Friday, May 29, 2009

The Name and the Promise

You have exalted Your name and Your promise above everything else. (Psalm 138:2 HCSB)
For the past ten months or so, I have been using the Holman Christian Standard Bible for my morning Bible reading and praying in the psalms. Over the years, I have heard this verse quoted often, from the King James and similar versions: “You have magnified Your word above all Your name” (NKJV). Much was made of the idea that God exalted His Word even above His name. This was not meant to take anything away from the name of God, but to demonstrate how valuable is His promise.

However, as I was praying recently through this psalm, I noticed that the Holman Bible renders it quite differently: God’s Word is not exalted above His name, but both the name and the promise of God are exalted above everything else. So I did what I usually do when I am intrigued by a verse or phrase or word in Scripture. I went checking through other versions to see how they have it.

The King James, the New King James and the Modern King James have “word” magnified above “name.’ So do the Jewish Publication Society Bible, the Douay-Rheims Bible, the Revised Version, the Literal Translation of the Bible, the Bible in Basic English, the Third Millennium Bible and Young’s Literal Translation. But here are how some of the other versions read:
You have exalted above all things your name and your word. (New International Version)

You have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame. (New International Version 2011)

You have magnified Your word according to all Your name. (New American Standard Bible)

You have exalted above all things your name and your word. (English Standard Version)

Your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. (New Living Translation)

You have exalted your name and your word above everything. (New Revised Standard Version)

You have shown that your name and your commands are supreme. (Good News Translation)

Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word. (The Message)

You were true to your word and made yourself more famous than ever before. (Contemporary English Version)
The Amplified Bible has it both ways! “You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!”

Just goes to show that translation is not an exact science. Actually, there is a bit of an art to it. Many of the variations between the versions, once you get past the distinction between the dynamic equivalent translations (such as the NIV) and the more literal formal translations (like the NASB), is pretty much just a matter of style. But sometimes the text itself can be so nuanced (or, at times, even uncertain), it is not clear how it should be rendered.

I have lived with the one translation, where God’s Word is magnified above His name, for many years now, though the logic of it seems a bit disjointed concerning the being of God, and I have never been fully able to explain it, even to myself. So I think I will meditate on the other translation for awhile. It makes more sense to me that the name of God and the promise of God are on a par with each other, while they are both highly exalted above all else. That, it seems to me, is as it should be.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Alignment of Heaven and Earth

Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:18)
God’s plan is for everything on earth to be brought into perfect alignment with heaven. In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, He made man in His own image and according to His likeness. Then He blessed man — male and female — to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it, to have dominion (Genesis 1:28).

The Hebrew word for “subdue” means to bring into subjection. The word for “have dominion” means to rule over, to bring under control. Both words speak of bringing the earth into alignment. Alignment with what? With heaven. Man was created to be like God and given dominion over the earth to bring it into line with the domain of heaven.

Of course, there was a major kink along the way, and that was when Adam decided to rebel and disconnect from the life of God. Jesus, eternal Son of God become flesh, came to restore us back to the Father and His purpose for us on earth — to bring it into line with heaven. Indeed, everything in heaven and earth is brought together in Jesus, the God-Man (Ephesians 1:10).

In Him, the kingdom of heaven comes near to us, and He has authorized us to live and act according to it. He teaches us to pray, in what is commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer, “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, my paraphrase). He promises us, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18).

To “bind” something, in the Hebrew understanding of Jesus, means to forbid it. To “loose” something means to allow it. In the Greek text, “will be bound” is in the future perfect tense and literally means, “will have already been bound.” Likewise for “will be loosed.” Jesus gives us the authority to forbid on earth what has been forbidden in heaven and allow on earth what is allowed in heaven. In other words, we again have the power to bring earth into alignment with heaven.

We see this same authority reiterated a bit differently in the next verse: “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). The Greek word for “agree” is symphoneo, which is where we get our English word, “symphony.” It is about accord, not discord. It is being in harmony. When we are in harmony with each other about anything on earth, it will be done for us by our Father in heaven. Notice again the connection between heaven and earth: When we agree on earth about anything, our Father in heaven will do it for us.

How can this be? Jesus tells us in the next verse: “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). This is what qualifies us to walk in the promise of verses 18 and 19. It is all about Him. We do not have this authority of ourselves. It comes from Jesus. To gather in His name means that everything we do is about Him. We come together for His agenda, not our own. We act as He would act and ask as He would ask. Jesus is always in alignment with the Father, and when we fellowship with Him, we come to know the Father. Our hearts begin to beat with the rhythms of His heart, and in that is the power to change the world.

As we fellowship together with the Lord Jesus Christ, in harmony with each other and our hearts beating with the passions of God, we are positioned and empowered to receive the promises of God, to change the world and bring earth into alignment with heaven.

Friday, May 22, 2009

The Divine Woo-Hooooo!

For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation.
(Psalm 149:4)
The Lord takes pleasure in His people. He is fully satisfied with us, takes delight in us, even enjoys us. See how great is His joy:
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.
(Zephaniah 3:17)
The Hebrew word for the first “rejoice” in that verse is sus and speaks of ecstatic joy. The word for “gladness,” simcha, speaks of mirth and pleasure. The second “rejoice” is giyl and literally means to spin. The word for “singing” is rinnan, a high-pitched sound of jubilation — imagine God shouting Woo-hooooo! God takes such great pleasure and ecstasy in us that He sings and dances over us with whirling and twirling and jubilant shouts. That’s joy!

Who are His people, and how is it that we are pleasing to Him? They are the “humble.” The Hebrew word is anawim and refers to those who are lowly, poor and weak. They place no trust in themselves but look to God for their deliverance. They do not live proud and arrogant lives; they know they are fully dependent on Him. They are the ones Jesus speaks of in the Sermon of Heaven on Earth (a.k.a., Sermon on the Mount): “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

God delights greatly in those who believe His promise and trust in Him. These are the ones He beautifies, dignifies, with salvation — deliverance, healing and prosperity — with Jesus! (See The Fellowship of Drunken Glory)

If you are trusting in the Lord and believing His promises, He is ecstatic over you, rejoicing with singing and twirling for joy. Listen for His Woo-hooooo! and join in His revelry.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The Fellowship of Drunken Glory

Let the saints be joyful in glory;
Let them sing aloud on their beds.
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand.
(Psalm 149-5-6)
What a picture this paints in my mind. It is one of unmitigated, boisterous joy. The English translation is a bit too tame for it, though.

Let the saints be joyful in glory. The Hebrew word for “joyful” is alatz. It speaks of great merriment. Picture someone jumping for joy. Why? He has been covered in glory, the goodness of God poured out on him, and he has an intense awareness of it.

Let them sing aloud on their beds. The Hebrew for “sing aloud” is ranan. It is jubilant joy, lively singing, loud, shouting joy that cannot be silenced. Imagine someone singing and shouting as he lies on his bed. He is inebriated with joy, drunk on the glory of God manifesting in his life.

Let the high praises of God be in their mouth. The Hebrew for “high” is romam. It speaks of something rising up. It comes up from a place deep in the heart and flows forth from the lips. It is not quiet, somber or sober. It is not a dirge and it is not very “dignified” (see 2 Samuel 6:22, where David, in his ecstatic joy, said, “I will be even more undignified than this”). It is ecstasy and exaltation, overflowing joy, carried away with the object of its praise.

