It’s About Life

Jesus said there is an enemy, a thief, out to kill us.

John 10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Notice that His response to the thief was life – abundant life. Jesus was saying that when it comes to war, to battle with our enemy, the thief, the enemy brings his weapons of choice – death – but God brings life. Jesus spoke about this when He spoke about the Sabbath.

Luke 13:12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Here the church leaders of their day were getting down on Jesus for doing something agianst their understanding of scripture. But Jesus pointed out how they were again being hypocrites. It happened again.

Luke 14:2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.
3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
4 And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;
5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
6 And they could not answer him again to these things.

Here again we see Jesus saying that they all take care of their livestock if it is injured so why not heal on the Sabbath. What may not be clear is there is actual scripture to support His position.

Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Here is the scripture, or one of them, that Jesus was building His position on. It is righteous to regard the life of a beast, but the wicked would not and what the wicked call merciful – not healing on the Sabbath – is actually cruel. This also explains what Jesus meant by man not being made for the Sabbath.

Mark 2:23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.
24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?
26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?
27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Jesus did not mean do what you want on the Sabbath, it doesn’t matter. What He was saying is that to elevate the Law above life is to miss the point. The Law is our teacher, not a taskmaster that the leaders of that day tried to turn it in to. It is there to teach us, not to beat us up. God loves us and just would not do that. Today, if you want to go to war with our enemy with God at your side just remember, it’s about life!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as our King. We thank You for each day’s blessings. Please forgive us when we get things wrong, whether that be self-righteousness or complete lack of any form of righteousness. Please lead us, Your people today, Father. Send us Your healing, Your deliverance, and Your abundant provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

From Praise To Victory

My wife and I watched a movie last night about the perfect game that was pitched in the final game of the Little League World Series. What was interesting was the team always prayed and had the preacher read Psalms 108 before each game because there are 108 stitches on a baseball. Any reason is a good reason to pray and read scripture, but I thought I would read it in total as it was not read in the movie completely. What I found was outstanding and a good recommendation for getting to victory in God.

Psalms 108:1O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
2 Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
3 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
4 For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;
6 That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.
7 God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;
9 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.
10 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
11 Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?
12 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
13 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

Here we see the psalmist begins by calling for the praise and worship team to begin to praise God. They sang His exaltation above everything else. He then tells of places where there will be victory for them. The ending is really great. He says that they will win (do valiantly) because God is on their side.

We can have that same experience. The scriptures are here to teach us, to show us God’s ways. If we will sing out our praise and worship of Him, exalting Him above all else, He will come to our aid in the battle and trample the enemies.

Prayer
Father, we Praise and exalt You above all else. You alone are King. You alone are victorious above all our enemies. Forgive us when we doubt You. Come quickly now and defeat our enemies before us. Trample down those that oppress the poor and the fatherless. Send now Your healing, deliverance, and abundant provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Who Stands With Us

When we believers are involved in spiritual warfare (which can be as simple as living our lives) we have God on our side. For the most part I think we all know that and try to believe that. But we battle an unseen enemy that produces real results in our lives that are not good. Things first happen in the spiritual and they then become a part of our physical reality. This is stated many times in the scriptures and most of us try to believe in this. However, there is something about spiritual warfare that I did not think about until this morning.

The spiritual world can see the rest of the spiritual world even though we cannot. The devil can see God and God can see everything. The same is true for angels and evil spirits. All forms of spiritual beings can see each other and us. This stood out to me when I read a psalm today, and I imagined what that must look like. Try to imagine what you are about to read is available to be seen in the spiritual world by all spiritual beings, and that for just a moment you can see this too.

Psalms 97:1The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
2Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
3A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
4His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.
5The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

Imagine being our enemies, the dark spiritual forces. They are doing something to harm us. We cry out to God, singing of His power and might. Dark clouds appear on the horizon. The dark forces begin to get nervous and tremble because they know what this means. Suddenly in front of the dark clouds appears a large ball of fire! It is coming directly at the dark spirits, and is followed by an array of lightning bolts. They try to flee, but some are struck and fall. Finally the clouds are here, God is seated on His throne in the midst of the cloud, listening to us sing praises, and the enemies are gone.

This is what I imaging the enemy sees when we sing praises to our God. Sort of makes you want to sing a praise song right now, doesn’t it?

