I am thankful that the Lord instructs us how to pray. We want to pray what is on God’s heart and mind, agreeing with what He feels is important for us to pray. We want to hear from Him and respond with intercession by praying for others or a certain situation. This can be difficult to do as there are so many things that vie for our attention, so it is encouraging to see the ways the Lord helps us to know what and how to pray. I had a small encounter that has fueled my prayers concerning praying for the United States. I had a short dream around October 15. In the dream I was talking to a group of people from the book of Joel. Joel is a prophetic book in the Old Testament, and specifically Joel 2 is a Scripture that is insightful to us as to how we as the people of God should respond in a time of crisis. The command in the book of Joel is to gather the people together, cry out to God, and return to Him with all our heart. Then in the dream, a man, who I feel represented the Lord and also faithfulness in the word of God, said to me, “Look at Athaliah.” It was almost as if that phrase was added to the message of Joel I was sharing. So, who was Athaliah? In the Scripture, Athaliah was a wicked woman, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, two of the wickedest rulers in Israel’s history. She married Jehoram, the son of Jehosophat, one of the kings of the southern kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 8:16-18). Their son, Ahaziah, reigned after Jehoram died. Both her husband and her son “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Ahaziah walked in wickedness like the house of Ahab. His mother, Athalia, advised Him to do wickedly. She was a great proponent of Baal worship which included much idolatry and sexual immorality. In 2 Kings 11:1-21, it is recorded that after Ahaziah’s death Athaliah usurped the throne and killed all the rightful, royal heirs to the throne. From the heirs, Joash was spared and hidden for 6 years in the house of the Lord. At the right time, Jehoida, the priest, along with the military captains and their thousands of armed men, arranged for a rightful coronation of the young King Joash. As a result, Athaliah was slain, Joash took the throne, and the temple of Baal was destroyed. For part of his reign, Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord. Joash even instructed the temple of the Lord to be repaired. For me, the Lord highlighted this account through this short dream to alert me to pray about some of these things in connection to our current national situation. First of all, we need to look at what Athaliah promoted. It was Baal worship. This is not pleasing to God. In America, we see the promotion of the evil practices of sexual immorality and idolatry. We need to recognize those who are promoting this in our nation and call it for what it is, Baal worship. Athaliah usurped the throne. This parallels a real desire in some in this nation to take positions of authority illegally. We need to pray against it. As we look around our nation we see individuals and groups grabbing for authority that is not rightfully theirs, and seeking to overthrow government and authority with violence, rioting, and destruction. This is not godly, but lawless. As we approach this election on Tuesday, there is more and more talk of subversion of authority. I believe that we need to pray for these attempts to usurp rightful authority to be brought to nothing and be made ineffective. Athaliah also killed the rightful heirs. We need to pray for threats against rightful leaders and godly leaders to be halted. We need to also pray that those who are in positions of leadership would embrace godly principles and policies (I Timothy 2:1-4). We need to pray for those God has “hidden away” to come into rightful places of authority at the right time. I believe this happened with the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett at this time to help preserve the godly principles in our nation’s founding document and to be used to end abortion in our land. When there is so much going on in our nation, it can be overwhelming to know how to focus our prayers. It can be discouraging and depressing to look around and see the crisis and trouble. Yet as believers in the Lord and because He instructs us to pray, it is imperative that we pray in these times. It is imperative we know His character and ways in the Scripture. We find in the Word important directives of what to pray (for the church, people in authority, etc). Even so, we can be overwhelmed by the mountains of needs/crisis/tumult we need to pray about. I am encouraged that He can reveal to us how to focus our prayers. I am thankful He gives specific direction in what to pray in the Scripture. Let’s ask Him to help us pray about the things on His heart, interceding for others and our nation according to His word and ways.
