Olive Trees

We all likely have felt there was a time when someone spoke something about us to other people that was untrue. It may have even made us feel badly about ourselves. Over the years I have spoken to many people that have had this experience, and I have had it myself. It can be difficult to overcome these feelings because these wounds can go deep. David had this experience and wrote a song about it. He said that people that do this will experience their own destruction, and the righteous will laugh at them for trusting in their riches. His conclusion was an interesting one.

Psalms 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
9 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.

David says he will experience the mercy of God for ever and ever, and he will praise God for ever. He did this because God delivers Him from these people. David used this song to help him wait on God, and it was good to do this in the presence of the other believers.

If you find yourself hurting from the words of others, you may want to try praying for them and yourself. You may also find it helpful to sing praises to God, and wait on His deliverance in the presence of the believers.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. Thank You for all You have done for us and for a day of deliverance. We trust in You alone to be our deliverer. Please forgive us when we hold on to hurts and help us to heal. Please send us the deliverance we need Father, and the abundant, overwhelming provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name.

Seeing Clearly

Isn’t it interesting how we can sometimes see something over and over and then suddenly, see something totally different when we look? This has happened to many times in many different situations. Somehow it seems to amaze me more when it happens in the scriptures. One example a teacher recently shared with us from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

The scripture I had not seen clearly before is verse four. The Rock followed them. It is my understanding that Hebrew tradition is the rock that Moses struck for water in the desert followed them when they moved! This is yet another of the miracles that God did in providing for His people then. And that Rock spiritually was Jesus. When we see all the many signs like this, and the Feasts of the Lord, it is becomes more clear that God is a miraculous God, always there for us! We can forever give thanks to Him for watching over us.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are the one to whom glory is to be given. You alone are worthy of all honor and praise. Forgive us Father, for we are but men, and do things that men do. Help us to walk in Your ways, and commit ourselves holy unto You. Send us today Your healing, deliverance, and provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Distraction, Deception, Diversion, Destruction

A key to winning in most competitions is to get the opposition to do what you want them to do. This could not be more true than in spiritual warfare. Many believers today try to better understand and defend themselves against this by staying active in their churches. Seems like a good thing, right? In many ways that is true. It is stated often in scripture that it is good for believers to be together.

Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Now let’s return to my original premise. A key to winning is to get the opposition to do what you want them to do. This is what the serpent did in the garden to Eve. He distracted her with a foolish question, he deceived her with a lie about not dying and about being like God, he diverted her attention with the attractiveness of fruit that must surely result in good taste, and then destroyed her and Adam’s perfect life when they ate, pushing death into the world. Clearly our enemy is good at this. There is another scripture that indicates part of his plan at the end of time (where I believe we are presently). It speaks of this same pattern of distraction, deception, diversion, and destruction.

Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Here Daniel is speaking about the beast at the end of time. It says he wears out the saints. How? By changing the times and laws. The word “times” here actually means “sacred festivals” as it is translated in the New Living Translation. So the beast at the end of time changes essentially the holidays – the Feasts of the Lord.

Today is Shavuot which is the feast fifty days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread during the Passover season. It is also the day in the upper room that God sent the Holy Spirit recorded in Acts 2. However, we see many believers celebrating Pentecost fifty days after Easter, neither of which are on the same dates as the Feasts of the Lord. This raises some interesting questions. If the beast at the end of time changes the sacred festivals, and they are now changed, how did that happen? If the sacred festivals were important in that they tell God’s story of redemption and salvation for man, giving God the glory, then what story is being told by these new holidays and who is getting the glory, really? If the method of winning is to get your opposition to do what you want them to do, and the beast at the end of time is our opposition, and the four stages I mentioned are correct (distraction, deception, diversion, and destruction), which stage are we now in?

All very interesting questions, worthy of investigation, don’t you agree?

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High. Thank You for all You do for us, and for Your eternal markers in the creation of Your handiwork and our salvation. Please forgive us when we get off track and follow a path other than the one You have set with Your feasts, Your signs in the heavens, and Your Holy Spirit. We thank You for this day many Years ago when You sent us Your Holy Spirit, and we celebrate that day today. Please send us today Your healing, deliverance, and overwhelming provision.

