As I read today in the Joshua passage, I saw something that simply took my breath away! It's possible that I may have heard it taught before, but I don't remember it, and I certainly never "got it" with such impact. What I saw in the story about Jericho was intercession and spiritual warfare over individuals and cities. I'm not saying that we should do literally what the Israelites did, but that it is a symbolic word picture through and through, as well as the historical account.
The Lord brought a Scripture to my mind that upheld what He was saying to me (He is always so kind, isn't He, to help us understand). "A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city." Proverbs 18:19 [Many people are offended with God-- I think it's true of anyone who won't receive Him or others.]
When I read of Joshua encountering the Captain of the Hosts (He was Jesus, the Word, wasn't He!), it absolutely gave me chills. It is His battle-- we are fighting with Him as part of the army of God, and it's a spiritual one, not fought with flesh and blood, but with effective weapons against spiritual enemies-- and He is victorious! Only, we must bow before Him and obey His commands.
Rather than try to pick the story apart for an exact strategy, I will share the things that became energized to me today. I saw the seven days, seven times, seven priests, seven trumpets, as God's perfect and complete plan of redemption and restoration, the trumpets as praise of God and announcing His presence, and the circling in silence as forgiveness. What did Jesus say, "seventy times seven?"
Oh, I could write a long essay on this! Have we ever been able to win a person who has a hardened heart-- or with walls of defense built up around them-- by trying to batter the walls down? No! And yet, it has been done to me, and I have done it to others. I have learned the hard way that if I haven't interceeded for a person, coming before God with a humble heart (to be circumcised of the selfishness, or to have the log removed from my own eye), the Lord will not allow me to speak. If I do it without His permission and in His timing, the walls will not fall down, they will only be fortified, and often I will be the one attacked. Most of the time, a confrontation is not needed when intercession is done, declaring the Word over a person (in private, as the Spirit dictates only), and declaring the truth of their deliverance to the enemies who hold them captive-- until their enemies melt with fear. And at the proper time, we can shout the praises of God for the victory, and the walls come down without ever having attacked the person.
Rahab, a prostitute who had come to fear God and believe His Word, was saved along with her family, and everything else was devoted to destruction! There was a heavy penalty for anyone who would take something that was supposed to be destroyed. It is so important to let the Lord deal with anything in us that would hold a person to their sin, especially someone we are close to, such as a spouse,child, or close friend. It is too easy to become attached to the one we used to know, or out of some unmet need, to try to save the very things that God is burning. You could call that co-dependency. I know by experience that it is painful to go through the process of having the walls fall down, and the sinful nature burned up-- when I'm there myself, or when I'm around another who is going through the process. But we must allow the Captain of the Host to do His work.
Salvation rarely looks the way we think it should. So often it offends our proud and self-righteous spirits (religious). Just when we think the process is done within ourselves or in another, something else begins to burn or fall down. Don't forget the picture we saw of the loving Father, who forgives, receives, restores and rejoices over the one who had gone astray-- or the Good Shepherd, who leaves the 99 and goes after the one.
Now, take this picture and see how the Spirit of Wisdom might apply this to winning cities for the Kingdom of God!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
April 11, 2010
I think it would be wonderful to make a "scrapbook" or "memory book" of the things God has done in our life. Don't you? We take photos of our kids growing up, and the major events in our life, like weddings and birthdays, and we document our vacations and our mission trips. We collect memorabilia from our various activities and event we want to remember. Then we look at them occasionally, and these scrapbooks bring back the memories or our best times, strengthening them every time we do. We talk to our kids about our life before they were born: "Look, there's mommy and daddy with really funny hairdo's and clothes!" or the funny things they did when they were little: "There you are at one year old, with a pie pan on your head!" It's easy to laugh and share with our kids with something to look at that's organized and picturesque.
God did similar things with Israel it seems, only they didn't have iphones! When Joshua led them across the flooded Jordan, heaping up the water, the Lord instructed them to take twelve stones out from the Jordan and pile them up in the Promised Land as a memorial for what He had done for them. "Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” Joshua 4: 21-24
If we are to accomplish the things that God gives us to do, it is imperative that we bring to remembrance the times that He has worked in our life, the times He has empowered us and brought us through. Otherwise we tend to lose faith in the midst of difficulty. This has been one of my largest shortcomings throughout my Christian walk. I'm a great starter, but carrying through is not so easy, and finishing something has always loomed before me like an impossible task.
