I prayed with a godly man last night who has struggled with a personal sin for years. He has a few weeks in which he feels that he finally has victory over the sin but then it rushes back in, along with the shame he feels for not living up to God’s standards. We talked about the dynamic of a wound producing a desire to medicate our feelings of failure, unworthiness and shame which leads to a sin that medicates for a moment which then leads to more shame which then leads to a greater desire to medicate and so on. The biblical balance is to receive conviction from the Spirit regarding our sins but not condemnation.

Bill Johnson has a good word on short-circuiting this cycle of sin in his book, Strengthen Yourself in the Lord. “Focusing on our problems more than God’s answers should be a dead giveaway that we’re really dealing with condemnation not the Holy Spirit’s conviction. Focus on God’s answers – not your problems. When the Holy Spirit shows us where we are falling short, the bigger reality is not the area where we are not yet walking in our destiny, but the destiny itself. So many of us read the verse that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Rom.3:23) and focus more on the fact that all have fallen short than the fact that we are destined for glory! The conviction of the Holy Spirit is actually a call to turn our focus away from our sin and our limitations. He is saying, ‘Your made for more than this. Lift your head and set your sights higher’” (p.136-137).

Focusing on our sin does the devil’s work of creating an even greater sense of shame and failure in us than existed before. That focus waters a seed that suggests that God is already disgusted with us so that we don’t turn to him for comfort but to “medications” in the world’s medicine chest – alcohol, drugs, power, pornography, sex-based relationships, etc.   The Holy Spirit wants us to acknowledge the sin, agree with God about it, and then lay it at the foot of the cross and move on with our eyes reset on the goal.

Agreeing with God about who we are in Christ and his father’s heart for us is a greater deterrent to sin than any shame or “beat yourself up” session. Keeping our eyes on our destiny is he key. Paul said, “Forgetting those things that are behind, I press forward…” That is good council. In the 11^th chapter of the book of Judges, the king of the Ammonites sent word to Jephthah that he was going to wage war against Israel if Israel did not return the land they had taken from his ancestors. In response, Jephthah recounted the history of Israel and how God had given them that land and decreed that it belonged to Israel. After recounting the history and the promises of God, he declared, “Whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess” (Jud.11:24).

That is a good word for us as well. God has promised us a destiny of victory and glory in Christ and we should possess (hold on to, defend) that future by faith, not allowing the enemy to take back what has been given to us. That is the vision that should possess us, rather than a vision of past failures. God’s mercies are new every morning. No matter what happened yesterday, in Christ today can begin with a clean slate.

Paul was enamored with sporting events. He often used the analogy of runners preparing for a race and fixing their eyes on the goal. Most of us just finished watching two weeks of Summer Olympics events. When each runner stood at the starting blocks seconds before the race, gazing down the track, I assure you that the winner was imagining a perfect race in which he crossed the finish line first. He was recounting past victories rather than brooding over past losses. Any runner who was focusing on past losses, false starts, or disappointing times did not run that race well. In the same way, we need to spend time imagining our victories in Christ, the glory that is ours and will be ours, the strength that God provides, and the victory that is promised in Jesus rather than yesterday’s failures.

Fixating on our failures is coming into agreement with the enemy who wants is to define ourselves by our shortcomings. Fixating on ultimate victory is coming into agreement with God because that is his promise. Fixating on past failures is “illegal” for believers, because in Christ those past failures don’t exist. There is no record in heaven of our sins and our testimony of failure has no evidence to back it up. Lay it aside. Get on with the race.

In Nehemiah 8, Ezra read the Law to the people of Jerusalem after the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt. As the Law was read, the people began to weep for their sins. But the text says, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh.8:10).

Weeping for our sins has its place, but it must quickly be replaced by joy. The joy of the Lord is ours when we come into agreement with him about his immense love for us, his quick and eager forgiveness, and his promises that point us to our destiny. This mindset is a great weapon in spiritual warfare.  God is always joyful toward us because he knows the end from the beginning and sees us as we will be, not as we are. Sharing the Lord’s view of me, imagining my destiny in Christ, and fixing my thoughts on him open up that joy to me and become a greater comfort and encouragement than anything the world can offer. Meditating on God’s love for me, my eternal home with him, great victories over the enemy, and feeling the presence of God will release more endorphins than any drug or pornographic display and the result will be joy rather than shame. Our goal is not to ignore sin but to simply deal with it quickly through the blood of Christ and refocus on his promises and our destiny. Try it. You’ll like it. Blessings in Him.

Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9)

[We buried two amazing Christian friends this past weekend who died tragically.  I believe God pointed me to this verse for my heart and, perhaps, for the hearts of others who are wounded by this loss.]

