The great thing about cessationist thinking (God doesn’t operate in miracles any more) is that you never have to wonder if God has just spoken to you or pray your heart out for a miracle. If you do believe that God still intervenes in your life in direct ways, then you will wonder, at times, if you just heard the voice of God or another voice.

Gideon faced that same dilemma. Suddenly, out of nowhere he had experienced an angelic visitation and had begun to hear from the Lord directly. Apparently, this was somewhat new to our reluctant hero and he had some concerns. His strategy was to ask for signs of confirmation that he was hearing from the Lord and not from a weird well of subconscious fantasies. In the 6^th chapter of Judges we read, “Gideon said to God, ‘If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised – look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only in the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand as you said. And that is what happened’” (Jud.6:36-37). Interestingly, after God provided that sign for Gideon, Gideon asked him to reverse the process the next morning just for good measure.

Although this sounds like a real lack of faith, God did not rebuke him for being so careful. After all, the fleece thing could have just been a weird meteorological phenomenon. Gideon demonstrates an important principle in knowing God’s will for your life. Sometimes, what we believe we are hearing God tell us needs to be confirmed before we move ahead. There are several examples in scripture of men asking for clarification and confirmation when a dream, a word from God, or a prophetic word pointed them in a radically new direction for their life.

Gideon had already asked for the sign that the words the angel had spoken to him were from God. The angel touched the offering that Gideon had placed on a stone and it burst into flames as the angel disappeared.   You might think that this display was confirmation enough, but Gideon still doubted his own capacity to hear God clearly and wanted to make sure he was not being deceived by the enemy. God didn’t seem to be offended by his request for confirmations. After all, God had instructed him to “go in the strength that he had.” He was going… but carefully.

In 1 Samuel 14, we see another example of a fleece or a confirmation. In this example, Jonathan got the notion that he and his armor bearer were to assault a Philistine garrison by themselves. Jonathan said, “Come, lets go over to the outpost of these uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps, the Lord will act in our behalf.” For confirmation, Jonathan put out a fleece. “We will cross over toward the men and let them see us. If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.” The sign was given and God gave the entire garrison into the hands of Jonathan and his armor bearer.

In the old tabernacle, there was something called the Urim and Thummim that were maintained by the priests. No one knows exactly what they were, but God communicated through them and godly leaders would often go to priest and ask for confirmation about whether they should go into battle or not against a neighboring tribe. The priest would consult the Lord through these objects and give the leader confirmation as to whether his prompting to go into battle was from the Lord or not.

In the New Testament, God also confirmed his word with signs. In Acts 10, we are told how God extended the first formal invitation to enter the Kingdom of God to Gentiles. Remember that the church was opened first only to Jews. It was considered “unlawful” for Jews to fellowship with Gentiles. One day, Peter was praying at noontime. As he prayed, he fell into a trance in which he saw a sheet full of unclean animals being lowered from heaven with the command for him to kill and eat some of the animals. Peter, being kosher, refused to do so. In his vision, the sheet was lowered three times and he was told not to call anything impure that God had declared to be clean. As Peter awoke from the vision, three “unclean men” (Gentiles) were asking for him. Their presence confirmed the dream and the understanding that God had opened the kingdom up to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews.

There are many other examples of signs confirming the word of God that had come to someone in an unexpected way. The fleece was not the last time Gideon received a sign. As God brought him to the day of battle against Midian, he told Gideon that if he were still afraid, he could sneak into the enemy camp that night for another sign of confirmation that God was going to use him to deliver Israel from their oppressors. Gideon took God up on the invitation, sneaked into the camp, and heard two soldiers talking about a dream, which they interpreted as confirmation of their defeat at the hands of Gideon (Jud.7:13-15). That confirmation gave Gideon the faith to lead Israel into battle in a most unlikely way.

I don’t think we need to seek confirmation on everything we are hearing from the Lord –especially when it clearly lines up with scripture. But on life-altering decisions – marriage, a move to a mission field, a significant career change, adoptions, a church, etc. – asking for confirmation of your direction through signs that confirm what you believe you are hearing from the Lord is a biblical principle you may want to employ. Blessings today in all you do.

When we encounter Gideon in the sixth chapter of Judges, he is hiding his meager harvest from the Midianites. He seems almost timid as an angel of the Lord begins a discussion with him and refers to him as mighty warrior. I’m fairly certain that Gideon had no military background and certainly would have not been thought of as a mighty warrior by anyone – especially himself. And yet, God sees us primarily as who we are going to be, rather than who we are today. The angel was making a prophetic declaration over Gideon, calling out God’s plan for this man by calling him a mighty warrior. We also would do well to call out goodness and greatness in one another instead of pointing out all the flaws and failings that we see. We can do so because we know that the Spirit of God is within every believer and it is his plan to make each of us both good and great in his Son.

