HE ISN’T THE ONLY ONE REQUIRED TO SACRIFICE

APRIL 5, 2010 I got neck Joshua 10:20-26

The recounting of this storyline text featuring Joshua and the children of Isreal.

In vesre 18, we see that now the kings have gone into a cave and was directing the war from inside the caves, they were hiding yet fighting and directing a campaign(sought of what Osama bin laden has been suspected of) but this was a common technique of early easten conquerors who wanted to preserve themselves yet continue a campaign of war against an enemy. This is in itself very frustrating because its one thing to fight an enemy you can see, its one thing to understand the enemy’s location and fight from that perspective but when you have an enemy fighting and/or directing a fight from a hidden location, it becomes a lot more difficult to wage an effective campaign because it would appear that your enemy has no physicality. Sometimes the enemy would appear to fight and hide it would appear that it becomes difficult to say the least in trying to determine from which direction the attack is coming. Almost as if he hits and runs and hits and runs Almost as if you were fighting a phantom or some ethereal type of opponent who could attack you and disappear at will.
But Joshua found out where they were, he knew he had defeated the enemy but the war still waged strongly becasu they were fighting, so he knew that the leadership was still vibrant alive and active. Have you ever had to deal with a problem after it appears that the problem was solved, have you ever had to deal with issue, upon issue, even though it seems that you have already conquered the issues.– so he looked for the source-sometimes you have to trace your problem and find out, “where is this coming from”.  Sometimes you have to look for the source of the conflict and find out which direction its coming from. Why are the kids out of control, why cant I keep my money right, why is it that im going through a struggle that I really shouldn’t be going through. I thought I had already handled this problem, I thought I had already dealt significantly with these issues so why am I still dealing with some of the same madness that I am dealing with today. So he traced it back to the source and found the kings that were waging this secret campaign. He then instructed his armies to roll a stone in the way of the hiding place, now rolling the stone in front of the hiding place was at first glance an odd strategy to say the least but look at it he tells them to roll the stone in front of the hiding place

And then in v19-20 he instructs the armies to pursue after your enemies, he tells them to get up and go after the enemy- what he is doing is he is saying that you can pursue after your enemy with reckless abandon now because they have no effective leadership- those of you that were holding back because the enemy was fighting back and fighting with this strange tactic, he says pursue, let me share with you that no one gets victory without engaging in the fight you don’t get the option to win if you aint going to fight how can you be blessd if you don’t participate in what it is that will allow you to be blessed. You don’t get the benefit of a victory if you don’t get your hands dirty- im telling you its time to roll up your sleeves and get to fighting.

In vs21 we see that they have actually won the war and defeated the enemies that wre against them and now they return to the camps and they return to the dwelling places and the writer says that they return in peace and he uses the word shalom here – but shalom here , the word peace is used in an unusual wayits used here to depict the condition as a satisfied condition, an unconcerned state of peacefulness. We have a hard time grasping this concept of peace because too many of us fight and struggle and are preoccupied with maintaining peace, struggling in your mind , struggling in your heart, that the kids don’t act up, struggling in yourspirit. This is not peace when everything is ok but you looking for the problem, you expecting the problem, you expecting a mess, you expecting something to come up –THAT’S NOT PEACE. Its not real peace if you are ok but you struggle internally that the bills get paid on time-that’s not real peace, though shalom here can mean the absence of strife it usually means much more, for it expresses completeness, harmony and fulfillment.

Silenced the men(1 peter 2:15, psalms 63:11, psalms 107:41-42, titus 2:8) when the lord gets through hes going to silence all that talk.

In verse 24 joshau calls the captains of war to come near- qarav- basic meaning is being or coming near but here in this masculine tense it denotes a coming together for a legal decision- they are making a legal decision against the enemy. And let me say that if a person had done to you what the devil has done to some of you , you would have took him to court a long time ago, you would have done something about his madness a long time ago but instead you been sitting taking his mess, taking his madness, taking his junk-its illegal that the enemy has got you sick, its illegal that your depressed, its illegal that yoru kids are in trouble, its illegal that you feel  so lonely all you do is cry, its illegal thayt you so broke your pockets are touching, its illegal that he keeps attacking you on your job, attacking you in your own house-I don’t know about you but its time to find the devil guilty and  I believe there are some people under the sound of my voice who have had enough of what the enemy has been doing and they have decided I aint taking it no more- so they came together to make a legal decision-

He orders in vs24 for them to come together and put their feet on the neck of the king.

A few things that are interesting to note- this was not a jewish or Hebrew tradition basically because these children of isreal was for the most part an agricultural society – so this was not something that they created or practiced – but it was the tradition of the Assyrians- Assyrian kings to trod the neck of his enemy- king places his foot upon the neck to symbolize complete subjagation and possession of the captured king. Yet he asks not other kings he asks the lowly captains of the armies to place their feets on the necks of these five kings – he was stating in a very pronounced way that its not just another king that’s getting victory over you, but the very people themselves have victory over you – because victory is not the possession of a few – there is no elitist policy in the church or anywhere else that says you cant have the same victory as everybody else.

The neck was the bastion of pride: the neck or throat fundamentally expresses pride and self confidence. In the near east from ancient times, a self confident beariung was part of the ideal female beauty gods and goddesses by idolaters were often portrayed or depicted completely naked except for the neck or throat which was usually emphasized.

