved upon these women to surrender their vanity and overcome it.  To me, this represents a surrendering of what you think you look like to the Lord.  Do you really know what “manner of man” you are?

When the priests approached the brazen laver, he saw his reflection in the water and a second reflection in the basin.  There could be no mistake about how he looked.  When you go to the brazen laver in prayer, God shows you a true reflection of who you are.  By coming to Him, you are able to see your natural reflection and get a glimpse of what you are becoming as He imparts the Word into your life.  He’s beginning the process of “completing” your salvation (1Peter 2:1-5).  This is where you become conscious of doing the Word that God imparts to you from the basin – where you decide to start living for God and become a true reflection of Him, where you decide to rise up from your prayer and begin to live as you believe.    The Word helps you see yourself as you really are while it enables you to obey the revealed Word.

Many people hear the Word but fail to understand they need to do what it says.  They hang around in the outer court and then wander over to the brazen laver to wash – because everyone else is doing it, but when they can’t endure the washing, they run away from the laver to a place where they feel more comfortable.  No matter how far you run, you can’t escape the washing! If only you would wash at the laver, it would reveal the truth about who you really are by reflecting the Word into your heart.  Then you would understand that it isn’t that people are suppose to wash – we need to wash! We can’t go deeper in God until we are sanctified at the brazen laver.

Though you wash at the lever, you can not remain there.  You are still in the outer court level of praying, so the only person you will be able to pray for is yourself.  Remember that the outer court prayer focuses on self, your wrong doings, your limitations and failures, what you need to overcome and so on.  At this stage, it’s still about YOU.

As a matter of fact, the priests could not stay at the laver for very long each day before they started performing their priestly duties.  In other words, don’t resist God when He deals with areas of your life at the laver! Let the Word do a quick work in you.  You can’t afford to miss one day at the laver.

(Teachings from Juanita Bynum)

Deuteronomy 8:2 – Why am I here?

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way into the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart…He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna…

The Bible tells us that we have three weapons – praise, prayer and the Word of God.  God led us into a time of trial, a time where we are in need of something to fill an emptiness we feel; a time of emotional unrest or complacency.  We exist there without a purpose, without desire and without drive.  During this time we struggle with things well beyond our abilities to fix. Why?

If we have the ability to overcome all things, we become self reliant, self centered, and selfish.  We, as people, tend to believe that it was through our own abilities that we are able to overcome.  In that process, God is lost.  In this passage, God gave the Israelites a specific amount of time to stay in their desert.  He even told us why they were there.  Funny thing is – God knew their heart and motives.  God gave the Israelites this time to allow them to see themselves for who they were.

Let’s think about the process of making steel.  As the heat is applied, the impurities surface.  They are then skimmed off leaving behind a stronger more pure metal.  Isnt it the same for us? We would never willingly walk into anything that would cause a negative feeling; that would hurt or cause us discomfort.  Yet, if you think about it, those hard times actually serve a purpose.

It is during our struggles that things, whether good or bad, surface within us.  This takes me back to something God said – a person has to see the problem before they can fix it.  If that problem never surfaces, it lays dormant only to surface at the wrong time.  God takes us to these places of trial to ciphen off the impurities within us, thereby making us stronger should the situation arise again.

Our trials are used to change us, to transform us into God’s likeness.  All these trials or situations, though they are uncomfortable and sometimes hurt, are to our benefit because they are what brings us closer to the image of God, while developing our trust and faith in the process.  During our time of trouble, our gaith grows; we become stronger. As we continue to follow God, we learn that praise, praer and the Word are the things we use to beat the enemy in his ploy.  As the enemy sees us drawing closer to God, he does whatever he can to cause us to stumble.  He uses our mind and the situations to convince us that God doesnt care, to convince us that God cant or wont do what He says, to convince us that because of our past mistakes that we are unworthy.  If the devil can do that, he has won the battle.  God, however, has given us the weapons of praise, prayer and worship to defeat the devil long before he gets us to that point.

Ephesians 6:10-18 now applies.  We must put on the full armor of God to prepare ourselves in this spiritual battle.  Just as a soldier puts on each piece of his gear to protect something vital from being harmed, we as Christians must put on the spiritual armor for the same reason. As I keep writing, I realize that the battle we fight begins in our mind.  Some of what is there began to take root when we were small.  The devil is cunning and patient.  He plants things in our mind slowly and subtly. Things begin to take root long before we realize we are out of control.  By the time we realize what is going on, the actions are natural to us, second nature, habit.