And a two-edged sword in their hand. The Message has, “Brandish their swords in the wild sword-dance.” It is part of the warfare of praise, to fulfill the Word of God upon His enemies (see verse 9). In the New Testament, we have the “Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). It is like a double-edged sword. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12).

What is the cause for all this wild rejoicing and crazy sword-dancing? Look back to Psalm 149:4, “For the Lord takes pleasure in His people. He will beautify the humble with salvation.” God takes pleasure in His people and shows them His favor.

He beautifies the humble with salvation. The Hebrew for “beautify” means to adorn, to embellish, to make sparkle and shine. The humble are those who make no assumptions about themselves but are wholly dependent upon God, trusting in Him alone. God adorns them with “salvation.” The Hebrew word speaks of deliverance, health, help and includes victory and prosperity. As a noun, is it yeshuah. As a name, it is Yeshua, Hebrew for “Jesus.” All those who trust in God through Jesus Christ are made beautiful with the multifaceted splendor of divine salvation. It is the source of crazy joy.

Faithpoint: The pleasure God has in His people overflows with abundance to them. It is deep, intense, loud, vibrant — and even undignified. It is the drunken glory of all who know Him, who are intoxicated with His love and inebriated with His joy. This honor belongs to all His saints, so come to God by faith in Jesus Christ and drink deeply of Him. Yield yourself to His Spirit and join in the Fellowship of Drunken Glory.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Resisting the Messenger of Satan

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
Paul was dealing with demonic resistance to his ministry. A “messenger of satan,” he called it (2 Corinthians 12:7). Three times, he asked God that it might depart from him. God’s answer: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

In other words, “Paul, I have already given you everything you need to deal with this. It’s not about your strength, it’s not even about your weakness — it’s about My strength being made complete in you.”

James speaks a similar word about resisting the messengers of satan: “Therefore submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” There are three parts to this word. Two instructions and one promise:
  • Submit to God
  • Resist the devil
  • The devil will flee
Our part is to submit to God, to yield ourselves to Him in obedience. Paul had done this. But we have a second instruction to obey that is just as important as the first: Resist the devil. The Greek word for “resist” is anthistemi and means to stand against, to oppose.

See, Paul asked God that this devil that had been harassing him might “depart.” The Greek word is aphistemi (note the root, histemi). Paul wanted the devil to desist, to stop standing against him, to cease resisting him, to withdraw — to flee! But he wanted God to make it happen for him. However, as James teaches us, that’s not how it works. Paul was trying to get God to resist the devil for him, and that was not working out too well for Paul because the devil was not fleeing.

However, God wanted Paul to learn how to resist (anthistemi) the devil for himself. In fact,He had already given him the grace to do so. Indeed, Paul already had everything he needed to deal with this satanic messenger, he had just not yet learned how to do so.

He finally did understand, though, as we can see in Ephesians 6, where he teaches us how to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (v. 10). Notice how that echoes 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My strength.” The Greek root for “strong” and “strength” is dunamis, power. We are to lay hold of God’s strength, to be empowered with the power of God. How do we do that? Paul details it for us (Ephesians 6:11-18):
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand [histemi] against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground [anthistemi], and after you have done everything, to stand [histemi].

Stand firm [histemi] then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
God has given us His all-sufficient grace, empowered us with His own strength and provided us with the complete armor we need to stand against every messenger of satan. He will not do Himself what He has given us to do, but He has promised that when we submit to Him and resist the devil, the devil will flee.

See also Pulling Paul’s Thorn and Super-Elated with the Things of God.

Friday, May 8, 2009

When Spiritual Corruption Defiles the Land

Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.” (2 Samuel 21:1)
Evil corrupts the land. Not necessarily by physical pollution — Saul’s murder of the Gibeonites did not particularly damage the natural environment — but by marring the underlying reality of the land. The natural realm arises from the spiritual, for the heavens and the earth were created by God, who is Spirit.

Spiritual defilement has catastrophic effects on the ecosphere. We see this especially in Genesis 3, when Adam rebelled against God, disconnecting from the divine source. Because man was created from the earth to have dominion over it, when Adam sinned, the earth was corrupted (Genesis 3:17-19). That is why Paul said that all creation groans, waiting for the sons of God to be revealed (Romans 8:18-23). The redemption of man means healing for the earth itself.

The pattern of spiritual corruption defiling the land is repeated often in the Bible:
  • In the generation after Adam, Cain slew Abel, and the blood of Abel cried out from the ground (Genesis 4:10).
  • Sexual immorality — fornications, adulteries, homosexuality, bestiality — defiles the lands (Leviticus 18:24-25).
  • Bloodshed defiles the ground (Numbers 35:34-35).
  • Idolatry, the worship of false gods, defiles the land (Jeremiah 16:17-18).
  • Breaking the laws of God devours the earth with curse (Isaiah 24:4-6).
  • In addition to bloodshed and adultery, lying and speaking evil of others causes the land to mourn (Hosea 4:1-3).
Famine came on the land of Israel for three years in a row. David sought the word of the Lord about this and discovered it was because of Saul’s murderous heart and bloodthirsty ways. A restitution was required, not to God but to the Gibeonites. When David complied, the famine passed and the land was healed. For the generation after David, and forward, God made this promise:
If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
The redemption of humanity and the healing of the land is ultimately based upon Jesus, “Mediator of the new covenant” and the “blood of sprinkling that speaks better things that that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24). The blood of Abel decried defilement. The blood of Jesus declares healing, not just for us, but also for the land.

Spiritual defilement corrupts the land, but repentance (turning to God) and righteousness (doing things God’s way) brings restoration.

(See also Why Does the Land Mourn, Alienated from the Land and Healing a Defiled Land.)

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Prayers for This Day

Here are some of the texts God has led me to on this National Day of Prayer, to pray for repentance, revival, renewal and restoration in our land. Among the citizenry as well as our leaders.
If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
(Psalm 2:10-12)

Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge
  with sharp teeth;
You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small,
And make the hills like chaff.
You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them;
You shall rejoice in the Lord,
And glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The poor and needy seek water, but there is none,
Their tongues fail for thirst.
I, the Lord, will hear them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

I will open rivers in desolate heights,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.

I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree,
The myrtle and the oil tree;

I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine
And the box tree together,

That they may see and know,
And consider and understand together,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
(Isaiah 41:15-20)
Let our prayers have teeth to thresh through the mountains and advance the kingdom of heaven on earth in this hour.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Expectation is the Soul of Patience

In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice;
In the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation.
(Psalm 5:3 HCSB)
This is one of my favorite verses in the Psalms, and has been very helpful to me in the past. When we lift our prayer to the Lord in faith, there is an expectation. Though there is usually a period of waiting in between “Amen” and “There it is,” expectation is the soul of patience. “Faith is the substance [underlying reality] of things hoped for [expected]” (Hebrews 11:1).

Why does David have such expectation when he prays? It is the confidence of knowing this:
For surely, O LORD, You bless the righteous;
You surround them with Your favor as with a shield.
(Psalm 5:12 HCSB)
The favor of God belongs to those who are His and is seen by those who walk in His ways. Being assured of His favor creates expectation. Confident expectation causes us to endure. It is the soul of patience. (See also, Praying With Expectation.)

Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Table of Zion

Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels in festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to God who is the judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, to Jesus (mediator of a new covenant), and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:18-24 HCSB)
When we come to the Table of the Lord:
  • We have come to Mount Zion. This is in contrast to Mount Sinai, the place where the Law of Moses was given, the law that inevitably led to condemnation (see Romans 7 for Paul’s experience on that). Mount Zion, however, was the place where God chose to dwell and manifest His presence among His people. This is not natural geography but spiritual reality.
  • We have come to the city of the living God. In the natural, Mount Zion was the city of God, the place of His temple, His habitation. The spiritual reality is that which Abraham sought, “the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews11:10). Indeed, of all the saints of the old covenant, it is said, “But now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:16). But now we have come to that city and Paul reminds us, “You are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:16).
  • We have come to the heavenly Jerusalem. Earthly Jerusalem, situated on Mount Zion, was a type, or shadow, of heavenly Jerusalem. Heavenly Jerusalem speaks of a higher realm and in the Jewish mind represented the hope of a future age. Now we have come to that city and the reality of heaven is breaking into the world. It is just as Jesus taught us to pray, “Kingdom of God, keep coming! Will of God, keep being done on earth as it in heaven” (that is the sense of the Greek verbs). It is not a singular event but a continuous action, already begun, and will ultimately align earth with the reality of heaven.
  • We have come to myriads of angels in festive gathering. The angels of God are not gathered together to execute judgment on us but to celebrate Jesus, who endured God’s judgment in our place. It is a joyful convocation, a festival of praise, and Revelation 5:11-12 gives us a glimpse:
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
  • We have come to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven. “Firstborn” shows that we have a Father, who is God. It speaks of the “double portion” we receive of Him, the very best of inheritances. Paul says that we are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). “Joint heirs” means that everything the Lord Jesus receives from the Father we receive also. As David declared, “O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance.” (Psalm 16:5-6). Not only are we heirs of God, our names are written on the citizen rolls of heaven. Paul says, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”: (Ephesians 2:19). “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). This citizenship we have received gives us every blessing and benefit heaven has to offer. We can now live out of that higher reality.
  • We have come to God who is the judge of all. “Judge” speaks of God’s sovereign rule and authority over everyone. He is the one who sets all things right. His judgment on our sin was poured out on the Lord Jesus. As Paul says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). “The chastisement for our peace was upon Him” (Isaiah 53:5).
  • We have come to the spirits of righteous people made perfect. This speaks of communion, connection stronger than death, with those who have gone before us and no longer walk this planet. While we are still in the process of reckoning ourselves dead to sin but alive to God, they are experiencing, thoroughly and completely, all the perfection we have in Christ. “Perfected at last!” is the sense of the text. It is a perfection that is received only in Jesus Christ, through faith in Him.
  • We have come to Jesus, mediator of a new covenant. Jesus is the reason for all our coming, and all the blessing is summed up in the new covenant, of which He is the mediator. “Now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). What could not be accomplished by the old covenant of law, and all our striving, is fulfilled by the Lord Jesus in the new and better covenant.
  • We have come to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel. This is the heart of the covenant. In the Bible, no covenant was made without the shedding of blood, which demonstrated the surety of the promise. In this new covenant of grace, Jesus is the sacrifice — He gives us Himself. On the night before He was crucified, He took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). This covenant, and the blood by which in which it was cut, speaks incomparable things for us than any other blood ever could. The blood of Abel cried out for revenge. The blood of Jesus declares our redemption, reconciliation, restoration, freedom, victory, preservation and prosperity.
The Table of the Lord is the Table of Zion, city of the Living God, heavenly Jerusalem coming down with all its blessings.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Forty Days Opening Their Understanding

And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. (Luke 24:45)
Jesus had been with the disciples for three years, living with them, leading them, teaching them, ministering with them, even sending them out to do the work of the ministry. But for some reason, they still just did not get it. Even His death and resurrection came as a surprise to them, though Jesus had foretold them of these things more than once.
Now He suddenly appeared before them, inviting them to touch His hands and feet. This was no ghost they were dealing with. This was flesh and blood — Jesus in His resurrection. After eating some broiled fish and honeycomb, He said,
These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me. (Luke 24:44)
Luke’s comment at this point is, “And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” The Greek word for “opened” means to open thoroughly. The word for “understanding” is the word for “mind.” Jesus thoroughly opened their minds. There were now no obstructions to impede their understanding of these things. It had been in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms all along, they just never understood it before. To be fair, we should recognize the truth of what Paul said,
For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (2 Corinthians 2:11-12)
We have been conditioned by the world too much to recognize spiritual realities. The spirit of the world can never understand these things, they must be revealed to us by the Spirit of God. That is what happened with the disciples: Jesus caused them to “comprehend.” The Greek word means to “put together.” They were now able to add up all that Jesus had taught them and all the Scriptures had taught them and bring it all together into one magnificent picture. Jesus continued:
Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. (Luke 24:46-49)
Now they got it. It was all making sense for them as it never had before. But there was more. They were about to receive the “Promise of the Father,” power from heaven. This was the promise of the Holy Spirit, who came upon them at Pentecost! Now they would be able to take this glorious portrait of Jesus and present it to the nations in a living and powerful way.

By His Spirit, God opens our understanding to comprehend that the Scriptures, the witness of God’s eternal plan and redemptive purpose for all the nations of the world, all comes together in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Forty Days of Kingdom Revelation

The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:1-3)
The forty days between Jesus’ resurrection and His ascension to His throne in heaven — what an unusual time for Him and His disciples — are full of world-changing significance. Like everything else in His ministry, they were about the kingdom of God. He began His ministry announcing that it was now at hand. He went about preaching it and teaching it by parables and discourse. He demonstrated it by healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, casting out demons and raising the dead — and sent His disciples out to do the same. He taught them how to pray, “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done!” He announced that the kingdom was within them.

After the resurrection, He declared that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him. Surely, that is about the kingdom of God, the rule and reign of God coming to earth and the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven. It was in that context that He commissioned His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all the things Jesus had commanded them. This is all about the kingdom of God.

Before He ascended to His throne in heaven, He told His disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Promise of the Father. They asked Him if He was restoring the kingdom to Israel at that time. He answered that it was not for them to know the times or the seasons which the Father placed in His own authority. Instead, He gave them this — and I believe it is where the answer to their question is really found: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” This power and this witness are all about the kingdom of God, testifying and demonstrating that Jesus is King and His kingdom is now in the world — in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and extending to the ends of the earth. These forty days between Resurrection and Ascension were about preparing the disciples to receive His kingdom and manifest it by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The kingdom of God has come into the world. The resurrected Christ has ascended to His glory and the Holy Spirit has come upon His people. His purpose is to bring forth the evidence of who Jesus is and manifest His kingdom, heaven on earth, here and now.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Do You Believe This?

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26)
These are the words Jesus spoke to Martha. Her brother Lazarus had been in the tomb four days. Martha had said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You” (v. 21-22).

Jesus assured her, “Your brother will rise again” (v. 23).

“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day,” she said.

Then Jesus answered, “I am the resurrection and the life.” We often limit the resurrection to an event, or a time. But, first of all, it is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the resurrection; He is the life. The statement “I am” goes back to God’s answer when Moses asked Him, “What shall I say to the children of Israel when they ask who sent me and ‘What is His name?’” God said, “I AM WHO I AM … Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).

How do we receive this resurrection and this life? By faith in Him. “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” In both the body and the spirit, there is death and there is life. We come to Him spiritually dead, He gives us spiritual life. When we believe in Him, though the body may die, the spirit lives on and will never die.