The second thing the angel said to him was to “go in the strength that he had” and deliver Israel from the hands of Midian. The Lord new Gideon’s resources and capacity better than Gideon did. He will never send us to do what we have no capacity to do because he has already designed us for that very thing (Ps.139:13-16). We may be unaware of our ability but God is not. The Lord promised that he would resource Gideon for the mission by saying “Am I not sending you?” If the Lord assigns us, he will also resource us to complete the assignment. In the Lord, we are never on our own when we are walking in his will.

But, let’s be honest. Most of us don’t feel that way when we face a crisis, a hardship, or a challenge. Most of us feel just as Gideon felt when he responded, “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family” (Jud.6:15). The Lord replied, “I will be with you and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” Remember that Gideon was not sure that the man speaking to him was an angel. He, perhaps, sensed that the man was a prophet speaking on behalf of the Lord, but it was a strange conversation all the same. At that point, Gideon asked a very honest thing – “give me a sign so that I can know it is really you (the Lord) talking to me.”

I think that he was not only being honest but also wise. God was asking him to step out into a life-changing assignment – even a life threatening assignment. In all likelihood, he had never heard from the Lord before, or at least rarely, so he was asking for confirmation. Asking for confirmation, is not doubting God, but is recognition that the voice we are hearing may not be from him or that our discernment may be faulty. It is one way to test the spirits (1 Jn.4:1). So, Gideon asked for a sign. The angel wasn’t offended. He told Gideon to place a young goat and some unleavened bread on a rock as an offering to the Lord. The angel then touched it with the tip of his staff and it was consumed by fire just as the angel disappeared.

Gideon’s response was a normal response in the face of a supernatural experience. He was afraid and thought that he might die because he had seen the angel of the Lord face to face. But the Lord spoke to him and told him not to be afraid. He first heard the voice of God through an angel and then directly so that he could begin to recognize and trust the voice. We have to go through a similar process. We will often hear from the Lord through another person first – a word of knowledge, a prophetic word, a teaching that we know was from the Lord just for us, etc. Eventually we will begin to hear his voice internally. We have to hear from the Lord often enough that we recognize his voice as sheep recognizing the voice of the shepherd. Then we can respond with confidence that the Lord has shared his heart or wisdom with us.

That same evening, while the voice of the Lord was still fresh in Gideon’s mind, the Lord told Gideon to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and to cut down his Asherah pole and then to offer a proper sacrifice to God on an altar Gideon built using the wood from the Asherah pole for fire. The text says, “So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and of the men of his town, he did it at night…” (Jud.6:27). Fear comes up three times in the story of Gideon so we know he was not a fearless, faith-filled warrior but a common man trying to serve God. Yet, in the face of fear he moved ahead in obedience.

There will be times that our flesh will be afraid but our spirit will move ahead in faith, choosing to trust God rather than to obey our emotions. Feeling fear does not disqualify us if we do not give into the fear. God also gives us time to grow in faith, which will proportionately diminish our fears. God did not rebuke Gideon for destroying his father’s idols at night. It was a next step in being used in even greater ways by the Lord. Our faith is also a series of next steps. If it fails, shake it off and move ahead. Ask for boldness as the first century church often did in their prayers. Determine not to give into fear next time.

We simply need to understand that fear comes in many ways and will probably always be with us. The fear of man, the fear of rejection, the fear of disappointment, the fear of failure, etc. will raise up its head against us. It resides in the flesh but it is also a spirit. We will have to learn to ignore the feeling, rebuke the spirit, and move ahead in obedience. In the process, God will be with us and will remind us, as he did Gideon, “Do not be afraid.”

IN our next blog, we will look at Gideon and the fleece.

The Book of Judges is a cyclical drama of Israel’s faithfulness and rebellion toward God that occurred after the death of Joshua. Israel would push through a few decades of faithfulness to Jehovah, enjoying the blessings attached to that faithfulness, and then would depart from his ways. Eventually, after a long season of idolatry and sin, God would bring judgment on them in the form of oppression from neighboring tribes until they repented. When their hearts and eyes returned to the Lord, he would forgive them, raise up a man or woman (called judges) to lead them against their enemies, and free them from their oppressors again. This cycle occurs over and over again in the book of Judges. One of the individuals he raised up was Gideon. I want to spend a few blogs finding some insights from his very unique story that we might apply to our own lives.

His story begins with these lines, “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites”… Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. When the Israelites cried to the Lord because of Midian…The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his mighty wonders that our fathers told us about” (Jud.6:1-13)?

I like Gideon. He was not politically correct. At the moment he voiced that question, he was not yet aware that the man he was speaking to was an angel. The man was a stranger to Gideon and gave an unusual greeting – The Lord is with you mighty warrior! Gideon wasn’t sure who the man was but he gave a very honest response which amounted to, “If the Lord is with me, why am I hiding in this winepress trying to keep from starving and where are all the big miracles I’ve been praying for and hear about in synagogue?” It’s very possible that there have been times in your life when you were thinking essentially the same thing.

Gideon could have covered his thoughts and said something “spiritual” like, “Yes. God is good and his love endures forever. I know he is with us in ways we just can’t see.” All of that statement would have been true, but it would not have been an honest response from his heart at the moment. God loves honest conversation. He knows what is in your heart, so there is very little reason to give the “Sunday School response” instead of acknowledging what you are struggling with.