To begin to change, we must change the way we think.  Easier said than done when you think about how long you have been doing things wrong.  Picture this. A child enters a store and see something he wants.  He proceeds to put on a temper tantrum.  If the parent give into the childs ploy, the child learns that to receive what he wants he just has to act a fool.  If, on the other hand, the child is corrected and doesnt get his way, he learns to change his behavior. 

Our flesh is the child.  If we give into the flesh, we continue to do so later creating a habit hard to break, but if on the other hand, we deny that want, we break the habit and foster a change.  It all begins in the mind.  God has placed us in our situations to recognize ourselves for who we are, so that we can surrender ourselves to the only One who can bring about a change.  He also encourages us through our situations to persevere, thus being a living testimony for God to use as an instrument for another struggle through similar trials. The time spent in your desert has purpose, not to mention it lasts according to the time God has determined.  Walk through your storm, knowing that you are here with a purpose.

Silver and Gold, I have none, but what I have…..

Acts 3:1-10

There are many stories in the Bible we can all relate.  The story in Acts 3 is just one of many that says alot about the Apostle’s Jesus left behind.  On the surface of the message, a miracle is told which shows the Apostles in a different light.  Now we will take these words we read and come at in from an entirely different direction.  Within these verses, we will see more than a physical disability, we will see our spiritual disability.  Let’s take a journey together and dive into the deep mystery of God’s Word.  With the help of the Spirit, watch as the truth unfolds before your very eyes.  I pray you will be touched by what you learn an dhunger to dive deeper still into God’s hidden mysteries.  We will use the story told here to show how we all have one disability or another. 

Here, a man crippled from birth is physically carried to the temple gates to beg others to meet his physical needs, in the same way, we, as people, who are all spiritually crippled from birth are gently wooed daily to the foot of the cross.  The man is symbolic to each one of us.  Just as his physical handicap has hindered and limited his life, our spiritual handicap has hindered ours.  His handicap prevented him from walking.  Doesn’t seem too serious until you look at how this one thing affects his life as a whole.  No longer is he independent of others.  He must now rely on the compassion of others to fulfill his vital needs.  Since he can’t physically walk, he can’t work.  No work means no provisions for himself or his family, but the disability doesnt stop there.  Now he is the talk of the town.  The town’s views and perceptions have now changed.  Pity, ridicule, and even separation become apart of his daily life, not to mention, he is now looked upon with contempt, often being pushed to anonymity.  Does this sound spiritually familiar?

We are born full of sin.  As we walk in the world, we become polluted by its ways and by its thoughts.  Our sins open the door to our battleground in our mind.  We begin to deal with the repercussions of our lifestyles – depression, addictions, self-centeredness, separation, condemnation and more wage war inside us.  In the condition we are, we are no help to ourselves much less others around us.  Maybe we are not handicapped in a physical sense, but spiritually we are held hostage in our minds and hearts by the circumstances of our lives.  The mind controls our destiny, crippling us in the very spot we stand.  We, whether, we admit it or not are no different than the man here.

Everyday this man relied upon someone to carry him to a place where he would beg others for help.  What better place than at the gate of the temple?  What better people to ask than those who claim to be God’s chosen?  God stood for love and compassion for our fellow brethren, right?  Yet, this very day would be one of great significance to us all, even today.  This very day, this man’s life would change forever. His actions would now determine his destiny and he didn’t even know it.  Sitting at the gate of the temple is where it all begins.

In the Old Testament times, it was the temple gate. Today it is the foot of the cross. Just like this man, everyday God carries and woos us to the foot of the cross.   Both places are a place of life-changing decisions.  Both places are a place where the choices you make determine your eternity.  The Bible says that as Peter and John attempted to enter the temple court, the crippled man asked them for money.  Peter and John could have easily reached into their pockets and given him exactly what he asked, but they didnt.  Looking straight at him, they demand the man’s attention.  Why do you think they did that?  Though the Bible doesnt say, we can figure there was a reason, as we shall soon see.

