Sometimes, we become so familiar with great stories from the Bible and their most prominent themes that we fail to go back and discover important truths and principles that were also embedded in the story. One of the great stories is the account of Elijah’s showdown with Ahab and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. As background to the story, Ahab was one of the most wicked kings in the history of Israel. He was married to Jezebel who earned her own reputation for exceptional wickedness. They both led Israel into years of worshipping Baal, Asherah, and Molech. The text in 1 Kings 16 says that Ahab did more to anger the Lord than all the wicked kings before him combined.

During his reign, Elijah was sent by the Lord to confront Ahab about his sins, time after time. However, Ahab, often prodded on by Jezebel, would not repent. As a part of his judgment on Israel, God had Elijah declare that there would be neither rain nor dew again except at Elijah’s word (1 Kings 17:1). The drought would last for three and a half years and would devastate an agriculturally based nation like Israel. Ahab clearly believed Elijah to be a true prophet, but rather than repenting, simply hated Elijah. It is possible that he did not kill Elijah because if he were dead, he could not command the rain to come again.

In 1 Kings 18, the great showdown occurs. Elijah confronts Ahab and tells him to summon all the people of Israel along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah to Mt. Carmel. When they arrived, Elijah challenged the people of Israel to quit wavering between God and the Baals and to decide who they would worship. He proposed that an altar be built and that the prophets of Baal would cut up a bull, place it on the altar, and then pray for their god to send down fire to consume the offering. Elijah would do the same and the god that sent down fire would be the true God. Of course, the prophets of Baal called on their god all day and nothing happened. Elijah taunted them until late afternoon. Then he built an altar of stone, put wood on it, put a sacrificial bull on the altar and then dug a trench around the entire altar. He then had the people poor water on the sacrifice, the wood, and the bull until water filled the trench.

At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah called on God to send fire upon the altar The text says, “Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. (1 Kings 18:38-40).

Immediately after that, Elijah prayed and declared that rain was coming, and rain returned to the nation. This had to be a spiritual highpoint for Elijah as well as a tremendous vindication that he was a true prophet serving the one true God. You would have thought that his faith would never be stronger, the presence of God never more clear, and the fruit of his labors never more visible than at that point. However, we are told that upon hearing the news about the slaughter of her prophets, Jezebel sent Elijah a message saying that by that time tomorrow he would be a dead man. We would have expected our hero to declare that she would be the one who would be dead the next day and that he, with God’s help, would do to her what he had done to her false prophets.

But the text says, “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.” We are also told that he ran into the wildnerness, set down by a broom bush and asked God to kill him. He then went on to declare that he was the only man of faith left in all of Israel and totally alone. Why the great reversal after such a spiritual and political victory the day before?

I believe he was simply exhausted after the victory on Mt. Carmel. Spiritual highpoints and spiritual victories can be exhausting. If you have ever engaged in three to fours hours of intense intercessory prayer you know how tiring spiritual warfare can be. If you have ever engaged in deliverance for three to four hours you know that, even after the victory, you are totally spent. After the fire and after the rain, Elijah must have believed that Ahab and Jezebel would hide in their palace fearing for their own lives. But, in anger and lusting for vengeance, Jezebel decided to come after him. Elijah had no more strength. He didn’t have one more prayer left in him and the enemy came after him.

Satan will always come after us when we are vulnerable…especially, when we are exhausted and weary from life, sickness, the death of a loved one, financial strain, or even from a great spiritual victory. We need to expect it. We need to pray against it before it comes. When we are exhausted we lose spiritual perspective. Elijah told God he was the only faithful one left in Israel. God corrected him by saying he had 7000 in Israel, in addition to Elijah, who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Elijah felt alone, even abandoned. Yet angels ministered to him in the desert and God met with him on Mt. Horeb. In his exhaustion, he could see none of that.

Rest is critical for our spiritual lives. In the gospel of Mark, after the apostles returned from preaching, healing and casting out demons, Jesus said, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mk.6:31). I talk to so many faithful believers who are heavily involved in life and ministry that are exhausted. Many of us feel as if resting is unspiritual and that faith will simply sustain us in our frantic pace. We try to pour in every activity of our culture, work 50 hours a week and then be involved heavily in ministry. In our culture, rest has to be a discipline. We have to plan it, do it, and believe that God is not pleased when we neglect times of rest and renewal because the enemy will take advantage when we ar fatigued. We lose persecutive. We lose the joy of ministry. We are body, soul, and spirit and whatever is affecting one part affects the whole.

Let me encourage you to schedule your rest…every day, every week, and yearly. Put it on your calendar and your daytimer. The Sabbath may no longer be a command, but the principle of regular rest is still one of God’s spiritual principles. When we ignore regular rest and renewal, we violate God’s will for our lives. We need to learn to say no to constant business as much as we need to say no to sin. Evaluate your pace. You may be doing great things for God and experiencing success after success, but the Elijah Syndrome will visit you if you do not rest. Rest and renewal may look a little different for each of us, but find it, treasure it, prioritize it for you and your family. You may want to encourage your pastors to do the same. Life is a marathon not a sprint. If we try to sprint the entire way, we will not finish the race.