I believe Gideon had been struggling with the very thing he expressed. Where are you God? Don’t you still love your people? I know we have been out of line and deserve what’s happening, but I don’t know how much longer we can even survive as a nation. Couldn’t you just show us the same mercy you showed our fathers, even when they had been rebellious, and do something miraculous for us? We need a break and I know that would turn our hearts back to you…but all I’m hearing is crickets!”

For me, the question is why did God choose Gideon to raise up as a leader over unfaithful Israel? I know he often chooses the most unlikely so that he gets the glory, but he also looks at the hearts of men and I think he saw something in Gideon’s heart he could work with. I believe the first thing he saw was a man without pretense. He had honest questions and he asked them. He didn’t pretend to have great faith when his faith was starting to crumble. He didn’t throw out a biblical answer in an effort to cover up his doubt. Confession is good for the soul. God can work with that.

I think we often deny our own doubts – to ourselves and to the Lord – in an effort to avoid the truth that we are struggling with our faith, our concept of God, or our own sense of unworthiness and the creeping fear that God only answers prayers on the basis of our spiritual performance – which has been really lousy of late. Until we acknowledge our own thoughts, we cannot answer them with the Word or request a gift of faith from the Spirit. Sometimes our effort to have perfect faith, by denying our doubts, undermines our ability to have an honest conversation with the Lord or a faithful brother so that our thoughts might be clarified and a word of faith given to us so that we might resolve, rather than deny, our doubts.

Gideon just puts it our there. “If God is with us, why are things so bad?” The angel responds in a very interesting way. “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” In essence, the angel says that God is still in the miracle business and that Gideon is going to be his miracle. Sometimes, God is going to answer our prayers through us when we have been looking elsewhere for the answers. God is a “multitasker.” As he answers our prayers he also wants to accomplish something within us.

Many times we just want to be rescued but God is going to give us strength to fight our way out of something so that faith and character are developed in the process. He told Gideon to go in the strength that he had and that God would make up for whatever he lacked when the moment came. He will do the same for us when the time comes but often we must act on his directions rather than doing our own thing or simply waiting for him to solve the problem. Instead of crying, “Where are you?”, “we may need to cry, “What is my next step, Lord?”

God is not looking for perfect people or even perfect faith. He is looking for honest people with a willing heart and just enough faith to take the next step. Gideon will model that for us over the next few blogs.

In his letters to the seven churches in Asia, Jesus affirmed many things but then called out five of the seven churches on issues that were hindering their relationship with Jesus. To the church at Pergamum, Jesus applauded their steadfast faith in the face of severe persecution. Even when one of the believers there had been put to death, they had not denied Jesus. And yet, even though they had never denied Jesus, he had some issues with the church.

Jesus said, “Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (Rev.2:14-16).

Pergamum was a church that had stood strong in the face of persecution but that had also compromised with the culture. They had begun to practice tolerance rather than holiness. Jesus declared that they were fellowshipping those in the church who practiced idolatry and sexual immorality and who were encouraging others to do the same. The Nicolaitans were a group who believed that since grace covered all sin, you could sin all you like. Jesus was not condemning those who struggle with sin. He was condemning those who don’t struggle against sin at all.

We are vulnerable to the same things in our culture. Perhaps, persecution had prompted them to be a little more tolerant of the culture and to not speak out so loudly against sin. Perhaps, they thought “fitting in” a little more might improve their outreach. The gospel of tolerance had taken over at Pergamum. That gospel declares that love is never judging others, never making them feel bad, never rejecting someone because they hold different views or understand God in a different way. The gospel of tolerance questions the clear meaning of scripture and makes the holiness of God take a back seat to his grace. What was once not tolerated in the church becomes tolerated, and then, at some point, is celebrated as proof of a love that doesn’t reject or judge sinners.

Jesus doesn’t reject sinners, but he does reject sin because sin degrades and eventually destroys. Being tolerant of weakness as people grow in the Lord is not the same as tolerating sinful lifestyles that are paraded about and that actively recruit others. Balaam’s strategy against Israel was simple. Draw them outside the will of God and let his judgment fall on them. I’m sure it began with the premise of practicing a little tolerance so that you don’t alienate your neighbors. One of Satan’s strategies is to draw churches and individuals out of the will of God so that they give Satan a legal right to really come after them while the sin blocks the blessings and move of God in their lives.

Even though the church at Pergamum had not denied the name of Jesus, they had compromised with the culture and invited idolatry and sexual immorality into the church. After all, that was standard operating procedure in pagan temples. The desire to be like those around us was not new to Pergamum. Israel wanted a king like the nations around them when Saul was chosen to rule. It took very little time for Israel to incorporate the idols of the surrounding nation into their worship of the one true God. In defiance of the Law of Moses, it wasn’t long until Israel made alliances with all kinds of unbelieving nations. Each of those compromises cost Israel dearly.

