Jose asks:  How can you separate making the right choice to move forward (letting go) and not feel like you are turning your back on the situation?

The Encouragement:  The best way to move forward is to turn our back on what’s behind.    Remember Lot’s wife.  She didn’t want to let go either and there was a consequence…Genesis 19:26  This walk is by faith and not by sight and we have to be ever ready to shift into total trust mode.  In God we trust; everything else is foolishness.  (Proverbs  28:26) The heart is the seat of our emotions and not very trustworthy.  Jeremiah called the heart deceitful above all things—who can know it. (Jeremiah 17:9)  Our feelings can trick us and trip us up.  The watch word is in Ephesians when Paul said ‘Be angry but sin not’.  (Ephesians 4:26) In other words, feelings will surely rise up in us but we cannot let them lead the way. The director and ruler of our lives is the Lord not our emotions.  Often when we know it is time to let go of a relationship, we fear that that person may not make it without us.  In some cases we may even keep that other person from leaning and depending on God because we are always there for them.  That happens a lot with believers and their unsaved family members.  We keep bearing them up and they put our number on speed dial rather than calling on the Lord.  As long as we are walking around in skin there will be a battle between what our flesh wants to do and what the Spirit of the Lord wants.  (Galatians 5:17) I can only encourage you to do what the Spirit of the Lord says do. Go  forth trusting the Lord to handle what is behind and what is ahead.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Jose asks:   For a long time I've felt that unity is what will take us all to the next level, except that the concept is taken piece by piece and instead of giving our all for unity, we give what we can. My next question is...
 If we know that unity is the answer, why is it so hard to unite?

The Encouragement:   Let's go to John 17 first and recognize that unity was important enough for Jesus to pray that for the Body of Christ. He knew that unity would be a challenge.  In fact Jesus prayed that we would be one as He and the Father are one in John 17:21. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

 Consider also the Word in John 15:5.  ⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

 The key is that oneness or unity comes by our being in Him. In a nutshell, unity comes when we are vitally united and in agreement with the Lord and His Word.  In Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28) We allow Him control.  We are motivated by Him.  He is our life, our strength, the source of all we are and do and think.  That is how connected we are to Him and it is only out of that relationship that we can connect and be genuinely united with others in the Body of Christ. The result of that kind of unity is fruitfulness and kingdom growth.  The more we agree with the Lord and His word the more we begin to manifest the fruit of the Spirit as expressed in Galatians 5:22-23.  As we become more fruit filled—more loving, more joyful, peaceful, gentle, faithful etc , we become more attractive and people are drawn to the kingdom.  They start to believe that Jesus is real and they begin to desire to have relationship with Him too. (John 12:32) The more we allow Him to occupy our thinking, our emotions, our choices the easier it becomes to allow Him to direct our interactions with one another.  That’s why the Word says 'how can two walk together unless they agree'. (Amos 3:3)  When we agree with the Word and govern ourselves accordingly then we will walk in unity with every other believer that walks in agreement with the Word too. (1 John 1:7)

  Back when I was youth pastor I would tell the children if there is a problem with your brother or sister in the Lord, then check your connection with the Lord first.  The awesome benefit  is that the Lord will enable you to see you and your shortcoming. My pastor used to tell us if God gets us right in a relationship, then the job is done.

The biggest hindrance to unity in the body of Christ is we want to be right rather than righteous.  We revert back to the days of the elementary school playground and refuse to back down no matter what the Holy Spirit might be saying. Our old nature will spring up and we will let it have its way.  It can be a theological difference of opinion, or a common’ 'he said, she said’ disagreement and we will stand and fight to the bitter end.  When it is all said and done, nothing good is accomplished, feathers are ruffled and nobody watching us wants to become a part of a team where the players can’t get along.  Wow.