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When I heard about the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg I had quite a different reaction than I thought I would. I heard the news when I was at one of our regular Tri-Cities House of Prayer Friday night prayer meetings. A wave of grief hit me and I wept. I have actually thought many times before about when her passing would be. This influential Supreme Court Justice had fought her way through many health battles and yet she remained on the court at 87 years of age until her death. Justice Ginsburg was a champion for women’s rights to choose abortion and the LGBT community. Yet, in an interesting way, she won her way into my heart. Let me explain. I didn’t even know who Justice Ginsburg was until about 10 years ago. I first heard about her when I became involved in a 40 Days for Life campaign in 2010, a movement that focuses on praying in front of abortion clinics worldwide. I was involved in those campaigns for about 9 years. During those campaigns, we would pray for issues pertaining to life in our region and our nation. We would pray for the Supreme Court, many times praying by name for individuals on the court. I personally would pray for those who were pro-choice to be removed from their seat, retire, or repent. Specifically with Justice Ginsburg, I didn’t agree with her view on abortion and promotion of it as a woman’s right. I will be honest, I don’t know much about the personal life of Ginsburg or her history. I did find plenty to disagree with when reading about her. I found her statements about the US Constitution shocking and disturbing. I didn’t agree with the pro-LGBT views she supported and backed. Yet I found over the years my heart become burdened for her. Whenever we would pray for the Supreme Court, I would remember her and many times weep for her. I also knew that Justice Ginsburg was Jewish. Being a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, I knew she had not accepted Him as her Messiah. So, I would pray for her to know Messiah. Her life also intersected with my burden for the Jewish people (Romans 10 and 11). This brings me to September 18,, 2020. I wept upon hearing she passed. I literally was grieving over the lost soul of this woman. Not only hers but many Jews who do not know Messiah, many people who do not know Jesus as Savior. I got up on the microphone and prayed through my tears. I prayed that many would consider their end when they heard of the passing of Justice Ginsburg. I prayed that many Jews would receive the Lord. I began to see that my heart was experiencing in a very small way the grief God must feel when people reject the very One sent to reconcile men to Himself, the solution for our sinful state. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36 In order to have eternal life with God we must trust in His Son. So when Ruth Ginsburg died my reaction was to weep. I didn’t want to see her separated from her Creator for all eternity. And as many rejoiced more over a vacant seat on the Supreme court in hopes to be filled with a “pro-life” judge, I was reminded of the state of men’s and women’s souls who do not know Him and the eternity they will spend in torment. Lord, help us to consider the state of other people’s souls and their need for a Savior. Help us to pray with fervency that they would be won to Christ. Help us to be led by love to the place of intercession for their souls. In the name of your Son, Jesus, we pray. Amen. The Return was a solemn assembly prayer meeting on the Mall in Washington, DC on Saturday, September 26th. The description of this even is: “A movement, an appointed time, and a specific day set apart for one purpose – the return to God, that there be a coming before His presence in humility, in sincerity in prayer and repentance, that there be intercession for America, for each other, and for oneself, for God’s mercy, for salvation, for healing, for revival, for restoration, and for the fulfillment of God’s purposes for America and all who dwell within it.” It was truly a sacred gathering with a focus of Joel 2; returning to the Lord in fasting and humility. This was the same day that Franklin Graham gathered many on the Mall and led a prayer walk. If you would like some more information about it, you can go to www.thereturn.org. On the site the mission of the event is explained, along with testimonials, as well as a replay of the event. Ruth and I tuned in with the Tri-Cities House of Prayer. They hosted a gathering where we participated via webstream. We were tuned in from 8pm to 5pm that day. Julie and our kids tuned in at home. I was particularly impacted by several things about the event. One aspect of the event that greatly encouraged me was seeing so many leaders in various arenas, ministries, and ministers of different streams in the body of Christ come together under one banner of return to the Lord. Some of which were Carter Conlon of Times Square Church in New York City, Ann Graham Lotz, Dick Eastman, Michael W. Smith, Paul Wilbur, Ben Carson. Jonathan Cahn delivered a prophetic word to America in the middle of the day that I feel like every believer in the body of Christ would benefit from hearing. CLICK HERE for the link to that message, The Potter’s Jar. God is truly calling us to return to Him; what will our response be in this time of human