Seek First God's Kingdom!

I will be away from computer access until November 20th. I’m taking a team of people on a short term missions trip to Africa. We will be ministering in local churches and church planting among an unreached remote tribe. Because of the nature of the trip, I can divulge little detail on this blog. When I return, I will be able to talk about it freely.

On the morning of November 7th, the day after the US election, I was awakened with Revelation 11:15 repeating over and over in my mind. Let me set the stage for your understanding of this scripture.

The book of Revelation has a sequential order to it. In Revelation 4 and 5, God is shown as the Supreme creator with all authority and power. He has a scroll in His right hand, which I believe represents His title deed to planet earth. The scroll contains contents that will begin a process of cleansing the earth of all rebellion and sin created from Satan’s temporary reign since Adam’s sin. The scroll is sealed and only Jesus Christ is found worthy to break the seals and unlock the contents of this scroll in God’s right hand.

Revelation 6 through 8:1 discusses the breaking of these seals on the scroll in God’s right hand. Revelation 8 through 11 discusses the 7 trumpet judgments that are set in motion right after the scroll is opened. These trumpet judgments are God’s wrath against the sin and rebellion to His kingdom, and are enacted to regain His ownership of the earth.

In Revelation 11, the last of the 7 trumpets is blown and we read, Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"

God was saying to me in this verse that the process of Jesus’ return to earth has begun. NOW is the time for us, the church of the Lord Jesus, to set our full attention on God and His kingdom. We should magnify our citizenship in heaven and minimize our citizenship on earth in the US. We are kingdom of Heaven citizens FIRST, and now is the time to SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!

There is one last great revival or outpouring of the Holy Spirit before Jesus returns, and it is NOW. There is a harvest of souls throughout the earth that we must reach. From now on, let’s focus our full attention and efforts on the salvation and deliverance of those who walk in darkness.

Beginning NOW, refuse the attitude of division and strife that Satan is seeking to stir up in America. Every person is precious to God regardless of whether or not you and I agree with their politics or lifestyle!  This is HARVEST TIME.

Developing our closeness and intimacy with the Father is a must right now. Spend plenty of time each day in prayer and in the Word. Every day is to be an adventure with the Holy Spirit. He has plans to use you and me to set people free. Look for opportunities that He places before you. Every single day.

I will post again on November 20th or 21st. Until then, feel free to look back over my previous posts and be encouraged! God Bless.

Independent of Circumstances

It is not that I speak as regards a need, for, so far as I am concerned, I have come to learn, in the circumstances in which I am placed, to be independent of these and self-sufficient. I know in fact how to discipline myself in lowly circumstances. I know in fact how to conduct myself when I have more than enough. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret, both to be satiated and to be hungry, and to have more than enough and to lack. I am strong for all things in the One who constantly infuses strength in me.[1] (Philippians 4:10-13 – Wuest).
 
Several years ago, we had a scheduled evangelistic campaign during a trip to Ethiopia that did not go as planned. That Friday morning began early for us. We traveled to a remote site on top of a mountain that was over 9,000 feet in elevation. The air is thin that high up and you fatigue much more quickly! We were filled with expectation as we walked a crooked dirt path to the place where the meetings would be held.

Hundreds of people looked silently at us with bewildered faces. Twenty armed guards had been sent to stop the meetings. The reason was that a disgruntled former church leader had forced a law that every open public meeting must have approval from the territorial authorities. Those planning the meeting had overlooked this seemingly small detail to our chagrin.

To add insult to injury, it began to rain. Not just the typical daily rain that frequented this quaint mountain site, but a deluge! We ran for cover under the porch of a nearby building, abandoning the shelter of the primitive brush harbor that offered no shelter from hard rain.

When the rain ended over an hour later, the once clear mountain path we had taken had become a bog of pure red mud! We slogged up hill for over two miles with the thin air exhausting us! Then the rain began again!

On my uphill trek, I thought of this verse. As the cold rain pelted us, and as the mud clung to shoes and coated the cuffs of our pants, I thought of how quickly circumstances can change. And of how important it is when the going gets tough, to keep our eyes of the finish line!

You may be facing what seems like an endless stream of hardship. Take to heart the message found in this scripture. With the power of God enabling us, we can endure every hardship. Jesus endured the hardship of the cross by seeing before Him the joy of millions of believers basking in His presence in eternity.

You can face the difficulty this day may bring because of the promise of God’s providential care for His beloved. We are assured and know that God being a partner in their labor all things work together and are fitting into a plan for good to and for those who love God and are called according to His design and purpose (Romans 8:28 – Amplified). Regardless of the circumstance, expect God’s best!
 