On another occasion, Jesus said.
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. (John 5:24-25)
It is a spiritual resurrection He speaks of here, but there is also a physical resurrection coming, for He adds, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth” (John 5:28-29). So Martha was correct, there will be a resurrection of the body in the future, at the “last day.” Jesus gave us a glimpse when He called forth Lazarus from the grave — and Lazarus came back to life. But it is seen most powerfully and enduringly in the resurrection of Jesus Himself after three days in the tomb. It is important to note that He rose bodily from the grave, for as the “firstborn from the dead,” He is the guarantee of our own bodies being raised, we who believe in Him.

So there are two resurrections in view: one spiritual, the other physical. We receive them both by faith, for Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Me.” This presents us, then, with the question He asked Martha, “Do you believe this?”

Now, faith is not passive but active. It is a verb as well as a noun. Though in English we have “faith” as the noun and “believe” as the verb, in Greek, they are both the same word. Faith is not just something we have but something we do. It is an action as well as a possession.

“Do you believe this?” Notice the tense. Jesus did not ask, “Did you believe this?” but “Do you believe this?” Faith is not about what you may have believed at some point in the past but about what you are believing now. That is the only question. Faith is always present tense — that is where the life is. God is eternal and the place where we meet Him is the present.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. For those who believe in Him, there is spiritual resurrection now and bodily resurrection in the future. Do you believe this? That is the question the season of Easter presents to us.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

The Sound of Marching

So they went up to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there. Then David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore they called the name of that place Baal Perazim. (1 Chronicles 14:11)
David had just been anointed king, and the Philistines did not like it, so they came looking for him. David heard of this and went out against them. The Philistines raided the valley of Rephaim. David asked the Lord whether he should go up after them. “Will You deliver them into my hand?” The Lord said, “Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand.” So David led them up to the place which would be called Baal Perazim, which means “Lord of Breakthroughs.” It was there that God broke through David’s enemies “like a breakthrough of water.”

This was not like a few drips and drops. It was not a smattering of sprays and spurts. It was not a leak. It was a flood, a dam break! It devastated the Philistines. They retreated, leaving their idols behind, which David then burned. However, the Philistines made one more attempt on the valley. Again, David asked the Lord what to do. God said,
You shall not go up after them; circle around them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines. (1 Chronicles 14:14-15)
God was going to go before David and strike the Philistine army. The sign for this would be the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees. Then David would go out to battle and finish them off, which David did, driving them back all the way back to Philistia. “Then the fame of David went out into all lands, and the LORD brought the fear of him upon all nations” (v. 17). The Philistines were never a problem for David anymore after that.

Today, I am thinking of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday in terms of this narrative, which chronicles the final victory of David over the Philistines. It came in two parts. There was the breaking forth of many waters and then the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees.

On Good Friday, there was the breakthrough of many waters as Jesus dealt the death blow to His enemies, and ours. For He came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) as well as him who had the power of death, the devil himself (Hebrews 2:14). On Resurrection Sunday, this victory became apparent as God raised Jesus from the dead. Sin, death and the devil no longer have any power over us. The Lord of Breakthroughs has prevailed.

The day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday has traditionally been called Holy Saturday. It is a time of reflecting on the breakthrough that has been made for us, the great victory Jesus won for us on the Cross. But it is also a time of listening for the “sound of marching” as that victory manifests in resurrection life.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Let God Arise and His Enemies Be Scattered

Let God arise,
Let His enemies be scattered;
Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.
As smoke is driven away,
So drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
But let the righteous be glad;
Let them rejoice before God;
Yes, let them rejoiced exceedingly.
(Psalm 68:1-3)

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
Good Friday was our victory day, the day God arose to scatter His enemies. Jesus, the Word of God, became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). God made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Through death, he Lord Jesus destroyed the evil one, who had the power of death, and released us from bondage. Indeed, He came for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.

On this day, God arose to scatter His enemies and destroy the works of the devil. Jesus shed His blood to establish a new covenant between God and us (Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8:6). This means that His enemies are our enemies and our enemies are His.
Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
Take up shield and buckler;
Arise and come to my aid.
Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me.
Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
(Psalm 35:1-3 NIV)
The Hebrew word for “salvation” in that passage is yeshuah. As a proper name, it is Yeshua, which is Hebrew for “Jesus.” Jesus is our salvation, our victory, and through faith in Him, we are made victorious.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us form the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-36, 37-39).
In Jesus Christ, Good Friday has become your victory day. God has destroyed the works of the devil on your behalf and scattered your enemies. Their bondage is broken and they no longer have any power over you. It is a cause for great rejoicing in the presence of the Lord.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Table of Testimony

And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you. (Exodus 25:16)

Do this in remembrance of Me. (Luke 22:19)
The essence of testimony is remembrance. The Hebrew word for “testimony” means to duplicate or repeat. Its purpose is to bring something back to mind, to represent (re-present) an experience, to stir up a heart of faith.

Testimony is a powerful thing. It can not only bring something back to your mind but also back to your heart. It can recreate the emotions, the sense of the experience of that to which it testifies. For example, have you ever heard an old song on the radio that reminded you of the days when you first heard that song? It can make you think of old friends and places and the way you felt back then. It is amazing how a song can bring them again to you in such an emotionally powerful way. When a song triggers a memory like that, people even say, “Oh, that takes me back.” And in a way, it does take them back to that time and place, and those old friends. That song has become a testimony to them, a witness of things past but which still have great significance for the present.

That is what the Ark of the Testimony did. It was a witness that spoke of the covenant God made with Israel. Everything about it testified to something in their experience with Him. It showed His presence among them. On top was the mercy-seat, the place of atonement, divine forgiveness. The Testimony that was placed inside was threefold: The Ten Commandments, a jar of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded (Hebrews 9:4).

The testimony of these things was always before them to remind them, not only of who God had been to them in the past, but also who He would continue to be to them in the future. It was a continual witness of God’s saving act on behalf of His people, a sign of His ever present covenant love and mercy.

In the New Testament, Jesus has provided us a testimony that continually speaks to us of His saving act on our behalf. It is the sign of the new covenant God has made with us in Christ. This testimony is the Table of the Lord. The bread and the wine testify to the body and blood of Jesus. They speak of what has been given for us and to us. They represent Jesus Christ to us. In them, we experience anew the reality of His body and blood, and our participation in Him as the body of Christ.

The Table of the Lord is an ark of testimony. It is the witness of what Jesus Christ has done for us at the Cross, the sign of the covenant we have with God today and the promise that He is with us now and forever.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Give No Place to Fear

Do not … give place to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26-27)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7).
The devil delights in fear and knows how to use it. Take Job, for example. We know that God allowed satan to go after him, but I believe that was because Job himself allowed it. Peter said that satan is like a roaring lion, going to and fro, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). So satan went looking for how he could devour Job. Paul said, “Do not give place to the devil.” He cannot come in on us if we do not give him a place, and if we give him place, he will not pass by an open door but will go right on in. That is why James said, “Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee” (James 4:7). If we resist the devil, he must flee.

So, it was not enough that God allowed satan to pursue Job. He would also have to find Job with his guard down, leaving a place for him to enter in. I think we find that place in Job 3:25, where Job says, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.”

Where did this fear and dread come from? Certainly not from God, for it was not the fear of the Lord, but the fear of circumstances. Job inadvertently opened himself up to the work of the devil by first listening to his whispers, then by meditating on his lies, letting himself be filled with worry and all the things the world fears. Then he probably started speaking out his worries and fears instead of trusting in the goodness of God, which is much greater. Before long, what began as worry turned into great fear and dread; satan soon found that opening and played it for all it was worth.