history? During the solemn assembly a proclamation came from the White House declaring a national day of Return for America. It was also the same day Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to the Supreme Court. Within the corporate gathering, God was speaking to me, and dealing with me individually. He was helping to change my perspective. He was pointing out areas in my life that need adjusting, areas of sin and idolatry that I need to repent of. It reminded me of another gathering I had been a part of that resulted in a significant shift in my life. I know this event will be something I meditate on for a while. I shared some reflections on the event at our church, Hosanna Fellowship, the following Sunday morning. CLICK HERE to watch that video. Well, we are now in the midst of one of the busiest seasons of the year. How are you doing? Stressed? Overwhelmed? Ahead of Schedule? Under the gun? Sick, Fatigued, Over it? Is your schedule crammed with so many events that you find it hard to find time to breathe. Perhaps there are other emotions that you are dealing with that make the season a difficult one, like loss or feeling discouraged. Even though it is already the 11th of December, it doesn’t mean you have to succumb to the frenzy of the season. Getting major priorities as major priorities in place is vital to do if we are wanting to ourselves at a certain place come January 1st. At our last Lampstand meeting in November, we discussed the necessity of this for the upcoming season. I used an illustration that was repeated to me in my college years and now I see even more and more importance of it. It is a simple example but really makes a great point. Imagine there is a jar of small stones and you are challenged to get in some bigger rocks. Of course you cannot because the jar is already full. Then you have an empty jar and instructed to put in large stone first. Then small stones fill the empty space, then you can even add pebbles and sand. Even then you can add water to totally have the jar full. The example shows us in order to have the major priorities in our lives, we have to get the big rocks in first. For Julie and me we are constantly reminding ourselves to get the big rocks in first. Now, as believers we know that the 1st and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:38). The Gospel of Luke adds to that to love Him with all our strength, too. This is to be our highest priority and of most importance. The FIRST and GREATEST commandment. So if I want this first in my life in December and want to be more in love with Jesus and have greater devotion to Him come January 1, it needs to be the big rock in my jar. Then I put in the other “priorities in my jar” as He leads. I could go through December strung out and overwhelmed but if I am consistent in making Him first then He will help me with the rest and I CAN HAVE SPIRITUAL AND EMOTIONAL FUEL, EVEN PHYSICAL FUEL in my life as priorities are set in place after the big rocks. Connection with Him is the best fuel we can have for our hearts to stay encouraged, strengthened, motivated, peaceful, and content. So I have not done the best at this priority thing so far in December but I can say it would be worse if we didn’t try. This week, I am experiencing more joy and peace because I feel these priorities are a little more concrete. How did they get more solid? We’ve taken time to talk and pray about our schedule. We are saying no to some things, and we are saying yes to others. We are asking the Lord to direct us in what things we need to do and when and how we need to rest. Keeping things in right priority is not easy, but we are intent on having fuel in December and in beginning the New Year so it is worth it! Keeping our lives in right priority will always be a challenge but we have been given the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to help us! (I’ve been reading John 15 and 16 this morning). I am banking on the fact if we seek first His kingdom and righteousness, He will add what we need. (Matthew 6:33). In this Christmas season, I pray that you would be filled with the fuel of encouragement and strength from intentional connection with Jesus. May you have the peace He brings. May your focus and desire be first for Him. O, COME LET US ADORE HIM! Since we began standing in front of the abortion clinic in Bristol and praying with 40 Days for Life 8 years ago, we have seen several people become involved in pro-life ministry directly in front of the clinic on a regular basis. There is a sidewalk that runs in front of the clinic. This is where they stand, walk, and hold signs. Our 40 Days for Life team usually sets up across the street where there is more room to gather together and pray. We have been encouraged to witness God raise up teams of people on the clinic side of the street who are more available to do sidewalk counseling and reach out to those going in and out of the clinic.