Digging Deep

Have you ever tried to remove even a very small tree and had to deal with a tree stump? I can remember growing up that we were taught in Biology class that trees can be as tall underground as they are above ground. Whether or not that is completely accurate, I do know that they can have very large roots even five feet down – that is as far down as I have seen them dug. Near where I work there was a large wooded area that they cleared recently to build a factory. It took huge bulldozers and other very large heavy equipment to remove these trees from the ground. The roots were enormous! One reason these trees trees need such large roots, aside from stability, is water. They need to seek out and find the water they need to survive. God made us in that same way. The psalmist actually compares us to trees in our relationship to God.

Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The water we are planted by is the living water, our Messiah. When we choose to follow Jesus, He gives us new life. For us not to wither and die we need to dig deep, and spend time getting to know God. How? By spending time with Him and by reading scripture, meditating in it day and night. This gets us to a place where we will not be moved by the evil that our enemy tries to do to us. We can live a flourishing life, if we will dig deep with God.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as our God. Thank You for Your blessings in our lives. Thank You for all You do for us. We ask that You help us to stay on Your path, and forgive us when we do not. Please send us today Your healing, Your deliverance, and Your overwhelming provision in a way that causes all men to know that You alone are our source for everything, and You alone are all powerful. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

What To Do, What To Do…

In troubled times it is good to know that God is on our side. When I think of the Old Testament saints I often think of David. What a passionate person David was! He served God with his whole heart, and yet still he blew it from time to time. David wrote of this often. He even tells us in places just how to get right with God, and that we can do this at any time. Our enemy would like us to believe that we cannot cry out to God if we are not completely clean from sin already. David said just the opposite, that in those times is exactly when we should cry out to God for forgiveness.

Psalms 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

Here David notes what a blessing it is to be the person that is forgiven. How did David know? Because he messed up on a regular basis, but always sought God for forgiveness. When David gave in to the enemy’s idea that he could not cry out to God, it wore him out – his bones waxed old. Once he prayed to God and confessed his sin, he was delivered through songs. David also tells us that when times get really hard, everyone will cry out to God. One of the messages that David is giving us here I believe is, why wait?

We can know that at all times, no matter what state we are in, if we cry out to our God, He will deliver us.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our Mighty King. When all others fail, You never turn away. You are with us in all places and at all times. We give You thanks and praise for being our Delivering King. Please forgive us today our transgressions. We ask that today You send in a mighty way Your healing, Your deliverance, and Your overwhelming provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Choosing Life

Yesterday my wide and daughter prepared a picnic for us to go to a splash pad park near our home. It was a surprise because they wanted it to be an early Father’s Day celebration and they got everything together while I was taking a nap. We went there and played in the water and had a great time. The water was cold and it was 88 degrees out. We sat down to have the picnic dinner and they brought out the gifts the two of them had purchased and my daughter helped wrap. They were simple things – chap-stick, a DVD, my favorite chewing gum – but I really enjoyed that they had put this all together so quickly. It seemed like there was as much tape as there was wrapping paper, but that just made us all laugh as I worked hard to open them.

On the way home my wife asked if I enjoyed the picnic. I told her yes very much. Throughout the excursion I found myself thinking about each moment. In those moments of thought, I remember telling myself how much fun I was having and how comforting it felt to relax and enjoy these simple moments with them. I told my wife that I had been learning that what we experience is largely controlled by how we choose to experience it, and I was choosing to enjoy those moments. Much of life is about choosing. Moses spoke about this in telling the children of Israel how to live life in the Promised Land.

Dueteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

We can choose to enjoy life with God, or not. We can choose to pursue believing in and trusting God, or not. It really is a matter of choosing. If we want to have joy and comfort, then Moses was right. Choose life!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High. Thank You for giving us the path to life. Thank You for Your mercy and grace. Forgive us when we do not choose life. Help us to find our way back to Yo when we stray from the path of life. Please send us today Your healing, deliverance, and overwhelming provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

When We Rest

There was a time when I thought that resting on the Sabbath meant we were to just sleep in and take it easy. There is a certain amount of benefit and truth to that, but the Sabbath is more. Jesus addressed this in His ministry here on earth.

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.

The Pharisees rebuked Jesus and His disciples for doing what they deemed unlawful on the Sabbath. Jesus responded by giving an example of David eating what would not have been lawful for him and his men to eat. What the Pharisees missed was the point of the law. It is true that we are not to work on the Sabbath. Harvesting crops would therefore be unlawful because that would be the customary work that a farmer would be doing. However, that is not what Jesus and the disciples were doing. They were taking enough corn to eat what they needed for that day. This was a matter of sustaining life. Our God is all about sustaining life. In fact, God never stops sustaining us, ever, whether it is the Sabbath or not. The law was and is always about life. That is why Jesus said He was also the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus is the Lord of life.