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. Come in Your dark clouds with fire and lightning. Forgive us our iniquities, and destroy and scatter our enemies. Let righteous rule. Send us Your reign, and deliver us today. Send You healing and provision. Show Yourself the Mighty King! We praise and thank You. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

The Challenge To Winning

A friend sent me an email today. It spoke of revival in our area. It reminded me of a scripture my wife shared with me yesterday.

James 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

It can be hard for me to wait, to be patient. I always want things to happen quickly. The truth is God does things according to His plan and timing. That can be difficult for those of us that just want to get to the time when our Messiah returns. I know this is true for me. But why is this such a challenge for us? Another scripture comes to mind.

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Even Paul longed for the day when we would no more be driven by human nature at that time when Jesus returns. We want the corruption in the earth to end. It is a desire within us that I believe God gives to all believers. WE will get there. We must be patient.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King. We await the return of our Messiah. Please forgive us the things we do not in alignment with who You are. Please send us today healing, deliverance, and provision not according to what we deserve, but according to You great grace and just as You did for the children of Israel. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Living Is The Battle

Believers, all believers, are in battle everyday. God created the heavens and the earth for us and to spend time with us. When man elevated the serpent by trusting him more than God, our battle began. When the enemy claimed responsibility for Jesus death, little did he know that the tide was turned, and now he was destroyed. As believers we become evidence that he has lost because to be Christian is to be Christ-like and we are the reminder that he lost.

Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Jesus said we are the light of the world. When we follow God, walk in His ways, and keep His commandments (the good works) men will glorify God. This is the battle. The enemy still tries to deceive us to get us to stop. He will try to tell us it is too hard. But we can take heart in knowing he is a liar and that this is a lie.

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

When we feel the pressure of the battle for life, that is the time to call out to God. Jesus said He will give us rest, and He does not lie. He said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. When we yoke ourselves up with the Messiah, He takes the weight and defeats the enemy. He will not let the enemy defeat us. With Jesus, we win the battle, every time, forever!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You are the King of the universe. Forgive us when we miss the mark. Lift us up and help us to walk in Your ways. Let us shine before men that they may glorify You. Help us to see that Jesus (Yeshua) is with us in this battle, and that the victory is already ours. Without You we cannot do this, with You we can do anything. Please send us today Your deliverance, healing, and provision in a mighty and profound way that all men might know that You alone are God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

We Never Fight Alone

It is difficult for me to imagine what it is like for those that think they are on their own in this world, that they alone have to make their own way, that they alone face each day’s challenges by themselves. For me, that would be overwhelming. I do remember when I was younger and not a believer, life was very difficult. It seemed as though there were forces at work to keep me down. The truth is, there was, and these forces are still out to get us and to keep us down. But we have a Greater One who defends us.

Psalms 92:1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
4 For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

Here we see the psalmist praising God in the morning and at night. He seems to be praising Him because of the work of His hands. It says that it is the hands of God that are doing this work. So, what is the work that is being done?

Psalms 92:8 But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.
9 For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
11 Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.

The work of God’s hands on our behalf is to defeat our enemies. He brings them to nothing while raising us up. Our God is always there for us.

Psalms 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
15 To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

God plants us in His family, His house. When we battle the enemy, we are never alone.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You are our strong defense. You overcome our enemies by the work of Your hands. Forgive us our iniquities and our weaknesses. Help us to walk in Your ways. Send us today Your deliverance, healing, and provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

The Truth Is Its’ Own Defense

There is a phrase in the legal world that is used as the test for when someone says something about something or someone and how they can defend themselves from being sued. The truth is its’ own defense. It means that if what you say is true, that is the ultimate defense. You cannot have someone sue you and win if what you are saying is truth. There is something similar for us as believers.

In fighting against our enemy, the truth is not only a defense, it is a weapon. God and what He says is the source of truth. God’s words always come to pass.

Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Here God told Isaiah that just like there is a cycle to water in the rain coming to the earth, watering and producing in the plant life, and returning to the heavens, His words are the same. He speaks, the words go out and do what He has commanded, and then the result returns to Him just as He said. In a way, this is the definition of truth. In the pursuit of seeking to walk with God, it is likely that we will not always get it right. That is a truth. Jesus died for all of the sins of all believers. That is a truth. Jesus spoke of this truth in the scripture I mentioned yesterday.

Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Here Jesus is saying plainly that those that hear and do are standing on the truth. They are being built upon Him for He alone is our Rock, and He alone is truth. John repeated this in telling us how to love one another.

1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

Here John says that our actions need to line up with the truth, just as our words need to as well. If they do, then we are keeping God’s words, we are walking in the things that He says will come to pass, and we can receive all that we ask for because we are in the truth. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, maybe.

Some things what we read in the scriptures are challenging to understand. There may be parts that seem to contradict each other. However, from what we have just seen, that cannot be. God said both, therefore both are true. How do we reconcile these? Not our job. We do not have to reconcile anything. We just need to say the truth, and try to do the truth. What about the conflict that may seem to exist?

The answers are not in our heads. Don’t try to figure it out and make up some kind of rule about it. We go to God. We spend time with God. We trust God to show us how to walk it out. And oh yeah, when we do that, we destroy the enemy and his works.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are King. We do not always get things right. For that we ask You to forgive us. We need Your help to understand what You want us to do. We want to walk in Your truth. We trust You that You are on our side. Please show us Your ways that we might walk in them. Please send us today Your healing, Your deliverance, and Your provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Taking Back The Land

The last few days have been very interesting. It began with a disagreement between my wife and I that we couldn’t seem to get behind us. Immediately after that first day, I became sick and then she became sick. After about four days of that, last night while in bed I woke up every hour, struggling with some thought or another, I would say out loud, “No I am not thinking about that.” It was easier because I was worn out and was able to shut my mind off to sleep. But an hour later I would wake up. In about the middle of the night, I woke up and thought about our situation, and decided that it was time to just not give way to the division between us. I said a quick prayer of thanks to God for helping me, and went to sleep. A scripture came to mind as I prayed.

Psalms 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
21 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

There will be work ahead of us because we have to figure out how to better communicate with each other. But God wants us all to work on our walk. Not that it is meant to be a struggle. It is not.

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Following the Messiah is easier than not following Him. The lie of the enemy is that our walk is hard and not following God is easier. That is just a plain lie. Our God loves us, and is on our side.

Prayer
Farther, we exalt You as the Most High King of the universe. We praise and thank You for Your mighty works on our behalf. We ask today that you forgive us and help us to trust in You. Please send us today our deliverance, healing, and provision in abundance. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Saving The People

When faced with spiritual challenges, we have to overcome a foe we cannot see or hear. This may seem impossible, but it is real. Jesus told us we have a real enemy.

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

He also tells us that He is here to give us an abundant life, which is just the opposite of the enemy. This is the same message that we have heard from the beginning. The psalmists wrote about this many times, telling us that God was our defender against this enemy. Against all enemies, really.

Psalms 28:6 Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
8 The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.
9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

In the end, our only hope to fight an invisible enemy out to destroy us is God. But that is much more than enough. Think about it for a minute. God even made the enemy, therefore, in the end it is an easy thing for God to defeat him! Praise God for defeating those that oppose and oppress us!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High God. We ask that You watch over us and protect us. Please forgive us our wrong doings, especially forgive us for any harm we have caused anyone. We thank You for Your mercy. Please send today the healing, the deliverance, and the provision we need for today. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Be The Battle

This morning I had quite a drive through a snow storm. It gave me time to think about the many ways we can become involved in spiritual warfare. One way that came to me that was quite different from anything I had considered before. Our existence is itself the evidence of not only the battle but that God has already won, which has to be tough on the enemy. Here is what I mean.

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Here God created us in His image and likeness. Then He gave us dominion over everything on the earth and the earth. So first, every time the enemy looks at us, he sees something that looks like God. Then, he also sees that we have the power over this planet and everything in it. Another reminder. What are his choices? He has to try to deceive and persuade us to follow his ways instead of God. The goal is to get us to look like the enemy instead of looking like God.

So you want to fight the spiritual battle and win? Just show up. You look like God, and when you try to walk in God’s ways, you act like God. Game over, and the enemy loses!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You! You alone are King. We long to serve You and walk in Your image and likeness. Please help us find Your way. Please send today our deliverance, our healing, and our provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.