There are times when we have to choose to be strong and courageous. We have to choose it because the enemy has just knocked us down. The book of Joshua opens with the death of Moses. Think about the loss of that lone figure who faced down Pharaoh, led the nation of Israel through the Red Sea, stood on the mountain with God, pleaded for rebellious Israel when God would destroy them and start over, led them through the wilderness for forty years, brought water from the rock, and spoke face-to-face with God every day. For those who had been children when they left Egypt, he was the only leader they had ever known. He was such a figure and so esteemed by God that they must have felt that he was eternal, that he would never die. In fact, we are told that at the age of 120, “his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone” (Dt.34:7). And yet, he did die. The Israelites grieved for thirty days and then God told Joshua to get ready to take the land he had promised to them.

We often think of these great men and women of the Bible as superheroes, full of resolve and never doubting, but they were flesh and blood just like us. They had their weaknesses, their doubts, their moments of failure, and fear just like we do. Suddenly, Joshua must have felt the weight of leadership like never before. Up to that moment, he simply carried out orders that came from the lips of Moses. It was Moses who had to hear from God. Now he had to hear correctly. Would the people accept him as their leader? Now he had to lead, knowing that not everyone would cast their vote for him if it were decided by election. There had always been  opponents of Moses, how much more might they oppose him? And then there was the enemy across the river. They still had to face warring people with fortified cities. The Nephilim were still in the land. Israel was still no nation of military might and strategy. They were mostly nomads who had wandered the wilderness for forty years until they buried their parents. Very few had any experience in warfare.

Three times, in these three verses, God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous. The reason was simple – God would be with him and God was determined that his people would inherit the land God had promised to Abraham and to them. Joshua had many reasons to doubt his calling, to doubt his leadership, and, perhaps, to doubt that he was even hearing from God. I know there must have been moments when he had to engage his will to believe, to be strong and courageous, and to take the land God had promised. Undoubtedly, Satan was not absent from those moments. He had been in the camp since Israel left Egypt sowing fear and discord, golden calves, and rebellion. Surely he was there when Joshua was given his commission planting doubt and accusation in his mind.

There are always two trees in our garden. One is the Tree of Life, which we access by faith; the other is the tree of death that bears the fruit of Satan’s lies. We have to choose which tree we will tend and from which tree we will eat. God called Joshua to feed on his word and his commandments for life flows from those. God called Joshua to meditate on his promises and on the purposes that God had established for his people. He called on Joshua to meditate on the very nature of God and who God had been for his people for forty years.

From that focus comes strength and courage. If you think about it, the odds of success were the same for Israel crossing the Jordan this time, as they were when Israel balked at crossing the river forty years earlier. Reason would say they were still out-manned and out-gunned. Faith said that the same God, who broke the back of Pharaoh, would do the same with the enemies of Israel that occupied their land.

God always defies human reason. Faith grabs hold of that and even when the enemy gets a punch in, the strong and courageous get back on their feet with an assurance that one punch does not settle the fight. They get back on their feet with a determination to finish the task that God has given them because he had promised to never leave them or forsake them and to give them victory in the end.

God’s call on our lives seems light and bright when everything is going our way, meeting our expectations, and making sense to us. But there will be times when the enemy gets in a punch and, perhaps, even knocks us to the canvas gasping for air.   If we are shaken by the experience of that blow getting by our defenses, believe that God has forsaken us, or that the enemy is too strong, we will certainly loose. If we rise up, however, more determined than ever to believe God for the victory he has promised and to hit back even harder, then we will lead our people to inherit the land God has promised them. We will fulfill our commission.

Some days, in the face of disappointment, loss, tragedy, weariness, and uncertainty there is a part of us that feels defeated and, perhaps, even wants to give up. We, like Elijah, just want to run and hide. That is when we must hear God’s whisper, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous… Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” So, whatever you are facing or feeling today, decide to be strong and courageous for he is surely with us. Catch your breath, feed on the Tree of Life, soak in the Word, bathe your heart in praise, and rise up more determined that ever to push ahead. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Having an internal frame of reference means that in any given situation we do not take our truth from external circumstances. The world always gives us negative information. We ask the Father for his perspective. We never ask, “Why?” It is the wrong question. It is an invalid question that makes us invalid. It is a victim question, and the Father never makes us victims. He trains us to fight, to overcome, and to be more than conquerors in Christ. If the Father has never been overwhelmed, and Jesus is undefeated, then the Holy Spirit can only lead us in triumph (Graham Cooke, Manifesting Your Spirit, p. 12, Brilliant Book House).