Today, as we rest on the Sabbath, we are to experience life. We are to reflect on the ministry of our Messiah. We are to spend time with our God, assuring that we keep ourselves in relationship with Him.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as our King. You are our ever watchful provider of all we need. Please forgive us when we get off track. Please help us to always be mindful of You and Your ways, especially on the Sabbath. Send us today Your precious mercy and truth. Please send us Your healing, deliverance, and over flowing provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Holding On

Growing up I was a big fan of roller coasters. We would go every year to a place called Rocky Glenn, and they had many different coasters. Even now I enjoy roller coasters at big name amusement parks. They can be both fun and a little scary at the same time. In many ways our lives can be like that. We can ride the ups and downs of the good and bad in life. The real key is to remember in the down times is that we serve a God that promises to take us to the end of the ride. Paul spoke of this.

Philippians 1:2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

We can make it through tough times. We can make it through life to the end when we will be with our God. The challenge is not to focus so much on life. Good and bad comes and goes, but Jesus never fails. He never quits. He will carry us through to the end if we let Him. If we focus on the ups and downs, then we will feel the impact of those ups and downs more than we need to feel them. However, if we keep our eyes on Jesus who never changes, then the ride will level out. We need only reach out to Him and hold on with everything in us. We just have to hold on.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the King we serve. You alone are the one we need to keep us afloat in life. Help us to keep our eyes on You and Your kingdom. Help us endure to the end. Forgive us when we fall short and become afraid, doubting if You will rescue us. Help us help others to know Your great love and caring. Use us to help people know You alone are the One True King. Please send us today Your mercy, Your deliverance, Your healing, and Your overwhelming provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Our God Provides

It can be the little things in life that we never expect. My daughter has wanted me to build her a playhouse in our back yard. We found plans on the internet that showed how to build one from recycled materials like wooden pallets and she was excited. I had a hard time trying to figure out where to get some old pallets. These days most companies recycle them. My wife and I prayed for the resources to get the materials, but I had not thought about it much in the last week. Then at work today where I am helping a company get organized, I asked if they had some. They directed me to an area where they said they did. Not only did they have pallets, they had whole boxes built with plywood sides that are five feet tall! I just laughed to myself thinking about how God always provides. It reminded me of a scripture that I think of often.

Matthew 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

God provides for everything we need. The materials for the playhouse seem like a small thing. Yet, Our Father even is providing these small things to make my daughter happy! I am thankful that we have a Father that even cares for the little things like the desires of a child, just to see the joy on her face.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High. Thank You for thinking of even the small things. Thank You for considering the desires of my daughter for something as simple as a playhouse as something worth providing. You truly are a perfect Father. Please forgive us when we mess up. Please send us today the healing, deliverance, and the overwhelming provision You promise to provide. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Stacking Up The Wins

Believers are like everyone else – we are human. Humans are imperfect. Believers are imperfect. For me, trying to think about how to go for long periods of time without making mistakes is challenging. I have talked with many believers that struggle with different things in their lives. This morning as I was thinking about life, of how precious each moment is. If you read yesterday’s post, you can understand why I am thinking about each moment. We all have those times when something magnificent happens, and we remember them well. It is this thinking about the moments of victory that made me realize something. God does work in stages, and will give us what we need to get on track.

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Isaiah was telling those that had erred that God would rebuild them. God gives us what we need to get on the path to victory. He is all about helping His people learn to follow him more closely. He is there to fight our battles for us. We need only take the time to listen, to learn, and then to do. Every moment counts.

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

If we want to be victorious in our spiritual battles, we need only spend some time with our Father. If we do this daily, we will prepare ourselves for the battle. If you are struggling today, don’t think about the whole day. Think about the next five minuted. Then the next five, and the next five, and so on. Even if you only win for five minutes, that is a win. When we stack these up, day after day, we will live more victorious days, and more victorious lives.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are worthy to receive our praise. You alone are worthy to receive the honor of our words. You alone deserve our whole hearted commitment to You and Your ways. Please forgive us when we stumble. Please help us to win these moments. Send us to day the victory, the deliverance, the healing, and the abundant provision we need today. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.