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Jehovah Jireh – The Lord our Provider

Posted on December 9, 2012 by ez3728

Our great God reveals Himself and His personality to mankind through purposeful situational texts, and by revelation and declaration of His covenant names: our Healer, our Righteousness, etc.

In all times, and of course especially in times of need, we rightfully can call upon our Lord as Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. It is both interesting and sobering to take a deeper look at the biblical situation through which God chose to first reveal that particular covenant name. It goes back to a circumstance of extreme testing.

Genesis 22:1-18
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “ Abraham!”
And he said, “ Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “ Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

Verse 1 has God clearly understanding the relevance and importance of Isaac. Although Ishmael was already born, Isaac is referred to by God as Abraham’s only son, and one deeply loved by Abraham. Isaac was the only son of promised destiny. Isaac was God’s plan for the lineage of promise. Still is, by the way. Faith in Christ adopts the Gentile believer into that family line.

God’s directive to Abraham is clear: sacrifice Isaac on Mt. Moriah – quite a distance from where Abraham dwelt. A trip requiring effort, and the accompaniment as well as likely protection of two associates. There would be plenty of time for Abraham to consider the outcome and impact of this obedience, and therefore plenty of time for Abraham to back down from this extreme test of faith.

4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said to his young men, “ Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

Abraham, unaware of God’s planned interruption of this sacrifice, declares God’s directive as an act of worship. It is notable to realize there was no Mosaic law yet – Abraham was still discovering God’s righteous personality, and human sacrifice was likely not unfamiliar to a man raised with idolatry and idolatrous practices in cultures all around him. Abraham was about to learn the goodness and mercy of God, as well as the provision of God.

6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.
7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “ Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “ Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

Isaac was not only old enough to carry the wood, but wise enough, and trained sufficiently in the fundamentals of faith, to realize that what they were about to do required a living sacrifice.

9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.

We hear of no resistance from Isaac.

10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “ Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “ Here I am.”

Lesson to learn: As Jesus responded to the temptation of Satan, proclaiming: “Man does not live bread alone, but by every word that proceeds (the tense would have us understand: continues to proceed) from the mouth of God” – Abraham in his living faith was able not only to hear God’s FIRST DIRECTIVE to offer his son, but continued to hear the important SECOND DIRECTIVE of God. Had Abraham locked in on only the first directive, and religiously refused to continue to listen for God, he could have slain the son of promise.

12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The- Lord- Will- Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

THIS is where our great God reveals Himself as Jehovah Jireh (the Lord will provide, or the Lord our Provider).

It is a far cry from Jehovah-our-genie,or Jehovah-our-lottery ticket.
God’s provision is demonstrated in a situation of the most extreme testing, and Abraham’s successful obedience.

I thank my/our great God that His provision extends to us, to situations not necessarily tantamount to father-Abraham’s testing. At the same time it would do us well to once again and in the fear of the Lord appreciate the sanctity of His covenant with us. He will test us. He will stretch us. He will provide for us completely within the context of His will, and our faithful obedience. He will continue to speak, and we are invited to continue to listen, always.

Bless God.

15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,

16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—

17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (NKJV)

Posted in Everything, Faith, Obedience, Testing, Understanding & Knowing God | Leave a comment

Testing – It’s A Good Thing

Posted on November 30, 2012 by ez3728

The first father of faith – Abraham, finds himself tested by God in Genesis 22:1. No small test. A huge one, in fact. Abraham’s son of promise, “kid-impossible” – Isaac, the seed who came forth miraculously in fulfillment of the promise of God, is asked for as a sacrifice, by God.

Gen 22:1-2 (NKJ)
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 And He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

(Mt. Moriah, by the way, later is renamed Golgotha, and then Calvary. Another Son of promise does get sacrificed on that location).

The Hebrew word for testing (na-sa) is accurately defined as testing, assaying, proving, put to the proof or test – there’s even an element of tempting in the definition, as if to imply that one who is being tested might determine “hey, I’m outta here”. Point is, God tested Abraham indeed. Abe succeeded.

Abraham’s test was not an anomaly. To the contrary, it was an introductory revelation into the plans and processes of God for all His people.

Inarguably, God continues testing His people. Testing their/our mettle, wanting to see faith in action, providing His people with opportunity to say yes to the impossible.

Things haven’t changed in the transition from Old to New Testament. Gentile believers in Christ have been grafted into the family where Father God (Who does not change) tests His beloved ones:

1 Pet 1:6-7 (NKJ)
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

It is key to our eternal success, lived out day by day, to understand God and to appreciate His never-changing attributes and personality.

The psalmist brings out some further revelation re testing:
Ps 66:8-14 (NKJ)
8 Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
9 Who keeps our soul among the living, and does not allow our feet to be moved.
10 For You, O God, have tested us; you have refined us as silver is refined.
11 You brought us into the net; you laid affliction on our backs.
12 You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; but You brought us out to rich fulfillment.
13 I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows,
14 Which my lips have uttered and my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble.

I love those verses. They’re not easy to embrace as part of our purification and sanctification, yet they remain part and parcel of the true and ongoing gospel message. God tests us, takes us through things we are not be inclined to choose to go through (except out of obedience to Him), and in that place our great God may sovereignly squeeze a resolve out of us – vows, oaths, proclamations of our future faith-behavior, declarations that we will proceed onward and honor that which is now due God, because of His great deliverance.

