We had enough!

We had enough.

Where is your boundary? We all have different boundaries. What determines your boundaries? When Israel left Egypt their boundaries were being slaves. They struggled to comprehend what it meant to be free. They struggled with trusting God for provision because as slaves they were fed even if it was slave food. They never had to prepare it for themselves and now in the wilderness they had to pick up their manna themselves everyday. They struggled with that because their boundaries had to change, especially the boundaries in their minds.

We cannot live without boundaries. It defines us and we all need them. You cannot drive on the wrong side of the road. You cannot dump your trash in the middle of the road. These are all boundaries that make society function. What happens when we need to change some of these boundaries? It often happens that we are challenged to change. Somewhere we get to the point where we have had enough and say stop. This happened in this story in the bible.

2 Kings 4:6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stopped.

In this story there was a widow with two sons. Her husband died and the debtors wanted to take her sons as slaves to pay the debt. Lucky for her, Elisha was there and he asked her what she had. She only had a jar of oil. So he told her to borrow as many vessels as she could find and to go into her house and pour the oil into the vessels. As she was pouring, the oil kept running until the last vessel. She asked for more and when her sons told her that there was no more vessels to pour oil into, the oil stopped. This was a supernatural miracle. What intrigues me is that they got to the point where they believed that they had enough. The supernatural was flowing, but when there were no more natural vessels to receive the supernatural, the supernatural stopped.

I wonder sometimes how many times we were in meetings and God was ready to do the supernatural, but because it took time to prepare the natural vessels, someone got tired of waiting and said that they had enough and that stopped the flow. How many times did God show up in our midst and our boundaries were challenged to change but were not ready to stretch and we declared that we have no more capacity and it prevented God from doing something great? How many times have our boundaries limited God from delivering us and giving us all we need to get out of our debts? How many times did our boundaries limit our blessings not because God does not want to bless but because we could not take more?

What is keeping you from abundance? What boundaries need to be revisited and changed? Where do we need to stretch ourselves so that we can see His supernatural intervention in our lives? I have heard people so many times complain about the length of the service. They complain about the songs we sing or the way we preach. In the same service you have people that loved the singing and loved the preaching and left with a blessing. Who is right and who is wrong? Neither, I believe. One person is uncomfortable with his boundaries being stretched and the other is comfortable to get more. I love the story of Jacob when he encountered God for the first time. I believe every boundary he ever had was not changed but shattered. Yet he grabs the Angel and demands that he will not let him go until the Angel has blessed him. He left there walking with a limp. Everyone could see he walked differently than he did before the encounter. Think what would have happened if Jacob said that he had enough and left before God could touch him. I long for the day when we will have people crying out to God to shatter their boundaries, but we will not stop what God wants to do until we become a blessing in the earth.

See the stone!

See the stone?

We have been bombarded with so much negativity that we have actually come to believe that everything bad is sensational. Magazines try to dish up the worst of people's problems and thrive on taking pictures of stars exposing their crooked life styles. Magazines sell on the thrill of exposure and bringing stuff into the open that should have been kept hidden. The society we live in gets bombarded with negative news on television and good news just doesn't sell. As we are flying all over the world, in most of the airports, especially in America, the airports are scattered with televisions bringing the latest and greatest in news from all over the world. Bad news sells really good and if newspapers don’t print it they would be out of business within the week.

The same tendency has crept into the church. Preaching has to be about the world and every newspaper is used to be a fulfillment of the latest prophecy. I can guarantee you that John did not have “The New York Times” in mind when God showed him the revelation of Jesus Christ. Pastors and ministers sneak in this deception and bombard the people with the negative as they proudly proclaim that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Darkness has become a greater sermon than preaching the light. With fear they are trying to motivate the people into a decision for God knowing full well that fear sells. They are no different than most of the newspapers you can buy at the street corner two blocks away from the church building. People leave the church in doubt and without hope that they will ever make it and with questions about God’s goodness. According to the preaching, they just heard God has forsaken us and satan is ruling the world. It must be this bad because everything around them proves it to be true.

I reject with totality the thinking that is prevalent in most churches today. I want you to read this scripture and then read what I have to say!

John 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

No days were ever any darker in the history of the world than the three days after Jesus was crucified and died. The disciples lost all hope. They were scared and hiding away from the authorities. Jesus was dead and everything He told them looked like it was lost. They believed He was the one. Now He was dead, the one that proclaimed that He is life. Where did they miss it? Now their lives were in danger because they chose to believe this prophet from Galilee. Can you imagine what they must have felt and experienced?

Mary went to the tomb early on the first day of the week to finish the dressing of the body. It was dark outside. Maybe she was still afraid to be seen and wanted to do it before the sun would shine and reveal what she was up to. In the dark she saw something. The stone was rolled away. The darkness did not prevent her from seeing the miracle of the resurrection. In spite of the darkness, she saw something else. When we look at the world today we see darkness. The problem is that most people are more drawn to the sensationalism of the darkness than the power of the light. People are more drawn to the negative than they are drawn to the light. What are you seeing in your darkness today? Can you discern the stone that was rolled away or do you still only see the darkness?  I would be stupid to ignore the darkness but it is more foolish to ignore the light. People are entertained with the darkness while the reality of the light is waiting to set them free.

I believe there are some Mary’s out there. They struggle to deal with what they think is reality, but they are about to encounter the greater reality. Darkness has come but so did the light and the darkness could not overcome the light. You don’t need a lecture on the darkness to understand why it is there. People get schooled in darkness and they still struggle with it. To get rid of darkness you just need to switch the light on. Light does not battle with darkness. When the light comes on darkness dissipates. Scientist have proven that darkness does not exist in itself because darkness is the absence of light. God is light. He exists and when He shows up darkness flees. What do you see?

Look again at what she saw. It was the first of the week. In essence it was the beginning of a new day. We are living in a new day and though darkness is still covering us, the stone has been rolled away. We just need to see the stone before we see the darkness.

Just saying something!

Just saying something!

John 5:2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

John 5:3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

John 5:4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

John 5:5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

John 5:7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

John 5:8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

John 5:9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

I have had so much fun meditating on this passage of scripture. There are so many truths revealed in it. I wanted to share one more time about what happened here at the pool of Bethesda. Maybe just make a few bullet points for you to read and think about.

First we see that Bethesda means “house of kindness.” God wants to show the world that He is a kind God. So many people think He is a God sitting in heaven with a big stick ready to strike at us and kill us. How people can get old knowing that He could do it, but the very fact that they are still here proves that God is not like that. We have to stop believing the enemy’s lie.

Secondly, the Angel would stir the water everyday and the first one in would get healed of whatever disease they had. That proofs that God can heal any sickness. His power to heal is not limited by the sickness you have. Cancer does not limit Him. No sickness is stronger than His ability to heal. They were waiting for an Angel to stir the water. I have good news. Jesus is not a stirrer; He is a healer and a deliverer. A stirring is limited but He is not.

Thirdly, I see Jesus coming to change the agenda. He is going to do it in a new way that has not been done before. Don’t put your faith in the way He does it, but rather in His power to do it. He likes to do it differently. When God told Moses to strike the rock he did and water came out. The next time God told him to speak to the rock and Moses struck it. That cost him his inheritance and he could not enter the promise land. Don’t miss out on your promises because you believe it should be done the same way as you saw it happen last time.