The next big hindrance to unity is failure to appreciate diversity or differences. Instead of walking in unity, we kick one another to the curb or lust after one another’s gifts or callings or possessions. God made each body part different and the eye cannot say to the foot-- you don’t see, so you are useless.  Read 1 Corinthians 12: 1-31.  God divinely designed each of us to fulfill a specific purpose and to reach a specific group of people for Him.  No two preachers are going to preach alike.  No two ushers are going to usher alike.  No two intercessors are going to pray alike.We get into that 'I follow Paul versus I follow Apollos' debate and body parts go in diferent directions rather than working in unity with Christ as the head.  (1 Corinthians 3:4)

  Paul couldn’t say it enough in 1 Corinthians 12…there are differences in the way we do things but there is one God working in us and because of that there should be no division.

  I am hurting even now from an injury the other day when my body kept going but my leg and foot refused to move forward.  My knee is sprained now because my body parts disagreed.  That happens far too often in our churches and the word of encouragement is clearly that we must abide in the Lord Jesus and allow His word to abide in us.  If the Holy Spirit is not in charge of us individually and collectively, there will be division.

What the world needs now is love sweet love and that love is only manifest when we obey the Lord’s leading and His Word in our everyday interactions with the other parts of Christ’s body---all those who name the name of Jesus and are called according to His purpose.  That is what will win souls and convince the world that our God is real.  That is also the next level--- when we are dead to our own will and live to do the will of our true and living God.

 Monday, January 11

Jose asked:, “Why is it that even when you have chosen the righteous path, the enemy attacks even harder?”

The Encouragement:

Great  question, Jose.  My first response takes us to Ecclesiastes 3:11a where we learn that we are here to choose to where we will spend eternity. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds.

 Once we make that eternal choice and commit to follow Christ and his purpose for our lives the battle really begins.  Above all, the enemy wants us to renege on our commitment to Christ and follow him instead.  He wants us to take our decision back.  When I hear stories of persecuted Christians in other countries I marvel at the courage of people who choose Christ against all odds.  In many places as soon as you give your heart to the Lord there is a soldier at your front door pointing a gun at you threatening to shoot you if you don’t denounce that decision. (visit www.vom.com)

Here in America the enemy is a bit more subtle but the goal is the same—the enemy wants us to denounce the Lord, renege on our commitment and follow him.  He knows that a righteous walk is contagious.  He knows that if a believer chooses to follow Christ in everyday ordinary matters that somebody is going to see that light of Christ in him or her and want to follow Christ  too. 

The Lord, our shepherd leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3) When we choose to follow the Shepherd it brings glory to our God’s name and spells doom and gloom for the enemy.  Always keep in mind that the enemy’s fate has already been determined.  

 In Revelation 20:10 we learn that he will be cast in a lake of fire.¹⁰And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The enemy’s pending fate makes him all the more tenacious in his desire to kill, steal and destroy us. (John 10:10) Every time we choose to follow Christ in our daily walk we bring God glory and make the enemy furious. When we step up our walk and decide that  ‘for God and for the building of His kingdom I live’ -- when we make doing the will of God our meat and drink--- The Enemy Has No Choice But To Pull Out The Big Guns.  Believe me, his arsenal includes anything that will discourage, frighten, frustrate or cause us to get off that righteous path.

 We are the light of the world.   People are supposed to look at us and want the Lord because they see the difference He makes in our lives. When they see us experience loss and suffering and still maintain our peace it makes them hungry to know the source of that peace. Our offices, factories, classrooms, laboratories or board rooms provide daily opportunities for us to shine.  When you think about it, Jose, doesn’t your light shine brighter when you’re experiencing your ‘darkest’ moments?

Yes, the enemy is going to attack us when we choose the righteous path but what an awesome opportunity for us to show him and the world around us that the He that is in us is greater than the he that is in the world. (1John 4:4)

Be encouraged and from this day on view every attack as an opportunity to shine, shine, shine. (Matthew 5:16)

Later that day Jose asked:

If we just enlisted as soldiers for Christ, how can we best prepare for spiritual warfare?

