September 8th, 2009 - Accept No Substitutes

 

In many of the Asian countries that I have visited in my mission work, there are public bazaars where street vendors offer name-brand designer products for a fraction of the price that they sell for in the stores here in the USA.  The reason that these products are so inexpensive is that they are “knock-offs” or counterfeits.  The same is true in the spiritual dimension, where many of us settle for “knock-offs” of the genuine operation of the Holy Spirit.    Jesus taught us that the whole purpose for being filled with the Holy Spirit was so that we would become effective witnesses for Him. (Acts 1:8)  If the experience we have received has not enabled us to be more effective in our witness, perhaps we have settled for a “knock off.”  I do not believe that God is interested in our speaking in tongues if we can’t talk about Him in our normal language.  I don’t think that He is interested in our falling in the Spirit if we can’t stand up for Him.  I doubt that He is interested in our laying hands on the sick if we can’t reach out our hand to hurting brother.  I suspect that He is not interested in our shaking under the power of the Spirit unless we also have the power to shake our neighborhood for Him.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit is a lifestyle, not just an experience.  It is a lifestyle that should be marked with soberness and balance, not uncontrolled excess. (Ephesians 5:18)  It should be a lifestyle that is characterized by boldness (Acts 4:29-31) and wisdom (Mark 13:11), not irrational or illogical behavior.  According to Matthew 9:17, God has made us new creatures for the express purpose of holding the new wine of the Spirit.  Live a life worthy of the Designer label you bear, not a “knock-off.”

 

September 9th, 2009 - The Joy of Children

         

Someone pointed out that the cure for a headache is printed clearly on the aspirin bottle, “Take two.  Keep away from children.”  In fact, the observer noted that the cure many times may not even need step one; just getting away from the children for a few minutes may be all you need to heal your headache.  Nothing makes us better parents than having the kids away for a couple days.  Someone else commented that parenting was a life-time grounding from the moment the wife is pregnant--apparently, God’s way of punishing couple for having sex.  I doubt that there is a lot of truth to that conclusion, but it certainly can seem like it when going through the two AM feeding, the endless trips in the “mom taxi,” the school projects and mountains of homework.  Another commentator suggested that raising kids was like living in a three-ring circus.  I can agree with that one!  My personal rule of thumb (although I violated my own philosophy on this one) is that there should never be more children in a family than there are adults to chase them.  Actually, it doesn’t matter what all these “someone”s might say; the only true source of knowledge about the value of parenting is the Bible which says some wonderful things about children.    “Children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” (Psalm 127:3-5)  According to Proverbs 10:1, a wise son makes a glad father; according to Proverbs 31:28, the children of a godly woman will arise up and call her blessed.

 

September 10th, 2009 - Our High Priest

 

Hebrews 4:14-15 tells us about Jesus’ care for us, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”  Three thoughts can be extracted from this scripture.  The first is based on the word “infirmities.”  The truth is that we actually have the ability to deal with any temptation or challenge because the Greater One lives inside us; however, we have a tendency to feel as though the problems are too big for us to handle.  At this point, He intercedes on our behalf--taking His own initiative when we are too timid or dumbfounded to take the initiative ourselves.  The next thought is based on the word “tempted.”  There is a well-circulated story about Martin Luther who was awakened in the night to find the devil sitting on the end of his bed.  Rather than panicking as most of us would do, he replied, “Oh, it’s just you,” and went back to sleep.  A similar story comes from the life of Dr. Lester Sumrall who awoke in the night to find that his bed had been moved to the middle of the room.  His response was to rebuke the devil and tell him to leave the room.  “However,” he added, “before you leave, be sure to put my bed back to where it came from.”  Jesus faced every attack the enemy could muster up, but didn’t give him any ground--neither should we.  The last thought, based on the words “without sin,” is summarized in the life of Watchman Nee who once said that he couldn’t play poker because he had no hands; the ones on the ends of his arms belonged to Jesus.