Fourthly, I see that the Jesus did not ask the Angel permission if He could change the agenda. Jesus didn’t care about keeping the order at the pool. May He come and wreck our order so that we might have the order of God in our churches. God will have His way. We are to seek what He is doing and join ourselves to His work and not ask Him to bless what we are doing. I also see this man in this condition for a very long time. Have you become familiar with your circumstances and has it become a comfort zone? If it has then you started believing the lie that God does not want you to be blessed. Never stop pursuing His best for you. We don’t always get it, but please don’t settle for less.

Fifthly. I see that this man had no man to help him. Let us celebrate when we have no man that can help us. We lean on the arm of the flesh so easily for help and support. I believe Jesus knew this and helped him because all the others had someone that could help them. They would find it hard to trust Him because they trusted in someone else to get them there first. This man was abandoned and left alone, the very ones He came to save and deliver.

Sixthly, I see Jesus asking him if he wants to be made whole. Doesn’t everyone that is sick want to be made whole? No. Just like this man had an excuse why he was there that long, many have excuses. I am so glad Jesus ignores our excuses. We like to come from a place of lack when He is ministering from a place of abundance. Do you want your circumstances to change? Stop starting at why you don’t have it right now and ask Him what He wants to say about it. Jesus spoke what God wanted done in the earth. “Rise and take your bed up and walk.” Instead of excuses, speak what you believe God wants in your situation. We are not commanding God but God rewards faith.

The seventh thing I see is that it was done on the Sabbath. This day was know as the day of the Lord. We have come to the day of the Lord where He is going to do it. A few verses later in this chapter, verse 19 Jesus says that he can’t do anything by Himself but only what He sees the Father do is what He does. This is the day where we have to open our eyes and see what God is doing and then do likewise. We were commanded to rest on the Sabbath and we are to get into the place where we rest and God works. If the religious folk are upset about what God does when we are to rest, let them take it up with God. He is big enough to defend Himself.

The eight thing I see is that no other person wanted a healing. I am amazed that when Jesus showed up and one got healed that no other one wanted it, too. You would think that they would swamp Him for a touch but no one else wanted it. Maybe they didn’t like Him messing up the status quo at the pool, but one healing is not enough when all the power to heal everyone is available in one place. What do we do when we see one person healed in a meeting? Do we ask for more or do we just celebrate that one?

I hope this has blessed you as much as it did me. Keep pursuing Him and His word and His work and He will shake up the party at your pool. He will make your place a Bethesda and a house of kindness.

Forgiven!

Forgiven.

What does it mean to be forgiven? Do we really understand what we can walk in when we are forgiven? Have you been forgiven and do you walk like someone that is forgiven?

Let me create a scenario first. There is this department store in town that has the most beautiful clothes for all ages and all sizes. There is nothing- no fashion, no color, and no material that you might desire that is not available in this store. All the best name brands and even some you have never heard of are available in this store. This store belongs to the richest man on earth and he has gone to great lengths to insure that all the desired fashions are present in this store. It is anyone's dream store. You can find clothing for camping and clothing for vacation. You can find clothing for special events and clothing for sporting events. Anything that you can imagine that you might need is there. Then one day you read in the newspaper that the owner of the store has died. In his last testament and will he desired that his money be used to pay for anyone that might come to the store and pay for their purchases. So you can go to the store and take what you want, but when it comes time to pay, it is paid for by the owner's last will and you can have it for free. So one day you go to the store and find something and when you get to the register they total it up and give you a receipt showing you owe nothing. Next to you is another customer doing the same thing and when they show him his receipt owing nothing, he refuses to take the clothes and demands to pay for the purchase. Everybody looks at him with shock. What is wrong with this man? Why does he want to pay for something that has been paid for? You look at him and think that he is very ungrateful for not receiving the clothes, and apart from that, his actions are insulting to the desire of the owner that paid for it all.

This is just a story I made up, but the principals within this story are true. You see, Jesus died for all your sins and in His last testament and will He desired that it would pay for everyone that comes to him to receive forgiveness for free. Then one day you find someone that demands they pay for it themselves. They are insulting the one that paid for it all. You see, forgiveness is a gift that we receive from God and it is free. The only thing He desires for us is to come to Him and receive that forgiveness.

Col. 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the un-circumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

He has forgiven us all our sins and trespasses. There is no sin you have committed or ever will commit that was not covered by His sacrifice. Yes, even the ones that you have not even done yet, He took care of those, too. Think about it for a minute with me. Wanting to be punished for your sins is like trying to pay for it yourself. David had insight into forgiveness 1500 years before Jesus would even pay for all mankind's sins. He calls us blessed because God no longer imputes our sins to us.

Rom. 4:6-8  Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth rihteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Our greatest struggle is to forgive ourselves. We are so indoctrinated that we believe we will feel better if we are hard on ourselves. That is a religious spirit that wants to keep you in bondage and away from freedom. The Baal priests when they were challenged by Elijah to call fire down did just that. They walked around the altar cutting themselves to impress their god. Maybe if they bled and suffered for their god would he answer them by fire. The mentality was that if I were hard on myself, my god would be impressed. That is idol worship. We cannot impress God. Jesus did that! We cannot pay the price for our sins. Jesus did that! All we can do is to receive the gift of forgiveness.

What does it mean to live in forgiveness? Simply that no condemnation can be part of our lives anymore. We are not condemned anymore. There is no condemnation anymore for us that are in Christ. Jesus Himself said that HE did not come to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. He came to do that and removed all the power that sin had so that we can now live as people that are set free. This does not mean we stopped sinning, it means we have a solution with the problem we struggle with. That is the good news of the Gospel that Jesus came and now every man, woman, or child, from every tongue and tribe and nation can be forgiven. You are forgiven. Believe it and you will experience it!

Confessing Him!

Confession.

Rom. 10:9 If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

The Greek word for confession does not mean to confess at all, in the way we have understood it for years. I was stunned when I learned that it actually means: “To say the same thing.” It is actually two people saying the same thing. In the context of what we have understood, it was one person saying something and another person listening to what is said. One is a guilty party and the other is an innocent party. One is wrong and the other one is right.

Confession is something we have misunderstood. If you ask the average Christian what they understand about confession, or ask them to confess, they would almost all of the time think you want to know what they did wrong. Confession to most people is telling or revealing what they sinned or what they did that was wrong. They have to let you into their world where they wear masks so that no one else finds out what they really are. What if confession meant to say what was right instead of what is wrong?

People live with hurt and pain because they don’t want to reveal their deepest secrets about where they missed it and where they messed up. The biggest lie the enemy tells them is that God will be disappointed in them and won’t love them if they have to tell God all they have done. This is the enemy’s way to keep people in condemnation and bondage. What surprises me is the fact that God knows everything we do anyways and He still loves us. You cannot do anything without God knowing it and He knows it before you even do it. David says that if he made his bed in hell, God would find him. So where are you going to hide? Lets just confess our sins and get rid of the very thing that separates us from God.

Before we do, is that what confessions really are? Let's examine a few concepts first.

The bible says, “God is love.” HE is the very essence of love. God cannot choose to love you, as it is not a decision He makes, it is who He is. You are not the one making Him love you, it is who He is. Your actions, whether good or bad, cannot change how He feels, because He is love. Look at this verse:

1 Cor 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

So what do we say that is the same thing God says when we confess our sins? God is love and love keeps no record of wrong. If He keeps no record, what do I say when I confess then? When I say: Lord I have sinned by lying, He asks me what am I talking about. He keeps no record of my wrong. So do I try to convince love about my sin or do I say what love says? What does He say? God says that the price has been paid. God says that He loves me in my failures. God says that HE has a plan for my life and that what He has started in me He will surely finish. So when I miss it and I confess, I go to God and say what He says about me. In doing that I agree with Him and His plan for my life. Just like our verse says, if we confess Jesus as Lord we shall be saved. So what do I confess to be saved? I say what God says about His son. Most people when they got saved confessed their sins instead of confessing and saying what God said about Jesus.