Blessing and rest in Him

Why do some things seem to tumble into place as soon as we pray and others take months, decades, or even years?  Is it our intensity in prayer, our faith for God to move mountains, or our personal intimacy with the Father that makes the difference? At times, each of those elements may be a factor.  But often, the same person praying with the same intensity, the same faith, and the same intimacy finds that some prayers are answered quickly while others take time – sometimes a great deal of time.

Dutch Sheets, in his book Intercessory Prayer (a must read for every believer), suggests one possibility for this discrepancy in answered prayers.  He believes that prayer actually releases spiritual power into situations and that some situations simply take more power and, thus, more time to accomplish. The reason it might taker more power or an accumulation of power is because of demonic opposition. I could object immediately to that thought since God has all power and authority and could remove all demonic opposition with a word. However, God has determined to rule the earth through his people and often waits on his people to act or pray before he moves. He has given us authority on the earth and waits for us to exercise that authority for his purposes. James tells us that we “have not because we ask not.” In other words, God is willing and even wants to do many things that won’t be done until we ask.

It also appears that continued prayer is often required to keep the resources of heaven flowing into the situation we are praying for whether that is the influence of the Spirit on the hearts of people or the movement of angels on our behalf. In Daniel 9 and 10, we see the prophet asking God for an interpretation of a disturbing dream that had come to him. After praying for twenty one days, an angel appeared with the interpretation. He told Daniel that he had been released to come on the first day of his prayer but had been opposed by a demonic prince for those twenty one days. He battled that prince unti the angel Michael came to take up the battle for him. I sense that if Daniel had only prayed once and had not continued to pray, reinforcements might not have been sent and he might not have received his answer.

In some ways, prayer is the simplest of things and in other ways it is quite complex. I don’t think there is just one answer to all our questions about prayer, but strongholds do exist in the spiritual realm like walled cities. Remember that Jesus promised the gates of hell would not prevail against his people. From that perspective, hell is not assaulting us, but we are assaulting hell. Our prayers, declarations, and commands lay siege to these strongholds. Depending on the strength and number of the demons opposing God’s will, it will take more time and power to bring down the walls.   This is warfare. Strongholds rarely fall with just one volley. I find it helpful to think of prayers as spiritual catapults by which we continue to hurl stones at the wall of an enemy stronghold in a person’s life, in generations of a family, or in a community.

As we press in and pray, we are assaulting the wall and must continue to bombard the enemy’s stronghold until the wall cracks, then crumbles, and then collapses, sending the enemy scattering into the night. We don’t always know how high or thick the wall is or how long it has been in place when we begin to pray.  We don’t know how skilled and experienced those are who guard the walls for the enemy. So we pray until we experience breakthrough.

Prayer is a weapon. We are responsible to track down the enemy and launch the attack.   As we direct our faith toward a situation and begin to pray, the Holy Spirit releases power into the situation that our heart and prayers are focused on. When we continue to pray, we release the power of heaven into that situation with persistent faith and the wall must eventually fall. When it does, we will see the kingdom established in that place and the enemy in wild retreat.  Undoubtedly, many things related to prayer are still a mystery.  However,  we do know that the one in us is greater than the one that is behind the wall.  We do know that the same power that overcame hell and raised Jesus from the grave is at work within us.

So, in those moments when you are weary and wonder if you should continue to pray because you have seen no change – pray again.  Perhaps, the wall is already beginning to crack and crumble.  Perhaps, the next volley will see its collapse and hearts will be opened, bodies healed, and cities transformed.   In Christ, we have the enemy surrounded. Victory is not always immediate, but it is assured. Just keep launching your prayers in the faith that we are more than conquerors in Jesus Christ…in every circumstance.  Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never give up (Lk.18:1).

Blessings today in Him.

One of the most insidious strategies of Satan is to convince us that we are unworthy of anyones love. I have battled this in my own life and I constantly see it as a huge hindrance in the lives of believers. It begins in our childhood when parents or other parent surrogates do and say things that communicate we don’t measure up and that we have failed to earn their love or approval. Those things may be a constant drip of criticism that communicates the child is never good enough and never meets the parents standards or it may be in the form of abuse or angry outbursts. Those behaviors leave the child with a deep conviction that he or she is somehow defective and deserving of the physical or verbal abuse. The other side of the coin that has the same effect is neglect or abandonment. When a child’s needs are not met, when a parent never has time for the child, when a parent is emotionally unavailable or physically leaves, the child is left with the impression that he or she doesn’t matter. The belief is, “There must be something terribly wrong with me for them to always be angry, never be pleased, never have time for me, or to leave me.”

As adults, we carry the imprint of that rejection and live with the fear that if anyone really knew us, they would not love us. We may also live with a belief that sooner or later the person who says they love us will leave us. Demonic spirits love to come in and amplify the thoughts that we are unworthy of love, that others only pretend to care for us, or that eventually we will be abandoned again by those we love and need. He accuses us day and night of our unworthiness.

