The Last Rest

Each year we get firsts and lasts. This is the last sabbath of the year. For me I think about how I made it through one more year sometimes. At other times I am very happy that God has blessed me with another year of memories. I think today, more than anything, I am glad I will be able to rest. Some of us really have a hard time with that. We are driven to try to do more, to achieve more, to be more. The truth is, unless God is doing it, it is all for nothing anyway.

Psalms 127:1 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

God is the reason we work. He is the reason we rest. And in all things, He is with us. If you feel like you just really have to work seven days a week, stop and ask yourself why. Maybe it is time to just let God do what He does in the six days so you can spend a day with Him. Maybe it is time to just rest with God.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the King. We thank You for all You have done and all You have created. We ask Father that You reach out today and change our circumstances. Make it possible for us to rest with You. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Don’t Listen To Lies

Sometimes when I sleep, God teaches me things through dreams. As my wife and I were getting ready to turn in for the evening last night, God had me go back downstairs to pray. I spent about an hour in intercessory prayer for various people and places. I felt the strong presence of angels in the room with me, so I spent time telling them how great God is and also told them to watch over people. When I then returned to bed, in the night, I began to have dreams.

In my dreams I was steadily experiencing some type of disruption. There was a dream where an alligator was near my feet with his mouth open. He was big enough to swallow me, and I was sliding towards his wide open jaws. I had a large caliber pistol in my hand and then a flurry of thoughts came to my mind. “If you shoot yourself in the head you won’t feel it when he eats you,” the thought said. I wondered if that was true. I wondered if it mattered how I shot myself, like would I die faster if I had the gun in my mouth. Then something even stranger happened. The alligator became a shark, and I still wasn’t in its mouth. Then a giant cat of some sort, then a bear, and then finally I realized what was going on. This was an attack. I held the weapon to destroy myself or to destroy my enemy. The creature then turned back into an alligator, and I cocked the pistol and fired into its open mouth, the bullets destroying the brain of the creature, and it died and disappeared. I woke up.

As I woke I began to think of various issues in life, some real and some imagined. It was still night and I needed to sleep, but the thoughts were keeping me awake. Then I realized this was like the dream. I began to battle the thoughts by forcing myself to think about Jesus. I muttered some prayers quietly, telling God I needed His help. I told God I will trust Him and I needed His deliverance from those thoughts at that moment. Suddenly the flurry of troubled thoughts just stopped and I felt a peace as I fell asleep. So what really happened? Two things.

God is our defender against the one who wants to kill us.

Psalms 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

Our enemy seeks to destroy us.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

And Paul, quoting Moses, tells us we have the power to change things in our mouth.

Romans 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Whether asleep or awake, God defends us. Our enemy will attack, whether we are asleep or awake. And we can turn to God and with our mouth call upon Him and He will deliver us. Remember, God is on our side, always at all times, and will never leave us defenseless. Our God is King!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as our Most High King. We thank You that You watch over us while we sleep. The enemy is against us and we are under attack. Break his teeth and grind him to powder Father. Defend Your people today, Lord. Please give us our healing, deliverance, and provisions speedily today. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

When Job Prayed

Job’s story is probably one of the most widely publicized stories of the bible in non-religious settings. Of course we learn about this story early on as believers as well, but it gets a lot of air time in general. Briefly, Job is one of God’s people that He is very proud of. The devil comes along and tells God the only reason Job serves God is because God gives Job the silver spoon treatment allowing no harm to come to him. God tells the devil he is wrong, and tells the devil he can do anything to Job he wants, except kill him.

Job’s life goes from fairy tale to disaster. Not only are family members dieing and he loses his worldly possessions, his friends turn on him. Even his wife feels Job must have done something really wrong to have all of the evil come his way. Job insists it is not true. But even his wife gives him grief about his relationship with God.

Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.