I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows,
Which my lips have uttered and my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble.

Ps 116 is a great proclamation of an appreciative servant of God coming before His King-Deliverer, in utmost gratitude.

Amen.

In this season of world-wide shaking, our great God is relentless in His plans and purposes to be raising up an army of lover/warriors – ones who have been trained by Him, in His foresight and perfect understanding of who we are, and what He has predetermined for us to walk in – corporately but also individually. Each of us has been wonderfully and fearfully made (Ps 139) – and the Creator, the Eternal Inventor, knows just what is required to bring us out to rich fulfillment. Fulfillment of our destiny has to be accomplished through growth process. And testing is part of that. It is a good thing.

Once again – the most insanely faith-filled and reckless prayer we can ever utter:
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Your will be done in me. I want the gospel in my life. The whole gospel. My whole life.

James 1:2-4 (NKJ)
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Posted in Everything, Faith, Fear of the Lord, Movement of God, Obedience, Openness, Personal Relationship, Prayer, Repentance, Salvation, Suffering, Testing, Understanding & Knowing God | 1 Comment

Thanksgiving – A Portal To The Glory Of God

Posted on November 22, 2012 by ez3728

Psalm 50 is a tough writing. Unlike Psalm 49 (directed to all people), Psalm 50 is specific to its intended audience: the ones who have made a covenant with God. This Psalm is for the saints, and it contains some severe warnings of correction, judgment, and even destruction, at the hand of the Lord. It is a small wonder why this Psalm has little pulpit time. It offends our comfortable theology. And yet it is written for our admonition, as are all the Scriptures.

In overlooking this Psalm, we can miss an amazing and timeless revelation regarding thanksgiving, and we can miss further revelation regarding the heavenly solution to the ‘Ichabod Syndrome’ (glory departure) upon the earth. And we can miss some understanding as to why our great God, Whose ways differ from our ways, might not only ALLOW trouble to come our way, but might actually LEAD us into trouble, with divine purpose. Notable is the 23 verses of this psalm. Psalm 23 is all about being led by the Good Shepherd through the valley Of the shadow of death.

Back to 50. The revelations can be found in verses 14 and 15:
14 Offer to God thanksgiving,
And pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

There is divine formula and process.

Just as Peter reiterated – ‘let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls unto Him as to a faithful Creator’, the writer of this psalm tells us that, for those walking the walk and finding themselves in trouble, they are offered the invitation to call upon the One they serve, and after that call deliverance will occur, and then the glory of God will be manifest.

Yea God! Reglorification of the world through the deliverance of the righteous, as a result of trouble being overcome by mercy.

THAT is living the gospel in front of a jaded and distracted and broken and deceived world.

Saints, your offering of thanksgiving sits solidly within the process and promise of holy purpose.

Happy Thanksgiving.

PSALM 50 (NKJV)
God the Righteous Judge
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 The Mighty One, God the Lord,
Has spoken and called the earth
From the rising of the sun to its going down.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God will shine forth.
3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;
A fire shall devour before Him,
And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.
4 He shall call to the heavens from above,
And to the earth, that He may judge His people:
5 “ Gather My saints together to Me,
Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6 Let the heavens declare His righteousness,
For God Himself is Judge.
Selah
7 “ Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you;
I am God, your God!
8 I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices
Or your burnt offerings,
Which are continually before Me.
9 I will not take a bull from your house,
Nor goats out of your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God thanksgiving,
And pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to declare My statutes,
Or take My covenant in your mouth,
17 Seeing you hate instruction
And cast My words behind you?
18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him,
And have been a partaker with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth to evil,
And your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I kept silent;
You thought that I was altogether like you;
But I will rebuke you,
And set them in order before your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces,
And there be none to deliver:
23 Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;
And to him who orders his conduct aright
I will show the salvation of God.”

Posted in Everything, Personal Relationship, Prayer, Psalms, Repentance, Salvation, Understanding & Knowing God | Leave a comment

Hey Jude

Posted on November 16, 2012 by ez3728

The book of Jude was very likely written by a brother of our Lord, humbly referring to himself as the ‘brother of James’ (who we know to be the brother of our Lord). Supporting that position, Matthew 13:55 clearly confirms one of Jesus’ siblings as being Judas, a popular name during that age, albeit soon to fall into disfavor and reproach thanks to the traitor who later played so prominent a role in the betrayal.

So Jude grows up with brother Jesus, the Perfect One, and eventually gets converted to no longer think Jesus was out of His mind (Mark 3:21, 32 & John 7:5). It is further apparent from this letter that Jude had a convincingly serious encounter with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and recognizes that although intense warfare against the purity of the salvation experience would even come from within the church (spots in their love feasts) there would always be sufficient provision for all saints to make it, and to make it without stumbling – by embracing the God-ordained component of Holy Spirit baptism, and entering into the ongoing lifetime practice of praying in the Holy Spirit – in one’s heavenly language (Acts 2:6, 10:46)

Jude also knew that the craftiness of the enemy could be sufficient to undermine the weakness of our own frail state, when saints would attempt to ‘do it on their own’. Jude, citing multiple prior disastrous fallings away, drives home the point that many who had once stood firm had fallen – both men and angels – had been overcome by demonic doctrines and deceptions.