One response to that belief and ongoing accusation is that we close our hearts and quit loving in order to avoid the anticipated pain of rejection. We may never express our needs because we believe we and our needs don’t matter or that our needs won’t be met and we will feel rejection all over again. Of course, the other strategy to avoid pain is to become a control freak believing the only way to avoid being hurt or abandoned again is to control everything and everyone in our lives. The irony is that the very behaviors we employ to keep people from leaving or hurting us actually drive them away.

The most devastating part of this strategy is the belief that we are unworthy keep us from believing that even God can love us. The premise about love that we are sold as children and that sets us up for Satan’s lie is that love always has to be earned by doing enough or by being enough. If that were true, only God could be loved because the rest of us and even the best of us always fall short in someway.

The truth is we actually love imperfect people all the time. They are called children. They cannot express themselves well. They are by nature selfish. They constantly mess up our house. They cannot tie their own shoes. They take and rarely give back. Yet we love them because we love them. They have done nothing to earn our love, yet we give them our best all the time, unless we are horrifically broken.

The truth is, we aren’t loved because we do better. We do better because we are loved. God’s constant message to us that we were a mess when he came looking for us and are still a bit of a mess today, but he loves us inspite of our shortcomings. If we cannot accept the fact that he loves us because of who he is rather than because of who we are, Satan wins. Without a belief and a revelation of God’s love, we can never love him back or pray with any faith that he will meet our needs. We can never worship him with passion. In fact, until we feel loved, we struggle to love the imperfect others, even though he commands us to do so.

I believe the only way out is for God to give us a revelation of his non-performance based love and how he sees us. Paul told the Ephesians, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better (Eph.1:17). Keep asking the Father to give you a Holy Spirit revelation of his love for you…just as you are. The sneaking fear that we aren’t good enough or haven’t done enough to deserve God’s love is a trap and a lie. Love is given, it is not earned. Most of the time, when someone asks, why you love them, you can’t really answer. You love them because you love them. You can love them, even when you don’t like them. That is why teenagers survive to live into their 20’s.

Make that your constant prayer and, by faith, thank God ten times a day that he loves you deeply. When you start to accept that truth, you will able to trust him for your care, give up your control, be yourself, be transparent, love others and accept their love for you. May the Lord bless you with a revelation of his amazing love for you. Blessings in Him.

It’s Spring and life is showing up again in West Texas. Flowers are blooming, fruit trees are flowering, fresh green leaves are appearing over night. People are thinking about planting and the local nurseries are starting to buzz with activity. Everyone will soon be looking for fresh fruit in the stories and in farmers markets. God will also be looking for fruit. John 15 is the famous text in which Jesus declares that he is the vine and we are the branches. He explains in that text that we cannot bear fruit unless we remain in him, connected to the branch through which all nourishment comes. There have been countless sermons preached on what it means to abide in him or remain in him, but it seems that what Jesus was emphasizing is fruit.

In verse 8, Jesus declared, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Jesus has always been interested in the Father’s glory. In this context, he says that the fruit we bear does just that. We need to notice his expectation of each of us. He expects us to bear not just a little fruit or bear fruit occasionally, but that we bear much fruit. He ends that verse by saying that fruit bearing actually one of the marks of authentic discipleship. No fruit, no discipleship.

Perhaps, the pressing question that flows from this text is what constitutes the kind of fruit that Jesus is talking about. Whatever it is, we know it must be the same kind of fruit that Jesus produced when he walked this earth because our ability to produce comes through him. Every plant produces another plant that has all the qualities of the original. If we are attached to the vine, we cannot or should not bear fruit that is foreign to the source. So then, what should this fruit look like?

Let’s begin by considering what it shouldn’t look like. It should not look like the desires of the flesh. Let’s be honest. It is not unusual for us to chase the desires of our flesh and then assume that our success in fulfilling those desires is pleasing to God and is fruit for the kingdom. This natural fruit might fall under the categories of selfish ambition, seeking the praise of men, and covetousness. Even spiritual leaders can work hard to pastor the biggest church, write the best-selling book, be invited to the most prestigious speaking engagements at the largest conferences, etc. It is easy to paint these achievements as ways of serving the kingdom by influencing the most people for Jesus, but if pride or selfish ambition is the ultimate motive, this is not the fruit Jesus is speaking of. Jesus is always speaking of spiritual fruit that comes through the move of the Spirit not the move of our flesh. Men can astound us at times with their natural abilities and because we are impressed, we may assume that these men are operating by the Spirit. But the Spirit produces spiritual fruit that is eternal. Fruit produced by our natural abilities may impress, but it his not necessarily eternal.

I’m always concerned that the “prosperity gospel” gives rise to this kind of “fruit.” If you are not familiar with the term, it is a brand of gospel that declares material possessions are evidence of God’s favor. If you have faith for a thing and ask for it, then God will give it because of your faith. This is a biblical principle in part, but I don’t think Jesus had in mind his disciples living in 26 million dollar homes, driving a Ferrari, and flying to engagements in eighteen passenger privater jets. Of course, the rationalization for such extravagance is that God blesses his most faithful servants in such ways. Therefore, the more material possessions you have, the more he approves. If that is the measure of approval, then Jesus was a failure since he had “no place to lay his head” and had to be buried in a borrowed tomb.