That’s a good word from Mr. Cooke. Think about it. If we are in Christ and he is in us, then we never need to be in any position other than the one Jesus is in in any situation. Instead, we often view ourselves as separated from Christ and all alone in our dilemmas. We feel as if he has withdrawn and left us to fend for ourselves. We then feel helpless and slip into Satan’s trap of feeling like victims. As soon as we take on the identity of a victim, we deny every scripture that declares God’s care for us and his promise that he will never leave us or forsake us.

As Cooke stated above, the question is not “Why?” but rather, “What do you want me to discover in this circumstance?” David had plenty of opportunity to ask “Why?” when he spent s years in the wilderness running from Saul. After all, he had been anointed by Samuel to be king over Israel and God had already announced that he was removing Saul’s throne, so why was Saul still king and trying desperately to take David’s life? It would have been easy for David to believe that God had gone back on his promises or that Samuel had given a prophetic word in error. There are, in fact, moments in scripture where David did feel those things but he quickly found his way back to faith and the promises of God – back to an internal perspective.

We often feel abandoned and victimized because God does not give us quick or clear answers to our prayers or because he answered them in ways that we did not outline for him. Certainly, David’s prayers immediately after his anointing by Samuel were not for God to place his life in peril and to allow him to live in caves for seven years. And yet, God had great purposes in the delay. Saul was given his kingship almost overnight. Solomon said that the earth shutters when a slave becomes king. I believe what he meant by that is that when someone suddenly becomes king who has not been trained in leadership, who has not been trained to wear power well, or whose heart has not been trained to follow God’s leading, then trouble is in the cards for everyone.

Saul was quickly made king because he looked presidential. He had the appearance of a leader but not the character. As the pressures of the office mounted he became insanely insecure. He operated out of fear rather than faith and was often disobedient to clear directions from the Lord.

David, however, learned to depend totally on God in his wilderness years. He learned to lead men by sacrifice and love rather than by threats. He discovered that God was present in every circumstance and had a solution already prepared for every problem. He learned humility and trust and the value of keeping God’s directives even when they seemed to put you at a disadvantage. On several occasions David could have easily taken Saul’s life and no one would have blamed him. David, however, refused because he had learned that the throne had to be given by God, not taken by his own cunning. The delay, the cold nights, the threatening circumstances, the years that passed, the multiple rescues from Saul’s hand, provision in the wilderness, etc. all trained David’s heart to be king. In fact, it trained David to be “a man after God’s own heart.”

Faith is an internal perspective that sees present circumstances through the promises of God. It does not receive the condemnation of the world or the hopeless reports of those who do not know Jesus. It is never hopeless because Christ is our hope. It does not despair because even if physical life slips away, eternal life is waiting for us. Even if we die, when we die in faith we have run our race and won a crown. We are in Christ and he is in us.

Paul declares that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8), therefore, we are never separate from his love. We are never victims. We are only conquerors waiting to see the victory God has planned come to pass. Never ask “Why?” but ask “What do you have for me in this circumstance?” There are no losers in Christ, but only winners if we know what and who is ours. Blessings in the one who never makes his children victims.

I don’t know about you, but when I became a Christian, I had a subtle belief (whether taught or assumed I don’t know) that Jesus would deliver me from all my troubles…before the troubles began.   I assumed that he would bless me with abundance and make the road of my life smooth – no detours, no potholes, no icy pavement, no carjackers. Now I know that my assumption was wrong and it really only takes a little biblical reflection to know that.

First of all, Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (Jn.16:33). In the context, Jesus was telling his little band of followers (and us) that we will have trouble in this world – so that when it comes we should not be confused. But he also promises victory in that conflict. Think about it. Can you recall any major character in scripture whose life was not marked by battles and crises? It is the nature of living in a fallen world and of living in enemy territory.

I remember reading a book back in my college days entitled, “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. Frankl was a World War II Nazi death camp survivor. In his book he talked about the brutal environment of the camp – bitter cold, torture, starvation, and the constant threat of random execution. He also talked about the difference in those who eventually survived and those who didn’t. Frankl’s conclusion was that those prisoners who could find no meaning in their suffering did not survive. The idea of senseless suffering could only engender hopelessness and a sense of futility in lasting another day. Those who found some meaning in their suffering, could face another day and another, because they believed that something significant would come from their endurance.

Christians need to have some sense of meaning for the struggles they endure on earth as well. I have seen far too many Christians marked by hopelessness and despair when one of life’s ahrd seasons was prolonged. Of all people, we should be filled with hope and optimism eved in dark hours. I like how Graham Cooke gives meaning to all struggles at every level in the life of believers. Depending on what you are facing at the moment, his perspective might be helpful for you.