It is therefore no wonder that our enemy would proactively seek to undermine and distract the people of God from praying in the Holy Spirit, sadly/often even by weak and faulty church teaching.

Yes, the unlearned and unstable may indeed think you’re out of your mind:
1 Corinthians 14:23
Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

…but we’re already told the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing.

Saints, build yourselves up, praying in the Holy Spirit. Your spirit will soar in accord with the divine and more than sufficient provision of God’s New Testament design for success. He gave all, He forgave all, He provides all, we need all.

Everything we need – all things that pertain to godliness – all – have been released to us within the perfect plan of God – so it would follow that we’re to appropriate and utilize that full provision.
2 Peter 1:2-3
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

Here’s the inarguable revelation: We naturally don’t know how to completely come into perfect prayer-alignment with heaven – BUT the Spirit of God supernaturally knows precisely how we’re to pray most effectively, and then James tells us it is the EFFECTUAL fervent prayer of the righteous that avails much.

As we surrender in faith to God’s spirit praying for us, through us, via His Holy Spirit, we can come into perfect alignment, and our prayer maximizes its potential. Yea God!

Romans 8:26-27
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Jude 1:20-21
20 But you, beloved, (unlike the prior examples of those who have fallen away, Jude’s saying, by contrast) building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Not only Hey Jude. It’s also Yea Jude!
Thank you for the truths re our determination, activity, and GOD-ordained part in our own standing firm, and not falling away.
Thank you for the testimony and reminder that our great God has never set us up to fall, flounder, or fail.
Thank you for the admonition and encouragement and revelation that we can and ought to build ourselves up (edify/strengthen ourselves) praying in the Holy Spirit.

All scriptures NJKV…

Posted in Everything, Holy Speech, Holy Spirit, Prayer, Understanding & Knowing God, Worship | Leave a comment

Clean Sheets Or Clean Robes?

Posted on November 6, 2012 by ez3728

Rev 12:11 (NKJ)
11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

That’s an amazing verse. Christians are all over the “overcoming” thing, and the tougher life gets, the more the Lord shakes heaven and earth, the deeper He personally takes each and every one of us along our own journey of refinement, the concept of overcoming sometimes overcomes us. But then we realize this is precisely what we are called to do. After all, consider the bleak alternative:

Heb 10:37-39 (NKJ)
37 “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

The writer of Hebrews ends this OT (Hab 2:4) quote with the faithfully optimistic statement: “…But we are not of those who draw back to the perdition…” – fully understanding that the choice remains ours every day.

In fact, one of the primary themes of the book of Hebrews is to continue, to make it, to not allow our hearts to grow hard, to not become like Esau – selling out our eternal inheritance for the “now”. It was later in the first century, the believers had believed Jesus would return soon, and He had not met their calendar expectations. They in turn were getting discouraged, and were being told to make that which was crooked straight. We would do well to look at this portion of scripture:

Heb 12:12-17 (NKJ)
12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. (we’re to be doing all that. Our responsibility, and in our own power, by His great grace)
14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
15 looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.
17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

We need to be overcomers, indeed, and no one, no creature, no person, can pluck us out of His hands. But we can choose to exercise our God-given freewill to yank ourselves out, and we’re not to do that. We’re to overcome. John sees that in Revelation, that we can overcome even the most trying of times, the end times. The heavenly formula of us overcoming, even to not loving life, seems to war against the Western Church’s attitude of smooth sailing with Jesus.

Again: Rev 12:11 (NKJ)
11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB – and everyone shouts “Amen”
BY THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY – and some, who live lives of light and testimony, say “Amen”.
AND THEY DID NOT LOVE THEIR LIVES TO THE DEATH – and currently there’s pretty much silence, but for the few who understand this is not a gospel that necessarily concludes on a clean bed, with clean sheets, with our grandchildren and sons and daughters around us, as we profoundly bless them and then drift off to eternity. Fade to harp music. Not.

This gospel is supposed to end with white robes, not necessarily clean white sheets. Countless saints who have said yes to the will of God have discovered that their exit strategy was not the Lord’s exit strategy for them. This is a very real gospel that may well require us to lay our lives down for the One who laid His down for us. It’s good to practice surrender during our living days, so if/when the Lord calls us to the big surrender, we’ve have some practice.

I know of a praying family who were called by the Lord to Sendai Japan only a few days prior to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They did not miss the will of God. They found the will of God. Lights in a dark place. Salt of the earth. Those saints were invited into tribulation, not scooped up out of tribulation. The purposeful troubling of “tribulation” is for the Lord to get the unsaved saved, that they would cry out in their distress. He wants His people around to offer that salvation rescue. Troubling is part of God’s plan, you ask? Read Ps 107. His verse 43 mercy and lovingkindness often begins with His troubling of folks’ status quo, way prior to the deliverance. That is the wisdom of that psalm.