The Encouragement:

Wow, Jose I feel like putting on my combat boots.  You are so on track for what’s ahead for believers in 2010.

Let me start off by thanking God for you and for your understanding perfectly the equipping of the Lord for warfare.

Thanksgiving is an important starting place because your preparation begins with practicing the presence of the Lord.  If you want to be prepared for spiritual warfare you need to hang out with the Holy Spirit until you know that you know His voice.  Our success in warfare will be dependent on our obeying the commander in chief moment by moment.  To obey, we must hear.  To hear we have to spend quality time with Him so we will know how He communicates with us. Does this make sense?

We often recite the scripture ‘ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise’ but I wonder if we understand just how necessary thanksgiving and praise is to our victory in warfare. (Psalm 100:4)  How we enter into his gates and courts (His presence) is not a suggestion it is a command  and follow that command we must. Judah (which means praise) goes first.  Jehoshaphat came to understand that in 2 Chronicles 20:21-22 and we have to walk in that too.  Read that whole chapter when you get a chance.

 Cooperate with God in pulling down our strongholds is step two. 2 Corinthians 10:4 reads For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  We need God’s help to get rid of that way of thinking that has captured us, that mindset that we can’t shake.  Our only way of escape is to obey God and His Word. A lot of times He will point us to the scripture we need that will counter that negative thought that would otherwise lead to that negative behavior.  Other times he might bring a song to mind or lead us to do something we might have never done before—just to get us out of the way of temptation.

I learned from Pastor Jean Ferguson that the order of service for our lives generally begins with a thought, then a choice, then a habit and finally a stronghold.  You have to counter that thought over and over again to pull down the stronghold.  You have to choose to obey God rather than the old way of thinking.  You have to keep choosing to obey the Word or the God-thought until that becomes the habit. Habits are the behaviors we do repeatedly without thinking. We want to come to a place where we obey God without thinking or tripping.  The more obedient we are the more equipped we are to wage war against the enemy of our soul.

  Our third step is to exercise the measure of faith he gave us to get us saved. (1 Corinthians 12:9) We cannot be found being just hearers of the word.  We have to be doers. (James 1:22) It’s the doing that exercises the faith muscle.  If I tell you that I will be waiting on the corner of Clarke Street and Bay on Thursday  at noon with 100,000 dollars for you and you don’t come and get it then shame on you.  If you believe me you’ll do whatever it takes to get to that corner at the appointed time.  If I don’t give you a specific date or time but tell you I am going to give the money to you soon, you demonstrate your faith in what I said by thanking me, staying in touch, listening out and generally behaving like you have a big chunk of change coming. You’ll probably be on my porch or at my door or at my job often just so you won’t miss out.  That is how we have to do God with His promises and in the process we strengthen our faith muscles.  The stronger our faith muscles the better equipped we are for battle.  Success in warfare requires us to trust, rely and depend on our commanding officer.  We stay in His presence, cooperate with Him for pulling down the strong holds and take Him at His word.  Our faith doesn’t require explanation from Him or demand that we be logical.  We just by faith do whatever he instructs us to do believing that as we lean and trust that He will crown our efforts with success. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The final step in our preparation is to master waiting. Psalms 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. We have to be strong hearted in warfare and this psalmist tells us that the way to get there is to be of good courage and wait on the Lord.  Let me just share for a moment about the waiting.  Waiting on the Lord is mostly about serving, like a waiter or waitress, and doing it without complaint.  The good server totally attends to meeting the needs of the master or customer and specializes in even anticipating the need or want even before it is expressed.  The good server serves with love and does it without fretting or clock watching.  However long it takes to accomplish the job the good server occupies him or herself with the tasks at hand and rejoices in pleasing the customer or master.  As believers, we should become so preoccupied with serving and pleasing our blessed Lord that we take our eyes completely off the clock and put them on Him.  Mastering the waiting will strengthen our hearts and give us the spiritual stamina we need to be prepared for battle.