“Champions have a view of God that sets them apart in their day. They understand that all crises are part of a process that God has set in motion. They are not overwhelmed by the event because they are aware of the process that God is developing around them to train, equip, and empower them in his name. The process is always about our development into the place the Father has set aside for us in Christ. Through all the ups and downs of our life’s journey, when we commit ourselves to the process of God, we grow up in all things in Christ. Immature people only focus on the crisis itself, not the bigger picture of their own development….Process is where we discover God at work in our lives. It is where we submit to the work of his hands. Process is everything. There is no growth or maturity without it. If we do not submit to the process, the enemy will not submit to us. The process is the foundation for our obedience which results in our authority. There is no authority outside of our submission” (Graham Cooke, Qualities of a Spiritual Warrior, p.126).

Cooke’s point is not that God sends trouble our way, but that he uses the tribulations of the world to do two things: (1) Shape us into an accurate representation of Christ on the earth, and (2) help us discover who God is for us. When we submit to the work that God is doing on our faith and character and discover God’s provision and his character in every obstacle of life, we become more than conquerors. When crisis comes, our response should be to find God’s meaning in our struggle which then gives perfect meaning to the hardship. God never wastes an experience. The only question is whether or not we will waste it.

Believe me, I know this is not what you want to hear if you are in the midst of a painful season. In those seasons we just want out…now! And I am not saying we should gleefully bounce through every hardship as if suffering isn’t real. It is. But finding God’s purposes enables us to grow through the crisis rather than just enduring it. Remember the promise, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom.8:28-29).

Again, God doesn’t send the troubles but when they come he uses them to perfect his people and to make them more like Christ. As we become more like him, our love increases, our peace increases, and our joy increases which is what all of us want anyway. Most of us want that in pill form rather than having to work for it, but is doesn’t come that way. So whatever your struggle is today, ask God to show you his hand and his purposes for you in this season. Finding meaning in your suffering redeems it and gives it value and that makes all the difference. Blessings today in whatever season you are walking through.

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev.3:14-20)

The church at Laodicea is famous for the rebuke they received from Jesus rather than any praise. The church is mentioned several times in Paul’s letter to the church in Colosse. He mentioned how hard he had been working to establish the church in Laodicea and how much prayer he and others had been pouring into that church. Apparently he had great hopes for it. By the time John penned the Revelation he received from Jesus, Paul has been martyred for the faith and the church at Laodicea has slipped to a dangerous place.

Laodicea was a town famous for wealth and commerce in a region that produced medicines, including eye salves, along with wool for clothing. They were also famous for hot springs and fresh cold springs in the region that people travelled to for therapeutic reasons. Apparently the church there had prospered rather than being persecuted. Jesus does not mention any false teachers or persecution from the Jews or Romans. The church there had simply settled in to the good life and had stopped doing the works of God.

They considered themselves rich and in need of nothing which, biblically, is a very dangerous place to be. Apparently, their contentment and prosperity had taken the spiritual edge off their lives. Undoubtedly their prayer life was withering, their evangelism was probably aimed at the other prosperous citizens of Laodicea with whom they did business, and it’s possible that the poor had completely dropped off their radar because they didn’t live in “that part of town” anymore. Sometimes wealthy Christians and churches cocoon themselves off from poverty and suffering and take pride in great music, facilities and programs that rarely if ever touch the poor, the outcasts or the lost.

Jesus warned them that their worldly contentment made them of no use in the kingdom of God. Cold water and hot water both had therapeutic uses but lukewarm water had no healing properties so Jesus said he would spit it out on the ground. As believers we are to be salt and light for this world. We are to provide healing for the hurting and reconciliation for the alienated. Laodicea got not honorable mention for being any of that.

The church in Laodicea undoubted took their prosperity as a sign of God’s approval when, in fact, it was just the opposite. Jesus declared that, from the walls of heaven, those at Laodicea appeared poor, naked, miserable and blind. Jesus counseled them to reconsider their hearts and their position and to do business with him once again rather than the world. He counseled them to seek treasures in heaven where true and eternal riches could be stored up rather than pursuing what the world valued.

The most sobering part of this letter is the revelation that their self-sufficiency and prosperity had pushed Jesus out of their church. He was on the outside, knocking at the door, and seeking fellowship with them again. Their hearts had become misaligned with his and they were no longer walking together. This letter is not an indictment of prosperity because prosperity can fund the works of the kingdom but it is a warning that prosperity can give us a false sense of security and a false sense of God’s approval.