Do we realize what we are saying to our Lord when we pray “Your will be done”? It might mean more than we bargained for. It likely will. It will.

Not all praying folks are called to martyrdom. But we’re all called to obedience, to faithfully fulfill our destiny on earth. If we seek to save our lives, we’re guaranteed of one thing:

Matt 16:25-28 (NKJ)
25 “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26 “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

This is a great and wonderful gospel, designed by a great and wonderful God.
Clean sheets or clean robes? What is your end-game perspective?

Posted in Cleanliness, End Times Related, Eternity, Everything, Old Testament, Revelation(s) | Leave a comment

Is It Raining?

Posted on October 29, 2012 by ez3728

God, who created it all, is very much in charge of the elements. Always has, always will be. He has revealed and declared that truth with authority, and with clarity:

Ps 104 (NKJ)
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: you are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.
3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, who walks on the wings of the wind,
4 Who makes His angels spirits, his ministers a flame of fire.
5 You who laid the foundations of the earth, so that it should not be moved forever,
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
8 They went up over the mountains; they went down into the valleys, to the place which You founded for them.
9 You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they may not return to cover the earth.
10 He sends the springs into the valleys, they flow among the hills.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 By them the birds of the heavens have their home; they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the hills from His upper chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.
14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth,
15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the birds make their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high hills are for the wild goats; the cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19 He appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knows its going down.
20 You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
22 When the sun arises, they gather together and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions–
25 This great and wide sea, in which are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great.
26 There the ships sail about; there is that Leviathan which You have made to play there.
27 These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season.
28 What You give them they gather in; you open Your hand, they are filled with good.
29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles; he touches the hills, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the LORD.
35 May sinners be consumed from the earth, and the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!

Our great God uses the natural elements to both bless people, as well as to correct them.
Amos 4:4-13
4 “Come to Bethel and transgress, at Gilgal multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days.
(Stay religious, if you like, a religious place won’t matter if you’re living in sin. Location is never a justification, even Bethel)
5 Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, proclaim and announce the freewill offerings; for this you love, you children of Israel!” Says the Lord GOD.
6 “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; yet you have not returned to Me,” says the LORD.
(God meanwhile, was dealing with their unrepentant nature by bringing famine to them)
7 “I also withheld rain from you, when there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain the part withered.
(Oops, here we go. God is doing the rain-thing, trying to get the agricultural nation’s attention. Rain or no rain meant life and death)
8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to Me,” says the LORD.
9 “I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the locust devoured them; yet you have not returned to Me,” says the LORD.
(They likely sat in front of their TV’s, while newscasters explained things in terms of “high pressure fronts, and low pressure fronts”. No sense offending anyone by mentioning God)
10 “I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; your young men I killed with a sword, along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; yet you have not returned to Me,” says the LORD.
11 “I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; yet you have not returned to Me,” says the LORD.
(So God escalated things, and the people continued to ignore Him)
12 “Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
13 For behold, he who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth– the LORD God of hosts is His name.

Amos was not alone in his prophetic revelation of God trying to deal with the people, by way of natural occurrence. In Deuteronomy, way earlier, the Lord Himself proclaimed that He could/would utilize waters to bless. In Kings, Solomon rightly dialogued with God about His corrective hand (duplicated in 2 Chron 7, of course):

Deut 11:13-15 (NKJ)
13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14 ‘then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
15 ‘And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’

IKing 8:33-36 (NKJ)
33 “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple,
34 “then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.
35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them,
36 “then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

You can research the brief book of Haggai to see God Himself tell His people that He was working nature against them in their sinful doings, and as soon as they repented, He (figuratively), holds up a calendar, mentions that the time of year was too late to plant but too early to harvest, and yet that did not restrict Him from pouring out an immediate blessing.

And let’s not forget the Flood, please. There is an ark. It will be revealed. It is true. He brought a flood on the ungodly.

God does not respond to nature. Nature responds to God. God, in His loving mercy, chooses to respond to us, when we, in humility, choose to come to Him and to acknowledge Him as God, as the One worthy to be praised, feared, reverenced, adored, sort after, and loved.

It is a good time to recognize the fullness of the personality of God, who told us Himself that He does not change (Malachi 3:6). Jesus’ death and propitiation work was for us to be able to come into His presence, not to calm down a wild and crazy OT God Who would now behave Himself during the NT era.

Isa 45:5-9 (NKJ)
5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other;
7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’
8 “Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I, the LORD, have created it.
9 “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

On a high note, God speaks through young Zechariah, and equates the unfailing promise of outpouring of His Spirit, in the last days, as a Latter Rain – so needful for a harvest, this time, of souls and not crops:
Zech 10:1 (NKJ)
1 Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; he will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone.

We’re told to ask for that outpouring, when we see, in our spirits, that it is the right time for that outpouring. Pour out Your Spirit on Your people, Lord.

Posted in Creation, Everything, Understanding & Knowing God | Leave a comment

Eternally Secure

Posted on October 18, 2012 by ez3728

Israel was in a heap of trouble with God. Things actually appeared to be chugging along OK. The temple was up and running. The religious leaders were in authority, doing their religious thing. Meanwhile, the party poopers were the true prophets of God, coming out of personal divine encounters with the living God, telling the people that things were not OK, that there was social injustice, governmental corruption, religious hypocrisy. And they were telling the people, straight from the mouth of their God Who had made a covenant with them all, that He was holding them more accountable because of that covenant, not less accountable.