But what if Job had not been full of fear and dread that these things might happen? What if he had not dwelt on them, letting them become magnified in his heart? The devil would have had no other way to get in, for Job was a righteous and upright man (Job 1:8). But fear left an open door into his life.

The word “fear” has sometimes been defined by the acronym F.E.A.R. — False Evidence Appearing Real. Job worried that these things might one day come upon him. They appeared real to him long before they actually came to pass. Some might say that this was just coincidence, but isn’t it interesting that the very thing Job greatly feared and dreaded was the thing satan actually ended up doing to him?

Now, satan does not usually go for outright terror. That would be too obvious for many Christians and they would not fall for it. But if the devil can’t get terror going, he’ll gladly work on low-level fear, the little worries and anxieties of life. Worry is like a seed, just as faith is like a seed, and when it is planted in the heart, it can spring up quickly into paralyzing fear.

God has not given us the spirit of fear. Neither full-grown fear nor the seedling of worry comes from Him. Rather, God has given us the spirit of power, love and sound mind. This power is actually the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit. This love is the love God has for us, and when we let it fill our hearts, it casts out fear (1 John 4:18). The Greek word for “sound mind” speaks of self-control. It is about the discipline of understanding and living by the truth. That is how we resist the devil and overcome fear: We believe the love God has for us, and the power we have in Him, and we live by it.

The best time to deal with fear is when it first enters in as anxiety. As Barney Fife might say, “Nip it! Nip it in the bud!” Jesus put it this way:
Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:31-33)
The world is anxious, seeking after all these things. But for those who know the Lord Jesus, that problem has already been solved. Our job is to seek the rule and reign and God, and His way of doing things. Everything else will be taken care of. No worry, no fear. Just divine power and love, and a sound mind. For God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).

Do not give the devil a place in your life by letting worry and fear into your heart. Believe the love God has for you and the divine power at work in you, and be at peace. Seek His kingdom, and whatever is needed will be provided.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Table of Splendor and Majesty

The Lord’s works are great,
Studied by all who delight in them.
All that He does is splendid and majestic;
His righteousness endures forever.
He has caused His wonderful works to be remembered.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate.
He has provided food for those who fear Him;
He remembers His covenant forever.
(Psalm 111:2-5 HCSB)
The works of the Lord are great. They are studied — earnestly pursued, carefully sought out, diligently researched — by those who desire and take delight in them. For the works of the Lord reveal something about the character of God, what He is like and what He desires.

Those who take delight in His ways study and mediate on them; they understand that, as Spurgeon said, “What God has done once is a prophecy of what He intends to do again (The Story of God’s Mighty Acts). The works of the Lord are not just a testimony of what once way, but also what is now and what shall be, for “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” Hebrews 13:8).

Everything God does is grand and glorious, full of splendor and majesty. They demonstrate that everything He does is exactly right, just, proper, true and prosperous. These are wonderful works — that is, distinguished and unique, extra-ordinary, surpassing all others — and He has caused them to be remembered by His people, for they do not speak of what He was but what He is. His grace and compassion are just as much for us today as they were for yesterday, and they will be here for us tomorrow as well.

Out of His grace, God has given food to those who fear Him, because He is always remembering His covenant, and He has caused us to remember, too, so that we may draw on His provision for us. In this, we can see the Table of the Lord.
  • It is a table of sustenance. This is the food and drink God has prepared for those who know, love and fear Him. Jesus is the “bread of life … which comes down from heaven. that one may eat of it and not die” (John 6:48, 50). By faith, we eat His body and drink His blood (John 6:53-58) and it is for us spirit and life (John 6:63).
  • It is a table of remembrance. Here we remember the wonderful works of God on our behalf. As Jesus took the bread, blessed it and gave it to the disciples, He said, “This is My body which is given for You; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19).
  • It is a table of covenant. Jesus took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). Jesus, our High Priest, who has offered His own body and blood for our sakes, is now forever seated at the “right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Hebrews 8:1), that is, the throne of God. He is there as the “Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). If God was faithful to remember His former covenant, how much more will He remember the new and better covenant we have in Jesus Christ, when the one who cut it with His own blood is always seated before Him?
The Table of the Lord is a table of splendor and majesty. It reveals to us the Lord Jesus Christ, brings us again to the reality of what He has done for us, focuses our hearts on the source of all true delight and prophecies the wonderful works God has in store for us today.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Super-Elated with the Things of God

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. (2 Corinthians 12:7)
Here is a verse that is commonly misunderstood on a number of points. It is often thought that, because of the revelations Paul received from the Lord, God gave him a “thorn in the flesh” (often erroneously thought to be a sickness of some sort; see Pulling Paul’s Thorn) in order to keep him from becoming proud — lest he be “exalted above measure.”

Let’s take a look at the Greek word for that, hyperairo. It is found twice in this verse.” It is a compound word made up of hyper, which means “over, beyond or more than,” and airo, which means to lift or raise up. Sometimes it is used to speak of exaltation, which might be unseemly when it is applied to a man. But there is also another way this word is used that can have a very positive connotation.
  • Renn’s Expository Dictionary of Bible Words says of hyperairo that, in this verse, it means to be exalted “in the sense of being affected by a feeling of supreme elation.”
  • Weymouth’s New Testament translation has it as “lest I should be over-elated.”
  • The English Standard Version has “to keep me from being too elated.”
  • The Revised English Bible says, “to keep me from being unduly elated.”
  • The Revised Standard Version: “to keep me from being too elated.”
For a human being to be exalted brings up negative connotations, and for a man to be exalted “beyond measure” causes people to think that a humbling is in order. That is what many interpreters have done with this verse. They read “exalted beyond measure” and immediately jump to the conclusion that what comes next, the “thorn in the flesh,” was given to Paul to humble him. Never mind that the word “humble” does not even appear in the text, but is simply assumed.

What is more, they often assume that it was God who gave Paul this thorn in order to humble him. Again, never mind that the text does not identify God as the one who gave him this thorn; it is called a “messenger of satan.” Unfortunately, though, the prevailing, and generally unexamined, assumption is that it was God who gave it and that it was for the purpose of humbling Paul, to knock him down a few pegs and keep him from becoming proud.

On the other hand, if hyperairo can just as well be rendered as “elation,” as many versions do, then the story this verse tells is more consistent with what the Bible teaches us about both God and the devil: God wants us to be full of joy; satan wants us to be full of pride. And it makes better sense of what the verse actually does say instead of assuming things it does not say.

“Elation” does not speak of pride or arrogance, but of joy and exhilaration. What did Paul have to be elated about? What could have filled him with such joy and exhilaration? The revelations He received from God. Paul was elated about the things God was showing him, and that is something to be excited about. Indeed, it is something to be super-elated about, as the Greek prefix hyper here implies.

Now think for a moment: Who is pleased when we are excited and filled with joy, super-elated about the things of God? Is it not God? And who is displeased when we are thrilled and overjoyed by the things of God? Is it not satan? So why should we assume that God would want to keep Paul from being excited and overjoyed about the things He was revealing to him?

Doesn’t it make more sense that satan gave Paul this thorn (remember, it is called a “messenger of satan”) to keep him from being thrilled and elated about the what God was showing him. If Paul was super-excited about these divine revelations, it could only mean bad news for satan. He would certainly want to deflate Paul, to knock the wind out of his sails. But if Paul was full of pride and arrogance, that would have played right into the devil’s hand. Satan would not try to prevent it. Quite the opposite, he would have done whatever he could to promote it.