• Head- thoughts, mind intelligence
• Heart – center of life , seat of emotions
• Eye – spiritual vision light of the soul
• Ear- spiritual hearing entrance to the soul, receptacle of faith
• Forhead-thought reasoning, memory, imagination, seat of the mind
• Nose-symbol of breath, discernment
• Shoulders-searof government, strength
• Belly – symbol of emotions
• Arms-strength of the body, enablement
• Hands-power
• Legs-support and strength
• Thigh-ones walk and integrity
• Knee-symbol of humility
• NECK PLACE OF PRIDE UPON WHICH ALL THE OTHERS RESTED.

April 4, 2010 Positioned for a breakthrough Judges 16:20-31

 

There is a familiarity between the life of Samson and the life of a believer, by believer I do not necessarily mean one who wears the ideals or doctrines of their own particular denomination like a badge. By believer I mean you believe Jesus is real, he is love, he died for you, rose again, his blood is able to wash away your sin and he is coming back. You might be weak, you might in trouble, you may be spiritually oppressed, you may not be living like you should you my wear pants, you may not, your life may be spotless it may not, maybe you don’t know the worship songs, maybe you don’t live like such and such , but one thing is for sure you are a believer- are there any believers ut there.

A few things I notice right away, in the era to which Samson was born, was the longest period of oppression that the children of Israel suffered under, throughout the period of the judges. The children of Israel had gone in and out of apostacy throughout the book of judges, but none of it had lasted as long as this- he was born to a specific time with a specific gift(it lasted forty years). He was born to in a time when slavery, bondage and oppression was all they knew.  Some of us have found ourselves in circumstances that are sinful yes, but that’s all we knew and now the Lord has called us.

Samson –little sun-little rising sun-small rising sun. But it was under a cloud of his own weakness- a weakness that held him captive and even limited his own potential- he had this thing for strange women, it got so bad that at one point his parents asked him, is there no women among your own people who you would like- the worse thing sometimes is to be gifted, to be anointed , to be called, to have what others only wish they could have and still be limited by your own internal problems, I wish somebody would be real with me, and how many of you reading this  have great potential you feel it, you sense it- others have told you, you dream about it- you know that underneath all the drama of your life- there’s some greatness, you know that underneath the fact that you keep choosing the wrong man or hooking up with the wrong woman-there’s some greatness, you sense that underneath your baby daddy drama, underneath the fact that you were molested, the fact that you were abandoned-there’s something awesome – you feel it, that underneath the drug problem, the alcohol problem, the sex problem there’s something great in you that has to come out- and I want to confirm it there’s some great mess in you but there’s some greatness in you too- touch: underneath all this there’s something awesome in me.

This becomes then the realization of your gift- because you really do not become a target until you know who you are.

But this only leads to the enemy’s realization of your gift- when your special and you know it, when you are somebody and you know it this is when the devil, the enemy gets upset, he ain’t trying to get anybody that is already lulled into ignorance, he ain’t trying to destroy anybody who has already decided they have no worth. There’s no need to kill a man who decides he wants to die. You leave him alone and he will do the job for you. But when you begin to understand who and what you are, when you begin to understand that you are precious in the sight of God, when you begin to realize that you survived 400 million sperm because you were dynamic, that you are the head and not the tail that you are the lender not the borrower, that you are the one whose going to bless you children and bless your family and move the mountains and do the impossible the enemy gets mad at you

Then there is the TROUBLE: Here is Samson’s sin- that he joins himself with a harlot and ultimately reveals the source of his god given strength. And this is the problem that many of us face today. It’s not the enemy that has done great evil to us, his greatest strength is deception. Which is less dynamic and more passive. But it is us. Samson betrayed his own strength and paid for it and like Samson.  Most of  us have done the damage to ourselves , it was not the devil that did it, it was not demons that did it, it was not your mama, it was not your daddy, it was not the white man, the trouble that we find ourselves in for the most part is at the strength of our own hands. We have been delivered from so many things we get delivered from drugs, we get delivered from alcohol, we get delivered from illnesses, but God says I want to do a special work in you- I want to deliver you from you- trust in the lord and lean not to thine own understanding- in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. He allows a woman who does not love him and only seeks his destruction to cipher his secret from him once this is done he is captured by the Philistines who are bent on destroying him. They cut off his hair and put out his eyes.

So now he is a prisoner, blinded and his hair cut off and locked in someone’s prisoner- even though he is someone who was born with great potential and power from God- this is where some of us are right now- this has been your position in 2000. it was your position in 2005. it was your position in 2007, in 2008, and in 2009 but the lord is saying in 2010 I’m going to put you in the right position and you are coming out.

They bring him out one final time at a celebration where they praised their Gods that he was in fact captured and they had advantage over him- the bible says that they chose to make sport over him – His hair growing again was also a sign of forgiveness, a sign that God is over it, a sign that God wasn’t holding on to it anymore. So much so that it begin to grow as if it had never been cut-it began to grow as indication not to the Philistines, but samson’s hair began to grow so that Samson might know- that his favour with God has been returned that his place with God has been restored

 But the bible says that his hair began to grow back-understand that his hair was not the source of his power, his hair was simply a symbol, the enemy often makes the mistake of attacking the symbol cause he can’t do nothing with the source, the hair was symbolic of his faith, the hair was symbolic of his relationship with and to God, the hair was symbolic of his favour with God, and although they lied and cheated and deceived him although they ambushed him and humiliated him –his hair began to grow back,  as we head deeper into 2010-the lord is saying I AM RETURNING MY FAVOR BACK ON YOUR LIFE- im returning my relationship with you again, -look at you –its back, let them keep laughing at you but its back, let them conspire against you, but its back, let them plan their verbal assault, its back, let them say you aint going no where and ain’t gonna never be nothing- what they don’t know is that his favour is baaack—somebody holler ITS BACK!!!. My last trouble was just an interruption, but its back, my last mistake was a distraction but my joy is back, my life is back, my peace is back, my intimacy with God is back, my trust is back, my specialness is back, my power is back my favour is back- my hair is back=ITS BAAAAAACCCKKK!!!