Amos 3:1-6 (NKJ)
1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?

Oops. Calamity created BY God? There’s some “personality attributes of God” we typically don’t want to address.(hmmm, didn’t He tell us in Malachi He never changes?)

The true prophets were unpopular, although the smoother-talking proclaimers of the unconditional goodness of God, regardless of the lifestyle of the people, were thriving (temporarily).

God had earlier, time and again, told Israel that if they refused His word, He would correct them with the blows of the rod of man (2 Sam 7:14). God had already employed other people groups to judge His people – He had brought the Midianites into the land during the times of Gideon. But folks who refuse to learn from history are condemned to relive it. And Israel has been the poster-child of that slogan of truth (hint: they’re not alone).

So there they were, in the days of Isaiah (which were also the days of Amos, Hosea and Micah, so you can confirm the gist of the heavenly message), and the warning was out. The 70-year Babylonian captivity was around the corner, and it was going to entail devastating destruction of the land, desperate times for the people, famines during sieges of cities, desperation to the point of cannibalism. Many pulled by ropes with hooks into Babylon, to die there. Horrific.

And what does the Lord reveal to the people? Is there hope for the righteous even during those kind of times?

Isa 33:14-22 (NKJ)
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
(This verse sets up the target audience, and the rhetorical question. V 15 answers that there actually is an OK group, as well)
15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil:
(V 16 is the prophetic promise)
16 He will dwell on high; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; bread will be given him, his water will be sure.

What an incredible word of comfort and assurance. His water will be sure. Bread will be given him. Doesn’t say much about flat-screens, but the necessities of life are promised, that promise coming from the mouth of God. He knows those who are His. And He remains jealous over them, always.

It goes on to prophetic promise, including:
17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; they will see the land that is very far off.

God is always good to those who are His, those who are truly His. Look at the following contrast-of-carefulness. On one hand, an angry God will carefully scour a city “with lamps” to search out those worthy of judgment, and on the other hand His eyes RUN to and fro carefully looking for the faithful, to reward each and every one. One way or the other, we are talking about an inarguably proactive God:

Zeph 1:12 (NKJ)
12 “And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will He do evil.’

2 Chr 16:9 (NKJ)
9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him..…..

But we are in the New Testament times. True.

John 16:32-33 (NKJ)
32 “Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

There will always be trouble, and in fact active and even purposeful troubling in the world – tribulation – but those who dwell in Him, and those who purposely make large room in their lives for Him to dwell in them, are assured of His presence. Yea God!

Rom 8:35-39 (NKJ)
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The word, below, to Timothy is a word to us all (although this fortunate guy did have a Christ-centered upbringing, unlike many of us)

2 Tim 3:12-17 (NKJ)
12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The good news of the gospel is not the promise of no trouble in life. It is the invitation to eternal life in the One Who loved and loves us, and will see us through all things, including trouble and troubling, as we remain in Him.

We are eternally secure, only in Him, and Him in us.
The pearl of great price is worth selling everything else to obtain.
Whatever life adjustments ought to be made, ought to be made.
Search me, Oh God.

Posted in End Times Related, Eternity, Everything, Movement of God, Revelation(s), Salvation, Understanding & Knowing God | Leave a comment

When Will God Sing?

Posted on October 15, 2012 by ez3728

Throughout the scriptures and throughout the centuries of mankind serving God, prophets and other saints have “pulled down” and applied particular verses and promises at particular times, as they were led by the Spirit, into the circumstances of their time. Paul (1 Cor 14:21) pulled down Isa 28 to describe praying in tongues (as the sign of an invading HEAVENLY kingdom) – when in reality it was primarily prophesied to foretell of the invasion of Assyria into Jerusalem many hundreds of years earlier. Perfect-Jesus omitted a portion of Isa 61 (“the day of vengeance of the Lord”) when He spoke in the synagogue, because the beginning of His earthly ministry at THAT time was not THE time for the fulfillment of that particular phrase. All well and good, and gloriously mystifying – to think that the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon a man or woman could accurately illuminate a portion of the eternal word and breathe immediate relevancy into its application at a specific time and place (Reason #764 why we need to spirit led).

Of course this kind of “living word” application can get dangerous, if/when folks start pretending they are hearing from God, and start spouting off scriptural phrases out of season, or out of the will of God. Dealing with that religious silliness is a charge to church leadership, and also we often leave such dealings directly with God Himself, Who over the centuries and millenniums has proven Himself quite able and active in defending His word, and dealing with the false-religious or the goofy or the unlearned who handle His word, warnings and promises as if they were a goody-bag to impress the naïve or simple. Consider Hananiah, who seemed to have a much happier and more optimistic word for the oppressed (by God) disobedient children of Israel, than did Jeremiah (boy, Hananiah probably was invited to speak at way more conferences than was Jeremiah):

Jer 28:10-17 (NKJ)
10   Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it.
11   And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.'” And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
12   Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13   “Go and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron.”
14   ‘For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also.”‘”
15   Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie.
16   “Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the LORD.'”
17   So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

All that said, we would do well to tremble at the word of God (the God Who does not change), treat it with respect and awe (in Hebrew, “awe” contains a significant element of holy dread and fear).