2 Cor 5:19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.

God reconciled the world with Himself not keeping their sins against them. This simply means that when we sin, God does not hold you accountable. Does this sound too good to be true? Absolutely not. God poured His wrath against our sin out on Jesus at the cross. Because God poured it out on Jesus and raised Him from the dead to show His acceptance of the price Jesus paid, God does not hold us accountable anymore. If you understand this then you will understand that God chooses not to talk about your sin when you miss it. He talks to Jesus about the price that was paid to remove your sin and He talks about Jesus when He deals with your sin. Now you can try and convince God to talk about your sin but it will not be confession. It will be a lesson in your history but it will not be His-story.  

Say the same thing that God says about you and over you. Love spoke and you were created. People say that you need to find out what pleases God. There is only one thing that pleases God, and that is Jesus. Our only response to God that validates who we really are is Jesus. It is all because of Him and Him alone. So when I miss it, I talk to God about Him because He pleases the Father. That releases the forgiveness I need because He is the one that paid for all my sin.

Pool of Bethesda 2

What did you expect would happen?

John 5:5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

John 5:7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

John 5:8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

Last time we looked at what was happening at this pool at Bethesda. Remember that Bethesda means “house of kindness.” I am amazed at this story seeing that God wanted to show His kindness to people.

Is. 54:10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee. God never withdraws His kindness from us.

It is His character to be kind and loving. We need to understand and see that clearly. When the prodigal son came home his father embraced him with kindness. There were no harsh words for his mistakes. There were no rejections because of his choices. Only kindnesses to embrace him and to welcome him back home.

At this pool was a man that was there for thirty-eight years. That in itself is incredible to fathom. The bible doesn’t say that he lived there. Maybe he did and some family member brought him food and drink every day. Most probably he had someone take him home every night and someone to bring him back every day. That is hard to understand whatever way you look at it. Most people can’t stay in one church for two or three years. Thirty-eight years he was there every day waiting for the Angel to stir the waters. That is 13870 days waiting for a chance to get healed. That is a long time. I am sure he had seen it all. For thirty-eight years he had seen people get in first and be healed of every disease imaginable. What amazes me is that in thirty-eight years he could not find any man to help him get in first. No compassion from anybody else. Everyone helped themselves. No line so that everyone could get a chance. No person asking if somebody could wait and give him a chance.

This also speaks to me in the sense that maybe this man gave up hope. Maybe he became complacent with his circumstances. Maybe he made good friends and enjoyed the company of misery too much. At least they all had the same thing to talk about. God was moving and people became excellent excuse makers. “I have nobody to help me.” Everybody was content with a move that could only heal one person. Nobody questioned why it was so small a move while many were still sick and lame and in pain. Nobody placing a demand on God for more than what they had yesterday. Same old same everyday. Once again they achieved building an understanding around how and when God moves. It s so nice to understand God!

The time came for God to break up the party. In walks Jesus ready to do something different. He came to change the agenda. This time they would see one who commands the Angels to do it. Maybe just this one time they would place a demand on God to do more. So Jesus goes to the one that I believe had been there the longest. If he could heal someone that had been sick for thirty-eight years then anybody that had been sick for less than that had a chance to be healed as well. So Jesus asks him if he wants to be healed? Why would Jesus ask him that? I can see everybody looking at the pool. The water is not moving. Where is the Angel? Silence descends on the pool like fog on a mountaintop. Everybody is waiting in anticipation. Then the silence is broken with doubt and excuses. “I have nobody that can put me in……..! WAIT! What did you just say?

Jesus speaks up without waiting for more excuses. “Take your bed up and walk.” Strength surges through his lame legs and before he can even wonder what happened the lame man jumps up and stands on both legs. Wow the view is different from here, he thinks to himself. I can hear the gasps as people see a miracle and a man that can walk for the first time in thirty-eight years. Jesus is waiting for more people to ask Him: “Master what about me, I have been here for….., but only silence meets Him as they settle back in their fear of having to engage a God that does change the way He reveals himself. No more takers while God is moving with power to heal everybody at the pool. They were so stuck in only the first one gets healed that it stopped them from expecting more to be revealed. They were so happy to celebrate that one miracle, that nobody asked for another miracle.

God wants to reveal His kindness, but we have limited Him by not expecting more and greater things. We are afraid to engage a God that works and functions outside of our experience and understanding. God help us if we have a God that we cannot explain. How will we represent him if we don’t know what he will do next? Our only safety is not in what He will do but in His ability to do it. Just like the people at the pool we are stunned and shocked if He does it in a different way than before. One person got healed and blessed by God. Now let's wait until tomorrow! No, no, no, and a thousand times more, NO.

I expect God to move in a new way everyday. We need testimonies of God’s goodness and His kindness. God wants to do something but he is waiting for us to place a demand on Him. Our expectancy draws on His character to act on our behalf. What are you expecting?

Pool of Bethesda 1

Drawing on God!

John 5:2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

John 5:3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

Lets look at this passage and discover what it wants to teach us. We will look at it verse by verse to get to the nuggets that are hidden within this passage. We will look at kingdom principals and learn from that. I heard someone say that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results. That is so true because to see different results you must do different things, right? In this story we see a group of people that have congregated around a pool waiting everyday for the same thing to happen. An Angel would come and stir the water and whoever got in first was healed. Amazing. So what are some of the things we need to see and learn from this?

Bethesda means “House of kindness.”

This is not what you would expect in a place of kindness. Sick, lame and afflicted people. People desperate for a touch and a healing. People that have given up hope to try anything else but to gather here at the house of kindness and wait. I can hear the questions in their minds as they wait and wonder. If this is a place called kindness, why are there so many sick and hurting people here? If the church should be a place of kindness why are there so many sick and hurting people there? This pool was close to the sheep market where they would bring hundreds of sheep to be sold for sacrifices at the temple. These sheep would remind them constantly that atonement was made but yet their sickness prevailed.

Day after day they would have to wait for the Angel to stir the water. I don’t know if it happened at the same time everyday. What caused the Angel to come everyday? Was it the need of the people that stirred God to stir the water? I don’t think it was their need to be healed but I believe it was their hope in His kindness that caused Him to not stay away. If it was their need He could have healed them all. Their hunger for His kindness placed a demand on Him to act in His character.  When we preach God out of character, people will expect Him to act out of His character. Luckily, this will never quiet the voice of the Holy Spirit that reveals His true character to hearts of people.

Their hope was for the stirring of the water. Lets be honest with ourselves. This was pretty awesome. This was a visible manifestation everyday that showed them the move of God. This is more than what many churches see in a lifetime. A visible move of God that called for a response. No good preaching or a great worship session first. Everything was God initiated. All they had to do was wait. No fasting and no praying to beg and plead with God to show up. No banners to invite the sick and the lame and the crippled. No television slots to make sure people knew about it. No Facebook postings and calendar invitations to reach all the friends. Just a place called the house of kindness. The kindness of God would draw them to come and see and to be healed.

They waited everyday for the same thing. That looks like madness to us. We want different results but what grabs me about this story is that they didn’t get bored with the current move of God. Today we have people that get bored with listening to the preaching of salvation and the blood and preaching atonement. They want the next revelation and the next conference. They get tired with foundational teaching and feel they have grown beyond that. They miss the current move of God and never place a demand on God to reveal Himself because they ignore His manifestation today.