The hair my God the hair was just a symbol of his consecration his strength did not come from his hair but his consecration- to consecrate is to be set apart as unto the lord, to come to him so he can be close to you-

His hair growing again was also a sign of forgiveness, a sign that God is over it, a sign that God wasn’t holding on to it anymore. So much so that it begin to grow as if it had never been cut-it began to grow as indication not to the Philistines, but samsons hair began to grow so that Samson might know- that his favour with God has been returned that his place with God has been restored

His blindness- representative of his faith, he had no sight, because before your big breakout you always get to a place of blindness, a place where you can’t see what’s coming, you can’t see how you’re coming out, you can’t see what you’re doing you don’t know how you gonna make it, it’s a place of absolute faith-his trouble led him to this place of absolute faith-to this place of faith-sometime we ask ourselves why did GOD ALLOW CERTAIN THINGS, WHY DD HE not stop it, before it got outta control, before you went overboard, before you messed everything up,- one of the reasons is that you’re own trouble is going to lead you to a place of absolute faith-they looked at his blindness as a handicap, they thought it put him in an inferior position, they ignored it.  But it made him lean on God

Whenever you get to this place- he overcame his victimization you cannot wait for somebody to help you out or get you out.

You have to snap out of it.

He was in the same old place but he was renewed.

Placing him at those pillars was the biggest mistake they could have ever made because they positioned him to fulfill his purpose, they positioned him to fulfill his destiny, they positioned him to do what he was called to do.

It is my sincere hope and belief that while some of us may be struggling yu are in the right position. You may be in the same place but your are positioned at the pillars and yu are going to fulfill your destiny.

Now push!

April 3, 2010 Bread in the House Ruth 1:1-7, 4:13-17

 

In my introduction, I need to say that if you are to understand this text properly, then you need to understand that, it was the time of the judges, according to the book of judges (2:14) “and the anger of the lord was hot against Isreal and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies”. A time when not only was the lord against them , you will be hard pressed to find the lord in an interactive personal way in that book, but their enemies were against them as well because of the lord.

Now although there was the disposition that God had toward them , that he was not going to be there involved in a positive way with them.

“now it came to pass-in those days”whenever there is the use of this expression it denotes impending trouble, if the lord is not involved in a positive way there cannot be and will not be a manifest presence of God available, hence, “now it came to pass”

It meant that they were singing , they were dancing, but the lord’s presence , his manifest presence was not available. “Now it came to pass”, meant that they were having business as usual but the lord’s presence was absent from the routine. “Now it came to pass” meant there was no god involved in their doings.

I have come to some conclusions about where I am in my life, if everybody goes, if nobody else is here, lord don’t let me have a period of “now it came to pass”. I’d rather live without you than live without God. I’d rather make  the manifest presence of God my priority than man.

I believe we have lost the priority of the presence of God. We have made people and personalities and choirs and money and clothes a priority , but  we have to get back to making God’s presence a reality in our lives

Notice the end result – there was a famine in the land. Make no mistake about it , that there is a direct correlation between the absence of the manifest presence of God and the presence of a famine in the land.

You must know that God is getting ready to break out in our churches , in this town, in our cities and in this country- if he has to bypass tired churches, bypass stuffy cathedrals, bypass intellectual congregations and bust out in a back door storefront church – he’s coming on his own terms- he passed by the religious elite before to dine with the poor, profane and the prostitutes, because they knew they needed him and they were hungry and if we don’t get back to remembering how much we need his presence, it will pass right by us.

You need to make up your mind , whatever it takes, whenever it comes, wherever it comes from – we need him- ragged or dressed up, dirty or dignified, short, nappy, poor, broke, disgusted, lonely, confused, upset, sick, hurt and in pain, look good, don’t look good, weave , bald, – I NEED HIM. If I have to pray all night and all morning ad get on the bus or ride the bike or walk to church, if I have to fall out until I get lint balls on my new suit and my wig roll to the back of my head- I WANT HIM AND I NEED HIM On his terms not mine, cause I don’t want to be inside waiting for him to come while he passes by on the outside cause the insiders will miss him but the outsiders march with him. And I am too hungry to sit in the back of the church and play games and get complacent and tired – im hungry for my god nd for his manifest presence- I WANT SOME BREAD .

Naomi went down to Moab(dirty little wash pot)as a matter of survival she went because that was the only way she felt she could in fact survive- some of us been getting by, out of the dirty little wash pot  but I’ve already cried too much, hurt too much, to get my bread from a place I aint supposed to I can’t get my bread from a party , from a man/woman who don’t love me- I need some bread in my house.

The church has failed itself and the world because when people come in hungry , the spiritual cupboard is bare- we only had crumbs of bread, recipes for bread, wrappers of bread, songs of bread, testimonies of bread, memories of bread, visions of bread, hopes of bread, thoughts of bread, plays of bread, messages of bread- but no bread.

Bread becomes the spiritual substance and the spiritual substinence that the child of God needs and desires for their nourishment and survival. That was the purpose for Naomi’s sudden movement-bread.

We have falsely advertised , hyped it up and subsequently lied, we have talked grandly about where he was , where he has been, what he has done, there’s a remnant of his glory but aint no bread , there’s a residue of bread but no bread in the house

Yeah , he blessed you yesterday but have you dealt with him that way today-no bread.

No bread because we have not accounted for one another, we have let folks come into church, who claim to be believers do whatever they want and we don’t ask them to do right so we can have bread in the house, we have let folks come in and argue and fuss and subsequently aint no bread, we have let folks come in and act ugly and not speak and get cute and have all this mess going on in their lives and then get up and testify like they alright – aint no bread.