All THAT said, it is also healthy and correct to understand that the word of God deserves, and indeed requires, that it be especially embraced in the context in which it is written. Once again, it’s great, when spiritually appropriate, to pull down and apply scriptures into additional situations – situations other than their obvious biblical context. But it would be foolish to utilize the word of God for those “other” situations and fail to recognize their obvious original prophetic context. Ezekiel’s “dry bones” prophesy has been preached and promised to encourage many saints who simply were dried up and out of gas. Go at it. Wonderful. But how can anyone NOT apply those scriptures to the prophesied revival of end-times Israel? After all – God Himself tells Ezekiel (Ez 37:11) that THAT is the true context of that prophesy.

One passage of note, on topic with this writing, is Zephaniah’s prophetic promise of God Himself singing over His people. What an amazing illustration of His heart, and His love for those who love Him, always and throughout time.

Zeph 3:17 (NKJ)
17 The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you with His love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Yea, yea, and amen. But let’s not neglect addressing that amazing promise within the context of that prophetic writing. It is written to describe the conclusion of the return of Messiah, after the nations have been judged, and also after the people of God have been dealt with. This is about end times – about righteous God dealing with a predominantly wicked world, and also, necessarily, with His own disobedient people. This is about people still on earth at the time of that judgment, after His return. That may poke some holes into certain end-times theories. It also provides us somewhat of a clearer picture as to how God will return to earth, and what that return will look like, and what it will entail. We do not want to be offended by God when He returns, as God, and acts like the God of scripture. Of course feel free to read all of Zephaniah, but let’s simply look at chapter 3.

Zeph 3:1-20 (NKJ)
1   Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city!
(The city is not yet named in this first verse, but we’ll soon see who she is)
2   She has not obeyed His voice, she has not received correction; she has not trusted in the LORD, she has not drawn near to her God.
(This city had been spoken to by God Himself, and had chosen disobedience to that which had been spoken in the past. It’s a city that God wanted to correct, and that had been called to trust in the Lord, and in fact God is referred to as HER God. We’re talking about Jerusalem, folks. His special city)
3   Her princes in her midst are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning.
4   Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people; her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
(The city had prophets, priests, and leaders. Corrupt, out of order, ravenously devouring the people. This city HAD the law, but it had been used for corrupt purposes. The prophets and priests had been manipulating the word of God).

Jer 5:31
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?

Jer 14:14-15
14 And the LORD said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.
15 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’–‘ By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed!

5   The LORD is righteous in her midst, he will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; he never fails, but the unjust knows no shame.
6   “I have cut off nations, their fortresses are devastated; I have made their streets desolate, with none passing by. Their cities are destroyed; there is no one, no inhabitant.
(God – we’re back in Zeph – points to how He deals/dealt with other nations, and warns His own people to rightly fear Him – but they don’t)
7   I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me, you will receive instruction’– so that her dwelling would not be cut off, Despite everything for which I punished her. But they rose early and corrupted all their deeds.
8   “Therefore wait for Me,” says the LORD, “Until the day I rise up for plunder; my determination is to gather the nations (re: Zech 14:2) to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, all my fierce anger; all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.
(God, via Zephaniah, is saying that it will all come out in the wash. There will indeed be a day and a time when He will come back and get make all things straight, including His own people, over whom He has expressed jealousy. There’s no singing or dancing yet. It is a time of prophesied indignation, wrath and fierce righteous anger)
9   “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord.
10   From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my worshipers, the daughter of My dispersed ones, shall bring My offering.
(Here our great God is prophesying revival among, and from, nations, after His return – There will indeed BE nations after His return to rule on earth)
11   In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against Me; for then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer be haughty in My holy mountain.
(Those will be days when national Israel will have been sifted out by God, and the remnant will no longer have to look back on the sinful deeds committed over the centuries, for which they will have suffered immensely)
12   I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
(“meek” and “humble” – in Hebrew, have a sobering component of brokenness to them. Western-Church would prefer to avoid that refining work of the Spirit, but it exists in biblical context. Western-Church would rather have the singing/dancing God singing and dancing now and forevermore. We’re getting to it, but we do need to get to it scripturally. Zephaniah was not anointed by a God Who did not know or plan for Jesus to come. This yet-to-be-fulfilled prophetic book was breathed by a God Who totally understands the true grace of Jesus, and still we are told of sobering things yet to come – prior to verse 17 kicking in)
13   The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.”
(Above we learn, as we do in other verses, that what will be left of Israel is a truly holy remnant. Paul told us – Rom 9:6 – they are not all Israel who are Israel)
14   Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
(It will indeed by holy-party-time. It will be a time when wickedness has been dealt with, by our God, both in the enemy nations as well as in the religious hypocrites in both the synagogue and church who have turned people away from God and His holy goodness).
15   The LORD has taken away your judgments, he has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall see disaster no more.
16   In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak.
(Finally, IN THAT DAY, Jerusalem will not have to fear – because God has done the work He has promised to do. They will have looked upon the One who they pierced. They will have cried out “blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” And He will have entered the city called the apple of His eye. Oh yeah!).
17   The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you with His love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
(HERE WE GO – God is partying with His people. It is rejoicing time, and He will lead us/teach us how to sing and dance and go wild in Him, and with Him. Here is the correct prophetic time. Other singing-God times? Fine. Go for it. But let’s recognize what our God has revealed through Zephaniah, for us – after the bloody and righteous judgment of the nations, there will be rejoicing. God’s complete plan will happen. HHY – Hasn’t Happened Yet. But it will).
18   “I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, who are among you, to whom its reproach is a burden.
(God will reward those who grieved and sorrowed over corrupt and inappropriate and ungodly assemblies, those who knew in their spirit that what was presented to the world as “holy-convocation” simply was not).
19   Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, and gather those who were driven out; I will appoint them for praise and fame in every land where they were put to shame.
20   At that time I will bring you back, even at the time I gather you; for I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before your eyes,” says the LORD.