I very much related to this Scripture verse today: "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Luke 14: 28-30 The thing is, when I start something by the inspiration of the Spirit and the word of the Lord, I know the Lord can do it through me, because I know His power and ability. But do I really count the cost?
Jesus knew the kinds of trials, struggles, temptations and oppositions we would face as we walked through life as His disciples. He gave us the perfect antedote to failure: "pick up your cross and follow me," and "whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." The cost of fulfilling God's will and following Christ to the end, the finish line, is EVERYTHING. You just don't quit! And you let nothing stop you from obeying Him, not even yourself.
A scrapbook of remembrance, in lieu of stone monuments, might help us remember not only God's faithfulness to us and to our ancestors; but it might also remind us of the times we chose, yet again, to commitment ourselves to faithful discipleship. We need reminders that we were once willing to pick up our cross and give up everything, so that we will continue in that choice when we feel ready to quit.
I like how so many of the verses tied together today, and I like how Proverbs sums up the concept of follow-through:
The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession. In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death. Proverbs 12: 27-28
There is only one righteous path, and that is Jesus Christ. If we stop following Him, we fail, but if we continue to follow Him, enduring until the end, we succeed, because there is no death or failure in Him.
God did similar things with Israel it seems, only they didn't have iphones! When Joshua led them across the flooded Jordan, heaping up the water, the Lord instructed them to take twelve stones out from the Jordan and pile them up in the Promised Land as a memorial for what He had done for them. "Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” Joshua 4: 21-24
If we are to accomplish the things that God gives us to do, it is imperative that we bring to remembrance the times that He has worked in our life, the times He has empowered us and brought us through. Otherwise we tend to lose faith in the midst of difficulty. This has been one of my largest shortcomings throughout my Christian walk. I'm a great starter, but carrying through is not so easy, and finishing something has always loomed before me like an impossible task.
I very much related to this Scripture verse today: "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Luke 14: 28-30 The thing is, when I start something by the inspiration of the Spirit and the word of the Lord, I know the Lord can do it through me, because I know His power and ability. But do I really count the cost?
Jesus knew the kinds of trials, struggles, temptations and oppositions we would face as we walked through life as His disciples. He gave us the perfect antedote to failure: "pick up your cross and follow me," and "whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." The cost of fulfilling God's will and following Christ to the end, the finish line, is EVERYTHING. You just don't quit! And you let nothing stop you from obeying Him, not even yourself.
A scrapbook of remembrance, in lieu of stone monuments, might help us remember not only God's faithfulness to us and to our ancestors; but it might also remind us of the times we chose, yet again, to commitment ourselves to faithful discipleship. We need reminders that we were once willing to pick up our cross and give up everything, so that we will continue in that choice when we feel ready to quit.
I like how so many of the verses tied together today, and I like how Proverbs sums up the concept of follow-through:
The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession. In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death. Proverbs 12: 27-28
There is only one righteous path, and that is Jesus Christ. If we stop following Him, we fail, but if we continue to follow Him, enduring until the end, we succeed, because there is no death or failure in Him.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
April 10, 2010
The Bible says that the Lord knew Moses face to face! Deut. 34:10. I always thought of it the other way around (i.e., Moses knew God face to face), but I even checked out Exodus 33:11: So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
It seems that Jesus expects this kind of open-faced knowing from us as well. What do you think? I saw it here in this Scripture:
Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ Luke 13:23-27
What does it take for the Lord to know us? He certainly put an emphasis on that here. And it wasn't just about being in the same vicinity and having the same nationality. Obviously, the Lord knows everything, and He of course know us inside and out, as He made us and is omniscient and omnipresent. So what does it take for the Lord to know us? I want to know! I want to make it through that narrow gate!
I try to stick with the Scripture reading of the day (there's so much in them!), but when I picked up my tea to go warm it up again, the Lord reminded me of these verses: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10
We might start out so afraid of God, like Moses (Exodus 3:6), that we won't even show our face. We're not going to get to know God like that! But the Lord's saying, "Where are you? Open up! Why are you hiding?" Like He did with Adam and Eve. If we allow fear, shame and the need to belong (thank you, Eldon, for that great teaching!) to keep us from showing our face to God, we'll remain foolish, because how will we overcome those issues if we will not receive instruction? If the Lord's saying "I do not know you," it's because we're too proud to let Him in. If we're going to go through His gate, He's going to first have to come in through ours.