So what about us? Even though we wear the name of Jesus, have we compromised with the culture and brought the culture’s standards into the church rather than taking the church’s standards into our culture? Those who practice homosexuality are now welcomed into the leadership of mainline churches, even though scripture clearly calls it sin. Christians eagerly attend movies that only a few years ago were considered pornographic. But because culture is comfortable with what is portrayed, many Christians have become comfortable. Church discipline is almost extinct because we tolerate and do not judge anything, even though we are commanded to hold one another accountable to God’s standards. We could go on, but the church today is in danger of a rebuke from the Lord because we tolerate the active practice of sin – typically by our silence.

As a self-diagnostic, we need to ask ourselves if there are areas of compromise in our own lives because we have wanted to fit it with the world. What do we participate in so that we feel accepted at the office, at school, or with the team? What are we compromising for the sake of a relationship and has that relationship become an idol? What are we compromising for the sake of a career? What are we silent about that is wrong? When we choose not to speak out, we eventually rationalize our silence. That rationalization becomes tolerance and tolerance eventually becomes acceptance.

I’m not saying that we should go around condemning everyone we have contact with and point out his or her sins. Paul tells us that we are not to judge the world, but he is clear that we are to judge the church…not by our standards, but by God’s standards. We are not to judge self-righteously, but out of concern for a soul endangered by sin and the bondage or discipline it may bring. Love always acts in the best interest of another, and encouraging others to live holy lives is in their best interest.

The danger is that we begin to believe that whatever cultures calls good or acceptable, God will call good or acceptable. Culture does not establish the standards for righteousness and so culture is not the measure of our life in Christ. God sets the standards and Jesus, unapologetically, calls us to those standards.

In our own lives, compromise damages our relationship with God and creates open doors for the enemy. Jesus called on Pergamum to repent of tolerating sin and he would say the same to us. These may be the hardest things to identify in our lives because they creep in slowly. We rationalize our involvement, or at least our decision not to stand against something, and we usually spiritualize that decision by calling it non-judgmental or an effort to build relationships so that we can share Jesus with someone later.

This isn’t a call to isolate ourselves from culture or the lost otherwise we can never affect them for Jesus. Somehow Jesus was able to spend time with “sinners” without compromising and without offending them. In fact, broken sinners were drawn to him. I think he simply was who he was and didn’t change that in any context. He did not excuse sin but neither did he make sin the issue among the broken and the shamed. He affirmed what he could and pointed them to the love of the Father. He did not compromise his standards, but simply demonstrated the attractiveness of godliness when it is wrapped in love.

In my own self-diagnostic, I need to ask the Spirit to show me areas of compromise, rationalization, and “buying in” to what the world is peddling. I need to realign my thinking with the Father and determine to maintain godly standards while loving those who are bound up in sin. As a church, we need to love broken sinners but stand against those who willingly sin as a lifestyle and who try to draw others in with them. The praise and acceptance of the world cannot be our goal, only the praise and acceptance of Jesus. Be blessed today and be aware of where you stand.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus issued letters to seven churches in the province of Asia. To Smyrna and Philadelphia, Jesus sent his affirmations and approval of their endurance and faithfulness in the withering face of persecution with a promise that victory was coming if they would just continue to hold on.

To Ephesus, he gave a mixed report. He began by listing what seem to be stellar recommendations. “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men…you have persevered and endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary” (Rev.2:2-3). This seems like the ideal church and yet, in the midst of those admirable traits, Jesus held something against them. “Yet, I hold this against you. You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first” (Rev. 2:4-5).

If you have been a believer very long, you might recognize the reality that the response once prompted by love can cool to a response of duty, obligation, or simply habit. After a few years, we can become good church members living moral lives, caring for the poor, coaching little league, attending church, and so forth. A good Buddhist would do the same. The thing that makes us different is our relationship with Jesus. Many couples marry with a great passion for one another, but after a few years the marriage simply becomes “going through the motions.” The behaviors may mimic what was done the first few years of marriage, but the heart behind it is gone.

God is love and love tends to remain unsatisfied until love is returned. In addition, love motivates us to do what nothing else will motivate us to do. Duty, obligation or habit did not motivate Jesus to endure the cross for us – only love pushed him to Golgatha.

Jesus then asked them to remember the height from which they had fallen. He was not asking them to measure how low they had sunk, but to remember what life was like when they were in love with him. He called them to remember the exhilaration found in a loving relationship with the Savior.

I have to ask how I am doing in maintaining “first love” status. Has my ministry become a job that I do like any other? Is my Bible study to discover new truths or just to get a coherent lesson together? Am I doing what I do out of love for Jesus or just the habits of a Christian life? How are you doing?

He then said to the Ephesians, “Repent and do the things you did at first.” What did you do when you first came to Jesus? Did you pour over his written word with expectation? Did you hungrily seek someone who could help you grow in the Lord? Were you willing to serve in any capacity because you were simply serving Jesus? Did you share Jesus with everyone around you? The truth is that you did those things because you loved Jesus, but you also loved Jesus because you did those things.