What then is acceptable fruit? Scripture speaks of fruit in many places. One place, of course, is the the fruit of the Spirit outlined in Galatians 5:22-23. The first fruit God is interested in is the fruit of a changed heart and transformed character. It is the manifestation of love, joy, peace , long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. These fruits are to replace the acts of the flesh which include anger, jealousy, discord, rage, selfish ambition, etc. We begin to bear this fruit of the Spirit when we make ourselves available to God through time in the word, prayer, confession and repentance. We bear this fruit when we own our sin and weaknesses instead of rationalizing them or blaming others and bring the flesh before the cross so that the Holy Spirit can do his work in us. A believer who claims to be a follower, but does not reflect the fruit of the Spirit is not a good advertisement for Jesus.

A second kind of fruit is the fruit of good works. We are told that we are God’s workmanship created in Christ to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10). God prepared us to do good works. That means that as we do what God has ordained and destined us to do, we are bearing fruit that brings him glory. Again, this requires that we seek to know what God has planned for us and then run in that lane … the lane he has marked out for us. This approach to life is the biblical approach rather than deciding what we want to do with our life and then asking God to bless our plans rather than blessing us as we follow his plans. In best case scenarios, we discover the thing that was on our hear to do was the very thing God had placed there. However, one of Satan’s primary strategies is to distract and deter us from God’s plan for our lives. Our prayer should always be for God to guide us and direct us on to the paths he has laid out. Our greatest satisfaction and fulfillment will be found in that lane along with our greatest productivity in the kingdom.

Our praise to God is also fruit that we can bear. “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Her. 13:15). Thanksgiving and praise are forms of spiritual fruit that flows from a heart of gratitude for all that God has done for us, It is not always praise in the form of music and song, but simply declaring the goodness and greatness of God in any form.

In addition to the forms of fruit we have already named, there is also the fruit of sharing the gospel and turning hearts to Jesus. Remember the parable of the sower who scattered the word of God on all kinds of soil. Many of the soils failed to produce a crop, but the seed that fell on fertile ground produced a hundred fold. When we declare the word of God, especially the gospel, it will not always fall on hearts that will receive it, but when it does, your planting will bear tremendous fruit in the kingdom of God…perhaps for generations.

So… we are called to bear much fruit in the kingdom of God – not natural fruit, but spiritual fruit. We will not do so by pursuing our own desires and calling it God’s will, but will produce it when we actually pursue God’s will and stay closely connected to Jesus. Gardens bear the most fruit when the gardener is intentional about his or her plantings, when the garden is weeded frequently, and when nutrients are continually added to the soil with the right amounts of water. The garden we tend for God will require intentionality, the constant removal of sin and fleshly motives from our hearts, constant connection with the vine and the life giving force of the Holy Spirit that waters every seed we plant in the name of Jesus. We cannot forget that we are expected by the Father to bear fruit in his kingdom and in doing so we will receive a great reward. Hopefully, all the life reappearing around this Spring will be a reminder of the things God wants to bring to life through us. Blessings in Him.

Most of us are familiar with Paul’s declaration in Ephesians 6 that “… our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand (Eph. 6:12-13).

I believe we are about to experience a very ugly season in America with the 2024 election cycle coming up. There will, of course, be the politization of every event between now and the election to bolster someones platform for the election. Guns will be front and center. Wokeness or anti-wokeness will continue to be a selling point for each party. Abortion rights will again be put on the front burner along with parental rights versus school boards. The problem is not that these positions will be talked about, but rather that they won’t be talked about. They will simply declare their position as the moral position while calling anyone who disagrees with them a bigot, racist, or hater…thus dividing the nation even more.

Our first impulse will probably be to join in the dispute, at least on an emotional level, to judge and condemn one side or the other. It will seem fair game to call out political leaders and label them with some demeaning or derogatory term since they will be doing that to one another. The problem is when we do that Satan wins. Remember Paul’s declaration that our fight is much more against spiritual entities than human. It is the demonic realm that is pushing hatred, division, and violence and influencing those who participate. If we get caught up in the game, everyone loses.

It is not that we should be silent about political platforms. We need to speak the truth, but in love. Scripture declares over and over that we are to respond to curses with blessings. We are to overcome evil with good. We are to love our enemies when they would do us harm. We are to treat others with respect when they have no respect for us. So do we just let evil have its way?

No. We are to fight against evil, but how do we fight? First of all, we must fight against it in our own hearts by not getting drawn into the hatred, the name calling, and the political bigotry that Satan is pedaling. Secondly, we pray. In Ephesians 6, after speaking about spiritual warfare, Paul calls the believers to pray. Pray for the gospel. Pray for the nation. Pray for truth to come out and corruption to be exposed. Pray for leaders. When asked, share God’s perspective on political issues. but keep to the issue. Vote. Encourage other believers to vote. Vote according to God’s word which defines right and wrong rather than our flesh that tends to side with culture. Ask God to unseat the demonic principalities that are having their way in our nation right now. Be proactive in raising your children up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. If you don’t actively evangelize your children with God’s truth, the enemy will evangelize them through the cultural influence of media and education.