And all we have done is successful created a religious environment without the spiritual bread, talking about where he has been , at the expense of locating him in the present.

Because of the absence of the manifest presence of God, because of the absence of bread – our behavior , our dedication, our commitment is lacking- no wonder we can sit next to people who will barely raise their hands to praise god, barely bow their heads to pray. There is not enough bread in the house.

We have instead settled for crumbs sure we get a touch or a taste every now and then but it’s just crumbs, baby it’s just crumbs. Why ? because there’s a little bit of man mixed with a little bit of God – a touch of god mixed with a touch of flesh. The problem is not that he wasn’t there , just not enough of him.

S o we’ve been content on settling for a touch of God – for crumbs, when he wants to fill our lives with his glory. I’m not talking about gifts of the spirit, neither am I particularly talking about miracles I’m talking about him. If he shows up- gifts will flourish and miracles will come. But I refuse to worship a gift, I refuse to run after a miracle – I want him so I can have my bread. You shouldn’t just want a man with a gift to lay his hands on you- you should want the awesome undeniable power and presence of god to flow into this place, so much so that it wont matter what gift the man has everything you need will be here , somebody holler lord send the bread.

The reason why we cant touch the neighborhood, our city., our town, is not because we don’t have gifts, ohhh we have the gifts and the callings. But because there is no bread in the church and if the manifest presence of God cannot flow down the aisles of the church, it aint flowing onto the streets of the city- it must start at the temple

For the next 90 days I am commanding you to seek the manifest presence of the GOD. We’re going to destroy every seducing spirits we are going to break the plans of manipulating men. We are going to hold lazy irreligious, uncommitted,  people accountable. And we are going to ask god for revival, not a good time, not a dance or a shout but we are gonna ask for bread in the house- his manifest presence.

Cause I cannot be content with crumbs on the carpet and crumbs in the pulpit we need bread.

He’s too much god for me to settle for crumbs I want his best. I don’t want to hear another story about him I want HIM. WE WANT REVIVAL , NOT SIMPLY REVELING  BUT REVIVAL . NOT SIMPLY THE RECYCLING OF SAVED PEOPLE THROUGH THE CHURCH TO KEEP THEM FIRED UP. There are too many hurting people searching for help and turning to the psychics we need a true wave of revival, where people who are unchurched, unlearned, never been saved, smell the aroma of bread and run to the house.

Because your pain , your trouble, your mistakes, your hurts, your trials ought to create in you a desire to be wherever the bread is she didn’t care about what happened she quickly got her things and returned back to Bethlehem, her babies were dead, yet she had to get over it long enough to make her way back to Bethlehem if you could forget somethings long enough, if you could forgive long enough to make it back to the place of bread

Hungry people , I mean really hungry people are very different from other people

They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. The only reason she moved so intently and so dramatically is that she wanted bread in the house.

What will you do to get bread in yours ?

New Praise Psalms 34:8 March 31, 2010

I don’t suppose, you have ever done something that was totally out of character. Nor do I suppose that you acted so differently that people almost failed to recognize you. Not based solely on your appearance but on your behavior, as well.

Of course I’m being ironic, but for  reason.

Life is filled with many, many unexpected circumstances, a variety of new situations that can reveal themselves at any moment. Some of these problems we cause for ourselves and others of these are the machinations of those around us. Doesn’t matter that much who or how. What matters a great deal however is our response n these times.

Here is a man anointed to be king, yet he is running for his life. He lives from moment to moment, from day-to-day. Yet he has surely been anointed as Israel’s next king. How I asked, can a man be favored by God, anointed by God and yet be running for his life ? How can a man be set aside for God’s own use and yet be in such grave trouble that he has to hide in caves and live on the run ?

David has run so much until he has run out of places to hide, he has run out of favors from friends, he has run out of places of safety. And now he is DESPERATE.

Desperation comes from despair being so overwhelmed because of the circumstances that you will do anything to have them resolved. This was exactly where David was in his life, in such despair that he was willing to do whatever he could to survive. But oftentimes while desperate we act reckless. We act without planning or thinking. But the other side of that is that most times desperation becomes a necessary ingredient to learning very, very valuable lessons.

His running has stripped him of all of his friends, because he could not put them in danger. His dignity seems to be waning  nd now he finds himself standing in front of a sinful and godless king who could surely have him killed.

The only way out is to act crazy, to act as if he is completely insane. He spits on himself, h pulls at his own hair and screams like a madman for the future king of Israel to come to this must mean that he is at the end of rope.

But on thing never changes. His praise. When he reflects on this particular circumstance while writing this psalm he understand that what he ultimately thinks and feels about  God has not changed.

The circumstances are dire. Yes. The situation is embarrassing. Yes. But is od still God ? Yes.

He says that his Praise. Singular -his main idea about God , his main focus concerning the Lord. That never changes.

What is learned is that sometimes the only thing that you have left is a Praise. And this leads to praises.

He goes on to say “I sought the Lord” . Even in light of the desperation. Even faced with despair I sense enough of him to look fo him.

He probably didn’t realize this until after e got out of the presence of te king but the fact of the matter is that his desperation led him to another level of reality regarding God.

One that says”no matter what happens he is still God and he still the only one that can save me , help m and deliver me.

Every hopeless situation that we encounter brings this point up stronger in ou lives. Every desperate circumstance that we experience causes us to realize this more and more . And with each trying time be sure to leave the experience with a NEW PRAISE.