Going back to the basics is not a bad thing. We tend to think that basics are for the immature or the amateur, but doing the basics well is what wins championships. Remember the thanksgiving that used to issue from your heart in response to what he had done for you and in response to how much had been forgiven? Remember how you longed for his presence and his voice? Remember the excitement of answered prayers and seeing the hand of God in your life?

His counsel is to remember how rich those days were and return to them. Return to the heights of your first days in the presence of a loving Savior. Pour over his word against with the expectation of discovery. Find a mentor to rekindle the coals and to take you to another level of relationship with the Father. Serve in simplicity. Share your faith again. Keep doing the good you are doing but do it out of love for the Master, rather than from the habits of a moral life. That love makes our Christian walk rich again. Blessings in Him.

More Revelation on Friday.

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus released seven letters to seven churches in the province of Asia. This revelation was given to John late in life, probably around 96 A.D. By then many churches established by the apostles and other evangelists were several decades old. The first generation of believers was giving way to a second generation. The passion and commitment of the first generation was giving way to a generation that had not seen Jesus in the flesh. Out of the seven churches, two were totally affirmed because of their faithfulness in the midst of persecution while five others were admonished in some way.

Although, these letters were written to churches, the affirmations and admonitions could be given to individuals as well. It is always a good thing to “run a quick diagnostic” on ourselves to see how we are doing in the eyes of the Lord. So, in the next few blogs lets use these letters as a quick-check for our spiritual lives.

Two churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, were in the midst of persecution. Jesus praised both of them for having patiently endured and for having kept his word. He promised victory to both of them if they would continue to endure a little longer. The flavor of the letters suggests that these were small communities of believers that did not have much wealth or influence, yet they had endured and stayed true to the faith.

Endurance is a spiritual quality that is frequently spoken of in scripture. In America, we have not experienced much direct persecution from government or other religions on the basis of our faith (although we may be on the brink of considerable persecution), but we all have experienced persecution that comes from Satan.

Many believers don’t recognize the persecution of the enemy that works through individuals in our lives (family and co-workers). Satan prompts these individuals to accuse, attack, reject, gossip, and slander us. That persecution is real and affects us spiritually. Think about how it wears you down and wounds you. Think about how it has caused you to doubt God’s promises when you have cried out to him about these relational injustices. Think about how it has caused you to doubt yourself. The persecution is real.

Endurance and a continuing faith in the promises of God is what Jesus is looking for. James declares, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Ja.1:2-4).

As believers, there will be times when we have to endure injustice, discrimination, and persecution with no quick fix. Endurance perfects our spirits. If our trials were resolved quickly, there would be no need for endurance and patience. I talk to many believers whose faith is fragile because they have been in a relational battle for months or years. They feel as if God is not hearing their prayers because the battle has not gone away. Yet the greatest heroes of the faith had to endure – exile, prison, deserts, persecution, slander, etc.

The message of Revelation is, “Hold on a little longer. Do not waiver. Your victory is in the pipeline.” These victories typically come just when we are on the brink of totally giving up because we have exhausted all of our strategies. It is then that we truly surrender the problem to God and it is then that victory often comes. Sometimes the victory is not a change in our tormentor but is a change in our own hearts that allows us to view the tormentor with different eyes and face the assaults with a different heart.

How are we doing on endurance? Have we allowed the enemy to wear us down and undermine our certainty in the promises of God? Go back a reaffirm the promises of God in your heart. Determine to simply be obedient to God, regardless of what others may do. Wait on the Lord and be known in heaven as one who would not give in.   Wait on the Lord and be known in heaven as one who won the applause of Jesus. Blessings and endurance in every hardship today.

More from Revelation on Wednesday.

Anyone who believes in the present day ministry of miracles will quote John 14:12, eventually and probably often. “He who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these, because I go to the Father.”   We often quote this verse but rarely take time to break it down, so lets take a closer look.

Jesus begins by defining who would do the works he did. He did not say, “my apostles, those who have been following me for three years, a few super-Christians,” etc. He simply says, “He who believes in me.” The NIV translates the phrase as, “Anyone who has faith in me…” The potential for doing what Jesus did, and even greater things, rests in every believer. The potential rests there because the Holy Spirit indwells there. Jesus said that his promise was true because he was going to his Father.

The promised event that would occur as Jesus returned to the Father was the sending of his Spirit and the power that would attend the Spirit. In John 16, Jesus told his disciples, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn.16:7). After his resurrection and ascension back to the Father, Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received power after the Spirit had fallen on them. After the power of the Spirit was released, miracles began to happen.

Anyone who has the Spirit of Christ has the potential to do the works of Christ. What were the works? Preaching the Kingdom, healing, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, calming storms, walking on water, feeding the multitudes, etc. The works of Jesus were the very things that destroyed or reversed the works of the devil, which is the very thing Jesus came to do (1 Jn.3:8). It’s important to notice what Jesus did not say in John 14:12. Jesus did not say that those who believe could do the works he did, but that they would do the works he did. Jesus has an expectation that those who have faith in Him will do the very things he did while he was on the earth – and even greater things.