My prayer is that we will again be a demonstration of God’s kindness. This will draw people with an expectancy to see God move. People will see and their hope in His kindness will again draw a response from God. Most of all I pray that we will see a visible manifestation of God everyday. How can you stay away from a church where God shows up and does something? We won’t have to advertise or pay excessive amounts on advertising. When God shows up, so do the people. You cannot keep people away from God.

Jesus said that we would have a river of living water flowing in us. What is the difference between a pool and a river? A pool tends to stagnate after you stir the water. A river never stagnates. We are a move of God. Wherever we go we should be stirring the waters that have become stagnant. When a river runs through a pool the pool becomes a river. We are to be contagious!

2 Tim. 1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

Priorities in the kingdom 8

Priorities in the Kingdom 8

We get to the last one of Jesus’ firsts. We have had a fun journey so far. I have been challenged and changed. How about you? Before we look at the last one, here are the first seven again.

1. First be reconciled with your brother.

2. First seek the Kingdom.

3. First take the beam from your own eye.

4. First bind the strong man.

5. Gather ye together first the tares.

6. This is the first and great commandment.

7. Clean the inside of the cup first.

Matt. 20:16 The last shall be first, and the first last:

In our day and age, there is fierce competition amongst the business people, and sad to say, the church, about whom is first. Everyone wants to be bigger and better than the next person and everyone wants the latest and greatest technology. They call it “cutting edge.” In our churches it has created competition that has cost us fellowship. We can no longer enjoy each other without having a competition to see who is doing it better or who has the best results.

In the book of John, Peter and John run to the tomb after they hear that Jesus was raised from the dead. John writes that he outran Peter and got to the tomb first. He makes one big mistake. Even though he got there first, he stands outside and looks into the tomb. When Peter got there he does not stop at the tomb, but actually goes into the tomb. Even though John was there first, Peter was the first to enter in. What Peter saw was different than what John saw. You see I don’t care if you are first; I want to know if you will be the first one to enter in. After this, John enters in and the bible says he believed. There is a lot of people that are spectators, watching from the outside in, but only a few that are participators. They are the ones that will risk it all so that others might have a greater experience of Jesus.

Matt. 9:20-22 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

In this story we have a woman that wanted to do something that was done by hundreds of people but with completely different results. People thronged Jesus as he walk on earth. Everybody touched Him. She was different. She believed that if she could touch the hem of His garment she could be healed. So she acted on her faith and touched Him. She gets healed instantly. What I want you to see is this next scripture.

Matt. 14:36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

She wasn’t the first to touch Him, but she was the first to touch him with faith in her heart. Her doing that opened a door for many to follow her example. She wasn’t the first but she was the first one. The last shall be first and first shall be last. Many others have touched God's heart, but there is a unique way you can touch Him that will cause many others to experience God in a new way. Don’t worry about the ones that get there first, be the first to find a new way.

In the kingdom there is no competition. Competition is only possible where there are people wanting to be first. Be unique in who you are and find your own connection with God.

Priorities in the Kingdom 7

Priorities in the Kingdom 7

As we are getting close to finishing this study, here is a reminder of what we have talked about so far.

1. First be reconciled with your brother.

2. First seek the Kingdom.

3. First take the beam from your own eye.

4. First bind the strong man.

5. Gather ye together first the tares.

6. This is the first and great commandment.

We have two more to do and to look at. How many times have you been fooled in your life? Can you remember the feeling of betrayal? How could you even be so dumb as to believe it in the first place? You had that feeling of anger because something was misrepresented. Your trust was abused and your kindness was taken advantage of. Without even thinking, your reaction is that of disappointment and wanting to do something about it. You hate the moment and you hate the very idea of not doing something about it.

Questions start running through your mind about what will happen if you don’t do anything to stop this. What if this happens to another person, would you be able to even live with yourself? Something must be done before someone else gets fooled as well. This must stop and you need to do something about it. Are you feeling this with me? We all hate injustice and we all hate it when we are taken advantage of. Worse than this, we all know someone that has gone through this very scenario more than once. Our news channels are filled with stories of innocent elderly people losing money or even people getting money after a disaster fund was started for hurricane victims, and they took advantage of the opportunity to register for relief funds when they were not even in the disaster.

Jesus addresses this issue strongly with the Pharisees of His time. They were expecting the people to keep laws they themselves didn’t keep. He calls them out and tells them to their faces that they are wrong. He confronts them because their outward appearance looks good and religious and in order with God, but their intentions are wrong and deceiving.

Matt. 23:26-28 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, you are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

God does know what is in the hearts of men and woman. We can fool people with the mask we put on, but God sees what is behind the mask. When Adam and Eve sinned they made themselves clothes of fig leaves to hide their nakedness. God came looking for them as they were hiding and found them. You cannot hide from God. He sees everything. He then clothed them to cover their nakedness. The enemy's plan is to hide you but still expose your nakedness. God's plan is to cover you and cover your nakedness. God will address any man-made idea or plan that looks like you are covered but still does not protect you. God wants us to deal first with what is in our hearts and then we will be upright before men. The enemy is a deceiver and when we are hypocritical and not truthful we are a manifestation of his character and not God’s.

Religion has the tendency to create masks because it will bend the rules to accommodate people’s sin.  Behind the masks they feel free to worship because the mask has created a false sense of achievement. People say, "I can live like this and get away with it."  Religion will dress you for success while it ignores the struggles in your heart. Religion will cause you to lash out in self-righteousness at those that want to address your mask and your issues. How dare they invade my heart that is behind this mask? Religion will cover your hurt and allows you to be the most hurtful and broken person on earth, and it will cut you off from the healing you need so desperately.

That is why Jesus says: Clean first the inside of the cup. God loves to start with the real issues we have. Will you allow him to clean the inside first?

Priorities in the Kingdom 6

Priorities in the Kingdom 6

We are looking at the “first” of Jesus that He spoke about in the book of Matthews. We have talked about five already and to refresh your mind I have listed them.

1. First be reconciled with your brother.

2. First seek the Kingdom.

3. First take the beam from your own eye.

4. First bind the strong man

5. Gather ye together first the tares

Are there certain things that God emphasizes in importance? The bible is full of scripture that speaks on the importance of things, like the fear of God, and holiness, and redemption. There are many more that I can mention, but to save time and space I would like to talk about the one thing that not only has great value but also basically sums it all up for us. This is not a statement that stands on its own, as this one needs all the others to make sense.

Since God gave the law, Israel has struggled to keep it. The purpose of the law was never to justify anyone, but to show everyone that we need something more. Grace is greater than law as law sets the standard, but grace will empower you to live above that standard. People tried to keep the law and the breaking of the law only brought condemnation, as there was no grace for breaking the law. So is the law bad? Absolutely not! The law was there to point us to Christ. We are to seek justification by grace and not by the law.

The problem with Israel was that they had a desire to keep the law and some really tried. Most of them absolutely failed because keeping the law was driven by desire and not by love. The difference is that desire will make you try, but love will make you sacrifice. Love is stronger than desire. First Corinthians Thirteen is the chapter about love, not desire. I desire a lot of things, but I only love a few things because of the price it costs. God didn’t desired to save us; He loves us and He loves saving us. So to make us understand that we don’t have to struggle to please Him, He gave us this command.

Matt. 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with your entire mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, you shalt love your neighbor as yourself.