The devil wants you to be full of pride and arrogance. God wants you to be joyful, exhilarated, super-elated with the things of God.

Monday, March 23, 2009

The Nations for Your Inheritance

Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession
(Psalm 2:8)
This is the promise of God to Messiah: Ask of Me and I will give you the nations for Your inheritance. But it is a promise made all to His people:
He has declared to His people the power of His works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.
(Psalm 11:6)
The reference here is to the land of the Canaanite nations that He gave to Israel, but the application is much greater: God is interested in gathering in the nations themselves, in the days of Messiah. This is richly portrayed in the prophet Isaiah:
Now it shall come to pass in that latter days
That the mountain of the LORD’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills
And all nations shall flow to it.
Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
(Isaiah 2:2-3)

In that day there shall be a root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles [nations] shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.
(Isaiah 11:9)

Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants —
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant —
Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.
(Isaiah 56:6-7)
This is the inheritance of nations promised Messiah, and through Him, for His people. For we are joint-heirs with Him:
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ [Messiah], if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:16-17)
“Joint-heirs” means that whatever He inherits, we inherit with Him. If He has the nations for His inheritance, then so do we. All those who know the Lord Jesus Christ, whether they be from among the Jews or the Gentiles (nations), partake of this inheritance with Him. Indeed, we are the inheritance, we belong to each other as well as to Him.

Years ago, I was praying in Psalm 2 (my habit is to pray through the Psalms each month) and I was moved by verse 8: “Ask of Me and I will give you the nations for Your inheritance.” Realizing that those who know Jesus are joint-heirs with Him, I desired to know this inheritance in a deeper way. So I went for it. I asked God, “Lord, give me the nations for my inheritance.”

The next thing I knew, I was on the worldwide web with a ministry home page. It has since grown and now we have many blogs and articles on Christian prayer and Biblical faith that are accessible through the world. Over the years, our pages have received many visitors from the nations. Some have emailed us to tell us how our ministry has blessed them. As I have often said, it really is a worldwide web. I consider that God has indeed answered my prayer, and is continually enlarging our inheritance. Thanks be to God.

God has created an inheritance for Jesus Messiah and all who receive Him.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

A Time for Witty Inventions

I wisdom dwell with prudence and find out knowledge of witty inventions. (Proverbs 8:12)
Prudence is the practical application of wisdom. It leads to “witty inventions.” Young’s Literal Translation renders this as “knowledge of devices.” The English Standard Bible has “discretion.” John Wesley calls it “ingenious contrivances for the glory of God, and for the good of men.” In his Commentary on the Bible, Adam Clarke has this: “The farther wisdom proceeds in man, the more practical knowledge it gains; and finding out the nature and properties of things, and the general course of providence, it can contrive by new combinations to produce new results.” Here is Keil and Delitzsch (Commentary on the Old Testament) on this verse:
It denotes well-considered, carefully thought out designs, plans, conclusions, and da’ath [“knowledge”] is here the knowledge that is so potent. This intellectual power is nothing beyond wisdom, it is in her possession on every occasion; she strives after it not in vain, her knowledge is defined according to her wish.
God wants to give you some witty inventions, clever devices, ingenious contrivances and bright ideas. Surely, that would be very helpful for these challenging times. Crisis is really opportunity in disguise — and what a lot of opportunity has been dumped in our laps!

Witty inventions come from prudence; prudence is the practical application of wisdom; wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord — living in awe and honor of God. When we seek Him, He will give us wisdom for the asking (James 1:5), for His desire is for us to succeed and prosper in all things and every situation (Joshua 1:6-8; Psalm 1:1-3; 3 John 2).

In Genesis, Joseph experienced many adversities, but he looked to the Lord and prevailed over them all. When famine was about to come upon the land, Joseph recognized it by Pharaoh’s dream and the wisdom God gave to interpret. Then he received divine wisdom about what to do about it. As a result, Joseph ended up as vice-regent over all of Egypt, and his “witty invention” blessed all the people in the land and brought in much wealth and prosperity for Egypt.

The prophet Daniel was another man who knew how to face adversity with divine wisdom. As a captive in Babylon, when other young men were being fed rich meats, foods and wines from the king’s table, Daniel developed a very healthy diet for him and his three friends, and then devised a clever test to convince his superior of the benefits of this diet. Not only did these four young men turn out to be the healthiest in the bunch, God also gave them great knowledge and skill in literature and wisdom, and they were ten times better than all the king’s magicians and astrologers (Daniel 2). Like Joseph before Pharaoh, God gave Daniel the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams, which brought glory to God and promotion to Daniel. He ended up as the chief of the wise men, lived in the gate of the king and became governor over Babylon.

This is a time for the practical application of wisdom in crafting solutions, a time for ingenious contrivances, clever devices and bright ideas. This is a time for Josephs and Daniels to arise, a time for witty inventions. Ask God for divine wisdom, then watch for what He will show you. You might very well end up with something that brings great glory to God, great blessing to others and great promotion and prosperity for yourself.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Expect God’s Mighty Acts Today

Reading Bill Johnson’s book, Release the Power of Jesus, I came across a sermon quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I include it here, with a bit more from that sermon, because it is so good about expecting to see the power of God today:
When people hear about what God used to do, one of the things they say is: “Oh, that was a very long while ago.” They imagine that times have altered since then …Things were in a different state then from what they are now.” Granted; but I want to know what the things have to do with it. I thought it was God that did it.

Has God changed? Is He not an immutable God, the same yesterday, today and forever? Does not that furnish an argument to prove that what God has done at one time He can do at another? Nay, I think I may push it a little further, and say what He has done once is a prophecy of what He intends to do again — that the mighty works which have been accomplished in the olden time shall all be repeated, and the Lord's song shall be sung again in Zion, and He shall again be greatly glorified.

Others among you say, “Oh, well I look upon these things as great prodigies — miracles. We are not to expect them every day.” That is the very reason why we do not get them. If we had learned to expect them, we should no doubt obtain them, but we put them up on the shelf, as being out of the common order of our moderate religion, as being mere curiosities of Scripture history. We imagine such things, however true, to be prodigies of providence; we cannot imagine them to be according to the ordinary working of His mighty power. I beseech you, my friends, abjure that idea, put it out of your mind. (The Story of God’s Mighty Acts)
Spurgeon knew the mighty acts of God in his own day. He knew about the power of faith to heal in Jesus’ name and experienced many remarkable healings in his ministry. He also had frequent “words of knowledge” about things he could not have known unless God had revealed them to him. I have compiled many of these in Miracles and Manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the History of the Church. God is still doing today what He has always done.

What God has done in the past is a prophecy of what He intends to do again. If we learn to expect it, we shall see it. What is your expectation?

Monday, March 9, 2009

We Have a Confession to Make

Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. (Hebrews 3:1)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
God has given many wonderful promises and benefits for those who know, love and serve Him, and they are all found in Jesus Christ, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.

