Tag: Refined for Abundance - Psalm 66-68

Psalms 66:8-12

Bless our God, O peoples;

let the sound of his praise be heard,

who has kept our soul among the living

and has not let our feet slip.

For you, O God, have tested us;

you have tried us as silver is tried.

You brought us into the net;

you laid a crushing burden on our backs;

you let men ride over our heads;

we went through fire and through water;

yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

Tag:  Refined for Abundance

Psalm 66 is an exodus Psalm that the Israelites would sing at Passover.  It is intended to remind them of the time of slavery in Egypt when God redeemed them and brought them out of the fire.  The people are to "bless" God - a way of singing praises to God.   They are to see the Egyptian enslavement and the trials along they way as a time of God's "testing."  They are to praise God for the time He takes us through the fire and the water (the Red Sea).  They are to praise God even though the burdens on their backs was severe.  God will, eventually, bring them to a place of abundance.   Men would "ride over" their heads, yet God would bring to this place of abundance.  The only way you go through this time of struggle is to remember that God is well aware of the burdens on our backs and He is the one who brings us through the fire and water.  He is refining us as "silver is tried."  God uses struggles and pressures to conform us to the image of His Dear Son.   Jesus suffered and we are to share in that same suffering.  We are not "owed" an easy life.  We are not "owed" an abundant life.  Yet, that is what God promises and Christ provided as a gift:

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

We have abundance "in Christ."  That is our abundance. It is not abundant money, that God promises.  It is not abundant prosperity, that God promises.  It is not abundant freedom from strife, that God promises.  It is abundance "in" Christ.  Christ is our abundance.  Christ is all we need:

Colossians 2:1-3

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Tag: Expert Partnerships for Leadership - 1 Kings 5-9

1 Kings 7:13-14

And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.

Tag:  Expert Partnerships

King Solomon was young and inexperienced in many of the things he was about to accomplish.   But, he was also willing to bring in the help he needed through the experts he could find. The above passage is a sample of that.  Too many leaders think they are supposed to be the experts in everything.   They can't admit where they need help.  They think it is a sign of weakness to ask for help.   It is really a sign of weakness to not be able to ask for help.   Solomon asked God for one thing:  Wisdom. Wisdom is demonstrated in the above passage.  When Solomon asked for wisdom that didn't mean he would be given the expertise to build the Temple. It meant that he would have wisdom and that wisdom would empower him to make wise decisions:  Hiring a master builder was a wise decision.   When we are great leaders we surround ourselves with greater men who can do things better than we can.   

Tag: Clothed in Holiness - Exodus 37-40

Exodus 39:27-31

They also made the coats, woven of fine linen, for Aaron and his sons, and the turban of fine linen, and the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twined linen, and the sash of fine twined linen and of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.” And they tied to it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Tag:  Clothed in Holiness

In the above passage we have a description of the clothes that were made for the priest (Aaron and his sons) that they would wear before God when they worshipped.   Along with the description of clothes, Moses describes the "inscription" placed on the garments:  Holy to the Lord.  Moses is making sure that Aaron and his sons remember they are in a special place: They are Holy (set apart) to God.   In the book of Revelation we read about the "Church at Sardis" and their garments.  God's Word often speaks of our "garments" in Christ.  Note:

Revelation 3:4-5

Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

We have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ.  We are "holy" - separated to God.  Our "inscription" is the Spirit of God in our lives. We have been set apart as holy:

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

We are not holy, today, because we wear holy garments on the outside.  We are holy, today, because we have been clothed with holiness within.  

Tag: Performance or Faith - Galatians 1-3

Galatians 3:5-6

Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

Tag:  Performance or Faith

What is Paul saying here?  He is answering this question: Does God bless me because of my performance or my belief in Him?  Too many people, even believers, believe that their acceptance by God comes from "performance" and not "faith" in Christ.   We live in a performance based society.  We believe that those who perform the greatest should be rewarded the most.  It is hard to avoid "performance anxiety" in our lives.  We tend to even have a desire to perform.   We were created to "do good works," so we do have this propensity to want to achieve.  Yet, in the above verse and in this section of Galatians Paul is making the point that we are NOT accepted by God based upon our performance.  There were some in the early church who you were teaching that you had to believe in Christ AND keep the Old Testament Laws.   To dispel this, Paul gives the example of Abraham.  Abraham was blessed by God.  He was blessed by God, BEFORE, The Law was even given.  Therefore, how could obedience to the Law bring blessing.  God "supplies the Spirit" to us (which is our power source) not by "Performing" but by "believing".  This is an odd thought in our human mind ... especially in a performance based society.   How can simple "belief" bring blessing?  Belief is "trust" in God's Word.  It is when we completely Trust God via Faith that He brings blessing.  The blessing is NOT like the world's rewards.  God's Blessings are not piles of money and an easy life.  God's Blessings are the power of the Spirit in our lives to endure the evilness of this world.   Faith trumps performance!!!