Even the Beatles had greater revelation than most people I know. They sang: “All you need is love, love is all you need.” Arguably, they might not have known this truth Jesus spoke, but at least they had the words right. Love is where we need to start and love is where we need to end. When you love someone you don’t want to steal their stuff, you want to protect their stuff. When you love someone you don’t want to kill them, you want to empower them. The law is completed and fulfilled in a statement Jesus makes, so if you want to keep the law, start here. Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. That is the only way we will ever keep the commandments of God. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the commandments of God, He came to fulfill them by loving God and loving us. We fulfill His commandments not by bodily effort and mental desire, but by loving Him and loving others.

Jesus puts us loving God on the same plain as loving others and loving ourselves. Is there something you need to accept about yourself so that you can begin to love yourself? Is there something you need to forgive in yourself so that you can begin to love yourself? Start today with “you” and let it come from there and go out to everybody else.

Priorities in the Kingdom 5

Priorities in the Kingdom 5

So far we have looked at the “firsts” of what Jesus put as a priority in the kingdom.

1. First be reconciled with your brother.

2. First seek the Kingdom.

3. First take the beam from your own eye.

4. First bind the strong man

Now we are going to look at the fifth one. Five is the number that represents grace in the bible. This is what we will see in this first.

Matt. 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

How does God deal with us in our everyday lives? What is He after and what is He trying to accomplish in and through us?  When we look at Jesus, it is clear that Jesus did everything to bring glory to the father. HE came to show us what God looks like. If you saw Him you would be able to see and experience the father's heart. In John it says that we saw His glory, as it was the glory of the father. The point I want you to see is that Jesus was to reveal the father.

When we believe and become children of God we have the same calling. We must reveal who our heavenly father is. When people see us they should have no doubt in their minds that we have a Papa in heaven. The only problem is that we are not Jesus. I know there are people that think they are him, but I can guarantee you they are not. He was sinless, we are not. He knew how to overcome the enemy, and we are still trying to do that with the grace He gives each one of us. So what does God do to accomplish His purpose in us?

In this parable that Jesus tells He talks about a sower that went out to sow. At night the enemy came and sowed some tares amongst the wheat. So the farmer allowed both the wheat and the tares to grow up together until harvest time. You might ask why he did that. The answer is simple because at harvest time the fruit on the wheat looks different than the fruit on the weeds. So it is easy to distinguish and remove the weeds. In the plant stage the weeds and wheat looks too much the same and you take the chance of removing the wrong plant it you want to take it out. So Jesus instructs them to gather the weeds first.

You see when God works with us and in us, He works according to principle. He always removes the weed in us so that the wheat can stay. He always removes the bad so that the good can stay. He always removes the sin so that the righteousness can stay. God never abdicate His work in us so that the enemy can have more of us. When God deals with us as individuals, or when He deals with us as churches or even deals with us as humanity, He always remove the tares first. People want more of God but they don’t like it when He deals with the things in their lives that hinder the wheat growing up. The grace in all of this is that He deals with the sin so that we can have more of Him. He doesn’t curse you because you have sin and removes you. No, He loves dealing with the sin in our lives because He has the power to do that.

2 Cor. 5:21 For He made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Can you see that God made Jesus to be sin for you? He then punished Him as sin and not as a sinner. God loves the sinner. In Him, God totally overcame sin and for that very reason He no longer wants sin or weeds/tares in your life. What He did in Jesus makes Him strike out at sin in you but at the same time is gracious and loving towards you. He made Jesus sin so that you might be His righteousness. He took your place so that you can take His place. So when sin shows up in our lives, He is quick to remove it so that we can reveal His glory and His righteousness.

Priorities in the Kingdom 4

Priorities in the Kingdom 4

As we are working through the “first” of what Jesus was teaching we get to the next one. Just a quick reminder about the ones we already talked about.

1. First be reconciled with your brother.

2. First seek the Kingdom.

3. First take the beam from your own eye.

Matt. 12:29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? Then he will spoil his house.

So now we get to the next one. First bind the strongman. This is a powerful concept in the kingdom. The very essence of the kingdom of God is that it is undefeated. Never has there been a kingdom so great and powerful. There is no other God but the God of the kingdom of heaven. No one has ever stood up to Him and won. No one has His power or His glory. No one can do what HE does and no other being can be what He is. He is light and He is Spirit and He is a consuming fire. No one can stand in His presence and He alone is the great I AM. One would think that this alone would scare off anyone trying to oppose Him. You might think what I am thinking, that to even try would be absolutely insane and stupid. He is the only existing one that is not a created being. Well, I am sorry to tell you, but someone was stupid enough to try.

The enemy of us all called satan rebelled and wanted to be like God. He thought he could take on this all-powerful God and win. He was totally defeated by God to the extent that God stripped him of all his power and authority. If that is true, we need to find out who the strong man is. When people choose to rebel against God they empower the enemy of God to become a strong man in their lives. This enemy then controls people’s choices through the lust of the eye and the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. As they surrender to these, they allow the enemy to be a strongman in their lives. So, sadly as it may seem, even though God defeated him, he gets empowered by our choices. So how do we bind the strong man?

Let me make it clear that Jesus already defeated him. He now gives us authority and power over the power of the enemy. So how do we defeat the enemy? I have seen people pray and rebuke him and still struggle to overcome. This does not mean that there is no power in the prayer or the rebuke. I do believe there is something we can do.  We need to live in the light. The enemy operates in darkness. He hates the light because it exposes his work. Jesus commands us to bring it to the light. When we walk in the light, the enemy has no power over us. He does not operate in the light. By walking in the light we bind his work and restrict his access in our lives. By living a godly life you spoil the enemy's power and strip him of his goods.

John 3:20 For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Another way we bind the strongman is simply by what we look at. If your eye is looking at darkness you will walk in darkness. As a matter of fact, with your eye you can position your whole body in darkness and be opened up to deception and whatever the enemy can throw at you. Think that is not possible? The good news is that by keeping your focus in the light you disarm the enemy from his power to influence you and your decisions.

Luke 11:34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when your eye is single, your whole body also is full of light; but when your eye is evil, your body also is full of darkness.

So as we meditate on this, remember that Jesus is King. He defeated the enemy so that we can live in victory. By binding the strongman we make sure Jesus gets the reward for the sacrifice He paid. It feels so good to live a life pleasing to God.

Priorities in the Kingdom 3

There is one thing we all have in common. It is second nature to us, and the way we were raised does not help very much. Some things are just cultural and I am not saying they are wrong. Some things we were taught by observing our parents or other people and I am not saying that is wrong either. I am proud of my heritage and so should everyone be whether he or she is black or white or yellow or pink. Your culture is a unique expression of God. God is not defined by the European culture or the African culture only, He is defined by all cultures. He made us all different and that difference speaks of the qualities of God. We should celebrate our differences and not find that a reason to destroy each other.

We have traveled to various continents and I have always enjoyed seeing and experiencing the new cultures. In Thailand, we went to a street market and ate some food we have never eaten before. In Africa, we experienced hospitality and friendly people who love to share their culture with other people. In Russia, we ate homemade jam on fresh baked bread with smoked cheese that they made themselves. What is wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. Yet in all of these places we found something in common. Not in the culture, but in the people.

I can see the wheels turn as you are trying to figure out what I am talking about. The one thing we all have in common is judgment! We judge people because they are different from us. We judge them because they do it differently than the way we do things. We judge people because they dress differently and say things differently than the way we say it. We all have judgment in our hearts. Mindsets were shaped and man-made boundaries were formed by the way we were raised and the way we were taught.

Let us look and consider what Jesus is saying in the third "first." He is going to address this very issue that we all have.

1. First reconcile with your brother.

2. Seek first the kingdom. 

Matt. 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shalt you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother’s eye.