The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo and means, “to say the same thing” (homo, same; logeo, to speak or say). To confess is to speak in agreement with something. Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. He is the one we confess, speak in agreement with and about. To confess Him is to declare our faith in Him.
  • We confess that Jesus Christ is Apostle. The word “apostle” refers to one who is sent. By confessing Jesus Christ as Apostle, we agree that He is the one who is sent by God. He represents the Father before us. “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” He said (John 14:9). All other apostles are apostles of Jesus Christ, sent by Him, but Jesus Christ is the Apostle of the Father, the One sent by God.
  • We confess that Jesus Christ is our High Priest. The role of the High Priest is to represent God to the people and the people to God. Jesus Christ is uniquely qualified to do that because He is fully divine and fully human, Son of God and Son of Man.
As High Priest, Jesus Christ has made complete atonement for us, taking our sins upon Himself and nailing them to the Cross. He has cleansed us from all guilt and shame. As High Priest, He is the mediator of a “better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6), a covenant cut in His own blood (Luke 22:20). As wonderful as the promises of the Old Covenant were, this covenant is even better, adding to those promises.

When we confess Jesus Christ as Apostle and High Priest, we are agreeing that He is the one sent by the Father to us. In confessing Him, we also confess the covenant He has mediated for us, for He completely fulfills all the requirements of both the old and new covenants. He has done all that is necessary; our part is to commit ourselves to Him by faith.

With that in mind, I have written two confessions based on two passages from the old covenant. I chose these because they are wide-ranging and form a good foundation for laying hold of what God wants to do for us in this life. I believe they will be an encouragement to you, especially in these difficult times. Do you confess Jesus as your Lord? Are you trusting Him with your life? Then these confessions are for you, too.

Be bold when you make these confessions. Years ago, I began making confessions like these, based on similar Scriptures. I was in a very difficult time in my life and I knew I needed a strong, bold faith in God if I was going to get the turnaround I needed. So I printed out a number of Scripture promises, cast them in the first person, in the form of personal confessions, and began speaking them out. I did not just read them silently to myself — I knew I had to get these down deep into my heart. So I read them out loud. It was awkward at first, but I kept at it. I paced back and forth in the hallway of my house, reading and repeating these promises and confessions out loud, over and over. Before long, I began to speak them out louder and louder. I got to where I was shouting them out regularly.

What was I doing? Letting them fill my eyes, my mind, my mouth and my ears, and before long they began to fill my heart. You might say I was defibrillating, shocking my heart back into the rhythms of faith with the Word of God, recalibrating my thoughts and emotions with the promises of God, realigning my will with the heart of God. After about a month, I began to see breakthrough. My life has been different and I have walked in a deeper level of faith, and joy, ever since.

It seems to me that now is a good time to pick up these “defibrillating” paddles once again and reinvigorate our faith with the promises of God. I invite you to join me in these confessions:
All the blessings of God come upon us and overtake us, because we obey the voice of the LORD our God. We are blessed everywhere we go, in the city and in the country. We are blessed with increase in every area of our life — at home, in business, in ministry. We are blessed in all our comings and goings — when we go out, we go out in safety; when we come home, we come home in safety. The LORD causes all our enemies to be defeated — they scatter from before us in every direction. The LORD commands His blessing on us in our storehouses, and in all we set our hand to. The LORD establishes us as holy unto Himself, to fulfill His plans and purposes for our lives — He leads us into our destiny. The LORD gives us plenty of goods and abundance of prosperity. The LORD opens His treasury to bless all the work of our hands. We shall lend to many and shall never have to borrow. (from Deuteronomy 28:1-14)

We are blessed by the LORD, because we delight in His commandments. Our descendants will be mighty on the earth. Wealth and riches are in our house. Light arises for us in the darkness. We are gracious, full of compassion and righteous. We deal graciously and lend, and we guide our affairs with discretion. We will never be shaken. We will be in everlasting remembrance. We will not be afraid of evil tidings. Our hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. We are established in heart, and we will not be afraid. We shall look in triumph on our foes. We are generous and share our gifts abroad. We remember to give to the poor. Our righteousness (the righteousness of Christ now at work in us) endures forever, and we will be exalted with honor. (from Psalm 112)
Jesus is our High Priest, and in Him, we have many wonderful promises to confess.

Friday, March 6, 2009

The Kingdom of Heaven is Now on Earth

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth:
Keys to the Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Matthew 

by Jeff Doles

JESUS began His ministry proclaiming, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” In other words — it is now here! Everywhere He went, He preached it, taught it and demonstrated it by signs and wonders, healing the sick and setting the spiritual captives free. He brought heaven to earth and taught His disciples how to do it, too.

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth is a study of the nature and dynamics of the kingdom of Heaven on Earth, and how to live and operate effectively in its dominion. It is a motivational commentary on select passages in the Gospel of Matthew, to stir up your passion for the reality of God’s kingdom now at work in the world. In this book, you will learn about:
  • The Kingdom of the Heart
  • The Kingdom of Authentic Living
  • The Treasure of Heaven on Earth
  • Discerning Heaven on Earth
  • The Authority of Heaven on Earth
  • Parables of Heaven on Earth
  • The Glory of Heaven on Earth
  • The Incomparable Value of Heaven on Earth
  • The Controversy of Heaven on Earth
  • Heaven on Earth and the End of the Age
  • The Victorious Kingdom
"The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth by Jeff Doles is an excellent and insightful presentation of the teachings of Jesus in Matthew concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. With his usual thorough and thoughtful style, Jeff shares the passionate heart of Jesus to bring the blessings of Heaven to the earth. This book is a tremendous guide for personal or group Bible study. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to better understand the essence of the Christian life from the transformational teachings of Jesus, the King of Kings, who will rule over the Kingdom of Heaven on the Earth."
— Ben R Peters, President of Open Heart Ministries.
international conference speaker and author

Thursday, March 5, 2009

If I Am Not Filled with Wonder

If I am not filled with wonder, am I really positioned to say He is wonderful? If I am not filled with power, am I really positioned to say He is powerful? Where I have set the eyes of my heart will determine the reality that I release around me.

Heaven is filled with perfect trust in God, and the earth is filled with mistrust. We will always reflect the nature of the world we are most aware of.

What Will You Call It?

Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19)
Here’s an amazing thing: God created man in His own image — to be like Him — and gave him dominion over all the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). He formed Adam from the dust, then puffed the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a “living being” (Genesis 2:7). The Hebrew is nephesh chayah. The Targum Onkelos, an ancient Jewish commentary, says that man became a “speaking spirit.” Just as God had the ability to speak — and by it called the heavens and earth into existence — man, created in the likeness of God, had the same ability to use word.

We see this in the first thing God had Adam do: He brought the animals to him to see what Adam would call them. Notice, God did not tell Adam what to call them. He simply observed what Adam named them — that is, how Adam exercised his dominion and the power of his words, and whatever Adam called each animal, that was its name. The decision was Adam’s. God did not change it in any way, for He had given dominion of the planet over to Adam.

This often forgotten little episode is quite significant today because the names you give things determine how you see and relate to them, and what they will be in your life. Your words have a creative ability. This is a vitally important truth to remember as you consider the current economic climate and the challenges it presents: Whatever you call it, that will be its name!

What will you call this present situation you find yourself in? Because you will name it something. Will you name it out of fear, or out of faith? Because it will be one way or the other.

Remember what Job went through. We know that satan wanted to have a go at him, and God allowed it to happen (see Job 1-2). But what a lot of people do not see is that Job himself was also a participant in what happened to him. He left an opening for satan to exploit. It was not a matter of sin, as Job’s three friends had wrongfully supposed, for God had already declared that Job was “a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). No, this was about something Job spoke out of his own mouth. When satan’s calamities began to come upon him, Job revealed what had been going on in his heart: “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25).

