no decline

II Chronicles 34:2 "And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left."

this verse is taken from the life of King Josiah, king of Judah. in verse 1 we find out this young king was only eight when he ascended to the throne. His father, Amon, was a wicked king. It states Amon was so hard-hearted that he refused to humble himself as his father Manasseh, Josiah's grandfather, had done during his reign. even Manasseh was evil until he came face-to-face with God.

so with all the wicked influences, why would Josiah want to live right & please God with such a steadfast heart? I believe it comes down to Grandpa Manasseh influencing young Josiah. Amon took the throne when Josiah was six. that means Grandpa had time to tell Josiah about his rebellion against Almighty God & how God humbled him.

right now my faith is being tested. how I handle this test could easily influence my future children & grandchildren. my desire is to please my Lord while passing the test. the benefits would be to come closer to Jesus & increase my faith - just as He planned. future benefits could be children & grandchildren. thus giving me the opportunity of telling how an Almighty God can humble a man to future generations.

just like Granpa Manasseh.

i love this verse!

II Chronicles 14:11
And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee.

be doing

I Chronicles 22:16b, “Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.”

two commands are presented in this verse; Arise and Be Doing.

if one is ever going to do anything for God they must arise. arise out of the slumber of life. arise out the mundane world. arise out of religion and its traditions. arise anew in Christ in order to be doing. be doing the work of the Father. be doing the life of Christ lived through you. be doing the will of God as told through His Holy Spirit and His Word. be doing what God has called you to do after you have arisen.

the last portion of the passage is implied. once you arise and begin doing, the LORD is with you. He is with you when you arise. He is with you when you begin doing. He is with you while you are doing. He is with you when it is time to lay down the doing & follow Him home.

today’s churches are full of people who have arisen but have never began the doing. little do they know that God Almighty is the same yesterday, today & forever. meaning He only calls you to the doing that He knows you can do through Him.

whatever is on life’s path has already been approved by Him for you. for me. therefore I must arise and be doing.

letting God lead

Numbers 14:1-10a

Vs. 7: “And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.”

The phrase ‘to search it’ means there was a reconnaissance mission to find out how to go forward in God’s will. Prayer & fasting, coupled with saturation of the Word, will bring that to light.

Vs. 8a: “If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us.”

‘If the Lord delights’ hinges on God delighting in us while being obedient to His word & will. ‘Then he will bring us’ accompanies the Lord delighting and our obedience, but doesn’t always mean we are to go forward. Sometimes we must be patient & wait right where we are while He brings & gives what He has for us. Though here we see that God’s delight and our obedience is what will bring us into the land of promise. That is God’s plan for our life.

How is this accomplished?

1. When God moves, you move!

Vs. 9a: “Only rebel not ye against the Lord…”

YOU is implied emphatically as the one that should not rebel. If God is moving DON’T stand in the way! A friend of mine once gave the analogy of God being the engineer of a train. Now we have the choice of either being on the tracks or on the train. If we are on the tracks, God will run us over. As we are His children He wants us to obey & if not then we are asking for the chastisement. But if we are on the train then we get the opportunity to experience His blessing of doing His will.

2. While God is moving, don’t fear.

Vs 9b: “neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them…”

This is so cool! He is saying to not be afraid as the people that are in the land already are more afraid of you than you of them! They don’t have a leg to stand on with God and you against them! Amen! Being on God’s side makes it so much easier especially knowing that the moving forward is part of His will.

3. Watch God while you move!

Vs 9d: “and the Lord is with us…”

Keep your eyes glued to the One doing the work. Too many times I tend to focus on what I think I’m doing for God. It is at these times that God politely puts me in my place only to tell me that it isn’t me doing the work. It’s Him working through me in order for Him to get the glory. I’m glad God is merciful enough to remind me gently instead out of vengeance.

4. Willingly move with God.

Vs 24a & b: “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully…”

Moving begins in the heart long before it gets to the feet! If you are ever going to follow God it MUST begin in the heart. The action of your heart is closely linked to all the other areas of your body; mind, eyes, ears, mouth & etc. People say that your heart must be in something in order to do it; though I know many that did something without any part of their heart being involved. It’s the same with following God. If it truly comes from God, it will begin in your heart & then travel throughout thus making it easier to follow with your feet. Hence the prayer & fasting coupled with the Word. The only way to follow God is fully – no half-heartedness!

Proverbs 3:5 & 6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thine ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (bold for emphasis)

interesting article, worth the read

www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001306.cfm

ever so weak

right now my faith is being tested. it’s been a year since I turned from my wicked way and ran towards the Saviour. following along behind has been the devil and his tormentors. in front of me has been God Almighty and His army of angels with flaming swords fighting for my spiritual existence. becoming the strength in all my weakness. Hallelujah!