Some of you know that since the Spring 40 Days for Life Campaign, I have been standing in front of the clinic on Monday mornings. Julie and I had been praying about what more we could do to stand for life during the days of the year that 40 Days for Life does not cover in the spring and in the fall. We felt directed that I should stand out in front of the clinic with a pastor and his wife that had been faithfully standing for life in front of the clinic for a while now. On Mondays there are about 6 of us who stand, a pastor and his wife from Duffield, VA (about an hour away), a dear lady from Bristol and 2 wonderful intercessor women from Elizabethton. As the pastor from Duffield says, we all desire to be a gentle voice for life. Since I have been there on Mondays, I have had the opportunity to talk to some going into the clinic. It is a little awkward because they have allowed the hedges to become overgrown so we try to speak through the openings and engage in conversation. I know that they can hear me since they turn to hear voices coming from the bushes! I mostly ask them to please stand for life and encourage them that God values life. I will add another phrase “10 fingers, 10 toes” if I suspect they are there for an abortion. That phrase came from a documentary we saw called “I Lived on Parker Avenue” that told of a mother who chose to walk out of an abortion clinic and have her baby after a pro-life person spoke that phrase to her. Click here to see that. It is a powerful story focusing on the blessing of adoption. Most of the time the people I try to talk to don’t answer back but head on into the clinic. Other times, they do have a response. Let me tell you about one. I was holding my “Choose life” sign, when I noticed a car slow down in front of me. There was a young girl in the passenger seat that looked discouraged and downcast. I locked eyes with her. The car was slowing down because it was turning into the clinic’s parking lot. As the mother and daughter entered the building, I said my usual and added, “You don’t have to do this.” The mother was ushering her daughter in before her and shouted back at me. “Shut up. You don’t know. You’re a man.” Well, I may not know the circumstances which led that mother and her daughter to enter the clinic, but I do know there is life in a mother’s womb. I know that I have 5 kids. I know their lives were formed in their mother’s womb. I experienced each of their births. I watched them come into this world very much alive. I have walked through 3 miscarriages with my wife and felt the sting of a lost child. It grieved my heart to see this mother influencing her daughter in having an abortion. In addition to trying to be a voice for life to the patients walking in the building, we have had a new development since the spring campaign. We have had groups of pro-choice protesters joining us on the sidewalk in front of the clinic. This has added an interesting and challenging dimension to our prayer times on the street. We are pretty sure they are being funded by some group with the express purpose of frustrating and intimidating us. They have a right to stand and protest our presence there, but the tactics they resort to and the ways they treat us are unkind, harassing, and sometimes obscene and vulgar. Name calling, frustrating our attempts to talk to people, vile music, witchcraft or New Age practices, and more have disturbed me in our Monday prayer times. We know that the battle regarding the women and their unborn children who come into the clinic is not ours but the Lord’s. Our battle is not with “flesh and blood,” but it is a spiritual battle. We want to shine the light amidst the darkness. We try to stay focused on singing worship songs, prayer, and reading the Scripture. I am learning many lessons about keeping my cool by remembering the Lord is not agitated by the antics of the pro-choice protestors. Although we haven’t seen Dr. Boyle at the Bristol clinic in a while, we think he is part owner of this clinic and he owned several other clinics in other cities. We have heard good news that he has closed and sold his abortion clinic in Nashville. This is a huge praise. Please read this article about it . CLICK HERE It is very encouraging. We know that his clinic has been sold in South Carolina, although it was to a Planned Parenthood. We are hoping that his clinic in Bristol where Dr. Adams practices will follow in closing its doors also. Please join us in continuing to pray for the ending of abortion in Bristol and the whole Tri-Cities. For info on the upcoming 40 Days for Life campaign which focuses on prayer and fasting to end abortion in front of local abortion clinics, click here. Lord, we pray that you would end the shedding of innocent blood in our region. Close the clinic at the corner of State Street and Slaughter Street. Lead the many who have had abortions to healing in Jesus Christ. Awaken the Church to stand for LIFE and to help those in crisis. Encourage pro-life efforts and push back darkness. In Jesus name, Amen. Worship: Worship is such a critical thing that we do. It's not so much about making us feel good, but about lifting up the name of Jesus because He is the worthy One. We are so blessed by all the friends who come to share their gifting with us and who are willing to lead us in