Great fear and dread had gripped Job long before his physical situation started to fall apart. It filled his heart in abundance, for it was not just a little anxiety and worry he possessed but great fear and dread. Because it was in his heart in abundance, it is very likely that he often spoke it out, calling it with his words. And whatever he called it, that was its name, and was exactly what happened to him. In the end, we see that Job had to “repent in dust and ashes” for wrongfully accusing God for his troubles (John 42:1-6).

Or remember what happened with the twelve men Moses sent to spy out the land of Canaan, which God had promised to give to Israel. Ten came back with a sorry and fearful report. They recognized that it was indeed a marvelous land, flowing with “milk and honey,” but then they called forth their fear: “Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large … We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we … There we saw the giants … and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13).

However, the other two spies, Joshua and Caleb gave a very different assessment.
Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it. (Numbers 13:30)
The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, “a land which flows with milk and honey.” Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them. (Numbers 14:7-9)
The ten and the two each called the situation by very different names:
  • The ten said, “We saw the giants.” The two said, “They are our bread.”
  • The ten said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” The two said, “We are well able to overcome.”
  • The ten said, “We were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” The two said, “The LORD is with us … He will bring us into this land and give it to us.”
Whatever each called it, that was its name and how it operated in their lives. The ten never went up against the “giants,” never possessed the Promised Land, but died in the wilderness. On the other hand, Joshua and Caleb eventually went in, overcame and possessed the land, for God was with them and gave it to them.

Some people say, “Well, I call it like I see it.” Okay, then maybe you need to change the way you see it. The ten spies saw themselves as grasshoppers and then assumed that that was how the Canaanites saw them. Joshua and Caleb saw something different. They saw that God was with them and that He had given them a promise. The ten spies spoke out of their fear. Joshua and Caleb spoke out of faith in God and what He said — and that made all the difference, for whatever they called it, that was its name.

God has given promises to those who know, love and serve Him. Here are a few that are pertinent to the current economic situation:
  • God has given us the ability to create wealth, because He is establishing His covenant in the earth (Deuteronomy 8:18).
  • God commands the blessing on us in our storehouses and in all to which we set our hands (Deuteronomy 28:8).
  • God enables us to prosper in whatever we do (Psalm 1:3).
  • God does not hold back any good thing from those who do what is right (Psalm 84:11).
  • Wealth and riches will be in our houses (Psalm 112:3).
  • The blessing of the Lord makes us rich, and there is no sorrow with it (Proverbs 10:22).
  • God makes His grace abound to us so that we, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have abundance for every good work (2 Corinthians (9:8). Paul made this statement in a financial context.
  • God supplies all our needs according to glorious riches in Christ (Philippians 4:19). In other words, it is not about our own resources but His.
  • God’s desire is for us to prosper in all things and be in health, even as our souls prosper (3 John 2).
Don’t over-spiritualize these promises to the exclusion of material prosperity, for true and lasting material prosperity is based upon the reality of spiritual prosperity. God wants you to prosper in all things (finances are not excluded) according to the prosperity of your inner being.

What will you call your financial circumstance at this time? Will you name it out of fear or out of faith? Will you look at it in the panicky way the world sees it, or will you let the promises of God change the way you see it, and therefore, what you will call it? For whatever you call it, that will be its name in your life.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

In the LORD I put my trust (Psalm 11:1)
David is cool in the face of turmoil. While those around him are in a panic, David asserts his faith:

In the LORD I put my trust;
How can you say to my soul,
“Flee as a bird to your mountain?
For look! The wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”
(Psalm 11:1-3)
It is a wonder to him that anyone would even think of speaking to him this way. Why? Doesn’t he know what is happening all around him? Is he unaware of all those out to get him, the wicked who want to do violence to him? Yes, he understands that, but he also knows something more important and far greater than that:
The LORD is in His holy temple,
The LORD’s throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.
The LORD tests the righteous,
But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
(Psalm 11:4-5)
The fearful ones around him think that the foundations of the righteous have been destroyed. But David understands that this is impossible because the Lord is in His temple, and His throne is in heaven. The Lord still rules and reigns; His throne has not been shifted by calamity. Or as my wife likes to remind the worriers, “My God hasn’t gone anywhere.”

God has not been shaken, and He is the foundation of the righteous. The events of earth have not taken Him by surprise. He is well aware of what is going on, and He knows exactly what the wicked are up to, but it does not find Him wringing His hands.

This is David’s confidence and the reason he refuses to be full of anxiety and dread.

Many today are in a panic about the state of national and world economies. Even a lot of Christians are running scared. And that is exactly where the enemy wants you — full of worry and fear, thinking that your foundation has been, or is about to be, destroyed. But if you know the Lord Jesus, if your trust is in Him, your foundation can never be destroyed but will stand forever.

God is in His temple and His throne remains in heaven where it has always been. Jesus our King is seated there at His right hand, “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:21). And that is where everyone who puts their trust in Him is as well, for God has “and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:18) and He is with us always, “even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He will take care of us, now and forever.

Let not your heart be troubled. If your trust is in the Lord, your foundation is secure.

Monday, March 2, 2009

How to Prosper in Everything

He is like a tree planted beside streams of water
That bears its fruit in season
And whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
(Psalm 1:3 HCSB)
True prosperity is not a function of the economy. It does not come from Wall Street. It cannot be guaranteed by the president or Congress. Therefore, it cannot be taken away by Wall Street, by the president or Congress. It does not arise because of an “up” economy, so it cannot be lost because of a “down” one.

True prosperity comes from God.

It does not come by following the advice of the world, acting the way the world acts, thinking what the world thinks (v. 1). It comes by a radically different path, rooted in a completely different source. It comes by delighting in the instruction of the Lord, the “law” of the Lord. The Hebrew word for “law” is torah and means instruction. God wants to instruct you, to teach you how to prosper.

If you will delight in His ways and let His instruction saturate your heart, fill your thought and direct your path, you will be like the man in Psalm 1:3.
  • You will be like trees planted beside streams of water. This is stability, even in a drought season, because the streams of God do not dry up.
  • You will bear fruit in season. When the season for bearing fruit comes around, you will not miss it. You will not cast off your fruit early, in the unripe stage, nor will it come too late to be any good. It will come in its proper time.
  • You will not wither away. Your supply will not dry up. God is your source and will keep you fresh and green to keep on bearing fruit in His courts (Psalm 92:12-15).
  • Whatever you do will prosper. When you follow the direction of the Lord, your efforts will not be in vain but will produce good things.
Whatever you do will prosper. God makes a similar promise in Deuteronomy 28:8, “The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand.” This, of course, assumes that you are setting your hand to something. Some people focus on their circumstances and let that keep them from doing anything. But if you are not putting your hand to something, there is nothing there for the Lord to command the blessing on. When you sow seed, He can multiply it for the harvest, but when you sow nothing, there is nothing to multiply.

Now, notice that God says, “Whatever he does shall prosper.” It would be wrong to make this just about finances — it is about so much more than that. It is about everything in your life. By the same token, although it might sound very pious and spiritual, it is just as wrong to think that financial prosperity is somehow excluded from the promise of God — whatever includes everything!

This is not just an Old Testament promise, as some have supposed, as if God does not want to do the same thing for us under the New Testament. The apostle John demonstrates the will of God for us when He says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2). The blessing of God on those who love Him is for every area of life today, just as it has always been.

Do not focus on the circumstances, the drought, the famine, the “down” economy. These do not determine the prosperity of your soul or even of your finances. But love the Lord with all your heart, delight in His ways and look to Him for instruction and direction in your life. Focus on Him as your source and supply, and whatever you do will prosper.