I was reminded of I Thessalonians 5:24, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” at times I just want to cry. during those times the Lord draws closer and reminds me that I am not alone. He is the lover of my soul. He is always faithful. He will perform that great work within me.

My Adoni! My Almighty!

hungry?

too many of today’s independent fundamental Baptist churches are starving. by this I mean that the preacher sent from God to feed the congregation is not supplying the necessary food to strengthen and sustain the believers. born-again Christians need more than just the sincere milk of the Word given to them Sunday to Sunday. Spirit-fed meat should be found in their daily walk with God but also served up on the preaching menu on a regular basis. the downside to this is that too many of today’s independent fundamental Baptist preachers are not off the milk themselves. how can they expect their congregation to grow?

so my question is: are you hungry? the Holy Spirit has driven me to a desire for meat from the Word that it near ravenous. physically I like a good ribeye loaded with all the trimmings, and spiritually the Holy Ghost has been serving just that.

Matthew 14:22 – 32 is a favorite section of Christ’s earthly walk that I have always loved. mainly because it tells of the only 100% human to ever walk on water, Peter. but until the other day the Holy Spirit showed me something that I had never noticed. so here goes…

verse 22: "And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship." this is only a portion of the verse but notice that Jesus constrained his disciples. meaning He "urgently & repeatedly suggested" they get into a boat and leave. no doubt one could see the Lord almost physically picking them up one-by-one and placing them into the boat, telling that one to stay, and doing the same to the next just like parents do with their own children. this was done because He knew about Verse 24.

this is good! verse 24: "But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed about with waves: for the wind was contrary." I love this! Jesus Christ knew the wind was going to be contrary! do you see that? He knew when He was constraining the disciples to get into the ship in verse 22 what was going to happen in verse 24! now you can’t tell me that He isn’t the Son of God if, by chance, verse 24 just happened. nothing happens by chance to God!

so what does Jesus do? He goes for a leisurely stroll… on the sea. verse 25: "And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea." I can see it now – wind and waves billowing about, a little ship being tossed to and fro like a ragdoll in a dryer, and there’s my Saviour. calmly, serenely, maybe even whistling, walking on the water – to His disciples. do you get what I am saying? Jesus knew when He was constraining in verse 22 about the storm, He even knew about taking a walk on the water, and all for what? to go to His disciples. He placed them in the exact position where the only place to go for help was to Him. and there He was. in the midst of the storm – but in control.

verse 27: "But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I: be not afraid." He placed them into a boat. He placed them into the midst of the stormy sea. only to prove to them His power and might over the extenuating circumstances that surrounded them. Hallelujah! my God is mightier than any storm surrounding me! my God even places me into storms if only for me to see how mighty He is. to see that He IS in control no matter what befalls me. to prove to me that He is there at every turn of life’s wave whether calm or contrary. no doubt He does it just to flex his everlasting muscles so His children can ooh and aah over them aka give Him the glory He so richly deserves. it’s like, "Hey Christian, watch this" and then he flexes his big muscles and the storm is calm. that’s my God!

now that was all said for this. Verse 28, "And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." did you catch it? Peter ASKED to leave the safety of the ship and step out into the stormy sea. exactly where Jesus was. it wasn’t satisfactory to be in the ship NEXT to Jesus. no, he wanted to get out INTO the water. he wanted to LEAVE the ship and replace it with the Saviour – eternal security. he wasn’t content with the norm. he wasn’t satisfied being with the other 11. instead he asked Jesus, "Can I come out there with you?" I’m sure he knew how safe/unsafe those fishing boats were and decided it was more safe on the water. the key is that Peter ASKED to go out to Jesus. we’ve all heard about Peter’s faith in walking on the water and his lack of faith in sinking once out there, but we fail to realize that Peter asked Jesus if he could go to him. and where was Jesus? on the water.

now here is the meat. Jesus placed His disciples into a position in order to prove to them He was mightier that their surrounding circumstances. but once in those circumstances, He wanted to see who would take the step TOWARDS Him. God places each of His children in circumstances we do not have control over. but it is only to see if we will in turn run to the One in control of those circumstances while in that situation. the next time you find yourself in a storm, ask the one in control of the storm if you can come closer. Peter found it easy for Jesus to stretch out His arm and catch him while sinking in the waves as Jesus was right in front of him.

now to make it hurt. Jesus could have reached out His arm and catch me all those years ago before I stepped into sin. if only in the middle of the storm I turned and asked to go to Him, instead of running from Him. ouch.