In the oil rich Permian Basin right now, many people are making more money than they ever imagined but in many churches giving has gone down, non-profits are not seeing their donations soar, and many believers are rarely seen on Sunday mornings because of work or travel. The prosperity God has provided seems to be flowing away from the kingdom rather than toward it. That is certainly not true for all but is apparently true for many.

One of the dangers of prosperity is that it forces believers to do business with the world and in doing so often promotes compromise and unequal yoking for the sake of business. Eventually, Jesus can be crowded out of our hearts by the priorities of the world and worldly thinking. Wise believers who are being blessed financially have to guard against those things. All of us need to listen carefully to make sure there is not a knock on our door because Jesus has found himself on the outside of our lives. If you hear it, open it quickly and let him back in. Ultimately, he is the only business partner you will ever need.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (Jn.10:10)

For many followers of Jesus this is a familiar passage and yet the two parts are often quoted separately as stand alone passages. We quote one to characterize the devil. Then we quote the other to talk about the great life Jesus wants us to have. But the power is in the contrast between the two and it was the contrast that Jesus wanted to emphasize.

The nature of the enemy is to rob you of every good thing the Lord has purposed for you. His goal is to take away what is rightfully yours, to destroy what he can’t take, and to take your life if he is able. There is no mercy from the kingdom of darkness and there is no good will of any kind. Anything that comes from the enemy that tastes sweet is simply a chocolate covering for the poison pill inside. Anything that comes from the devil that feels like a blessing is simply bait to get you to step further into his trap so that when he springs the trap there is no escape. That’s what he does; that’s who he is. We need to know that because too many of us think we can bargain with him or play on his playground without consequence.

On the other hand we have Jesus. This scripture is in the context of the Good Shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep. In the midst of that dialogue he tells us that he came so that we might have life and have it abundantly or have it to the full. The word in the original language means superabundant, excessive, over-the-top, so much more than you need, etc. Notice that the enemy is in it totally for himself, for personal power, and for personal revenge. Jesus is in it totally for you and so totally that he died so that you might inherit everything that was his – so that you might live in super-abundance.

That’s great news but most of us don’t feel as if we are living a superabundant, excessive, over-the-top life. There are at least two reasons for that. First of all we hunger after things that have no value in heaven. They are temporary and inferior to everything in the heavenly realm. If we measure abundance by cars, homes, vacations, possessions, power, etc. then we are measuring abundance by the things thrown out in the streets in heaven. Jesus came that we might have true riches – love, acceptance, peace, purpose, his Spirit, communion with the Father, power and authority from on high given to us to invest so that others might also have an abundant life in Christ.

Abundance comes through a state of heavenly blessing resting on us. That blessedness does not come through out achievements but by the grace of God for those whose hope is in Jesus. Remember the beatitudes – blessed are the poor in spirit, the pure in heart, those who mourn, those who are merciful, those who make peace, etc. In the natural realm those qualities are a formula for poverty not abundance. But in the kingdom of heaven they bring favor, peace and a joy that surpasses anything the world can offer. In that state we also are entrusted with spiritual riches, gifts of the Spirit, communion with the Father, his presence and his protection.

The second reason we don’t experience abundance is that we don’t expect it or have faith for it. We continually fall into the trap of believing that God’s blessings are only for those who deserve them – the super-spiritual get the super-abundance. But that is not the nature of God or the kingdom of heaven. Jesus has purchased the abundant life for every believer not just for the over-achievers. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t strive to live for Jesus in extraordinary ways, but the abundant life is what helps us achieve that lofty goal. God is not holding out, he is simply holding on to the riches of heaven until we desire what he has to offer and know that those things, like salvation, come by grace.

If we think money, homes, cars, dream vacations, fame and influence are the abundant life then why do those who have such things line up for rehab centers, live on anti-depressants, and go through marriages like teenagers through pizza? Satan sells snake oil. He promises that all the things above will satisfy your soul once you get them by any means necessary. But that million-dollar feeling that comes from what is temporary by nature is itself temporary and in the morning the pursuit begins all over again.

Jesus offers his abundance for free and his abundance doesn’t leave you thirsty or hungry in the morning. Isn’t what he offers worth pursuing? We begin by giving up our pursuit of worldly things.   Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be given to you. We begin by rethinking what we really want. What every man really wants is love, significance, peace and purpose. We think the things of the world will eventually get us what we truly want and so we pursue while Jesus asks us to simply sit with him and he will give us those things freely. That is the abundant life.