Clearly Job faced challenges about what others thought about him and his relationship with God, even his wife. And this was at the very beginning of Job’s trials. As time goes by, more trials come his way, and Job stands fast in his testimony that God was true. Job’s “friends” continued to speak unkindly about Job. After enough is enough, God shows up, and reminds everyone just who He is and what He has done. Job tells God he will be silent in repentance. God tells Job’s friends they were wrong and to repent. Now here is the cool part.

Do you think Job turned to his friends and said, “I told you so”? I think I would have been tempted to do that. Not Job. Job immediately prayed for them. THEN, God gave to Job twice what he had ever had before.

Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job.
10 And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Today I have to say that I want to be more like Job, the one God accepts because I say the right things about God. Unfortunately all too often I have been like Job’s friends. How about you? I am so thankful that in those times there have been Job’s in my life praying for me. And I am thankful that God can teach me to be like Job.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High God. You created everything from the beginning. The majesty of Your creation is impossible for men to figure out. We thank You for bringing people into our lives that tell us the truth about You and who You are. Please watch over Your people today God. Please keep us safe from harm. Please deliver you people today, and provide for their every need. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

The Ultimate Weapon In Spiritual Warfare

Today around the world many celebrate the birth of Jesus. Many do not. Among those that do not are those that do not believe He was the Messiah. And some are believers that believe He was born on a different day, perhaps in the fall. While when He was born is important to all, there is something more important. It is that He was born to save us.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Some say that the death and resurrection is the source of our power over darkness. That is true. But if He had never been born, then His death and resurrection could never have been. For me, His birth on this earth is not only a miracle, it is a testimony to God’s unfailing love for us as His children, and the gift He has given us to defeat darkness.

Today, let us celebrate that for those of us that believe, we have a Defender King!

Prayer
Father, we love You and praise You as the Most High King. We ask today that You give us the ability to remember why You sent Your Son. We ask that You lead us to deliver the poor, the fatherless, and the afflicted, from the evil one. May You receive all glory, honor, and praise. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Saying Something Good

Growing up my parents used to always tell me, “If you can’t say something good about someone, don’t say anything at all.” Turns out it was pretty good advice. That is why there are certain subjects I have little or nothing to say about, like politics, my singing, etc. Unfortunately if we are not careful, it can be easy to be drawn into discussions about events in other people’s lives, or even the people themselves. I agree that it is important to find a scriptural basis for the “wisdom” we learn growing up because many times things are attributed to the bible which just do not appear in the bible. As it turns out, this one does, or at least it does pretty closely.

Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

Here Paul is writing to the Ephesians from prison. He is telling them that he understands that people came from darkness, from places where they were doing some pretty raunchy stuff, before they became believers. He is encouraging them to resist and stay away from such behavior now that they have turned to God because it is shameful to even speak about those things. But I think there is an additional message here. We are not to speak about the negative in anyone’s life, inside or outside of the body of believers. If you think about it, that really makes sense, right? After all we are to be building each other up. How can talking about the bad in someone’s life build them or us up? When we go down that road, even if we think we are “sharing” with someone so they can pray, we are really not helping anyone. Here is something I have tried to begin to practice, and have had some results.

The next time someone asks you to pray for someone, pray that prayer with that person right then. I recently did this with someone and saw a miracle within minutes of God supplying someone’s need. Let’s spend our time in the positive building up our fellow believers and give no place to the negatives. Sound good?

Prayer
Father, we praise You as the Most High God. Thank You for all you have done for us in our lives. We ask today Father that You help us to pray and speak positive things about each other. Please bring to our remembrance those in need, whether that is for healing, deliverance, provision, or whatever else. Help us to reach out today to those in need and help them feel welcome and cared about, as Your people on this earth. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Keeping On

It is easy at times in our walk with God to feel like we are really not getting anywhere. Or maybe at least we are not getting to where we think we should be. In times like these we need encouragement. We need to remember that life, even eternal life, is a journey and not a destination. In times like these I try to remember scriptures and stories from those that have been down this road. What did they do and say that helped them and others not feel like giving up?

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Here we see Paul talking about doing good and not giving in to the flesh. If we stay in the spirit, we will receive results from the spirit.

Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

In this scripture Jesus was telling the parable of the talents. While this is a parable meant to teach a lesson, it is one that can give us hope in tough times. When we are walking out our walk with God, it is good to remember that we are doing it for a reason. We want to get to the end, to cross the finish line.

If you are faced with big challenges today, just remember we are trying to get to the end, to that finish line. If you know someone in that place, and you have a means to help them, then Paul says you should do that. Let’s all be encouraged today by thinking of that day when we meet Jesus, face to face, and He looks us in the eye, smiles, and says, “Well done.”

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. Today some of us need Your encouragement in our lives. We want to keep doing good, but we are struggling. Please reach out today to us and help us to see Your workings and Your presence in our lives. We need You, Dad. Don’t let go. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

We Are A People

Sometimes when I am searching for comfort from God, I look at my circumstances and want help, I want something else. That is the case with comfort, don’t you think? There is something that we think is not as it should be. And there can be times when it seems a bit overwhelming. In times like these I look to see what those that went before me have said in hopes to find comfort. Today I found such words from Peter.

1 Peter 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Before we give our life to Jesus, we can feel lost and alone. That is just one reason we can turn to Him. It was for me. But here we see Peter talking about just that very thing. God set Jesus, our Cornerstone, in Zion. For those of us that believe, He is precious. To those that do not, it just sort of gnaws at them on the inside. We have become chosen, which feels good, right? Do you ever remember when you were a kid and picked teams, just waiting to be chosen? Well, God chose US!

You see, God took us from that dark and lonely place and brought us into a wonderful place of love and light. And here is the part that comforts me maybe the most. We were all separately going our own ways, not really belonging to anything. But now, we are a part of a group. We have become a people. We are a nation of believers, and we have fellow citizens around the world. We belong to the group – God’s people.

Doesn’t it feel good to know you belong? For me, this is both a joy and a comfort, and I know our leader, our King, cares very much for me and for each one of us.

Prayer
Father, we praise You as the King of our nation, Your nation. We thank You for calling us out of darkness. Please be with Your people today God. Please reach out and comfort each one, and bring to us today all that we need. Heal us on the inside and out. Deliver us from our fears. Give to us our provision for today that all men may know that You alone are the One True God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

A Song For The Sabbath

Today as I was reading I saw something that I had noticed once before in the Psalms. In Psalms 92, in the version of the bible I was reading, there was a title to the psalm, “A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath”, which I found interesting. First, I do not know if these titles at the top of some of the Psalms and other scriptures are actually in the text or not. I assume they are. But more interesting to me was that this one was dedicated to the sabbath. The reason it interested me is because I was trying to understand what the people at the time this was written had for an expectation of the sabbath. I see it as a time when God turns to kneel down and spend time and play with His children. But what do the kids do?

It seems that one thing is to sing for their Dad. For those of you that have ever been involved in any type of production at church or school where the kids get up as a group to sing, you already know how the parents view what is going on. They are excited for their kids, they are proud, and they don’t really care about the quality of the sound. And many times the parents will go to great lengths before to help prepare the kids, and then reward them with something afterwards for the great job, regardless of how it really was. The same is true with our God.

Psalms 92 A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.
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.
5 O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
6 A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
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.
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.

In this psalm we see it begins with singing to their Father. Then they talk about His protection and deliverance from the evil people. It even addresses how sad it is that the evil people do not know the greatness of God In the end it continues to praise God for how He lifts us up and does so many good things for us. Not sure I like the being made fat part – :-).

This sabbath day, remember as you enter into praise and worship, think of it like your Dad (God) has brought you to school and is so proud You are His. He doesn’t care what it sounds like, and He will reward You once more when the day is over.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High. Thank You for the sabbath time we get to spend with You. We love to lift our voices to You and we will do our best. We know You love the sound, no matter what. Please be with us today and every day. Please reach out and drive evil away from us. Please help your people to have their needs met for healing, provision, and deliverance from darkness. In Jesus (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Becoming David

Most of us know some or all of the story about David and Goliath. David was the smallest amongst his brothers. He was left to the menial task, to tend the sheep while the brothers did the more glorious work of going off to fight in the war. The army was facing the Philistines, and they had a giant of a warrior named Goliath. He challenged any man to fight him, and none of the army of the Israelites would go. They were afraid. David is sent by his father to take his brother food. David comes upon the scene and wanders why they are all afraid. Doesn’t that seem odd for a shepherd that is short in stature?