---

[1] From The New Testament: An Expanded Translation by Kenneth S. Wuest Copyright © 1961 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights reserved.

Two Kinds of Patience

That you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12). But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:4)

There are two different kinds of patience mentioned in the above verses. In Hebrews 6:12, the Greek word for patience is makrothumia. In James 1:4, the Greek word for patience is hupomeno. Let’s apply them to our lives for just a moment.

Makrothumia comes from two Greek words. Makros means long and thumos  means heated or passionate. Put the two words together and makrothumia means long temperedness, or someone has defined it as the ability to burn a long time!
 
Makrothumia is patience towards people. It’s the ability to walk in peace when you’re moved by a situation. Patience gives you the ability to endure tough places. When events don’t change quickly and you’re tempted to become agitated and angry, makrothumia enables you to bear the waiting time. When others don’t treat you the way you think they should, makrothumia enables you to believe the best of them and hold yourself in check so you don’t do or say something harmful.
 
Hupomeno comes from the Greek words hupo, which means under and meno, which means to remain. Hupomeno means the ability to hold your head up and remain confident when going through a hard place.

James tells us that tests and life challenges produce in us the ability to stick it out and not cave in when the going gets tough. A person operating in hupomeno is able to smile while going through personally painful experiences.

Hupomeno enables you to see the end from the beginning. Jesus, for the joy that was set before Him endured the agony of the cross. Hupomeno enabled Jesus to look beyond His present pain and see how His sacrifice would free humanity from the chains of sin. And when we walk in hupomeno, we’re able to shout and remain upbeat and joy filled when the journey of life is grueling and looks impossible!

We need both kinds of patience today. The Father by the Holy Spirit has placed in us the ability to last a long time and not become enraged with anger when people and circumstances don’t treat us kindly.
 
The Father has also given us by the Holy Spirit the ability to remain joyful and confident when a situation seems unending and impossible. Let’s allow patience to have its perfect work in us today. If we do, our faith will bring to us the fulfillment of the promises of God of healing; of provision; of deliverance from the hard place; and we will move another step closer to being perfect and complete, lacking nothing! Let’s keep on growing today!

The Father Himself Tenderly Loves You

For the Father Himself tenderly loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came out from the Father (John 16:27 - Amplified).

The formative years of my life left me with the idea that somehow God just put up with me because that was His job. He had to love me. But I didn’t really think He liked me very much. Maybe a better way to put was that I thought He tolerated  me.

After I was Spirit-Baptized I of course had a greater desire to pray than ever before. But I found myself hitting a wall at times with strong thoughts and feels of being rejected by the Father. What I read in the word and what I actually experienced were two different things.

Here’s what I found in the Word about God’s love for me. I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me (John 17:23).
Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love (Ephesians 1:4-The Message). The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works (Psalm 145:8-9). The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous (Psalm 146:8). The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him (Psalm 103: 8-11).

My mind and emotions were sabotaging my fellowship with my Father! So I read the above scriptures over and over and spoke them aloud as an affirmation of what I believed. When I prayed, I ignored my fickle feelings and my wrong thinking, and over and over I mentioned out loud to Him what I believed about what He thought about me.
 
Every now and then my emotions would allow me to feel God’s love. When they did, it was wonderful. When they didn’t, I walked by faith and thanked Him for His love. Over a period of time my thoughts and emotions changed, and began to line up with my spirit and with what the Word says about His care and love for me.
 
Take time to meditate on the Word about the Father’s love for you. It will open to you a new realm of fellowship with Him. Your prayer life will deepen in intimacy with Him, and you’ll become settled and secure in the Father’s embrace.

God Does Not Remember Confessed Sin!

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins (Isaiah 43:25).

Psychologists tell us that one of the main de-motivators of human personality is guilt and condemnation. Many people carry the weight of failure due to past deeds. Guilt will keep a person in the downward spiral of hopeless addictions as they seek the numb the pain of past failures. Addictions of all sorts: alcoholism, drugs, sex, food, and even in work may find their origin in the covering of and hiding from the emotional pain of failure.
 
God’s remedy for guilt is the forgiveness and cleansing found in the blood of Jesus! As Isaiah says: Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18).

I was freed from my chains of personal failure when I learned that God does not even remember confessed sin. He has no record of it!

Years ago I was reading a book by Dr. Roy Hick entitles He Who Laughs Lasts and Lasts…In the book, Dr. Hicks mentions Einstein’s theory of relativity. Part of that theory is the belief that if a person could travel at the speed of light, time would cease. He would enter into the eternal.