Yea God! Sing and dance! And the redeemed of the Lord will dance with you. It will be the wildest and most glorious Jewish wedding ever. And all Jews by faith (Jewish blood, or Gentile blood) will be dancing, as will the Groom. You can’t help but wonder whether the bride will be on sitting on a chair, held up high over the heads of the attendees……L’chaim.

Posted in Everything, Personal Relationship, Understanding & Knowing God, Worship | Leave a comment

Repent

Posted on September 28, 2012 by ez3728

REPENT

Merriam Webster defines the word REPENT as follows:
intransitive verb
1 : to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life
2 a : to feel regret or contrition b : to change one’s mind
transitive verb
1 : to cause to feel regret or contrition
2 : to feel sorrow, regret, or contrition for
— reypentyer

To repent is way more weighty than being sorry, or even simply regretting, although that’s part of it. The response to the regret has to a be a determined turning, and change of ways. A pulled over speeding driver can be sorry, and even regret his actions. But getting back into the car and squealing off does not equal repentance.

Preaching repentance is not preaching condemnation. Jesus made it very clear, in John 3, that condemnation was already in the world, having been let in by mankind’s sin. It is not the result of preaching repentance. It is the purpose why we are called to preach repentance:

John 3:19 (NKJ)
19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
.
Just as Righteous God judged Israel for their sin in the wilderness by sending destruction among them unless they made the active choice to gaze upon Moses as he lifted up his staff of life, in like manner God through Jesus was (and is) providing another, greater and more complete atonement, in the lifting up of His Son on the cross.

John 3:14 (NKJ)
14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

It’s good to understand the scriptures that OUR LORD HIMSELF referenced:
Num 21:5-9 (NKJ)
5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”
6 So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”
9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

With that in mind, let’s now look at John 3:14-18 (NKJ)
14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

I, along with others wiser than myself, believe that the SO in GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD is not a “how much” SO. It is an “in like manner” SO.
One more time, in that light:
John 3:14-18 (NKJ)
14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so (IN LIKE MANNER) must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The issue for the world, then and still, is that it needs people who will preach repentance from sin. THAT is the message of the gospel. We do not, and ought not, preach condemnation. Heaven forbid. It is an evil trap of religiosity to try to condemn men into repentance. And we don’t have to go that route. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us, when we walk in obedience to the Spirit and do things the way we’re supposed to do them, and when we say things the way we’re supposed to say them, will convict people of their sins.

Here’s the beginning of John the Baptist’s preaching ministry :
Matt 3:1-2 (NKJ)
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

Here’s the beginning of Jesus’ preaching ministry:
Matt 4:17 (NKJ)
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Here’s the beginning of Peter’s preaching ministry:
Acts 2:37-38 (NKJ)
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Paul said he warned every man (Colossians 1:28).

I detect a thread here. The full gospel is truly the only gospel.

“But it’s the goodness of God that leads to repentance”, you will say.
Correct. It will lead directly to repentance. And while we’re quoting Paul out of Romans, we would do well to look at the verse we often hear recited, alone, as the mantra for a softer-than-biblical gospel message. It comes from Romans 2, as Paul is dealing with hypocrites in the church – people acting pious while judging others for their sin.

Rom 2:1-11 (NKJ)
1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.
3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?
4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:
7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness– indignation and wrath,
9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
11 For there is no partiality with God.

Level playing field, says God. Sin, and you will get judged, believer as well as non-believer. Yes – it is truly God’s goodness that convicts all of sin, and makes a way for us to come to a place of contrition and repentance, but we better come to that place. God’s goodness is not an alternative for His judgment and wrath. God’s goodness is to warn, and then convict, so that people might repent and be forgiven, and avoid His just action against sin.

That is the gospel.

The world in its sin is condemned already. In love, God provided the amazing sacrifice of Perfect Jesus for all of mankind’s sins, so that we need not foolishly try to pay the price ourselves. But the choice remains each man’s choice, and in love we are charged with offering each man that choice. That’s what Jesus did.