worship. Bill Jolley came to lead at this Lampstand and he brought a team of other friends who also brought along some of their lovely family members: Jamin Rathbun, Chris Boyd, Jason Pierce. These guys poured out their hearts to the Lord and the music was awesome, but even greater than the foot-stomping and heart-felt music was the presence of the Lord. The way we can unite as we sing the truth of who God is and what He says about us really opened up our time to unite all of us in being sensitive to hearing the Spirit in this gathering time. Special messages: Matthew had a word in tongues during the worship time. This can be a very powerful experience and several people told us that it was very impacting for them personally to experience this corporate expression of the gifts of the Spirit at work. There is a great deal of Biblical basis and instruction for an expression like this. Matthew shared some of these things briefly, and I explained how we just want to be faithful to share whatever it is we receive while we listen rather than feeling we have to have an entire message “thus says the Lord.” It becomes a beautiful time of just listening together to try to understand what the Lord might want to say to us. One friend immediately shared she sensed that the Lord was saying He is shutting out the darkness. Someone else had another piece, an admonish to rise up and take the land! You have won the battle, the Kingdom is coming! The theme that emerged seemed to be VICTORY and the assurance of the Lord's victory over the enemy and the darkness around us. We have seen God use this unique gift to bring a sense of corporate sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and a unified seeking Him for understanding. Rather than being uncomfortable or strange, it just feels like a great treasure hunt together and it gives us all practice listening for the voice of the Lord. Jesus says that His sheep know His voice so this is a good thing to be able to discern His voice! Message: We continued our study in Psalm 23, looking at our Good Shepherd. We are using the book A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm by Phillip Keller. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 Shepherds would lead their sheep to the rich grazing pastures high up in the mountains for the hot summer months and the easiest ways to these highlands would be through the valleys. Though there are dangers unique to the valley, the Shepherd is also very present through this portion of the journey. This brings great encouragement to us that our Good Shepherd will never leave us or forsake us, especially when we are walking through difficult places! Some highlights from the meeting: *The valley of the shadow of death is never an end point. We always walk THROUGH the valley. Even if we do actually die, that is truly the moment that we step from this valley into the glorious beyond (if we are believers in the Lord Jesus)! He never leads us to the valley of the shadow of death as our end destination! *We want to see the valleys as the way to “higher ground” with the Lord. We want to have “higher ground thinking.” We don't want to run from adversity; rather we want to accept adversity. *There are well-watered valleys! Even in difficult seasons, He makes sure there are places of refreshing! *The rod was mainly a weapon of defense and it was for protection and discipline. It is a picture of God's power and authority. The rod is the Word of God. It reassures us in a world of confusion and it is a comfort to know He will correct us if we get off course. We also use the Word to counter the assaults of the enemy, just as Jesus did in the wilderness (Matthew 4). *The staff was used to draw sheep together and to the shepherd. It is a picture of the Spirit of God and how He gently leads us and and guides us. Response: We took time again to worship and then ended the meeting by praying for one another. I love the way the Lord moves in these times to encourage and He truly is speaking through this series on Psalm 23 which gives us oil for the difficult moments we face in life. Worship:
Julie and Ginny led worship together! This was an exciting and grand experiment for the two of us to sing and play our instruments simultaneously! We often worship together at TRIHOP meetings with one of us leading a devotional or worship time, and we have even led a couple different worship/prayer times together but we would trade off on our songs and we didn't' try to sing or play along together. So, we practiced together and felt that this is a blessing to be able to unite our voices and songs in praise to the Lord. It was a great time of declaring the Lord's goodness. It was a time of declaring that truly the Lord leads us so well whether we feel it or not. Message: Continuing in our study of Psalm 23 using Phillip Keller's book A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm, Matthew shared from Psalm 23:3. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. This was an excellent time of looking at Jesus and considering His excellent care and leadership in our lives. Here are some highlights: 1.His reputation is at stake in leading us! He is careful to lead us well! 2.A shepherd restores a sheep who is cast. A cast sheep is one that ends up stuck on its back and unable to get up on its own. A shepherd is diligent to look for these sheep and then he is so tender and yet also rebuking in restoring the sheep. 3.We end up like cast sheep when we go our own way and refuse to follow God's way. Isaiah 53:6. His way with us is always to restore us! 4.If we want to walk in His paths of righteousness there are 7 attitudes we should embrace: 1.Love Christ best and others more than myself. 2.Be willing to be set apart from the crowd; walking in holiness and “going against the flow.” 3.Instead of insisting on my own rights, seeking the rights of others. 4.Instead of being boss, I'm willing to be the bottom of the heap. 5.Willing to accept every circumstance believing He is for my good and he is leading me in every situation. 6.Learn to comply with His will instead of asserting my own. 7.Choose and follow Christ's way; Do what He is saying. Response: After Matthew shared we had an excellent discussion time about knowing the Lord as our Shepherd. Skip Cone shared about the difference between European shepherds who would drive their sheep from behind with dogs and prodding, and a Middle Eastern shepherd who would lead their sheep. The difference between the two is relationship! We want to cultivate that relationship with our Shepherd. We also discussed the need to know Jesus, His ways, His plans, and ALL His names in order to guard against offense, particularly as we look to the end times. Have you ever had an encounter in the Word? I mean have you ever had something happen where the Word of God, a Scripture, a passage, a story suddenly comes to life in vivid 3-D in your mind and heart? The Lord speaks so clearly to your situation through His Word that you are marked by that Scripture! These encounters become a place where you go back to and draw on the refreshing truth of that particular Scripture again and again. And these experiences remind us that truly God’s Word is living and active and every bit as powerful and applicable today as it was when it was written. I had an experience like that as I sat down to meditate on Ephesians 1:4. I’ve been working through meditating on and writing about each verse in Ephesians after going through the Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaching on Ephesians 1. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love... Ephesians 1:4 So, on one particular day it was time to meditate, chew on, and think upon Ephesians 1:4. The interesting thing about this day was that I had just read a Facebook post that had me rattled. You know those posts? The ones that you read and wish that somehow they hadn't ended up in your feed? This one was a challenge to the church, and it disturbed me. Not because of the challenge being issued, or because the church doesn't need to be challenged in lots of ways, but because there was something that was just off in what this person was saying. I couldn't quite articulate it and it had me disturbed. I often feel the need to figure these kinds of things out. The person was hammering the need for the church to LOVE. Yes. Absolutely. I get that. But, then he wasn't just hammering love, he was actually downplaying holiness and he asserted that the church is stuck on a list of “holiness” things that aren't even critical. He even said, “The bible says we will be known by our love. Not our holiness.” Hmmm... it does say they will know we are Christians by our love, but isn't holiness important, too? Rattled. This just rattled me but I couldn't fully get to the “wrong” of it. So, with this turmoil in my mind, I set it aside to spend some moments in meditating on the Scripture. Again, let's actually read these words in Ephesians that jumped off the page to me that day: even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love... Suddenly I could see both of these words “holy” and “love” in the same verse and it all collided in my mind. (Note: I realize that some translations put the phrase “in love” with the following verse relating to how God predestined us. The teaching we had just heard from Martyn Lloyd-Jones however puts the “in love” phrase in verse 4 referring to how we are before the Lord.) We are CHOSEN by the Lord. Why has He chosen us? We are chosen for a purpose. And, it is clearly stated here. We are chosen so that we SHOULD BE holy and blameless. This is huge. We aren't chosen to be before Him in love only. We are chosen to be holy and blameless before Him. This means that the value God places on our holiness is EQUALLY as valuable to the state of our hearts in LOVE. We aren't just chosen to be holy and blameless... We are chosen to be holy and blameless before Him IN LOVE. The problem with this person's blast at the church was suddenly clear. You CANNOT downplay holiness in favor of love JUST as you cannot downplay love in favor of holiness. The point is we are chosen for a purpose and the purpose is to be something (holy and blameless) and somewhere (before Him) in a specific state of being (in love). We are chosen to be holy. What does this mean? This doesn't mean that we are chosen to live according to a set of rules and dot our “i's” and cross our “t's”. This means we are to be set apart. It means we should look different from the world around us. We should have peace in the face of storms; we should love in the face of hate; we should give even from our lack; we should live according to the Word and Will of God, not according to the popular words of men or the ever-shifting will of culture or even according to our own will. We should stand on the Word of God even when that's not popular. We should do all things in love and with grace. We are chosen to be blameless. This is not something we can accomplish by ourselves. We are with blame... We ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Even the best person alive cannot actually be blameless before the Lord. His perfection and glory are so far above and beyond even our best efforts. We can only be blameless through the blood of Jesus Christ. So, being chosen to be blameless isn't something we can do, but rather something we receive and walk in. We walk in the salvation that has been purchased for us at such a great price by Jesus' blood. This alone makes us blameless before God. We are chosen to be before Him. We are chosen for a destination. When God calls us to Himself it's not just to live on this earth like drifters with no destination. We are called to be before the Living God of all creation. He is in an actual place and He desires us to be before Him, with Him, in His presence. In John 17:24, Jesus expresses this desire. He prays to the Father saying, “Father, I desire that those you have given me would be with me where I am and that they may see my glory!” This is incredible!!!! This is our purpose!!! To be before him! We are chosen to be in His presence IN LOVE. We aren't dragged into His presence kicking and screaming. We are called and we stand before Him IN LOVE. One of the most critical things I believe that the Father will want to see in our lives when we stand before Him in eternity was did we learn to love as He loves? Did we grow in love? Jesus said the greatest commandment is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is His desire to have a Bride who is wholehearted in LOVE!! So, we must not deny holiness or love. Surely, we don't want to get caught in legalism in which we try to operate from a list of rules and rely on our ability to keep God's commandments. The Facebook guy was right on that. But, we also don't want to just sound like the hippy movement and talk about “love man” that really means nothing even close to true love. If we are truly walking with Christ, then BOTH of these attributes should be increasing in our lives. Jesus is our example and He NEVER violated the Father's will or His Word. He was truly Holy. Perfectly Holy. AND, He ALWAYS operated with a motive of love. He never violated either of these things in the way He walked. We should pursue Christ and remember we are chosen for a purpose and we can walk as holy people, in love before the Lord! Let me share something that has been on my mind recently. Facebook is the only choice of social media that I use. But I will say boldly that I only post pictures of my family and family life that I want people to see, what I want them to know about me, my family, my house, the ministry I am involved in, etc. I just don’t post a lot of pictures and posts about when things….are yucky. I don’t post pictures of the cat throwing up on our floor and stepping in it in my bare feet. Yuck, I mean who would want someone you invite over to your house to know that the cat throws up on the floor. I don’t post pictures of the state of cleanliness in my vehicle (it would scare many at times). I don’t write posts about me screaming like a girl when I am surprised by a snake. I don’t write posts after I have yelled at my kids and have hurt their feelings. I don’t write posts when I have been angry, impatient, and selfish with my wife. The point behind all this is that my family and I are not as spiffy as we may present ourselves on Facebook. We only post what we want others to see. Seriously. Facebook is a weird thing. I will even say I have a tendency to scroll and then look at all of the great posts from people I know and get down because I am not as cool, organized, well off, or “together” as much as them. I don’t usually remember that they don’t post the bad stuff much either. We let people see a minimum of bad stuff, in an effort to control what people perceive about us. It’s not just about Facebook, this is something we do in other parts of our lives, too. My life is filled with mess ups. I have lots of weakness that I want to escape from. I want to hide them. My life isn’t “together” as some might think. My Facebook profile and feed don’t sum up my life. I want you to know something though, even with all my weaknesses, imperfection, regrets, etc, that I keep hidden from Facebook, only sharing the posts that I want to share, I will say MY LIFE IS BETTER than I can ever share on Facebook because it’s mostly through