Jesus said to those of His nation who would not believe in Him: "See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” Luke 13: 35
I'll never forget the day I realized, with a huge shock, that God saw everything about me! I had spent my life deperately trying to hide from Him, in spite of the fact I'd called myself a Christian for most of it. I was in the middle of a rather wretched fight with my husband, and it was going nowhere. I felt so hopeless. Suddenly, the Lord revealed where I was at. I remember falling onto the floor and weeping uncontrollably when I realized that God saw through my defenses. I decided then that I had to stop hiding from the Lord behind the masks and walls I had built around myself to protect me from hurt, real or imagined.
Even though I had gotten revelation, it took years before I was willing to totally lay down the things that I used to shield myself from others and from God. I was so expert at creating defenses that most of them were hidden even from myself. I'm still not sure they're all gone, but at least now I am willing to be shown, either by the Lord or a person that He might speak through. The more I reveal myself to Him, the more He reveals Himself to me.
Have you ever seen a child, who, by covering her eyes, thinks she is hiding from her parent? I have! A child quickly figures it out, but it is funny when they first do it. We are like that with the Lord, and yet how slowly we come to the reality that we must not try to hide from Him. He can see us anyway. And the great truth is, that He loves us, so much more, than we love our own little children.
It is wisdom to uncover the face of our heart when we go to the written Word, for in it we will find Christ, if we will only open our eyes and let Him see us.
It seems that Jesus expects this kind of open-faced knowing from us as well. What do you think? I saw it here in this Scripture:
Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ Luke 13:23-27
What does it take for the Lord to know us? He certainly put an emphasis on that here. And it wasn't just about being in the same vicinity and having the same nationality. Obviously, the Lord knows everything, and He of course know us inside and out, as He made us and is omniscient and omnipresent. So what does it take for the Lord to know us? I want to know! I want to make it through that narrow gate!
I try to stick with the Scripture reading of the day (there's so much in them!), but when I picked up my tea to go warm it up again, the Lord reminded me of these verses: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10
We might start out so afraid of God, like Moses (Exodus 3:6), that we won't even show our face. We're not going to get to know God like that! But the Lord's saying, "Where are you? Open up! Why are you hiding?" Like He did with Adam and Eve. If we allow fear, shame and the need to belong (thank you, Eldon, for that great teaching!) to keep us from showing our face to God, we'll remain foolish, because how will we overcome those issues if we will not receive instruction? If the Lord's saying "I do not know you," it's because we're too proud to let Him in. If we're going to go through His gate, He's going to first have to come in through ours.
Jesus said to those of His nation who would not believe in Him: "See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” Luke 13: 35
I'll never forget the day I realized, with a huge shock, that God saw everything about me! I had spent my life deperately trying to hide from Him, in spite of the fact I'd called myself a Christian for most of it. I was in the middle of a rather wretched fight with my husband, and it was going nowhere. I felt so hopeless. Suddenly, the Lord revealed where I was at. I remember falling onto the floor and weeping uncontrollably when I realized that God saw through my defenses. I decided then that I had to stop hiding from the Lord behind the masks and walls I had built around myself to protect me from hurt, real or imagined.
Even though I had gotten revelation, it took years before I was willing to totally lay down the things that I used to shield myself from others and from God. I was so expert at creating defenses that most of them were hidden even from myself. I'm still not sure they're all gone, but at least now I am willing to be shown, either by the Lord or a person that He might speak through. The more I reveal myself to Him, the more He reveals Himself to me.
Have you ever seen a child, who, by covering her eyes, thinks she is hiding from her parent? I have! A child quickly figures it out, but it is funny when they first do it. We are like that with the Lord, and yet how slowly we come to the reality that we must not try to hide from Him. He can see us anyway. And the great truth is, that He loves us, so much more, than we love our own little children.
It is wisdom to uncover the face of our heart when we go to the written Word, for in it we will find Christ, if we will only open our eyes and let Him see us.