I was reminded of a story I heard a number of years ago.  A man was leaving his city on a journey.  It was in the 1800’s, he wasn’t affluent, and so he was walking to his destination. Many people were walking on the same road and as he walked he noticed a man approaching in a robe and a hood.  Thinking that he might be a religious man he greeted him and asked him about his business in the city where this man had lived for many years.  The hooded figure replied, “ I am Death and I am going to claim those whose days have been fulfilled.  Don’t be alarmed; you’re not on my list. ”  Regardless, the man quickly disengaged from the conversation and went on his way.   Four days later he was returning and encountered Death on his way out.  The city cemetery was just outside the city walls and he noticed dozens of families standing around fresh graves mourning their losses.  The man spoke to Death and said, “How does it feel to know you are responsible for the sorrow of so many?” Death replied, “It’s what I do.  But actually, I only claimed a few of those.  Worry and fear took the rest.”

Jesus spoke to his disciples about worry.  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes” (Mt.6:25)?  Jesus then went on to say, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Mt. 6:33-34).

Most of us agree with the principle Jesus taught but follow up our agreement with the thought,  “Easier said than done!”  Nearly all of us are prone to worry regardless of our commitment to cease worrying.  In fact, the more we focus on not worrying, the more we worry.  We fall into Paul’s dilemma of doing the things we hate.  So how do we escape lying in bed at night or early in the morning and worrying about the meeting, the bills, our health, our children, and so forth.  Thankfully, Jesus offers a practical approach at the end of his teaching on worry.  There he counsels us to seek first the kingdom of God.

The implication is that we can derail the worry train by shifting our focus from the stuff we are worrying about to greater things that have far greater implications. Think about the things of God, eternal things, life-changing things that he allows us to participate it.  If you are worrying about something that you can actually do something about then do it – with the Lord at your side.  But most of us worry about things we know we cannot affect. In those moments think about bigger things until those thoughts produce prayer and prayer produces peace.

Bigger things, kingdom things remind us of how big our God is and should remind us of how much he loves us. A true recognition of a Father’s power and greatness along with his immense love for us should calm much of our worry.  In addition, one of the “fruits of the Spirit” is peace which the Holy Spirit is able to release when we enter into prayer. Jesus was clear that worry cannot increase our days although in certainly has the capacity to decrease our days.  So Jesus tells us to reflect on how the Father provides for things that have much less value than we do and to reflect on the big goals of the kingdom in which you are involved or can be involved. Seek first the kingdom.

Worry is about perspective.  How big is the issue really?  How much difference will it make a hundred years from now in your life?  What is too big for God and why would I think that he would not involve himself in my struggles when I ask? God’s faithfulness, God’s love, God’s power, God’s priorities – those are the things to think about when worry seeps up in the midst of the night. Worry is fear and fear is not faith so think on things that build your faith.  That is the solution to worry.  So… be blessed and don’t worry!

Some individuals question the value of prophetic gifts in the body of Christ today.  Much of their  questioning comes from a mistaken view of prophetic gifts in the New Testament compared to the prophetic office of the Old Testament.  The prophets presented on the pages of the O.T. were functioning in the office of prophet who prophesied to the nation on behalf of God.   They spoke to kings and called the nation to action.  The O.T. clearly says that these men were held to account and that every word they spoke must come true if they were to serve as a prophet.  God only selected a few of these men for the office.

In the New Testament, however, prophetic gifts differ from the office of prophet and are given to many to build up the body of Christ rather than to command a nation or a king.   Paul tells us in his discussion of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 12-14, that the gift is given for the common good and is to be used to strengthen, comfort, and encourage the body.  It is a gift that must be developed and learned to be used with skill just as a teacher, an evangelist, a preacher or a musician who is clearly gifted must also grow in their gift before they reach their full potential and effectiveness.  Because of that prophecies are to be tested as prophets learn to hear the Lord and understand what he is downloading in them.

Although the gift of prophecy is not always fully developed it still has great power in the lives of God’s people and the more it is developed the more powerful it is.  I want to share with you what Graham Cooke says about the power of a prophetic word to impact God’s people in life-giving ways:

“The Father lives with us and occupies the space between the potential we have and the actual that He views in our future. A prophecy is spoken from the future back to the present. That does not yet make it real or substantial. Free will is involved. Prophecy relates to the possibility, not the inevitability, of fulfillment because the will of the individual/group has to be engaged in cooperation with the Lord in order for the word to come to pass…Sometimes people are trapped into reliving or reenacting their past….Prophetic ministry needs to enter that place gently, lovingly, and firmly to extricate the individual from a present/past lifestyle…The best way to extricate people from the past is first to show them the future. Everyone has to have something to reach out for in life…The prophetic must put us in mind of a future time in regard to our present. When our mind is able to cover the ground between our present and our future, then we are free to move on in the things of God. ‘Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?” (Isa.43:18-19)…When  people have been damaged, it is the future that can release then from the past.” (Graham Cooke, Approaching the Heart of Prophecy, p.114-115)

I have seen people lifted from the past and set on a new path on many occasions by a prophetic word.  The moment began with a word of knowledge revealed to the prophet by the Spirit.  It is a word about the past life of the individual that the prophet could have only known through a revelation from the Spirit. I can only believe his word about the future if he demonstrates supernatural knowledge about my past.  But the power of the moment is not in the prophet.