We cannot be passive in this coming season. The church needs to pray more and teach more on issues that believers will be voting on and influencing others to vote on. We need to know clearly what God says about these things. Finally, we need to stand on biblical truths. As we do, we will be called haters, homophobes, transphobes, racists, and everything else. We need to brace ourselves and respond with love and good works…even doing good to our enemies.

Paul said that we must “put on the armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, we can stand.” He didn’t say, “If it comes,” but “when it comes.” That day may come in the next 18-24 months as the rhetoric ramps up for elections and politician are looking for groups to blame and accuse for every failing of this nation. If Satan is behind the craziness in our country right now, and scripture says he is…then those he influences will be coming after Christians because we are the only real threat to his kingdom on earth. We should not be surprised and we should decide now how we will respond when the day of evil comes our way.

Blessings in Him…..tom

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other. (Jn.15:15-17).

This is one of those texts that gives us comfort. To know that Jesus would call us a friend not only makes him approachable but also elevates our status with God. Both of those truths are good news. If Jesus were simply Lord, we might still see him as unapproachable like a CEO of a huge company we might work for. He might know our name. He might sign our paycheck. He might even show up to make a speech on employee appreciation day. He wouldn’t, however, drop by our office or the loading dock to see how the family was doing and have a cup of coffee. He wouldn’t invite us home for Christmas dinner or ask us over to play cards with him and his wife. We would still sense the immense gulf between labor and management.

Unlike the hypothetical CEO above, Jesus offers each of us friendship. Friendship is the revelation that he is willing to confide in us the secret things that the Father has revealed to him. He offers us the esteemed position of confidant. He is willing to spend time with us, hang out with us, and share his heart and his plans. That is an amazing offer from the one who has been exalted to the highest place and given a name that is above every name (Phil. 2:9).

For most of us, that offer is both exciting and humbling. And yet, what many believers don’t realize is the position of friend is not automatic. Not every believer will be a friend of Jesus. John Bevere puts it this way in his book, Drawing Near. He writes, “Often we hear messages that proclaim all who receive Jesus are now his friends. Hopefully, you now realize God is not a cheap, group friend. Once while in prayer He cried out, ‘Ask my people if they want me to be as faithful to them as they have been to me?’ Jesus did not come as a savior so everyone could join the ‘born again club.’ He is looking for relationships with those who love Him as He loved them; here we find friendship.”

I have to agree with John because the verse just before the text quoted above declares, “You are my friends if you do whatever I command you” (Jn. 15:14). He goes on to say that he has chosen those as friends who bear fruit in the kingdom. So obedience and fruitfulness define those whom Jesus will call friends as well as their willingness to love one another. In some ways he defines the essence of discipleship here…love God, love one another, and bear fruit in the kingdom.

In the past fifty years, the theological pendulum has swung from the old hell fire and brimstone preaching of some evangelists to a total focus on grace. We are certainly saved by grace, but grace has been popularly defined by many believers as a license to live however they choose to live and still walk into heaven with head held high. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran priest who stood his ground against Hitler in Nazi Germany. He was eventually executed. One of his greatest posits was that there is a real cost to discipleship. Grace is free, but it is not cheap. On many occasions, Jesus talked about the necessity of bearing a cross if we are to follow him.

Without lapsing into legalism or salvation by works, we must still acknowledge that this who simply hear what Jesus says but do not put those things into practice have missed the mark and the relationship that Jesus desires. Our obedience and fruitfulness are not efforts to be saved, but our genuine response to being saved. If we want friendship with Jesus, it begins with obedience and not obedience only when our flesh agrees with his command. True obedience is measured by our willingness to surrender to the commands our flesh wants to reject.

I’m writing this as a reminder to myself as well as anyone else reading this. It is easy to coast and stay in our comfort zone when it comes to serving Jesus. Often, in my own life, the issue is not my involvement in sin, but my passivity when it comes to doing good…sharing my faith with a stranger, reaching out to the poor, acting in loving ways toward those who continue to hurt me, and so forth. I do want to be a friend of a Jesus, but I must remember that the offer does have conditions. But to settle for less, is to cheat myself and to devalue the price he paid to make that offer. I hope you are his friend.

Blessings in Him…

Last week, we began a brief look a the gift of tongues, which has been a stumbling block for many who were considering the supernatural gifts of the Spirit. I have visited with a number of individuals who actually attend our church from faith backgrounds that minimized the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Many of them are cautiously open to prophecy and healing and even deliverance but balk at the idea of tongues because to them it seems so “weird.” Actually the word “weird” is defined as unusual, unexpected or not natural. So, tongues, as well as any other gift of the Spirit, qualifies as weird. But the question for most is, “What is the point of tongues?”