Many evangelicals have cast this verse as a promise of extensive evangelism. They say that the verse will be fulfilled when we have reached more people than Jesus was able to reach while he was on the earth. In their version, the “greater works, ” would simply be more evangelism. There is no doubt that Jesus has called us to reach more people, but that alone does not constitute the works that Jesus had been doing. The miraculous works of Jesus accompanied and facilitated evangelism, but were not simply the preaching of the good news alone.

In addition, the idea of doing “greater works” is not just quantitative in nature. It is not just doing more of what Jesus did. The word translated as “greater” in the text is mizon. It is used numerous times in the New Testament and always carries the idea of quality vs. quantity. Jesus didn’t say that believers would do more things than he did; he said that they would do even greater things than he did.

If Jesus had that expectation, then we should also carry that expectation. I said earlier in this blog that every believer has the potential to do greater works. The potential for all things in the kingdom is released not only through faith that God can do something but also through expectation that God will do something. Most believers have no doubt that God can do anything, but have been taught not to expect God to do those things. That is why the potential has not been released in many or most believers in the western world.

It is a simple verse. It is straightforward. If we take Jesus at this word, believers should be doing what he did and doing even greater works. Whenever the works of Jesus are not occurring, something is wrong or incomplete in those who believe. The problem is that much of the church believes that when the works of Jesus are occurring, there is something wrong.

Let me encourage you to not only believe that God can do miracles, but to ask the Holy Spirit to give you an expectation that he will. The needed transformation in the church will probably not come from the pulpits down, but from the pews up. In other words, most pastors will continue to preach what they were trained to believe in seminary. If they begin to preach something else, they will most likely be asked to step down. When the ordinary believer begins to walk with the expectation of miracles, God will honor that expectation and as those who sit in the pews on Sunday, begin to move in the power of God, leadership may be changed by their testimony.

Regardless of leadership’s expectation, we must honor the Savior’s expectation for his people and his expectation is for every one of us to be doing the works he did. Be blessed today and expect!

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”          Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled.    The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.    But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus. (Luke 6:1-11)

There are some who take offense at the move of the Holy Spirit and the miracles of God. They immediately reject what God is doing when the Spirit moves in ways not specifically seen in the Bible, or when He moves in ways that do not fit an individual’s theology, or when he moves at all. That individual would admit that God once worked in those ways but would assert that God no longer does such things. Each of these individuals would claim scriptural authority for his or her view. How we approach scripture makes a huge difference in our faith. Luke’s account is instructive in our approach to scripture.

The Pharisees were great students of the Torah. They had memorized most, if not all, of the Old Testament – certainly the first five books. They spent their days dissecting and debating the texts, trying to determine all things lawful and unlawful. They viewed scripture as a rulebook. Their approach was simply to determine what was permitted and what was prohibited in life and assign every nuance of life to one of those categories. When there was an infraction, their job was to throw and flag and assess a penalty.

The Torah said that man should do no work on the Sabbath. God, however, deleted the footnote that defined what constituted “work.” So the Pharisees and other religious leaders took on the task of defining the word for Him. Their scholars produced a definitive list of activities that constituted work and over time their definitions carried as much weight as scripture. Of the hundreds of activities prohibited, harvesting grain and healing on the Sabbath made the “prohibited” list. Jesus violated the list! In their minds, that marked Jesus as a sinner.

That would have been an easy label to hang on Jesus except for the fact that he performed numerous certifiable miracles that were far beyond the reach of any ordinary man. In fact, they seemed to be the marks of a true prophet in the order of Elijah or Elisha. But, by their definition of sin, Jesus was a sinner. So they simply declared his miracles to be works of the devil designed to deceive.

Their mistake was in their view of scripture. They knew the two greatest commandments: Love God and love your neighbor. What they didn’t understand was that God’s love had to be reflected in the interpretation of the scriptures. What they didn’t understand was that God was revealing himself in the scriptures as not only a holy God, but also a loving and merciful God who wanted to show them his goodness and kindness at every turn.

Even on Sinai, as God was giving the Law, Moses asked to see God’s glory. The Lord replied that he would cause all of his “goodness” to pass in front of Moses and that he would proclaim his name to the prophet (Ex.33:19). The first thing God wanted to reveal was his goodness so that the Law would be understood through that filter. The “Thou shalt not’s” of the Law were not laws to restrict the blessings or even the freedom of man, but rather warning signs to avoid danger. They were safety signs and doors to blessings from a loving God rather than a set of rules from a harsh judge.

Jesus, who came to show us the Father, understood that. When man was hungry, even on the Sabbath, God blessed him to find food. When a man was crippled, even on the Sabbath, God healed the man. Both of those acts reveal the nature and goodness of God. The Pharisees thought that man was made to serve the Law and the Sabbath. Jesus showed us that the Sabbath and the Law were made to serve man. How much more are the gospel and the New Covenant made to serve and bless us?