Friday, April 9, 2010
April 9, 2010
Today I received a personal word from the Lord from the daily reading, an encouragement and a greater understanding of what my purpose is for this particular blog. Here's the verse I read:
And again He said, "To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened." Luke 13:20-21
He said that I am to be like that woman, mixing the fresh word of God about the Kingdom into the One Year Bible daily devotional. It is, of course, up to Him to see that His Word ministers to people, but up to me to do my part of the work. I am reminded of the "leaven of the Pharisees" that Jesus warned His disciples not to have. Hypocrisy and unbelief come to mind when I think of that leaven, which would turn the good flour into poison bread. But the leaven of the Kingdom of God is much more effective, because it is motivated and nourished by God's love, and it will not puff anyone up, including myself, but will truly edify.
And again He said, "To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened." Luke 13:20-21
He said that I am to be like that woman, mixing the fresh word of God about the Kingdom into the One Year Bible daily devotional. It is, of course, up to Him to see that His Word ministers to people, but up to me to do my part of the work. I am reminded of the "leaven of the Pharisees" that Jesus warned His disciples not to have. Hypocrisy and unbelief come to mind when I think of that leaven, which would turn the good flour into poison bread. But the leaven of the Kingdom of God is much more effective, because it is motivated and nourished by God's love, and it will not puff anyone up, including myself, but will truly edify.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
April 7, 2010
lack of faith (leads to)= anxious mind (leads to) = idolatry
+repentance+
trusting God (leads to) = peace (leads to)= seeking the Kingdom
+repentance+
trusting God (leads to) = peace (leads to)= seeking the Kingdom
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
April 6, 2010
What a great God we have! His desire is for relationship with us, and He has gone to such great lengths to have it! The children of Israel had a God who would protect them and provide for them if they would be faithful to Him and not serve other Gods. We have the same God, and an even better agreement. We have a risen Savior who has made us right with God! And we can have the Holy Spirit living in us to help us truly walk with the Lord.
Yes, we should have the holy fear of the Lord. But we are constantly assured in the Scriptures that God loves us, and that we can love Him! He speaks to us every day, if we will only listen, teaching us and training us to love Him with our whole heart. How can we not be loyal to a God like that?
He had commanded the clouds above,
And opened the doors of heaven,
Had rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the bread of heaven.
Psalm 78: 23-24
Yes, we should have the holy fear of the Lord. But we are constantly assured in the Scriptures that God loves us, and that we can love Him! He speaks to us every day, if we will only listen, teaching us and training us to love Him with our whole heart. How can we not be loyal to a God like that?
He had commanded the clouds above,
And opened the doors of heaven,
Had rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the bread of heaven.
Psalm 78: 23-24
Friday, April 2, 2010
April 2, 2010
“If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Deuteronomy 22:22-23
Meditation on Good Friday
They nailed you and hung you,
Son of God, on a tree,
Cursed you,
Spat on you, reviled you,
Though you'd never sinned.
It should have been me
Hanging there for all my sins,
Rebellion, infirmities,
defects. Mine,
Not yours. You were cursed
For me, in my place,
So I could shine
With your forgiveness
And mighty grace.
by Karen Gladys Henry
I am so thankful to the Lord Jesus for all He endured for me, so that I could be saved. Aren't you? He did it all for you too. He said, "It is finished." On the other side of the cross is freedom! Freedom from all that pertains to the fall of mankind. Jesus endured it all, then left it all in the grave. I am still struggling to comprehend what it means to pick up my cross and follow Him. To follow Him into freedom.
Meditation on Good Friday
They nailed you and hung you,
Son of God, on a tree,
Cursed you,
Spat on you, reviled you,
Though you'd never sinned.
It should have been me
Hanging there for all my sins,
Rebellion, infirmities,
defects. Mine,
Not yours. You were cursed
For me, in my place,
So I could shine
With your forgiveness
And mighty grace.
by Karen Gladys Henry
I am so thankful to the Lord Jesus for all He endured for me, so that I could be saved. Aren't you? He did it all for you too. He said, "It is finished." On the other side of the cross is freedom! Freedom from all that pertains to the fall of mankind. Jesus endured it all, then left it all in the grave. I am still struggling to comprehend what it means to pick up my cross and follow Him. To follow Him into freedom.
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