Last week we looked at the manifestation of tongues as a human language not known previously by the speaker…such as on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The advantage of such a gift for evangelism is clear. But what about the manifestation of tongues as a “spiritual language” that is not understood as a human language by anyone? This form is what some have called “ecstatic utterances” and these utterances are directed to God rather than men. Paul says, “For anyone who speaks in tongues does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit” (1 Cor. 14:2).

He goes on to say that we may pray in tongues as well as speak in tongues. “For this reason, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding” (1 Cor. 14:13-15). In summary, Paul will command the church to only speak in tongues (speaking to the church), if there is someone present who has the gift of interpretation of tongues. Otherwise, no one is strengthened or encouraged because they have no idea what has just been said and all gifts are given to build up the body of Christ. So why tongues at all?

The value of tongues is found in the phrase, “they utter mysteries by the Spirit.” In other words, it is the Spirit himself who is prompting our utterances. It is the Spirit who is speaking through us or praying through us. Remember in Romans 8, Paul declares, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Rom.8:26). When we speak or pray in tongues, we are stepping aside and surrendering control to the Spirit. We are letting him speak to the church or pray through us. Sometimes, the Spirit is praying for us as we pray in tongues and sometimes he is prompting us to pray for others that the Lord wants to touch. Either way, tongues makes us more sensitive to the Spirit and allows us to practice submitting to him and letting him have his way,

When tongues are interpreted for the church, everyone is built up in the same way a prophetic word for the church builds them up. When we pray in tongues, we are built up personally as the Spirit prays for us and intercedes for us. Paul teaches us that speaking or praying in tongues edifies (builds up, strengthens, encourages) the speaker (1 Cor. 14:4). Jude 20 also suggests that we build ourselves up by praying in the Spirit. So as we speak or pray in tongues, we are “edifying” ourselves. The Greek word is oikodomeo. It means to build as a house, repair, construct, strengthen, promote growth, make more able, or embolden. It appears that as we surrender our mind and tongue to the Holy Spirit, he is doing a work in us that matures, emboldens, and even repairs some things that need his touch.

As we surrender to the Spirit through the gift of tongues, we also experience an intimacy with the Spirit that may come in no other way. We sense his leading and even his emotions as he speaks through us. In doing so, I am more aware of his move at other times. I will also confirm that when I pray in tongues on a regular basis, my understanding of the word increases along with my recall of scripture. My times of praying with the understanding seem more effective and wisdom in counseling seems more readily available. Praying in tongues is a way to actively spend time in the presence of the Spirit so that our anointing increases as well.

There is much more I could say about tongues, but this is sufficient for now. The gift of tongues has a ministry aspect as well as a personal edification aspect. The ministry aspect may not be a gift everyone receives, but I am convinced that God wants each of his children to have the gift of praying in tongues. If you do not have a prayer language (praying in tongues), I would encourage you to seek it. Ask the Spirit to release that gift in you. Ask others who already possess a prayer language to lay hands on you and ask the Spirit to give you that gift. It is the only spiritual gift that is specifically designated to build us up as we exercise it. It is also a gift that requires surrender to the Spirit in a way that aids us in surrendering to him at other times. If you ask for it, but don’t receive it right away, keep asking. In the kingdom, those that are hungry get fed. If you hunger for all God has for you, you will keep asking and he will answer.

Blessings in Him and in His Spirit.

One of the things I love about our church is that we are a non-denominational, community church. We have people from just about every faith background come through our doors and many become part of our spiritual family – Baptist, Church of Christ, Lutheran, Bible Church, Catholic, Methodist, Assembly of God and even a few Mormons. We are also a charismatic church which means we believe in the present operation of all the spiritual gifts and we believe in the present operation of miracles.

Many of our visitors and members have a faith background that spoke little about the Holy Spirit, or spiritual gifts (especially the “miraculous” gifts) , and consigned miracles to the “Bible age”… which means “not now.” One of the gifts of the Spirit that some of our folks have the most difficult time understanding is the gift of tongues. Initially they think the whole idea is weird and they just don’t see the point. However, in his letter to the Corinthians Paul commanded the church to exercise the gift of tongues along with all the other gifts because each were needed to build up the body of Christ. It is also the singular gift that is meant to build up the one speaking or praying in tongues.

I believe the Holy Spirit prompted me to write this blog, and a few others, concerning the gift of tongues. I haven’t written on the subject in a while, so I am assuming that someone needs to receive some explanation of what this strange gift is all about. So…let’s begin trying to make sense of this unusual gift.

Our first encounter with this gift is on the Day of Pentecost. Luke tells us, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language” (Acts 2:1-6).

The background to this text is that the followers of Jesus had gathered in Jerusalem after his resurrection and his return to the Father in heaven. They were gathered together and praying, What were they praying about? We are not explicitly told, but Jesus had commanded his followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses to the world (Acts 1:8). Jesus also told them that the experience of receiving power would be a moment when they were baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). I assume they were praying for God to fulfill those promises.