It is impossible to correct someone when you don’t have a clear understanding of the situation. It is impossible to correct someone when you have a bigger issue in your life than what they are struggling with. It is impossible to help someone when you are in need of more help. I don’t know of anybody that has figured this one out. Listen to people when they watch a football game. They are always better than the referees and always have the answer to that bad call he just made. They always have a better play in mind than the actual player on the field. “He should have done this or he should have done that.” They are better politicians than the president and better than the congressman that represents them.

They can preach better than their pastor or know of a better procedure than their doctor. They can be a better judge and jury than anyone else. In the meantime they have problems that only they know about. They struggle with unforgiveness and bitterness. They struggle with their children and their marriages. They think, "As long as we can get the friends and the family to focus on someone else' problem, they won’t see what a mess I am. So let me help you brother, and they will overlook my mistakes." 

That is the very essence of being judgmental. Jesus addresses this issue by saying to remove what is in your eye first. The eye is the most sensitive part of your body. What is the most sensitive thing in your life right now? Start with that and when you deal with that you will be able to see to help your brother. Problems are never dealt with by ignoring them, but major hurts are done to people when we try to help when we ourselves need help. People know what they struggle with and Jesus is warning us to check ourselves first before we cause more damage than healing. 

This statement by Jesus about first removing the beam in your own eye, is preceded by another statement that He makes. "Judge not less you be judged." Trying to remove a problem when you are judgmental leads to truth that is applied without grace.  When grace is removed it is like trying to remove a tumor without an anesthetic. You can remove the tumor but you will cause a lot of pain. 

Lastly, He expects us to deal with our hypocrisy. Nobody likes to be called that, but judging others will surely qualify you really fast to be one. A hypocrite is an actor under an assumed character. You are trying to be something you are not. You are not the judge of men. God is the only one that can do that righteously!  instead of making your brother the priority, make yourself the priority and start working on yourself. 

Priorities in the Kingdom 2

We continue looking at what Jesus called “firsts” as He was ministering about the kingdom. Again, just  to  recap, we have to understand that the number one or first has symbolic value to a Jewish reader. As Jesus was speaking to them He was speaking to people that were thinking with a Hebraic mindset. So lets look at the next first that Jesus mentions in the book of Matthew.

1. First reconcile with your brother.

Matt. 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

All of these statements have priority but this one I believe tells us where it needs to start. People are looking for answers in the wrong places. During Jesus' time on earth they were looking for the Messiah and when He was there they missed Him as Messiah because they were looking with the wrong reasons and expectations. They were looking for one that could deliver them from physical slavery from the Romans. They were looking for a king that could lead their revolt and overthrow the burden they were under. His kingdom was spiritual and He was there to set them free from a spiritual bondage. What is worse, physical bondage or spiritual bondage?

They were looking, but their pursuit was starting in the wrong place. When Israel left Egypt and God delivered them from slavery they were free physically but they were still slaves in their thinking. How many times did they want to go back and face physical slavery again, but not be burdened with all the spiritual requirements God requested from them? Even in Jesus' day they were still in bondage to their own thinking and understanding about what Messiah should be. He came to change that.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Start in the right place. For us today this is just as true. Any answers found outside the plan and purpose of God will lead to slavery. Only His kingdom and righteousness has the power to set you free and to restore all things to you. His promise is that if you seek Him first He will add what else you need to you. Most people make what they need the priority and end up spinning their wheels trying to make ends meet.

The other thing I see in this verse is trust. You might say that the word trust is not even in this verse. You just need to read it again. Do we trust Him to add what we need if we seek Him first? There is no one else that can meet your needs like God. Everything is from Him. Even before we ask He already knows what we have need off. If we as earthly fathers know how to give good gifts, how much more our heavenly father? The Hebrew word for trust means to run for protection. Who better to run to than the one that sees the future and knows the outcome? Are you trusting in Him or are you still trusting in something else?

Seek first His kingdom, His rule, and His reign. Where He is king everything is in proper perspective. In His kingdom there is no lack, no shortage, and no need.

Priorities in the Kingdom 1

Priorities in the Kingdom!

There are a few things that Jesus said that are really important. In the next few days I want to write something about the “Firsts” of Jesus. I do believe there is a reason he said the firsts. As we look at them and meditate on them it will begin to make sense and you will understand.

In the Hebrew mindset the number one had great symbolic value. Not only was it considered to be a numerical number but it was also considered to be a principal number. This simply means that the number one carried the meaning of superiority and power. One also carried the meaning of unity. In our western way of thinking the number one simply means first. I want to suggest that by understanding the symbolic value of the number one, or as Jesus refers to it as first, we will understand that Jesus not only wanted it to be first, but that it should carry power in our lives and also be something that we wanted to be in unity with or agreement with.

Matt. 5:23-24 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remembers that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Lets look at this first. I see a couple of things here. What Jesus is saying that if you come to celebrate your relationship and fellowship with God (Vertical relationship) and your relationship with your brother (Horizontal relationship) is out of fellowship, then first go and restore the relationship and fellowship with your brother! This is a big issue as God views our relationships with other people very seriously. It is hypocritical to think you have a great relationship with God when you ignore the problems in relationships with your brothers. God clearly commands us to love Him with everything, and equal to that we need to love one another. John asks the question “How can you say you love God but you hate your brother?” Jesus says first prioritize and fix that before you bring your gift to God.

The other thing I see is that Jesus says leave your gift. A friend Charles Coker said one time that when we come to fix stuff with people, we need to leave our giftings. We don’t come to each other as apostles or prophets or anything else except as friends and brothers. Do not intimidate your brother with what you have. Leave that and come as a friend that seeks reconciliation. 

Lastly I see that Jesus talks about reconciliation. What is reconciliation? It simply means to balance the books. God reconciled us to Himself by not holding our trespasses against us. This simply means that God chooses to see what Jesus did and what He did replaces the wrong we did and the books balance. Sin therefore can never be greater than His righteousness. It says that God sees what Jesus paid and can no longer hold you accountable for your sins. That is reconciliation! So to be reconciled to your brother you need to do the same. You can no longer hold them accountable for their wrong when they repent and ask forgiveness. First go and do that, so then when you bring your offering you stand in front of God having forgiven as you have been forgiven.

This is the first of the kingdom. It is not just something we believe but something we live. I love my brother as much as I love God. We take the initiative to love them like we love God. Be in unity with them and treat them as a priority.

Last inscription!

It is written!

At a friend's funeral a few weeks ago I was asked to say something. This friend and I had different points and understanding on a few issues but he was still a good friend. We loved to debate and it was not hard or difficult to say something at his funeral. He was a man of conviction and stood for what he believed. At the funeral I was reminded of a poem that Linda Ellis wrote called “The dash.” You can see it on her page. It basically talks about  life between your birth date and the date you die. I respected my friend’s convictions and as I was sitting listening to all the people talking about his life, this scripture was brought to my memory.

John 19:18-22 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I have written I have written.

We have all said things we wish we never said. We have all done things we wish we never did. There are things I wish I could undo or even redo to make it better. We all will never be able to go back in time and fix the wrongs. We can’t even go back and change the good. What a blessing and a frustration.

Living in the present and doing it better after making mistakes is some consolation. At least we have learned from our mistakes. Knowing that we have tomorrow to do it better is rewarding, but what about the past? Your life is not over yet and your inscription is not finalized. How will you change the current way you live to have a testimony in the future?

What will be written over you when you are at your last few breaths? What will be the testimony or the accusation that will be against or for you? What will sum up your life? Jesus was the man that did more good than any man alive. He healed the sick, opened the blind eyes, and raised the dead. He fed the multitudes and opened the deaf ears and yet He was rejected. What else could He have done that would make them like him?