The man’s obedience to their request was the key to what would follow, but this wasn’t the only key.  The Bible says that the man also expected something from Peter and John in return for his attention.  Now the Bible doesn’t speak about Peter, John or this man’s character or their faith, but we can believe that each played a significant role in what was about to happen.  Remember the Day of Pentacost had came and as promised the Holy Spirit rested upon the Apostles.  They were changed, bold, fearless, faithfilled men,  In faith and fully enabled by the Spirit, they perform a miracle, giving this man a gift from heaven – his healing.  In faith, the man not only received this gift, but believed enough for the miracle to come to fruition.  The amazing thing was, the Apostles showed love.  THey didn’t stop at mere words, but reached down to help the man to stand.  Immediately faith and expectation resulted in manifestation.  What was once weak, now became strong. What was once crippled, now became restored.  Again, does this sound familiar? Spiritually crippled, God demands our attention to look to Him.  If we are obedient and do as He asks, we can expect Him to fulfill our request.  Though He has the power to give material riches, He gives a gift more priceless than that.  He reaches into the crippled parts of our minds and hearts, and helps us up.  Immediately, our spirits become strengthened, enabling us to rise, walk and praise His Holy Name.  What was the key?

The key was the choice to look to the Father, from where our help comes.  The key was our obedient faith to expect whatever comes our way.  The key was believing and receiving in faith the impossibilities.  When God woos us to the foot of the cross, we must choose to look, to accept, and to believe on Him.  He does the rest. He calls forth all we need.  He reaches down in compassion and love to help us rise again.  He empowers us, strengthens us and leads us back to Him.  We, in return, should give Him glory and praise as our handicaps are now our strengths.

Faithfilled expectations bring about life receiving manifestation of the Spirit.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Joshua 4:1-24

It should be noted that Chapter 4 is written chronologically.  Also if you look at verse one, the first seven words are the last seven words of Chapter 8.  Verse two addresses the twelve men selected as does 3:12, but it is the actions of these men that will be the topic of our discussion – Giving Credit where Credit is Due.

As a people, I find that by nature we are self-centered and selfish, lacking the quality of gratefulness.  Gratefulness is a quality that we have to be taught.  That’s right, we have to learn to give thanks.  Have you ever noticed that we, as individuals, view God’s blessing as stepping stones for the next level of self-achievement, always looking forward to the next blessing that God is going to give us?  In our need for more, we forget to give thans for what we have already received.  Surrounded by God’s blessing, we seem to always find something to camplain about.  Chapter four addresses three truths about gratefulness.

1) Gratefulness is learned early by our children (Joshua 4:1-7). After Israel had fully crossed the Jordan, the twelve men were commanded to take twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan from the place where the priest’s feet stood and carry them out.  The stones served a purpose.  These stones would be used to teach a lesson.  These stones would memorialize the people’s gratefulness to God for what He had just done.  God commands His people to use these stones to also teach their children of their significance.  The stones were put in place as a reminder to the people to thank God for the blessings of life and protection.  As you can see in verse six, God shows that our children must be taught to be thankful, to give credit where credit is due. If you have ever watched a child, you can attest that they wait in expectation to receive, often receiving without thankfulness.  The more they receive, the more they want and the cycle goes on and on.  We must teach our children that blessed are those who give without remembering and blessed are those who take without forgetting.

2) Gratefulness is legitimately earned by our God (Joshua 4:8-14).  Obedience is a natural response to a grateful heart.  The Israelites did as they were commanded to do.  They took the stones and built a memorial.  You might think that faith was an easy thing to come by in those days especially since the people were eyewitnesses to the hands of God, but that’s where you are wrong.  God’s hand was not always evident to them, though He was at work in their lives.  Just as God is today, God was then.  There were times when the people doubted if God was with them because no supernatural events were happening.  How many of you know that God is working in our lives even when we can’t see Him?  Yet, during these uneventful times we forget where He’s brought us from, focusing only on our here and now times. God’s command to build a memorial served as a reminder that He alone deserves to be praised, that He alone is deserving of our gratitude.  He has proven Himself endlessly.  So why do we lose sight of our blessings, only looking to the immediate? Do we realize where we would be if God wasn’t in control, doing all He does?  This brings me to the third and final truth,

3) Gratefulness is lost easily by ourselves (Joshua 4:15-24).  Regardless of the situation, we should never forget the events of our life.  These events make it easy for us to see God’s greatness as He works them our for our good.  It is only by the hand of God that we have come this far and it is ony by His hand that we will make it the rest of the way.  Do we look at these blessings as stepping stones for our achievements, quickly forgettting them as we move to the next one or do we memorialize them, remembering to give God credit for all He has done to aid in our accomplishments? Do we show God thanks in our actions, our obedience to His commands, or do we do things our own way taking credit for what we’ve accomplished?