In this particular episode, we are told that after the Spirit had fallen on them they began to go out into the Temple courts, speaking in tongues as the Holy Spirit enabled them. From the context we can tell that they were preaching in native languages to the Jews who had gathered in Jerusalem for the feast day from nations around the known world. The leaders were unlearned Galileans and yet they were declaring the wonderful works of God in languages they had not known previous to that moment. In the first century, nearly everyone spoke Greek to some extent because it was the international language of the day. But each person also had a native tongue and dialect that was not spoken widely. They were hearing the followers of Jesus preach in their native dialects and they were astonished.

The gift of tongues exercised on that day, was the gift to speak in human languages unknown to the speaker before that moment. That miraculous experience prompted many who were there that day to believe in Jesus. When he was preached after the miracle, we are told that at least 3000 responded to the preaching that day and became followers of Jesus.

It is easy to grasp the value of his manifestation of tongues in evangelizing nations. But does the Holy Spirit still operate in this way today? The answer is “Yes.” I have a friend Dana who was trying to evangelize two young muslims on a college campus several years ago. He and another friend had been trying to build a relationship with the two muslims and so invited them to lunch. Before they ate, Dana’s friend asked if he could pray for the meal. The two young muslim men agreed. For some reason, Dana’s friend felt prompted to pray for the meal in tongues. When he had finished, one of the muslim men asked where he had learned to speak that language. Dana’s friend explained that he was not sure what he was praying but felt the Holy Spirit spoke through him. The muslim who had asked, told Dana and his friend that the prayer was offered in the language of his grandfather’s village back home. Both muslim men gave their lives to Jesus that day.

I have another good friend who makes regular visits to Peru for preaching and healing services. On one of his trips, he told me that an older Peruvian woman had received the “gift of tongues” at the meeting. As she began to pray, she had no understanding of what she was saying, but she was declaring the works of God in perfect English. We could relate any number of stories that illustrate the current manifestation of tongues as languages of men never studied by the one speaking. Sometimes the Holy Spirit gives them understanding of what they are saying, but typically they are unaware until someone who speaks the language tells them what they have declared.

The first manifestation of tongues we encounter in scripture then is the declaration of the gospel or the wonderful works of God in human tongues or languages. However, in the the book of Acts and 1 Corinthians, it becomes evident that another form of tongues is the verbalization of a spiritual language that is not a language spoken on earth but in heaven. Paul begins 1 Corinthians 13 by saying, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angles, but do not have love…I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” Although he is beginning his great chapter on love, he suggests that believers might speak in the tongues of men or of angels…a spiritual language. Paul has much to say about that form or manifestation of the gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 and Romans 12. We will begin to look at that expression of tongues in next week’s blog.

Blessings until then.

I’m amazed how often great men of the kingdom finish poorly or even badly. Hezekiah was one of the great kings of Judah, but in 2 Chronicles the text says, “In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the Lord’s wrath did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah” (2 Chron. 32:24-26).

The important phrase in this text is, “he did not respond to the kindness of the Lord.” As humans, we clearly have a propensity to forget the Lord by forgetting the good things he has done for us. That seems to come in two forms. One is that we forget all the good God has done for us because we are disappointed in the outcome of one thing. The second is that we forget that God has been the source of our blessings and success and start to believe that we are successful because of how amazing we are.

I was visiting with a Free Indeed leader in another state last night who shared that a woman in her church who had lost a six-day-old child, no longer trusts the Lord. She has two other children who are healthy and happy, but she has measured God’s goodness and faithfulness based on one circumstance that did not turn out as she had hoped. Obviously, her loss no small thing, but to decide that God cannot be trusted is even a bigger thing. I have seen numerous others do that as well because they faced some hardship or disappointment and believed that a good God or a faithful God would not have let them experience that loss or hardship. In difficult moments we must remember that the absence of pain is reserved for heaven not for our time on this earth.

In addition, we need to remember that God is also the source of our success. Certainly, our abilities and hard work can bring some level of success, but our abilities and capacity to work are from God. I have also seen talented and hardworking people that never seemed to reap the rewards of their efforts. The Bible tells us in numerous places that wealth and blessings come from God. We are also told that stewarding that wealth in a godly way can be a huge challenge. Remembering that our wealth is a blessing from God is essential to stewarding it well and not ending up in the ditch because of our pride.

Hezekiah had brought revival to Judah and had served God in may ways, but in his later years he apparently took credit for all of that in his own heart and, perhaps, even believed that God had healed him of a terminal illness because he had earned the blessing, Pride became a huge stumbling block for a man who had once honored God with all of his heart.

The question is how do we guard against taking offense with God because he failed to respond to one situation as we wanted him too and how do we guard against forgetting that our accomplishments and successes are also gifts from God?

One essential way to guard against failing to “respond to the kindness of God” is to develop the habit off giving thanks not only for all the big blessings but for the very small blessings of life and seeing those blessings as gifts from God that we don’t deserve any more that we deserve salvation. David declared, “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name” (Ps 100:3–4).

Thanksgiving opens the gate that lets us into the presence of God and prompts our praise. When I am disappointed in one outcome, I must remember how often God has been good to me in other circumstances. A practice of thanksgiving reminds me of his goodness in every other part of my life so that I don’t judge him to be unkind or unfaithful when I am disappointed.