The very thing that Pilate wrote above Jesus’ head was not a summary of His life. He never intended to prove that Jesus was the king of the Jews. When the Jews requested that he change the inscription they were offended that Pilate would identify him as their king. In their eyes He said He was a king, but to them He was not a king. Pilate wrote it as an accusation and to joke with the Jews about their king. This was to prove to them that He was no king but only someone they accused of breaking the law. Pilate didn’t know Jesus well enough to even write it with certainty.

People who don’t know you that well will have things to say about you one day. Most of it will be hearsay. Some of it will be what they saw and experienced. Your friends will have something to say one day. Their account and opinion may be vastly different than those that didn’t know you. The question remains.

If you had to write something about yourself at the end of your life, what would it be? The only thing written that will be real and true will be the one you will write for yourself. It doesn’t matter what others say or think! What will you say?

If Jesus had to write His own inscription, it would be “………..” If you had to write it for Him, it would be “………..” You can fill in the blanks because He is something to you. What do you see when you look at that cross? Is He still the son of man or is He the resurrected Christ? Is He your slave or is He your King? Is He somewhere in the sweet by and by or is He a very present help in time of need? Is He your savior or is He just a crutch? What is written is written. How does what you will write compare to what He will write about Himself? What would He write if He had to write about you?

Think about what I am trying to say. It is not complicated. His blood deals with our sin and our past. Surrender to Him and your inscription will change!

Sinner to saint!

Orphan to son!

Unforgiven to forgiven!

Slave to free! 

Old man to new man! 

Lost to redeemed! 

Unrighteous to His righteousness! 

We feed the multitude!

We feed the multitude!

Matt 14:15-21

We have read this scripture so many times and it has always blessed us to see how much compassion Jesus had on the people. He saw a need when the disciples saw a problem. A need is not always a problem depending on how you look at it.

Matt. 14:16 But Jesus said unto them, they need not depart; you give them something to eat.

The disciple’s problem was the people were hungry and needed to get food, Jesus’ solution was the disciples. They were the solution to the problem they were facing.  You are the solution to your problem. When you start facing the problem and start working at it the solution will come. The world is the problem, the families are the problem, the politics are the problem and you are the solution God chooses to resolve the problems with. Look at what you face in your life today and realize that the solution is you.

Their response to Jesus’ request is amazing: We only have five loaves and two fishes! Now we all know that it is impossible to feed that many people with that amount of bread and fishes. Most of us eat more than that and it was the lunch a little boy's mother packed for him. That is enough for a little boy, but not a crowd. Whoever packed that lunch never knew what potential those few loaves of bread and two fishes had. You only have a few things and it might only look like it is enough for you and not the crowd. Many people believe they don’t have what it takes to minister. You don’t know what potential you have until it gets into the Master's hand. You may think, "I only know a few scriptures and I only know how to pray for a few people and I don’t know if it is enough for the multitude." Give it to God and see what He can do with you.

Matt. 14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

I want you to see what happens here. Jesus took what they brought to Him and looked up, prayed or blessed it, and then broke it and gave it to the disciples. This is such a key to multiplication in our lives. You see the enemy always subtracts and divides. God always adds and multiplies. Of the increase of His government there is no end. In God everything always increases and it is called blessings. You are not blessed if you lose something. Blessing means to increase and multiply. So He broke it and gave it to the disciples. Imagine them looking at Jesus and seeing Him doing this and now He gives it to them and they have to turn around and face the crowd. One moment they were looking at the one with the solution and now they have to become the solution. It amazes me how we are always trying to run away from the uncomfortable places when miracles very seldom manifest in the comfortable places.

The miracle was in their hands. Look at it. The bread multiplied in their hands as they were giving it to the crowd. It started in the hands of Jesus but the real multiplication happened in their hands. God wants to start something and then give it to you to take to the crowds. The miracle needs to happen in your hands. God is not intimidated when we do miracles; No, He is more than happy to share it with us. God was not uncomfortable with Jesus doing miracles because miracles are the way God reveals Himself and His glory through us. Don’t worry...when you take the glory for yourself God will stop using you!

They had the solution in their hands and they experienced the miracle as much as the people that received the bread and fishes. This was a natural multiplication but there is also a spiritual multiplication that happens. Read with me.

Mark 14:22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

1Cor. 10:16-17 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

Jesus does exactly the same thing here that He did when He multiplied the bread and fishes. I want to propose something. When he took the bread and fishes and prayed over it and broke it, it multiplied in the natural. What I want to propose is that when He took the bread as a symbol of His body and prayed over it and broke it and gave it to the disciples, a spiritual multiplication was happening. Where they fed the multitude they now took the spiritual bread all over the world and as they gave it, it multiplied and they spiritually fed the nations everywhere they went.

You see Jesus is the true bread from the Father and he was blessed and broken and given to us. As we go and share Him with the nations, HE is multiplied in us and He is always enough to feed the spiritual hunger that the people have. He is the solution that we have. You don’t just know a few scriptures or just a small prayer. You have the bread of life that is ready to satisfy the nations. He is the desire of the nations. If those disciples just stood there and never turned around and started sharing what they had in their hands they would never experience the miracle of multiplication. If you stay home and never share you will never experience the miracle of multiplication.

This is a good word and we will do well if we heed to what Papa is saying. My spirit is jumping inside of me if I can say that. Turn with me this day and face the world and watch how He will multiply in your life.

Do not defend yourself!

Do not defend yourself!

Matt. 5:25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison.

This scripture puzzled me for a long time. Nobody wants to just agree with the one accusing him or her. What if the person accusing you is wrong? What if the person accusing you does not have the facts and is only aware of their side of the story. Worse than that is the question: What if that person is out to get me and destroy my reputation or wants to see me suffer? What about my side of the story? Besides, if you knew that you would probably agree with me! What if I am accused of something I don’t even know about and find out later? What if……….?

I was sharing with a friend in ministry last weekend and he is going through a terrible time where someone is accusing him of something. My heart broke for him and because I love him as a friend I wish I knew all the facts. I am sure his side of the story is not all the facts. So after listening to him I asked him what is he going to do about all the accusations? I was totally surprised by his answer. He said, “God told me not to defend myself.” It immediately reminded me about Jesus when He was standing in front of Pilate and Pilate heard all the accusations against Jesus. Pilate finally asked Jesus:

Matt. 27:13 Then said Pilate unto him, Don’t you hear many things they witness against you?

Matt. 27:14 And he answered him not a word; insomuch that the governor marveled greatly.

Jesus did exactly what my friend said. He did not defend himself. Now that is hard to do to say the least. I hate injustice and I hate when people take advantage of other people. I am sure it is the same with God as He is always protecting the widows and the orphans and warns against abusing the poor. Jesus kept quiet and Pilate was astonished. Why would He not defend himself?

I think it is liberating to understand that we cannot take responsibility for other people’s perceptions. You are not responsible for the way I see or experience something. If my experience is based on prejudice that I carry in my heart, you are not responsible to make me see it different. That is a responsibility that I need to take and work on in the issues of my own heart. The bible says that out of the heart are all the issues of life and if I have an issue I need to check my heart. If people have an issue with you they need to check their own hearts first. This is exactly what Jesus said when He told them to first remove the beam out of their own eyes before trying to remove the splint from their brother's eyes.