The Bible says that God is light (1 John 1:5). God lives in the realm of the eternal. Past, present, and future are all “now” to God. It’s a hard concept for our finite minds to grasp, but it is true. God lives in the eternal “now.” The panorama of history is constantly before Him. He sees everything that was, is, and will be  as “now.” Jesus is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world (before it was created). The Apostle John was shown The Revelation which shows the future. How? All this is or will be exits in the eternal where God dwells. And God showed John what will be because it already exists in the realm of the eternal.

So when God says that He will not remember our sins, it a big deal! That means that confessed sin is not even history, because history can be remembered! Confessed sin is not found in the mind of God. It is blotted out as if it had never been committed. And that is a miracle!
 
God can do what we can’t. Our past deeds live in our memory, but He has the ability to completely remove confessed sins from His mind, and from recorded history! So when you sin as a believer, don’t brood and whine over it, repent and confess it! Then it will be completely removed from the history of your life and you can walk free from guilt!

This is all by faith. We are usually the last one to forgive ourselves when we sin.
For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God (1 John 3:20-21). We often feel the pain of self-inflicted guilt long after God forgives us. The key to being released from this inner condemnation is walking by faith in what God says about you, and choosing to believe what God says and refuse to be affected by the feelings of failure. If God says He forgives and forgets, then you choose to forgive yourself and forget it too!

Regardless of how many times you fail, get up! Confess the sin in repentance, and walk on. Remember, For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again… (Proverbs 24:16). Forget what God has forgotten and be released from the chains of the past!

More Than Enough!

El Shaddai is one of the names for God in the Old Testament. It means The Almighty God, the All Sufficient One, or the God Who is More Than Enough.

The etymology of the word Shaddai in antiquity gives a slight reference to a mother feeding her child at her breast, meaning that the mother is everything the child needs to sustain life. The word Shaddai is also used of mountains and linked with El, the self-existent one, it refers to the all powerful God who created the mountains and rules over all. He is the One from Whom everything is derived.

Our God is the God Who is more than enough! He is the creator and sustainer of all that exists. Jesus upholds all things by the power of His word. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist (Colossians 1:16-17).
 
In the light of our God being El-Shaddai, our problems are so small! The Being that created and sustains all that exists is my very own Father! He is All-Sufficient to help me in my difficulties today. He is more than enough! He’s the God of plenty! Someone said that God is El-SHaddai, not El-cheapo! He’s big enough, strong enough, wise enough, and loving enough to help us through the tough issues that life brings!
 
All we need to do is to release our faith in Him and believe we receive the best that He has for every circumstance we encounter. El-Shaddai promised that mountains would move at the command of faith spoken words. He promised to answer faith based praying. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive (Matthew 21:22). El-Shaddai is back of this promise. Let His more than enough power work on your behalf today.
 
Trust in El-Shaddai with all you heart today. Don’t lean on your own ability alone. In all your ways today, acknowledge that El-Shaddai is working on your behalf. He is providing the needed wisdom, insight, healing, finances, and solutions to your current circumstances. He’s the Almighty God, the All Sufficient One. He’s more than enough!

Cleansed!

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit (Psalm 32:1-2).

In the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, sin was not cleansed, it was covered. The life of an animal was sacrificed and its blood was poured on the Mercy Seat, which was the lid of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies in the temple. The presence of God dwelt in this man made place, and the animal blood provided a covering of “life” for the sins of the Israelites.
 
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:11). The word atonement means a covering. Sins were not removed, they were only covered, and the blood had to be re-applied to the Mercy Seat every year on the Day of Atonement. The life represented in the blood covered the sins of Israel so that they could fellowship with a Holy God. When He looked at the Ark of the Covenant with its contents of the Ten Commandments, He saw the blood that covered Israel’s failure to obey His commandments and judgment was abated.
 
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world according to John the Baptist. When Jesus spilled His blood on Calvary, died and was resurrected, He took His blood into heaven and placed it before God as an eternal cleansing for our sins. Jesus’ death and resurrection doesn’t just forgive us and cover sin, His death and resurrection literally removes our sin! Our sins are remitted, not covered!

Notice Hebrews 9:24-26: For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another —  He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
 
Our sins have been judged and removed from us when we are Born Again! We are justified. It is Just-As-If-I’d-Never-Sinned!  The sin is expunged and forever removed, not covered to be remembered year after year! Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more (Hebrews 10:17). And now, when you miss the mark and sin as a believer, sin is cleansed when you confess it (1 John 1:9).
 
When thoughts of your past deeds come to mind today, remind yourself and the Lord that you are totally forgiven; that your sins have been removed; and thank Him for never remembering them again! The accuser of the brethren wants you to live in the past and brood over your failures. God has made a way through the blood of Jesus for you to completely forget the things which are behind, and reach forward to the things ahead! Act like a person who has never sinned today!