Thanksgiving also reminds me of the source of my blessings, my wealth, and my success. It guards against pride because it is a constant reminder that every good thing in my life has come to me by the grace of God. Men and women in the kingdom of God who have been great servants at one time can begin to take credit for all they have accomplished and become proud. It seems that in our later years, we are especially vulnerable to that temptation. Solomon forgot God in his later years and became an idolator. Hezekiah became proud and invited the discipline of God on himself and his nation. Through the years, amazing church leaders and evangelists have also fallen prey to spiritual pride and sexual temptation and have forgotten that the God they had been preaching was the source of their gifts and the source of their accomplishments in the kingdom.

A life of thanksgiving for the little blessings and the big, is one practice that can help us stay on track. Thank God for a beautiful morning, for the capacity to get out of bed and go to work, and for seasons in your life when you are not facing a crisis. Thank God for the handy parking spot and for the blessing of friends. Thank God for a night’s rest and for everything that makes you smile. When trouble comes, thank him for his promises and when disappointment comes, thank God that he has promised to bring good out of every hard circumstance.

I attended a funeral of a church leader in our area yesterday who had just died of cancer. The preacher said, “When you can’t understand what God is doing with his hands, you can always trust his heart.” I thought that was a good word. Constant thanksgiving can train our hearts to trust in him and in his heart. May we all be known in heaven for our thanksgiving because God is good…all the time and his goodness drips on us in many, many ways large and small. To forget that is to invite failure.

Questions are important and if you don’t ask the right questions you will miss much of what is most important in life. There are four essential questions in life. How you answer them determines almost everything else.
1. Does God exist?

2. Is God powerful?

3. Is God good?

4. Does God truly love me?

You may want to consider what you really believe regarding those questions.  If God doesn’t exist, all bets are off. You (and everyone else) are on your own in a dangerous world.  If God is powerful but doesn’t love you, you are still on your own and must protect yourself  at all costs…perhaps even from  God. If God is not good all the time, then he may abandon you or even hurt you on any given day on a whim.. And if God loves you but has no power, then you are  gratified but must still protect and provide for yourself.

All of us as Christians would probably answer “Yes” to all four of those questions if they were asked in a group of fellow believers.  But would we be expressing our aspirational beliefs or our actual beliefs?  Aspirational beliefs are those we aspire to have because we know we should believe certain things or want to believe certain things.  Actual beliefs can be different (and often are) and are revealed not by what we say, but how we consistently act.

To say God exists, he is good, he truly loves me, and he is unimaginably powerful answers the most important questions of life: Do I matter? Am I safe? Am I loved? Will I have enough? Can I face the future? To the extent that can honestly say I believe those things, I can live with peace and joy because I believe good is always coming my way, even in troubling circumstances.

Jesus believed that about the Father. I know he did because he slept through storms while others cried out. With small prayers he confidently took a few scraps of bread and fish and fed thousands. He walked on stormy seas and faced hostile leaders with the confidence that God would send a legion of angels to defend Him if requested. He walked confidently through crowds bent on his destruction because he knew that his appointed hour to suffer had not come and the Father would allow no harm to come to him until then. In the midst of a world in war and turmoil, he possessed peace.

But what about us?  How often do we worry day after day about having enough because we are not certain God will provide?  How many of us are “high on control” in our life and relationships as a means of self-protection because we doubt that God will protect us?  How many of us are plagued by anxiety and persistent fears of abandonment?  How many of us believe in our heads that we are children of the King, but believe in our hearts that we are orphans living on our own, left to meet our own needs, and always on the brink of disaster…about to lose whatever is precious to us?

Knowing who we are in Christ and believing it in our hearts is critical in every circumstance.  If we could answer “Yes” to each of those questions at a heart level, then peace would rule our emotions.  Paul prayed that God would give the church at Ephesus the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that they might know God better.  Many of us have aspirational faith in the character and promises of God but our actual faith lags behind. How do we know? Just look at what we do and feel consistently rather than what we say. We need these essential truths revealed to our hearts more than we need them deposited in our heads.  That is the work of the Spirit who reveals truth to God’s people.

Why did Adam and Eve eat forbidden fruit in the Garden? Satan convinced them that God wasn’t always good and didn’t always love them completely. Convinced that God was withholding good things, they took and they ate. How often do we too disregard God’s commands and go our own way in an effort to meet our desire for love, our need for security or our hunger for significance? We do that while we claim to love God and trust him completely. I’m not exempt from failing to fully trust God for all things at all times either. It is the human condition but one for which faith is the cure.

What we need is a daily revelation of God’s presence, his power, his love, and his goodness toward us. Ask the Holy Spirit every day to write “yes” on your heart to each of those three questions so that you can live with the peace and confidence of Jesus. Ask him to give you eyes to see God’s goodness and faithfulness in your life each day. And as Paul prayed, may the Lord give you His Spirit of wisdom and revelation today and everyday so that you may know Him better (Eph.1:17).