Isaiah 50:4-5 "The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. 5 The Lord God has opened My ear; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back."
At first glance these two verses jumped out at me and I began to pray, 'Yes God, speak to me. Give me the words to speak to the weary. Open my ears! I will not rebel." I was thinking along the lines of believing God to receive prophetic words from Him for those I minister to. This prayer is healthy, but as I looked again I realized there is a completely different level of power on these words than what I originally thought.
I had missed that all of the references to 'me' or 'my' were capitalized...implying they are actually spoken from the perspective of the Messiah. These are the words of Jesus saying they He has been given the words to speak to the weary.
Jesus is the Word of God, & here He says He has been given the words for the weary, therefore the word to the weary is simply The Word of God! This is a solid reminder that as I seek to minister in God's Kingdom and comfort those that are weary, I do not need to feel responsible to wait for some new prophetic word from God. All I need is the Word I already have! Jesus has been given the word for the weary, & then He passed them right on to us!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Clean up your own junk
In 2 Chronicles 29-31 there is a story of King Hezekiah restoring Israel to a heart of worship. The result was a cleansing of the temple and a 7 day feast that turned into a worship session that lasted for 2 full weeks! But what really jumped out at me about this story is what takes place in 2 Chronicles 31:1.
"Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession."
Several kings of Israel made it their first act to go through their kingdom and remove and/or destroy the altars and images to false gods. However, Hezekiah went about this in a different way. This revival started with a corporate worship gathering, which was extended an entire week! The move of God on the hearts of the people was personal to them. This was not a decree from a king to pull down idols.
After a week of worship it was their first act to go and pull down the idols themselves. This is the kind of leader I want to be. This is the kind of revival I want to see. That God would move so powerful that people would go out and clean up their lives themselves rather than always waiting for the pastors to do it for them!
What am I doing to make sure those I lead are learning the importance of taking responsibility for their own lives and hearts? If I am constantly doing all the cleaning myself, am I still an effective leader?
God, help me to lead well. Help me to lead by example, train, and then release those I lead.
Amen.
"Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession."
Several kings of Israel made it their first act to go through their kingdom and remove and/or destroy the altars and images to false gods. However, Hezekiah went about this in a different way. This revival started with a corporate worship gathering, which was extended an entire week! The move of God on the hearts of the people was personal to them. This was not a decree from a king to pull down idols.
After a week of worship it was their first act to go and pull down the idols themselves. This is the kind of leader I want to be. This is the kind of revival I want to see. That God would move so powerful that people would go out and clean up their lives themselves rather than always waiting for the pastors to do it for them!
What am I doing to make sure those I lead are learning the importance of taking responsibility for their own lives and hearts? If I am constantly doing all the cleaning myself, am I still an effective leader?
God, help me to lead well. Help me to lead by example, train, and then release those I lead.
Amen.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Don't throw away your keys
Have you ever lost your keys? How limited does that make you feel? You can't drive, can't get in your house or office at work. Without those little pieces of metal you can do very little of the things that seem to common to us in our daily lives.
I see in Hebrews 10:35 that there is another key that God has given us that if lost will cause us to miss out on something God wants us to view as common.
Hebrews 10:35 says "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward," (NASB).
Obviously there is an implication that my confidence can be lost as I go through my life in reltaionship with God. The devil is attacking my confidence at all times. If he can get me to decrease my level of confidence in who Jesus has made me to be, he can get me to back down from a lot of battles.
But what so many believers miss is that there is also this bonus 'great reward' that God wants us to have through the maintaining of our confidence and that the devil wants to steal from us by the destroying of the same. Some people would take this to be a proof that salvation can be lost and that the great reward is eternity in heaven; but I believe that is a short sighted perspective of the rewards God wants us to have.
Yes, heaven is going to be amazing! Yes, it is the ultimate reward! But God taught us to pray that we would experience life on earth as it is in heaven. There is no sadness, sickness, pain, lack, sin, etc. in heaven and God taught us to pray for that life to be a reality in this life! Now believing that will take some confidence.
I want so desperately to live my life to the fullest that God has planned for me. But God never forces us to be successful. He will never reward a lack of faith or confidence. So it is my job to hold firmly to my confidence at all times, at all costs, in order to see that great reward God has for me!
We must remember that our confidence is the key to our great reward. These rewards are meant to be common parts of our daily lives as Christians. To throw away your confidence is like deciding to throw away your keys. Both decisions will instantly limit your ability to live to your potential. Both will ultimately rob you of your potential.
So i dont know about you but this is my decision in response to this. I will not throw away my confidence! I will not allow the devil to lie to me! I am the righteousness of Christ and I have a Father who loves me. It is my Father's good pleasure to give me all of His kingdom and to fulfill the desires of my heart!
I see in Hebrews 10:35 that there is another key that God has given us that if lost will cause us to miss out on something God wants us to view as common.
Hebrews 10:35 says "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward," (NASB).
Obviously there is an implication that my confidence can be lost as I go through my life in reltaionship with God. The devil is attacking my confidence at all times. If he can get me to decrease my level of confidence in who Jesus has made me to be, he can get me to back down from a lot of battles.
But what so many believers miss is that there is also this bonus 'great reward' that God wants us to have through the maintaining of our confidence and that the devil wants to steal from us by the destroying of the same. Some people would take this to be a proof that salvation can be lost and that the great reward is eternity in heaven; but I believe that is a short sighted perspective of the rewards God wants us to have.
Yes, heaven is going to be amazing! Yes, it is the ultimate reward! But God taught us to pray that we would experience life on earth as it is in heaven. There is no sadness, sickness, pain, lack, sin, etc. in heaven and God taught us to pray for that life to be a reality in this life! Now believing that will take some confidence.
I want so desperately to live my life to the fullest that God has planned for me. But God never forces us to be successful. He will never reward a lack of faith or confidence. So it is my job to hold firmly to my confidence at all times, at all costs, in order to see that great reward God has for me!
We must remember that our confidence is the key to our great reward. These rewards are meant to be common parts of our daily lives as Christians. To throw away your confidence is like deciding to throw away your keys. Both decisions will instantly limit your ability to live to your potential. Both will ultimately rob you of your potential.
So i dont know about you but this is my decision in response to this. I will not throw away my confidence! I will not allow the devil to lie to me! I am the righteousness of Christ and I have a Father who loves me. It is my Father's good pleasure to give me all of His kingdom and to fulfill the desires of my heart!
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