Tag: The Power of God - Luke 7-8

Luke 8:43-48

As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.  And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Tag:  The Power of God

God has power.  Christ demonstrated that power while He walked on this earth.   Note, previously to the story above, what had happened:

Luke 6:19

And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

Power flows from God.  In Christ we have power.  Note what Paul stated in his epistle to the Philippians:

Philippians 3:10

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Power comes from God.  The world likes the think power comes from position, property, proximity to others, persuasive ability and/or prestige.   God has real power.  In the above story God's power was used to heal the woman.  The world's system and diagnosis and label.  But the world's system has no power to change a life, as above.  Only God has power to change a life.  

Tag: Jehovah-Sabaoth - Jeremiah 47-52

Jeremiah 50:33-34

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

Tag:  God is Strong

In the later chapters of Jeremiah, The prophet is speaking warnings against the nations God had used to punish and correct Israel. The foremost nation in this regard is Babylon. Babylon was God's tool to punish Israel, but they had taken liberty with that and never acknowledged God's power, position or presence.    For that reason God as going to come up against them, in a manner similar how they came against Israel.  But, in this case it is the power of God on display, not the power of a corrupt nation.   In the above text we see the statement, "Their Redeemer is strong: The Lord of Hosts is his name."  This is the Hebrew: "Yahweh-Tsabbaoth" (The Lord of Hosts).  Here is what one blog (Love Worth Finding): 

  "Jehovah-sabaoth literally means the Lord Almighty. It speaks of the sovereignty of God over all the powers of the universe. The second stanza from Martin Luther's hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" says, "Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing, Were not the right man on our side, The man of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He, Lord Sabbaoth His name, From age to age the same, And He must win the battle." David understood the greatness of God when he went against Goliath with five smooth stones and a sling. David said to Goliath, "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied." Oh, that each of us would have this same conception of God in our battles."

God is there to fight our battles.  God is there to fight our battles because He is able to fight our battles. God is there to fight our battles because He is able to fight our battles and promises to do so.   God is there to fight our battles because He is able to fight our battles and promises to do so as we yield and trust Him in faith.   

Tag: Mindset against God's Word - Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1:22

“How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple- minded?

And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing

And fools hate knowledge?

This proverbs is a foundational proverb.  It introduces three types of individuals being addressed in proverbs: Naive ones; scoffers, and fools. Some may interpret the three as simply three names for the same individual.   In one case they are correct.  These are three people who have, or are rejecting the truth of God's Word.   However, as we read through Proverbs we see that each of these are spoken of as having a different response to God's Word.   In this proverb, alone, we see that the naive one seems to be in love with simple-mindedness.   The scoffer doesn't just reject truth he/she attacks truth with sarcasm and ridicule.   The fool, in this proverb, has a genuine "hatred" for the knowledge God provides.   Throughout Proverbs the naive one seems to be capable of repentance and turning toward God's Word.   However, Proverbs doesn't give much hope at all for the scoffer or the fool.  It is important that we offer grace and knowledge of God's Word while people are in the naive state.  Once they leave that disposition they move into foolishness and scoffing ... seldom seeing repentance. Each of the three are being asked, in essence, a question in regard to their attitude toward God's Word.  As opposed to God's Word, the simple-one loves being carefree and unknowing.  How long will you "love" that type of life, Solomon asks.  The scoffer "delights" in scoffing.  This is the same word used in Genesis to talk about how "pleasant" God's creation is.  Scoffers don't just ridicule wisdom found in God's Word, they make a sport of it and it is "pleasant" to them.   Lastly, Solomon calls out the fool.  Psalms tells us that those who deny God even exists is a "fool."   The fool is called out because they "hate" the knowledge found in God's Word.  Each of these three have a different response to God's Word, which could supply them with wisdom to get them out of their state of mind.  Yet, they don't.  The book of proverbs was written to help them.  The answer to their mindset is God's Word.