April 2, 2010 Much todo About Nothing Mark 5:35-43

There are times in our lives when we obviously make a big deal about things that we do not need to make a big deal about. I know I’m telling the truth because I do it to.Sometimes my rush to judgement and my inclination to put too much unnecessary weight on what I see causes m to panic.

A man comes to Jesus and tells him of the terrible condition of his daughter, she is dead and is in desperate need of divine attention. Jesus agrees to come with the man to see his daughter.

While on the wa Jesus is interrupted by a woman with a peculiar malady and she needs help.  The man do not urge Jesus to abandon this woman and in fact he stands silently by while the Lord tends to her.

When they finally arrive at the man’s house a crowd hs gathered at a big fuss is being made because apparently the daughter is now dead and gone. I imagine some were saying give it up, don’t o in the house, it’s over, leave it alone, etc.

Again, I notice the silence of the father.He does not protest, he does not blame the lord he is just silent an I believe it is with anticipation and faith. Because throughout the gospels we see Jesus responding,primarily on the basis of faith.

Jesus overheard some of the things that they were saying and imply counted their unbelief by telling this man to not be alarmed, jut keep believing, that sort of thing. Because the reality is that others will sway you with their opinions and sentiments if you allow them.  You simply cannot let others determine your faith in God. And every once in awhile when you are on he verge of being swayed the lord will put great encouragement deep down inside of you so tha you ,might be able to believe him for the impossible. There i nothing wrong with some divine encouragement,it wasn’t that he didn’t believe, it’ just that he needed the kind of encouragement that only Jesus could provide. If he didn’t believe he would have never gone to Jesus to begin with.

There as such a great noise, people were everywhere weeping and wailing, screaming and crying. In those days it was not uncommon for folks to gather at someone’s house and put on a public display of mourning.

Further understanding allows us to know, that in order to have this kind of mourning they had to have the proper checks and examinations to insure that the person had in fact expired. They had all of the proper checks and now they are mourning. Sometimes we can have all of the proper checks, w see it, exactly as it is and now we are prepared to deal with it in a way tha does not include the miraculous. But on occasion you have to look at things with ad through the eyes of faith.

They laughed at Jesus and scorned him when they realized that he was there to raise the girl and had pronounced that she was not dead.. They said he is not going to do it. I believe that’s what the enemy says to all who would believe in the power of the Lord Jesus – He’s not going to do it. There may be people right now  in your circle, who refuse to belive  God for the things you believe him for. You should not be around anyone who will not believe God with You.

The bible says that these people are put out, hey are not allowed to be a part of the miracle.

In the end the girl is resurrected.

So all of their loud noses and mourning was for nothing.

Before you write something off, before you say it’s over or allow someone else to make you believe it is over, have faith in God.

Before you continue with the funeral or the pity party, before you fall out and slump into a depression, before you get angry and mad and scream at the top of your lungs; trust God.

Because it might be much todo about nothing.

The power of the slave 1 Corinthians 9 April 1, 2010

The initial question has to be who am I ? What is my place, my role not simply to Christ who I my savior but to the people around me ? Who am I in relation to my call, in response to my positioning in the kingdom of God and his people? Who am I in this world ?

This qestion has to be asked of every leader and of every believer as well.

n many ways the writer here (Paul) uses slavery as a metaphor, easy enough to grasp in the socio-economic climate of that day. But ar more difficult to grasp when we read these words in modern times. Because we have no real concept of slavery.

I first notice this difficulty in Romans 8, because he uses the slave metaphor in the negative as it relates to a pre christian or non christian state. In this passage slavery is characterizes that which believers have been delivered from. He declares rather candidly and succinctly “for ye have not received the spirit of bondage to fear but ye hav received the spirit of adoption. This why I had such a great deal of trouble with the slave metaphor or symbol because here salvation is depicted as the deliverance from slavery and yet in 1 Corinthians he uses the slave metaphor  as something  to be proud of .

A view to this slave metaphor can even b fond in the words of Jesus , in Matt 21 Jesus us the word translated doulous which paul later uses , describing both himself and  the prophets of old who represent God. The bare the Master’s identity and authority ad they carry on his work. o affront them is to affront the master, the owner, the one that has sent them. That’s why I teach people often to be careful how they talk to other’s ad how they handle the servants of God. Be careful how they judge them and treat men and women of God. Paul is so emphatic that he later asks the serious question “who art thou, that judgest another man’s servant”. To this end there is great power for those of us who serve God, power inherent in what we do and hose name we do it in.

For those of us who would serve the Lord, the Church and the Kingdom of God we must understand that the designation of slave came with a price .; Because the slave’s activities were supposedly pursued with a view to fulfill the interests of the owner and master with no prospect of self-interest. In other words what we do is not for us but what we do is for another.  Now in order to fulfill this task appropriately we have to sacrifice our feelings, our thoughts our defenses and sometimes our own will because it’s not about you or me, NO.

We do not call ourselves, nor ar we called or ourselves, we are called by someone else and we are called o serve for someone else and we are called to serve to someone else.

Yes we have aspirations and inspirations to do more and go higher but these should always lead us to a place where we desire to serve  more intensely and passionately as a servant.

Slavery is commonly defined as someone living for the benefit or profit of another. So there has to be a call to lose oneself as part of this definition.

I am not sure how we developed into a Kingdom of God where we have these pseudo celebrities, these rock star preachers who are viewed as important as God. When ever people come to see the man or the woman and not to fall into the presence of God there will always be problems.

Popularity, fame, money, recognition, reward, acclaim all of these work against the idea that we are servants.

If the agenda ad plan of the servant is inexhaustibly linked to the agenda and plan of the Master then the power and gifts of the servant are irreversibly linked to the power of the master.