my weaknesses and my own inability that I learn about God and His ways. Those are the places I learn about His great value, care, and love for me. I learn that He upholds my family and His guidance is good even when I can’t make sense of what is going on around me when I feel surrounded by disappointment, discouragement, chaos, confusion, frustration, or failure. I am challenged to share more of my weakness, maybe even on social media, not because I need to bring shame on myself, but to show others that that Lord is a good leader and that He helps us in weakness. He gets us through the dark times. He sustains His people and restores their souls. He teaches His people in their mess ups. When you are in the family of God, you can know that real value of His strength being made perfect in our weakness. I think other people out there have weaknesses they don’t want to admit. They are scared to say they don’t feel ok. And, maybe if they admit their weaknesses, they will be like a frog getting dissected in science class. FAR TOO PAINFUL! Far too painful to talk about, to painful to expose. If we are in the family of God, the weaknesses are actually a part of God’s design so that we will lean on Him more and learn to trust His leadership through all circumstances. We will discover He is trustworthy, a good Shepherd and leader, that He is faithful and true, strong in our weakness, and a refuge for us. He is the ROCK we can build our house upon. Though our frames are but dust, His glory and love can shine though us. There is something so beautiful that can happen as we set ourselves before the Living God to worship Him. When we lift our gaze to Him, our perspective changes. And, when a group of people come together to lift up His name, sometimes He will weave together an amazing tapestry. Through the prayers and thoughts of our hearts, combined with the songs that are sung and the prayers that different people pray all weave together into something that is clearly a theme. You are left in awe of the way God is able to communicate with His people. This is what happened at our Lampstand meeting in June. We spent time worshiping, led by Bethany Oakes, and the songs, prayers, and scriptures all flowed together to bring great encouragement to our herats. Worship: Bethany sang a song called Conquering Lion that led us into praying about how the Shepherd leads us so well to fountains of living water. Bethany didn't know when she chose the song Conquering Lion that we would be talking about Psalm 23:2 which refers to the Lord leading us to quiet waters. This is an illustration of the way the Lord can weave things together as we seek Him. I love to see His Holy Spirit work in this way. At the end of worship, Matthew shared about a recent experience in which he went to the eye doctor who told him his eyes were dry and needed oil. He played a song by David Ruis called “True Love.” There is a spontaneous part of this song on the CD where David Ruis shares about people with contact lenses and how they get dry. He said spiritually sometimes our eyes get dry and we need the gift of tears. God gives us tears to cleanse our hearts. As Matthew played this song for us, I personally felt such encouragement and healing. It's easy to get frustrated, dry, and irritable. Times of focus on the Lord bring such healing and restoration. I think this was a time for many of us to find refreshing tears and just encouragement in the Lord. Message: We are in a series about Psalm 23 using the book A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm by Phillip Keller. We highly recommend this book to anyone! This is a powerful look at the way the Lord Jesus is our Good Shepherd. This Lampstand we were focusing on Psalm 23:2. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. Some highlights from the message are: -Sheep do not lie down unless they are free from fear, friction with other sheep, pests, and hunger. In each of these circumstances the presence and ministry of the Shepherd makes all the difference. 1.He protects us and His nearness reminds us that we do not have to fear. 2.When He is near, we don't tend to fight with one another! 3.He applies the oil that frees us from pests that distract and destroy us. 4.He works to ensure we are fed and nourished. -He leads us to quiet waters. He knows where the water is and has provided the watering places! Sheep have 3 main sources of necessary water. 1.Dew! Getting up early and beginning our day with the Lord is like drinking dew from the grass. 2.Deep wells! He digs these out and provides them for us. Jeremiah 2:13...let's drink from the sources He provides and not from unhealthy substitutes. 3.Streams! Are we drinking from potholes along the path or are we drinking from the beautiful streams He leads us to? As Matthew shared about these things, we were all encouraged to trust the excellent leadership of our Good Shepherd who always leads so well. Taking time to respond to this message helped to seal these words in our hearts. |
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November 2020
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