When someone today objects to miraculous moves of the Spirit, they end up objecting to men and women being healed, tormenting spirits being cast out of suffering individuals, the dead being raised, the blind receiving their sight and so forth.   If you ask them why they object, they will refer to scripture and argue that in the last days there will be counterfeit miracles and that God no longer operates in that way. My response would be, “So God no longer cares about the suffering of people enough to act supernaturally on their behalf? What about the goodness of God?” They might say that they don’t see the Spirit falling on people in scripture and making them laugh or cry or fall backwards and lie on the ground and convulse for hours. When Jesus came he acted in ways that Pharisees had never seen before. He associated with sinners, let harlots rub perfume on his feet, touched unclean lepers, walked on water, commanded storms, returned sanity to the demonized, and raised the dead over and over.

He then gave the same power and authority to others and declared that anyone who had faith in him would do even greater things. I’m certain that if the Pharisees had seen him walk on water or command storms they would have branded him a sorcerer. Why? Because they didn’t have a clear command or precedent in the Torah for such things. He was acting in new ways, just as the Spirit is acting in new ways today.

Does that mean anything goes? No, it doesn’t. We must still test the spirits. We need to ask if something actually violates a clear scripture (rather than a “reasoned argument” from men) or if it violates the nature of God and the Spirit of Christ. Healing does not violate the spirit of Christ, but opposing healing does. The Spirit falling on men with power does not violate scripture or the nature of God but denying the power of the Spirit does. Miracles of all kinds do not violate scripture or the nature of God, but assigning those miracles to demonic activity does.

Unfortunately, we still have the spirit of the Pharisees operating through men in our churches today. For the sake of their reasoned understanding of scripture, these men would forbid healing services, would be outraged if someone commanded the dead to rise at a funeral home, and would never allow anyone to minister deliverance to a member of their congregation.

Do they know that Jesus is Lord? Probably. Do they know Jesus? Probably not. When we approach scripture, we should see it through the lens of God’s goodness and his relentless desire to bless people rather than a rulebook that looks to penalize every infraction. We need to enjoy God and expect expressions of his goodness and power as we go through the day. Those who walked with Jesus, experienced that day by day and we walk with him now! So enjoy.

A few days ago, France was rocked by multiple terrorist attacks from ISIS. At last count, over 125 individuals were killed. Other nations were targeted as well with devastating results. In all likelihood, the U.S. can expect the same in the near future. As we watch the news about ISIS, massive earthquakes and other natural disasters, it feels as if the earth is toppling, staggering and shaking. The writer of Hebrews speaks about a “shaking.”

At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. (Heb.12:26-28)

In times of tumult, we must learn to hold on to what is unshakeable. In the Hebrew passage, the writer is referring to the moment when God descended on Sinai to meet with Israel and give them his law. His voice was so powerful that it shook the earth and terrified God’s people who thought they would die if they heard any more of it. God says that another time will come when he will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. I believe he is speaking of governments and nations when he speaks of the earth and of spiritual powers (demonic) when he shakes the heavens.

As believers we are to anticipate these “shake ups.” Since God is the cause of the shaking we can be confident that he is totally aware of his people and their needs in the midst of the turmoil. It’s not that we won’t feel the effects. In an earthquake, everyone experiences the vibrations. In this time of shaking, there will be natural disasters, governments falling, and turmoil in the spiritual realm. Is it the end of time? I can’t be certain, but I don’t think it is immediate.
Rather, I believe God is sifting and reconfiguring the earth and the spiritual realm for the benefit of the gospel. The key is to hold onto what is unshakeable and that is the kingdom of God. As we move further into this season, believers must drill down and anchor themselves in Jesus.

Again, the writer of Hebrews tells us, “We who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (Heb.6:18-20).

Jesus has entered into the presence of the Father to intercede for us. He knows what the shaking is all about and where everyone of his “brethren” are located. If God is reconfiguring nations and shaking demonic strongholds, we need to pray into that process, asking God to open doors for the gospel, to exalt the name of Jesus in the earth, and to weaken the hold of the enemy over nations and individuals.

We need to be connected to other people of faith who will be praying with us. We need to spend more time in the written word and more time with the Word of God – Jesus. We need to find promises to stand on and to ask for unshakeable faith and courage to acknowledge Jesus in these days.

This issue with Islam will not be solved by politics, money, or even war. It is spiritual at its root. It is a spirit of Anti-Christ, death, and perversion – perhaps, even the prince of Persia spoken of in the book of Daniel (chapters 9-10).  Those spirits must be attacked by the divine weapons of prayer, love, truth, and the power that rests in the name of Jesus. F-14’s and smart bombs may push back the move of Islam but will not stamp it out. The kingdom of God is the only antidote and that kingdom must be established in the hearts of men.

As awful as terrorism is, each atrocity makes Islam less palatable to many. As they reject or, at least, doubt the tenants of their faith a spiritual; vacuum will form. We need to fill that vacuum with the gospel or something even worse than what we are seeing may take up residence in those people and nations. We need wisdom from above to navigate these waters and to know how to love our enemies even as we try to protect the world from them. This is not the time to bunker in and hide from the enemy, but is a time for the church to stand up and proclaim the saving and powerful name of Jesus. We can do that in prayer, over coffee, and publically whenever we have the opportunity. Again, light always shines brightest in the darkness.