This is the power of the servant.

This is the power of the doulous.

This is the power of any man or woman who would serve God.

The power of God is the power of the slave.

The Stretch Luke 6:6 March 30, 2010

I know, I know it’s been awhile with posting. Please forgive me. I hope to do better.

Allow me to revisit a message that I shared some time ago.Let me start by stating that I believe that while God wants the best for us. And he is entirely willing and able to do what he needs to do for us. He will not operate without our cooperation. es he wants to bless you and I but he does so with us involved. He does not come in and take over and run rampant over our free will. But he allows us to cooperate with him in his blessing us and in his deliverance for us.

I mean, think about it. What God would he be if he just came in and took over our lives and did what he wanted.

Which leads me to the point of this man with the withered hand who for all intents and purposes was in the right place but his problem was wrong. He was in the temple but he was in fact crippled, handicapped and damaged. Yet he was in the temple,probably something he did regularly. How  of ten do we disconnect from the church or from the house of worship because of some handicap or because of some weakness or failing on our behalf. We stay away because we are no good. We stay away because we understand the frailties of our lives more than anyone else and this brothers and sisters is simply wrong. It’s like not going to the doctor because you ave the flu. Going to the doctor is exactly what you should do when you have the flu. Likewise getting into the presence of God when we are in trouble is exactly what we must challenge ourselves to do. 

This man is in the congregation when Jesus calls him out.

He is asked to come forward. He does so.

Now let me digress to say even though it is Jesus who is being watched. The others are on trial as well, those that would deny this man an opportunity at deliverance, some relief from his handicap simply for the purpose of following some tradition.

Because he is asked to come forward ad does so, now everybody has the opportunity to recognize his dilemma, it is made plain for all. I would dare say that oftentimes we are so interested at hiding from others that we do not realize that when we expose ourselves we are setting ourselves up for the miracle. What if this man had been to embarrassed to come forward. What if he was so self-aware that he just did not want to come forward ? Then he would have certainly missed out on the miracle that The Lord Jesus had provided for him. The idea is this: sometimes our issues are made public by circumstance o that we can be the vehicle God uses to get the Glory.

The man is asked to stretch forth his hand. Now, initially this confused me because the man’s hand was in fac withered. It could not be stretched out. So why was he asked this ? further how was he going to do this ? How do you stretch out something that cannot be stretched ?

You try.

Can you imagine this man just attempting to stretch out his hand , the bible says that he did so and when he did , his hand was made whole as the other.

The miracle is sometimes released in the attempt. Those that are willing to sit back and say that it simply cannot be done will never receive the miracle. Those that are so infected by what they see or the circumstances will never experience the benefit that is available to them.

Try and see what happens.

Try and expect the miracle.

Perhaps you have given up. I do not fault you for your discouragement. But the lord wants to bless you, he is calling you forward and he has called you out. Now he is asking you to stretch what cannot be stretched. Don’t be afraid to trust him.

Sometimes miracles happen in the stretch.

Feb. 28, 2010 And the List goes on and on….. John 1:12

 

It starts with a simple testimony by John, of Jesus Christ.

Because a real relationship with anyone starts with who they are or at least an acknowledgement of who they are. This becomes the key to accepting and understanding who we really are in relation to him.  Which leads me to make this point, while Jesus was at the epicenter of the scriptures and should be at the center of our lives, we were in fact at the center of his. We were foreme=ost in his mind and his thoughts. What tends to happen is that in our conversation of christ we forget to understand that all that he was and all that he does and did was for us. This is what makes relationship with him important to us.

It is through his testimony, that John was pushing away any possibility of anyone thinking that he himself was more than he ought – he says and he is somewhat insistent about it  “I am not the light” –in other words don’t look at me , look at him! I just came to testify , to tell you about the light.

And he is sure to make them understand that it is so, that ALL might believe don’t make the mistake in believing that it is about me preaching to you because it’s not. But more  importantly, he notes, it is the proclamation of Jesus – isn’t it amazing how we can get so caught up in church that we forget what it’s all about its about,  JESUS !  But to Jesus it is all about us.

He begins now to deal with the tragedy of the mixed response vs10 – he was in the world and the world received him not. This was the universal rejection that he came and was generally  not received.  Like an author who appears in his own story and isn’t recognized. Then john closes the circle and suggests that then he came unto his own kind and they even rejected him, the world rejecting him, maybe I could understand, yes. But coming to his own, to those who would expect him , to those who were looking for him, to those who were heralding his return as messiah and then they rejected him.

Which essentially leads us to the understanding of freedom of choice or what we like to call freewill.

Looking carefully at this text if we were left with only the idea presented in vers 12 we would say that  salvation  was all based upon only personal human response and nothing else .  Because it says they received him and then after they received him they are given the right – the word “right” – exousia- power or authority. This of course becomes good news for me because it puts me in a position better than I was in before, it gives me an opportunity to at least be saved.

 This imagery that John uses of me coming alive as a child of God is amazing. It suggests that  there is nothing that can keep me from being what I am supposed to be, a CHILD OF GOD, now there is no bondage that can tie me up and imprison me because I have this power that allows me freedom. Freedom from alcohol, freedom from weed, freedom from homosexuality. I now have a right to be free from sin, I have a right to be free from homosexuality, from drug addiction from anything the enemy can use-I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE FREE. Why ? because I received him.

 LETS GET THAT STRAIGHT RIGHT NOW , I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE  FREE

That’s why you cannot allow the enemy to imprison you because of your past, because of the things you have done, I’m telling you –I am just learning it. We have to change our mindset to acknowledge our pasts but to acknowledge our futures as greater than our pasts. “Yes I did it, yes I blew it but  now I have a right to be a child of God”.