Luke 13:1-5 (NKJ)
1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
3 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
4 “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

Up until the time that the church preaches the whole gospel, and nothing but the gospel, we will not live up to our calling, and we will not see the revival that the Lord has planned for the world in these last days.

Mike Bickle (www.mikebickle.org) states that the upcoming, severely trying times of tribulation, the intense and purposeful troubling of all things on earth by God, is best described as God using (I’m paraphrasing here) “the least severe means to get men to repent, without completely over-riding their free will”.

Now, if you’ve been falsely taught that man does not have a free will, and all that God wants to happen will simply happen, then the whole concept of repentance gets sort of goofy. After all, if you’re going to end up accomplishing God’s predestined will for your life no matter how you live, then, hey, go for it. The Word of God clearly tells us it is not God’s will that any perish, but that all come to repentance. All. But all won’t come to repentance because most will choose to exercise their free will to rebel. And meanwhile, the goodness of God cries out to mankind, crying out through His obedient sons and daughters who will not water down the gospel into something non-offensive.

The gospel is intended to be offensive. It is purposeful in offending the flesh, the intellect, the pride, and rebellion of man. It is warring against a condemned world, and I believe the true gospel is warring against a dumbed down, non-offensive, sanitized church message.

And in that warfare, the tip of the spear says: “repent”. John, Jesus, Peter and Paul said repent. If repentance was their message and the gospel spread effectively with signs and wonders following, what ought our message be, in love, and Spirit led?

Posted in Cleanliness, Communion, Everything, Repentance, Understanding & Knowing God | Leave a comment

Psalm 81

Posted on September 27, 2012 by ez3728

I am convinced that virtually every accurate doctrinal truth can be found in the Psalms, without any necessary wrangling or massaging of scriptures to make them work.

Take Psalm 81, for example. This is pretty much a run-of-the-mill kind of psalm, unless of course you rightly consider that the Word of God is, indeed, the Word of God, and that every single word is in place for divine and eternal purpose.

Ps 81:1-16 (NKJ)
1 Sing aloud to God our strength; make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
(Be verbal. Open your mouth. The creative force of the spoken word is pleasing to God, and we of all people have all reasons to be joyful, and to shout)

2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the lute.
(Who could ever read their Bible and conclude that instruments were out of place in worship? I won’t go there. Whole denominations have done that injustice)

3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast day. (The trumpet, the shofar, is key to God’s plan. The holiday (“holy-days”) have divine significance. Always have, always will. BTW – there will be a LAST trumpet – 1 Cor 15:52, so every prior trumpet blast can be regarded as a prophetic act for the Last Trumpet)

4 For this is a statute for Israel, a law of the God of Jacob. (It’s for His people. We are the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by faith in Christ. His statutes are part of our inheritance)

5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony, when He went throughout the land of Egypt, where I heard a language I did not understand. (The mercy and deliverance of God for His people was established in their deliverance from Egypt, and remains today for us)

6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the baskets. (But for the mercy of God, Israel had no prayer or hope. That holds true today. In fact, our jealous/zealous God actually wants it that way)

7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
(Here’s God talking via the words of the psalmist. Call-in-trouble is a huge truth of scripture. Troubled times are good times to call upon God. He will answer His people. Ps 50:15)

(SECRET PLACE OF THUNDER??? So much for God always being a still small voice. Our great God can do, and act, and reveal Himself in any manner He might choose. Let’s not limit Him to subtlety)

(And TESTING? Would God TEST His people? Yes: Ps 7:9, Ps 11:5, Prov 17:3, 1 Thess 2:4. This is one way God proves our love for Him, our motives, our hearts. It is a good thing)

8 “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
(Because He loves us, God is WILLING to admonish and correct us, IF we make the choice to listen to Him. So much for predestination. The scriptures are full of accounts of people making the free choice to NOT listen, and they suffered the consequences of their poorly exercised free will).

9 There shall be no foreign god among you; nor shall you worship any foreign god.
(Clear. Paul called covetousness idolatry. Our unsatisfied hunger for anything other than God, becomes a god)

10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
(Once again, a choice. The Mighty Delivered offers to fill the hungry ones, if they choose to open up to Him. Blessed are the hungry, those who refuse to fill themselves with everything but God, every comfort except the Comforter)

11 “But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me.
(Oops. This is a reference back to the history of poor choice. God was willing, the people weren’t. Lousy outcome, always. We’re to learn from that – 1 Cor 10:11)

12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels.
(God is no chump. My mom used to say: “You make your bed, then you get to lie in it”)

13 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways!
(Here is the heart of the loving Father, crying out for His people to make the right choices. Choose life or choose death. That is always before us)

14 I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries.
(Victory would have been accomplished, had the people complied with God)

15 The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever. (He’ll sort out the hypocrites. He is the eternal and perfect Judge of all men, including us. Rom 14:10 – we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ)

16 He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.” (Once again, the frustration of “would have”. Biblical accounts of people’s failures COULD HAVE had better outcomes. God’s plans for His people, willingly coming into alignment with His will, is blessing and provision. But God has given each man free choice – to embrace or resist the things of God. That has not changed with the New Testament era. Our God does not change)

Posted in Everything, God's Word, Old Testament, Psalms, Understanding & Knowing God | Leave a comment