Be blessed today and know that Jesus is unshakeable. When we hold tightly to him, we also will not be shaken.

Waiting is hard…especially, in a microwave world. Everything moves so fast. The entire world seems to change over night. Everything is microchipped and accelerated. We want faster foods, faster computers, and faster planes, faster weight loss…you name it. But in the spiritual realm, God does not measure progress by time but rather by growth. Waiting on God is hard, especially when his timetable does not match ours at all. Sometimes God is waiting on us while we are waiting on him.

I’m reminded of both Joseph and David. Both received amazing prophecies when they were young. Joseph got his in the form of prophetic dreams in which he saw his family bowing down to him. David received his when the prophet Samuel showed up, anointed him with oil, and declared that he would be king over Israel. My guess is that both young men anticipated the fulfillment of those prophecies within months of the moment they received them. Not only did they expect God to establish them in those prophetic roles, but also that their circumstances would soon begin to line up with their declared destinies.

Joseph, however, did not find his family as excited about his dreams as he was. Eventually, the arrogance of the young man stirred up resentment and even hatred among his older brothers. In response, they faked his death and sold him into slavery. He ended up not only far from home in Egypt, but in prison after false charges were lodged against him. Now, not only were months slipping by but years escaped him and the dreams that once excited him seemed impossible.

David’s prophecy seemed more likely in the beginning. He distinguished himself against Goliath and entered into King Saul’s service where, it seemed, he would learn the ropes of governing a nation. Everyone who knew the prophecy could see that he might be “interning” for his future role. But the better he served Saul, the more Saul felt threatened. David quickly lost his internship and became a wanted outlaw hiding in the deserts of Palestine. Many scholars estimate that David dodged Saul and his attempts to kill the young man for nearly eight years.   Not only were the years slipping by, but events looked as if the prophecy of Samuel had missed the mark by a mile. Even David thought, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines” (1 Sam.27:1).

I am certain that both Joseph and David began to seriously doubt that the prophecies about them would ever come to pass. Years slipped by and events seemed to hold no promise for their fulfillment. In fact, both men surely quit thinking about the prophecies altogether and simply focused on surviving the day – Joseph in an Egyptian prison and David in caves in the desert.

So why the turn of events? Why the delay and the hardships? All I can say is that they were in training…not so much in skills but in their hearts. Both had destinies to lead nations. They each needed to be part of a maturing process in character, faith, and perspectives. Humility – dependence on God – had to be first and foremost coupled with the trust that only comes from experiencing God in hard times.

David continued to learn of God’s provision and protection in the midst of battles and finding provision in the wilderness. Joseph learned the same things in the dark nights of a foreign prison where life was always tenuous. Both learned not to judge what God was doing by sight, but rather to live by faith and to know that God’s promises stand regardless of present circumstances. Both, in a miraculous turn of events became leaders over nations.

Saul was the antithesis of these two men. Israel shouted for a king and Saul was crowned in weeks instead of years. He began well but when the pressure was on, his faith faded quickly. He was political, insecure, and treacherous. All of those qualities clearly point to a lack of faith in God to sustain his throne and to give him victories.

In 1 Samuel 13, we are told of a time when the Philistines were gathering troops to attack Israel. Samuel told Saul not to go into battle but to wait at Gilgal for seven days, until he (Samuel) came and offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord who would then lead them to victory. On the seventh day, Samuel had not arrived. Saul’s troops were “quaking with fear” and were beginning to scatter. Saul then took it on himself to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, although he was not a priest. As soon as the smoke cleared the altar, Samuel arrived and rebuked him for his disobedience and lack of faith. Saul’s men were afraid because their leader was afraid. They had no faith that God would give them the victory because their king had no faith. Samuel declared that day, that God had taken Saul’s kingdom from him.

Saul became king before his heart was tested and this character was established. He did not go through the process of waiting and maturing, so he stewarded the blessing he received as an insecure, impetuous child. The blessings were then lost. Waiting on our prayers and dreams is hard, but if we embrace the process, God will train our hearts so that when the blessings come and the promises and prophecies are fulfilled, we will be able to steward them well. Growth is the goal. We feel the pressure of time, but God marks our days by growth not by the calendar.

When dreams you have offered up in prayers go unanswered, the answer may not be “No,” but simply “Not yet.” If the desire is a godly desire and it remains in your heart, continue to pray but be willing to wait and while you wait, invite God to work in you and cooperate with the work. Be sure that the desire hasn’t become an idol in which you are placing your trust for happiness and significance, but that you constantly affirm that God is your source. God can only entrust us with dreams we hold loosely, otherwise our faith will be in the dream rather than in him.

Be blessed today and do not despise the process and the circumstances that seem to point away from answered prayer. You are in training. Those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.