Understand , then that while the focus is on the power that produces divine life it is a power that must be exercised by the PERSON. The freewill of a person must be used to establish this wonderful change. It is not forced upon us nor are we bound by it but we choose to move toward this change by receiving the one who came, Jesus.

He does not say that God made them Children of God, but that he gave them the power to become children of God.

Notice then that he uses this clearly in opposition or in contrast to verse 11 where there is a concept of rejection-Jesus was rejected by the world, then rejected by his own. Then in vs12 he talks about receiving on one hand you have rejection on the other hand you have reception.

The one who rejects gets nothing, but the one who receives gets the right to be a child of God,  you might have  a life of horror following you, but you have the right to be a child of God.  You may be holding  a resume of sin; I ain’t talking to folks who ain’t never done nothing, I’m talking to folks who went to bed drunk and got up drunk and then went and drank some more, I’m talking to folks who chased the pipe and then chased the pipe some more, I’m talking to folks who slept in so many beds it’s a wonder you aint  laid out in the aids ward, no matter what you got dragging in behind you,you have a right to be a CHILD OF GOD.

 So who is to blame if you are not what you are supposed to be – YOU !

If we only had vs13 then we could say that it was only divine initiative  in other words all of this was God and there was no accountability for anything on the part of those of us who would receive him. But this is simply not the truth, every one of us holds in our hands some measure of accountability to either accept or deny what the LORD has done for us.

Another point that should be mentioned is that there is nothing that can hinder your change because your change is not birthed out of anything natural,  it does not come from any natural sphere of life or some natural sphere of influence.

Your change doesn’t come because you switch to another job, your salvation isn’t based on who your friends are , your deliverance isn’t based on whether someone likes you or doesn’t like you. Cause your change ain’t natural, your deliverance ain’t natural, your freedom ain’t natural-ITS SPIRITUAL.  That’s why folks can’t stop you from being a child of god because the source is God.

But this life , this transformation this change isn’t forced on you –you have a role to play you have a part to play-it must be received.

And some of us have been receptive, you have named the name of Christ , you have claimed salvation and received him and yet you are still struggling , struggling with men, struggling with women, struggling with your sexuality, struggling with this struggling with that.

But the lord is saying because you have been receptive here-here is your power to be a child of GOD.

You are not a child of god because you come to church, you are not a child of god because you sing the songs, you are not a child of god because you put money in the offering plate all of these are aesthetics. One writer put it like this          “ becoming children of God means we begin to share his divine life , without ceasing to be creatures, believing in Jesus, enables us to have life in his name and share in his divine nature”.

This simply means that all of the things that the LORD has done for us is included in our benefits

Which means I’m

Justified.

United with the Lord. (1 cor 6:17)

Bought with a price.

Belong to god.

Member of Christ body.

Redeemed. (Col 1:14)

Complete. (Col 2:10)

Free from condemnation. (Rom 8:1)

Assured. (Rom 8:28)

Free from any charge.(Rom 8:31-34)

And the list goes on and on an on and on and on and on and……..

Feb. 27, 2010 You may need a touch Matt. 8:1-4

So, imagine this man who offers his own testimony , imagine this man: “for five years no one touched me, not my wife, not even a kiss, not my friends. No one touched me. They saw me, I know they saw me, they spoke to me from afar. But I sensed their fear, I sensed their apprehension, I heard it in their voices. You could see the concern in their eyes but no touch, no one touched me”.

“Imagine that what you take for granted , I desired , what you thought was concern, I coveted a handshake, a touch on the shoulder, a warm embrace. I looked up one day and it was gone, there was no one to touch me. Not even a bump in the crowd. What I would have given to be hugged but for five years nothing. They wouldn’t let me in on the streets, couldn’t go to the market and even the rabbis, the men of god, they kept their distance. I was a leper and I was untouchable”.

In New testament times leprosy was a dreaded disease. The disease rendered the body a mass of ulcers and decay. Fiingers would curl and gnarl and knot up. Blotches of skin would become discolored and begin to stink. And if it were really strong it would numb the nerve endings, so that you could cut a toe and not feel it. You could slam your finger in the door and not feel it. Leprosy was death by inches, a slow death.

Spiritually some of us are leprous- we have  this disease , this thing which has caused us to be disfigured to the point we don’t look like ourselves, I mean other people don’t see the difference but you see it, youre knotted and deformed and not at all what you used to be. We have this thing that desensitizes us and we are just losing small parts of ourselves. A spiritual piece of us keeps being attacked and we see it but cannot do anything about it. We are just losing small spiritual parts of ourselves, lost this at our last job, lost that in out last relationship.

When we look carefully at this I see that the social consequences were,  just as great as the physical.  Because the leper was considered unclean, contagious, so he was quarantined, banished . I wonder how many of us  have ever been in serious trouble and instead of people coming to us to help they stayed away from us, they ran from us. Have you ever felt banished, blacklisted one person stop speaking to you now you got four people not speaking . one person can’t stand you now you got seven people rolling their eyes at you. Sure we have friends but we’re hurting so much – we don’t see it so we feel banished.

He then becomes the ultimate outcast.  Ancient eastern culture isolated their wounded, you would think that the wounded would be tended and taken care of.

Imagine this man.

One day your harvesting wheat in the fields and the tips of your fingers get numb, gripped the tool but couldn’t feel it. Went to wash his hands , put his hands in the water and the water started to redden, he was bleedling freely almost appeared he was bleeding right through the skin.

“I was wounded but didn’t know it, I was sick and didn’t know it. My wife came behind me she said it’s on your clothes too and you smell funny. You should have seen the look she gave me. I cry every time I think about that look. It was ,uh, like a look…of disgust”.