I gained some understanding of this verse after this meeting with my friend. When we are accused and we refuse to defend ourselves we can never stand in our own righteousness. Just in case we are wrong in something, it would mean that we would try to defend the wrong and then we are no longer standing in His righteousness. So when the enemy accuses you, agree with him. Understand that you do make mistakes. I am not saying agree with the accusation, agree that you make mistakes and then let God judge. When David killed Bathsheba’s husband and Nathan the prophet came to him to confront him about the sin, his first response was, “I have sinned.” When Samuel confronted Saul about his disobedience to God his response was: “The men made me do it.” David was accepted and God rejected Saul. Saul was standing in his own righteousness while David had God judge him.

No matter how hard this sounds, there is a key for us to live better. Never defend yourself! Let God judge because He knows all the facts. He sees you and He sees the one accusing you. He will deliver you even if you did wrong because He sees your heart.  He is ready to deliver those that have set their hearts on Him. He is not asking you to never make mistakes, but He is asking if you will allow Him to fight for you. He is a Papa and He has a Papa’s heart. I will do anything to protect my daughter. She doesn’t even have to ask me for it and I always believe the good things about her before I will ever consider anything bad. I am not going through life blindfolded but I am a papa. The same things are true about your heavenly Papa. If we, who are earthly fathers, know how to give good things to our children, how much more will our heavenly Papa give good things and think good things about us.

Do not defend yourself.

Who is right, who is wrong?

The popular opinion is not always right!

I had a teacher in school that use to say, “If everybody tells a little lie, then a big lie eventually doesn’t matter.” The point he was trying to make was that a little lie conditions us against the power of a big lie. So when someone outright tells a lie, we will be okay with it. This has been something I have remembered and tried to guard my heart against, especially against what is normally accepted as okay.

Song 2:15 Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

Solomon was the wisest man we know about. He warns us about the little foxes that will come in and destroy our grapes. We all love baby animals. Little puppies are so cute. They are so harmless. That is the deception we live under. That little puppy has the potential to be a vicious guard dog one day and he will bite you when you get on his property. Don’t be fooled by what you see today, think about what he will do in the future.

This past year we went to Thailand where some of our teams were working in the red light area with prostitutes. The first initial reaction from the teams was absolute shock when they saw what was going on and how little a woman’s body was valued. After sitting with them in debrief, it was great when they realized that even though it was hard for them, it was all in the open and they could face it and deal with it. The foxes were grown and you could see what they were doing, if I may say it in that manner. What they realized was that the same thing is going on in America but it is not so out in the open. This is more dangerous as it is harder to confront and change. When things are hidden it does damage that is hard to reverse until it is brought into the open.

It amazes me how Hollywood has sneaked in the agenda of gays and how they have broken down the authority of the father in the house by using comedy and making fathers look like fools. We laugh at the stupidity and don’t realize it is the little foxes that destroy the vines. The moment you speak up and say something you are called names and put into a camp, while they can still run their mouths and propaganda. You disagree and you are called racist or conservative. They are trying to push their lifestyles and agendas down our throats by trying to label us as not with the majority. The good news is that the majority is not always right. Even if ninety nine percent of Americans say that marriage is not just between one man and one woman, they are still wrong. The majority is not always right.

The danger of democracy is that if enough people accept an idea, it is taken as 'set in stone' and it must be right. What if everybody is wrong? Will their agreement make it right? Absolutely not! A person with limited understanding voting about something does not constitute truth! What if you had a group of people voting about something? Does that establish a truth? Absolutely not! Truth is truth whether you agree or not. Voting does not establish truth neither does it cancel or change it. What you believed all these years doesn’t establish it as true. Truth was there before you believed it and it will be there long after you are gone. Truth is a person and He is God.

God is always the real majority. If you are doing what He says and believing in what He has said, what He said might be the minority here but in the spirit His words are the majority. Someone once said, "Dead fish can’t swim upstream". Be different and swim upstream and be alive! Who would you rather have on your side, people or God?

No one has ever won an argument with God. Few have tried and they have all failed. Every argument that is raised up against the knowledge of God will fail. Every argument against the wisdom of God is a lie. Maybe it is time we switch sides and get on the side of truth rather than on the side of popular opinion.

Jesus loved to tell stories!

Luke 15:11-31

We all grew up hearing the familiar stories of Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding hood, Hansel and Gretel and many more. These stories have been told from generation to generation and each one of them had a lesson that we needed to hear and learn. Coming from another country, I was amazed to see that the same stories were told in America that were told to us as kids in Africa. I still remember the lessons that I learned from these stories and how it helped me to make the right decisions sometimes.

Jesus loved to tell stories to the people that came to listen to Him. The Bible calls them parables but they are still stories with lessons to learn. In the bible times the stories that were told were that of their heroes and their kings and how they fought for Israel and won against the enemies of Israel. The Hebrew word for “story” means "to investigate, to frequent or to follow". I wonder if that was the idea that Jesus had in mind when He told those parables?

One of the parables that has always remained with me is the story of the Prodigal Son. A father had two sons and then the youngest comes and asks him to give him his inheritance. The father gives it to him and the son departs and wastes it on living and partying. He ends up in the pigpen and decides to go back home. His father is waiting for him and welcomes him back. He gives him a new ring, shoes, and a new garment to wear. His older brother doesn’t like it and complains and the father tells him that the brother was dead but is alive again. This is the brief version, in case you have never heard of it or have forgotten it. There are so many things to learn from this story.

I want to talk about the papa in this story because we have all heard about the brothers before. He was an amazing papa. We see him waiting everyday, looking down the road to see if his lost son would return. Can you even begin to imagine what he must have felt like, as day after day he waited and no one showed up? He never gave up. He waited with expectancy knowing that one day his son would run out of options and when that day came, his son would need to see a papa waiting and ready to have him back. This is the heart of our Papa. He is waiting for us to turn away from sin and the first thing you will see on your way back is a Papa that is welcoming you back.

In the story, the lost son prepares himself to repent and to say that he has done wrong. When he sees his papa he immediately starts repenting and asks to be a servant. The papa ignores that request. Not only that, but we don’t see him scolding his son for making the wrong choices. Neither does he say, “I told you, and you wouldn’t listen.”  No. Instead he embraces his son and immediately organizes the biggest party his house has ever seen.

I want to tell you that before you can say you are sorry, your Papa in heaven knows that you are. He sees your heart before the words come out of your mouth. He is ready to rejoice because you have returned and in His great love and grace He will not scorn you when you come as you are with all your mistakes.

This papa then gives him a ring that speaks of his authority as a son being restored, shoes on his feet that tells him that he is a son and not a slave, and a new robe that shows he has an inheritance in the family. He kills the fatted calf and has a celebration to celebrate his son’s restoration. The papa says he was dead and now his son is alive. Life and death are the two most opposites that you can get. See that your heavenly Papa wants to restore you to be the complete opposite that you were before. He rejoices in doing that kind of a restoration in you! 

I hope you begin to see why Jesus told stories. We never forget them. We tell them to our children and they see this Papa that we have.

There is a story of a young boy that made himself a little boat. He worked countless hours on it and when it was done he painted it in his favorite colors. Then one day he took it down to a stream to play with it. Soon the wind blew it out of reach and it was caught in the current and swept away. He was really sad to have lost his boat. Months later he walked by a pawnshop and to his amazement his boat was in the window of the store. He went in and asked the owner about the boat. The owner of the store said that somebody found it and he paid for it. The only option the boy had was to buy it back if he wanted it. So he asked the store-owner to keep it for him until he had the money to buy it. So the young boy started working to get the money to buy his boat back. Finally, he had enough money saved up and he went to the store and bought his boat back. When he left the store he said to himself, "Little boat, I made you, I bought you with a price, and you are now twice mine.” God made you, He bought you with the precious blood of Jesus and you are now twice His.