The power of the moment is found in the realization that God has been intimately involved in my life, even in those hurtful moments when I thought he was paying no attention at all to my pain.  His heart of concern and compassion about my pain is communicated through the prophet and his promise for the future releases me from the despair of believing  that my life is doomed to be as it has always been.  The word conveys the love of God for that person. The word breaths hope for the future into a tired and weary soul.  The word invites us into partnership with the creator of the universe to carve out a different future than I was expecting.  Prophecy is a true gift of God to his church and its truth resonates with the spirit of the person receiving it as the Spirit of God bears witness with his Spirit about what is being spoken.

If you have not done so, let me encourage you to embrace prophetic gifts.  They are not always on target or spoken well by those still learning.  But God will still speak to you through imperfect people in ways that he will confirm and that confirmation will fuel your soul for the future.  Be blessed today and ask God for a fresh word over your life.  You might even receive it from a prophet.

Late last night I was working on a revision of our Free Indeed manual that we use at Mid-Cities for our eight week study on Freedom in Christ and our weekend of healing and breaking the power of the enemy.  That’s the curriculum from which Born to Be Free was developed.  As I was going over the manual I was reminded how patient and subtle the enemy can be in getting us to compromise our faith so that we compromise our effectiveness and slowly quench the Spirit within us.

No doubt the enemy sometimes comes at us with a full frontal assault in an effort to overwhelm us.  When that happens we quickly recognize what is going on and call up the troops for prayer. Those can be exhausting moments or seasons but we usually draw closer to the Lord and become more aggressive in our faith in those seasons. Sometimes the more destructive strategies of the enemy simply are seasons of relative peace during which we drop our spiritual guard and become susceptible to his subtle influences.  Those not-so-noticeable influences can gradually accumulate in our lives and lead us to compromise in ways we barely notice.

Think about movies today. Most Christians feel pretty good about attending PG or PG13 movies today while drawing the line at the R rated flicks.  However, what is PG13 today was R rated or even X rated just a few years ago. Television has normalized partial nudity, bad language, violence, adultery, homosexual relationships, and so forth. When we see something everyday it becomes “the norm” and whatever is “normal” seems to take on an air of acceptability because it doesn’t shock us anymore. Satan is fine with taking twenty years to move us from a perspective of sin being repugnant to it being normal and then to “maybe it’s not all that wrong” and, finally, to acceptance or approval.

As believers we are prone to think that because we have become comfortable with sin or have become callous to it that the Holy Spirit has become comfortable with it as well.  Paul counsels us not to grieve or quench the Spirit within us.  Sin grieves the Spirit and our choices to ignore the conviction he brings us as we watch, read, or participate in things offensive to him tend to quench the Spirit within us.  Satan presents those things slowly but persistently so that we find the sin barely offensive.

It’s almost like an enemy putting a small piece of tainted meat in your stew.  As you eat it you notice that an occasional bite seems a little odd or distasteful but the rest seems fine so we eat away.  If we eat that stew everyday, we don’t even notice the subtly odd taste anymore. It becomes the “normal” taste of stew for us.  Then the enemy can increase the amount of tainted meet again.  After a year or two we may believe that there is nothing wrong with the stew because it tastes “normal” although by then 90% of the meat is tainted. Even when we find ourselves feeling sick every day we don’t think that the stew is the problem because it tastes “okay” to us. In fact, we may not even recognize that we are sick because the fatigue and body aches have become our norm as well.

Satan introduces sin and compromise in the same subtle ways.  There were times when Israel would go up on high places and worship idols (demons) and then immediately go down to worship Jehovah in the temple at Jerusalem.  After a while, Israel placed idols in the temple itself and worshipped both false gods and the one true God at the same time. My guess is that it took years of worshipping idols before it was comfortable or “normal” enough to set them in the temple of the living God.  The culture had become so full of idolatry that even the priests seemed to accept the presence of demon worship in God’s holy temple as somehow permissible. They fell into the trap of believing that if they were not offended then surely their God was not offended.   However, God was offended and eventually his presence left the temple altogether.