1 Samuel 17:32 And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

So David went against Goliath, and killed. He knocked him down with a slingshot, and then killed him by cutting off his head with his own sword. So those that serve God won the day, and God delivered them. But there is something to ask here. How did this happen exactly? What I mean is, we look at it in the past. When your are running straight at the giant with a slingshot against shield and sword, what does that feel like? I understand that David fought off the lion and the bear, again in the past. So what does it feel like to look a lion in the face and you are holding the fur under his chin? How do you get to that point?

David’s brothers made fun of him and belittled him in public. I would guess he was used to ridicule. Obviously his father loved him, and he was a defender of his father’s sheep. Given the number and intensity of the psalms that he wrote, David seems to have been a man of passion from a young child. And he believed the stories in the scriptures about God as their deliverer. He probably did not know what to expect with the lion, but after that, the bear was easier. Finally the battle with Goliath was just that next step. It seems that the path to follow is to be passionate toward the Living God, and let Him lead and guide us through a series of challenges, fighting side by side with us, so we learn to trust Him. Perhaps giving God a chance to grow us up is the key to becoming David.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You are so majestic in the heavens as You watch over Your creation. Please help us as we battle the lion, the bear, and the giants in our lives. Only You can defeat these enemies that we fight. I ask today that You crush them, and grind them to powder to be blown away in the wind, that all men may know that You alone are the One True God and we are Your people. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

The Common People

When we have friends that we trust and feel comfortable being around, we talk. We ask questions. We discuss our lives and acknowledge when we don’t really understand something or don’t have the answer. But it doesn’t keep us from talking or asking the questions. Sometimes that is true in our relationship with God as well.

Mark 12:35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?
36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

When Jesus was in the temple He asked the question about the scriptures that say that David referred to the Messiah as Lord, meaning he was God, yet the scribes called the Messiah the Son of David? We can get into a big theological discussion here about what the scribes meant or was Jesus referring to the virgin birth or raising the point that He was God or one of a million other things. Those are all great discussions, but they are not the point I am making here. The point is that the common people were able to identify with what He was saying. Why is that?

Perhaps the common people understood and received what He was saying because they were in the same place. This passage suggests that it is normal for those of us that are just common people to have and ask questions. Did you ever read scriptures or hear someone talk and have a question about it? That is why the common people accepted His words. They had questions. I know I have questions. This morning I asked God about a verse in Psalms 92.

Psalms 92:9 For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

While I do want God to defend me from my enemies, for them to perish seems a bit harsh. Then I noticed that they are also scattered. How could they perish and be scattered? I could not understand it. So God had me look up the words perish and scattered. The word perish means to wander away. The word scattered means to break through like you are in a hurry. So I understood that God will just cause our enemies to wander off, and in a hurry. That made much more sense to me, and that is easy for me to pray and sing as a request to God, and to give thanks for Him making that happen.

It is not only okay to have questions, it is a good thing to ask questions. It is good because the only one with all the answers is God and the only way to get the answers is if we ask Him, like He is our friend, like it is okay to have questions, like we are really communicating and developing a relationship with the One that created the universe. And here is the great part for which I am very thankful. God wants to have that relationship with us! That, my friends, is amazing, and we can be thankful that He wants to be a Friend like that!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. We are so thankful that You want to not only be our God, You want to be our Friend. We are thankful that You do not make fun of us when we have questions. We are thankful that You will supply Your answers in our lives. Today we just want to thank You for being our Healer, our Deliverer, our Provider, and the One that answers our questions when we talk to You. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.