“She sent me to the priest, he looked at my hands all wrapped in a rag. He looked in my eyes and thanked me for all my help around the temple , all my tithes  and all my offerings, thanked me for opening the church on Fridays. But then he covered his mouth, extended his palm and cried unclean, unclean you are unclean!!!”

“With his one pronouncement , I lost my family, my farm, my money, my church, my future.”

“And I really cannot blame my friends . they were caught too, on the one hand they pitied me and on the other side they were scared. I would step up and they would step back”.

“That was some time ago- look at me now, tips of my fingers are missing, portions of my right ear and nose are decaying away. Children point and stare, fathers grab their children, old ladies cover their faces now. And the rags on my body are starting to stink- they can’t cover the sores any more”.

“What did I do to deserve this ? Some think I sinned, some say my parents sinned,  I don’t know- I’m just tired of all this . I took that bell of f they put around my neck.”

“Then one day I did something risky, what did I have to lose?  He calls himself God’s son. Either he will hear my complaint and kill me or accept my demands and heal me”.

“I know I was defiant” (his issue made him defiant, his issue made him angry)

“Then I saw him – remember I’m a father not a poet but when I saw him he looked like the morning sun. The air around his face was bright like a sunrise”.

“Before he spoke I knew that he cared ,there was something about him and the anger all the anger I had it melted away, it had actually begin to change into hope.  All that rage, I remember that rage. But it started  feeling like something else, maybe trust, I don’t know, I was feeling like I wanted to be near him”.

“From behind a rock I watched him, watched him coming down that hill, people followed him , there was so many people behind him. I waited until he was very close..”

“MASTER” MASTER”

“He stopped in his tracks and looked in my direction as did everybody else , people covered their faces, some ran, children started crying. Someone shouted unclean. Everyone stepped back except him- he stepped forward , he stepped toward me. I stepped and he stepped”.

“Lord you can heal me if you will”.

“I will he said- he healed me”.

“Had he healed me with a word I would have been fine. Thrilled , elated, had he cured me with a prayer that would have been wonderful as well”.

“But he wasn’t satisfied with talking to me , he must have known what I needed , he touched me”.

The touch did not heal the disease, the word did. But there was a part of him that needed to be ministered to and it had nothing to do with the leprosy.

He handled his pain but  still touched him.

Speaks to your problem but touches you.

The word healed his disease but the touch healed his heart.

Why is it we have so many saved folks but not enough love to go around? Why is it we have so many people who are Christians but miserable you may need a touch.

The touch was another level of intimacy.

It was the  divine touching the earthly.

He wanted healing but he needed a touch.

You too may need a touch.

Feb. 25, 2010 I May Never Be What I Want To Be, But… Mk 10:35-45

V35 Those who came to him; James and John, the sons of Zebedee come to Jesus naturally, they come to him without pretense without facade and without any falsehood. They are simply the sons of Zebedee.

But more importantly is the circumstances which surround them, in verse 32, we see that they had finally started to believe the things that Jesus had said to them concerning his own death and they watched him. I mean they watched him, even though they began to believe him they watched him, they paid attention to what he did, the things he said. They watch him like one watches the teacher to see if the teacher does something wrong so that contempt might be held. And it’s very interesting to watch people who have to deal with great struggle.

It’s interesting to watch people hold their head as they fight an attack of the enemy.

Its amazing to see people go through great struggle and great adversity and all the while you know, in their heart they are saying “Lord help me keep it together”.

So they watched him, they were first amazed and then at once afraid –why afraid ? Because they had finally began to grasp the enormity of Jesus mission,  because they had finally began to understand what it was that they in turn would have to deal with as his disciples.

But notice how jesus handles it, he does not soften the blow even though he knows that they are watching. He does not make it sound as if it is something that it is not real, he doesn’t make it sound attractive or pleasing or good, he gives it to them raw,again.

He didn’t sugar coat the situation or try to make it appear falsely,  just to silence their concerns or appease their fears: if you are going to walk with God you just are going have to understand that there are going to be some rough days-I wish we would stop lying to ourselves and trying to deceive folks-we are confusing folks with this crazy nonsense, that life is gloriously transformed to something out of a fairytale. Life is real , with real issues, with real hurts, with real drama, real tragedy and real drama. It produces real tears, real hurt, real brokenness and real hard decisions.

What Jesus is saying, through his own circumstances is “ if you are going to walk with me, every once in a while you are going to go through a storm”.

If you are going to have a personal relationship with the Lord you can dance all you want but you are still going to have to fight.

But in verse  35 their sentiment is somewhat suprising as they really begin to ask “ok what are we going to get out of all this ? They had aspirations and there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be more or be better. But they wanted more than that they wanted to make sure that all of this was worth it.  After leaving everything they had behind, after following Jesus wholeheartedly and committing themselves to his ministry they needed validation and what better validation than to sit at his side.

Isn’t this true of us all ? Don’t we want to be validated so that all of our efforts have defined spiritual truth. We want to make sure that we haven’t wasted our lives, those precious fleeting moments. Wouldn’t this trump all of our naysayers ?

The honest truth is ,that neither spiritual reward nor spiritual validation comes easily and is easily manifested to those around us. But more importantly sometimes we are faced with so much doubt about our walk with Christ that we want the validation for ourselves as well. Oftentimes that validation does not come in the forms that we expect or desire but that doesn’t mean that all of this means nothing.

Dont frustrate yourself with this stuff. But instead resign yourself to this fact. You may never get all that you want and you may never be all that you want to be, but you will be what he wants you to be.