My question is, “What has subtly become the “norm” in my life or in my mind that has slowly taken on an air of acceptability to me that is in no way acceptable to God?  Ultimately, I believe the tainted meat the enemy introduces slowly into my life is more dangerous than the frontal assaults of the enemy.  May the Lord give me wisdom to detect those areas of compromise and correct my compass so that his Spirit is neither grieved nor quenched in my life.  I pray the same for you.  Be blessed and aware today!

I enjoy playing golf.  I have given up being great at the game and have learned to live with rounds in which I make some good to great shots punctuated by several disaster holes.  Guys who play like me measure whether it was a good or bad round by the number of balls lost over eighteen holes rather than stroke count.  But you get a few hours away from your normal routine, time with friends, a bit of exercise, and trees and water which are rare in West Texas.  I don’t get to play as much as I would like but have played enough to understand some of the nuances of the game and enough to hit some fun shots, some good shots and enough puts to keep me coming back.

I have also talked to a number of guys who played once or twice and didn’t play well so they decided that golf was a stupid game played by non-athletes and chose never to venture on a course again.  They simply sneer and look with disdain as they drive by the golf courses in their neck of the woods.  I have talked to a number of individuals who have approached Christianity in the same way.  They tried some church, some God, and some prayer for a short while and didn’t really enjoy it or get the point of it.  They entered with great expectations of something that they didn’t experience, tried to live by the rules, and prayed a little before tendering their resignation.  I talk to others who are still in the game but attend out of obligation or to please a spouse but simply endure church services and clear out as quickly as possible after the closing prayer.  They tried reading the Bible for a while but couldn’t understand it or got nothing out of it so they laid that aside.  Now they attend but have no passion or excitement about their faith.

Here’s the thing.  Many things are boring if you never get past the initial learning curve or risk playing badly until you can play well.  Here in the desert I have actually known a number of men and women who are scuba divers.  They qualify by taking classroom instruction and then by demonstrating their ability to use the equipment by sitting on the bottom of a swimming pool and breathing for a given number of minutes.  At that level of involvement, it is simply boring and expensive.  My guess is that if you never tried scuba diving in a more adventuresome environment you would soon give it up. It’s the folks that get into deeper waters in unknown locations with the possibility of encountering a shark that see colors and life forms others have never imagined.  These are the folks that get hooked and feel like there is nothing like it in the world. The swimming pool sitters have learned a few basics but have never really experienced true scuba diving.  Both in golf and scuba, it is also wise to get someone with a great deal of experience to coach you past the initial learning curve and then to take you to a level of diving or playing that is so rich that you develop a passion for it.

Living for Jesus is every bit that way.  Many people never get past the initial learning curve of attending church, reading a daily devotional, or being asked to give financially to support the ministries in their local church.  I’m amazed at how many believers never get past that point in their faith.  They are the equivalent of swimming pool sitters who thought there was going to be more but are about to decide that this Christianity business is boring and expensive.  This is especially true for those who have never experienced a supernatural move of God in their life.

But what if they decided that there must be something compelling about a faith that has thrived for 2000 years and is the largest faith group on the planet; that there must be something compelling about a faith that thousands have died for and been imprisoned for over the centuries; that there must be something compelling about this life when you hear pro athletes say that their faith is more important to them than their high profile careers with thousands of fans shouting for them every week.

If you are that person who has found no passion for your faith or who is wondering why people even “play this stupid game,” I would encourage you to try some deeper experiences in Christianity for a while.  Find someone experienced in the faith who has had a number of supernatural encounters with God and the enemy.  Ask them to take you past the initial learning curve of the faith and to take you into deeper waters.  Ask them to show you how to use divine weapons to wage a war against unseen but very real enemies and then go out and face those enemies.   Ask them to take you for a faith walk where there is real risk and this life won’t seem trivial or boring anymore. Go on a mission where comfort isn’t the goal but real stretching for your faith.  Go out on the streets and pray for people you never met.  Share your faith with lost people or spend a weekend doing prison ministry.  Put yourself in a place where you need a supernatural God to show up and do supernatural things.

When you have chosen to “up” your game and venture into “shark-laden waters” your spiritual adrenalin will increase your heart beat for the things of God and you will find a passion for your life again.  If you are bored with your faith, perhaps it is because you haven’t learned spiritual skills well enough to enjoy God and the challenges he puts before you.  Perhaps it’s because you have strapped on the tanks and the facemask but haven’t ventured out of the swimming pool yet to experience the thrill of the oceans.  I hope you will and I hope you will begin today.  Jesus is always inviting us to step out of the boat because that is where the joy is.  Be blessed today and decide to go for more.  You really will be glad you did.