 

September 11th, 2009 - The Devil Made Me Do It--NOT

Flip Wilson popularized an expression which encapsulated a general feeling among us humans, “The devil made me do it.”  All the way back to the Garden of Eden, we have been passing the buck.  Adam blamed Eve, and then Eve pinned the blame on the serpent.  Well, it’s about time that we join President Harry Truman and admit that “the buck stops here.”  The Bible plainly tells us that any sins, failures, or misdeeds are really our own fault, not the devil’s.  “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:14-15)  Put into modern terminology, we might say, “What you do when you are tempted is what you made up your mind to do before you were tempted.”  The truth is that God created us as humans with more authority than the devil.  If we never give up our authority to him, we needn’t be afraid of his attacks.  Let’s take for instance illegal drug usage.  The first time a person is offered the drugs, he has total control over the situation to say yes or to resist.  It is only after he has yielded once that he begins to develop an appetite for the drug.  Eventually, he will develop an addiction which will enslave him.  I’m not suggesting that we have the natural ability to live above sin.  Using only human will power against the law of sin like holding somebody up against the law of gravity; you will eventually cave in.  Remember that there is no win in sin.  But if we always let the Jesus inside of us answer the door when temptation comes knocking, we will always come out smelling like a rose--the Rose of Sharon.

 

 

September 12th, 2009 - Synergism

 

Synergism is the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  Take, for instance, a match, a rough surface, and a fire cracker.  We can place these three elements near one another and leave them for years without seeing anything happen.  However, if we actively integrate them, we suddenly have Fourth of July!  Take a thousand teenagers and scatter then across the city and place a rock band in an empty auditorium; what do you have?  Nothing except a great setup for a lot of text messaging.  Now pile all those teens into the auditorium with the rock band and just watch the energy rise and the mayhem  begin!  It will be even more exciting than the synergism of tossing a bag of pop corn into the microwave.

 

In much the same way that a human body cut into pieces is simply an anatomy lesson as opposed to a living soul, the fragmented Body of Christ is anything but a functioning manifestation of the life of God in our world.

 

“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ…But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him…That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another…Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular…From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” (I Corinthians 12:12-27, Ephesians 4:16)

 

September 13th, 2009 - Spiritual Warfare

 

In her book This is That,  Aimee Semple McPherson wrote about notices she had seen posted in trains and subways during World War I.  These announcements warned people of the severe penalty awaiting anyone who should try in any way to break the morale of soldiers by talking of possible defeat or failure or by lauding the strength of the enemy.  She commented, “This should be a warning to Christians also.”

 

We have been given the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God not only as a weapon with which to wage battle against the enemy, but also as a surgical instrument to use in cutting out malignancies within the Body of Christ.  This same Word of God which is sharp enough to disarm our enemy is also sharp enough to divide between the soul and the spirit. (Hebrews 4:12)  We need to use it to help ourselves and others to recognize when we are responding in the soul rather than in the spirit.  The main thing that is necessary is to recognize that surgery and battle are two very different activities even though we are using the same instrument.  In surgery, we are careful to avoid cutting the arteries which deliver the life-giving blood; in battle, the objective is to slash these same blood vessels.  In surgery, we are focused on cutting out only the harmful and leaving everything else intact so that it can heal as quickly as possible; in battle, the focus in on severing everything that could possibly sustain life.  The Word of God is a weapon which is mighty through God to pull down strongholds and bring our thoughts into obedience unto Christ; use it to defeat the enemy but to edify yourself (I Samuel 30:6) and the saints (I Corinthians 14:26).

 

September 14th, 2009 - Poison

 

It had been a couple years since our paths crossed; but now that we were together again, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  He seemed to have aged twenty years.  He was swollen in some places and almost emaciated in other parts of his body.  His hair had fallen out in spots, leaving him looking like a mangy dog.  Large sores dotted his skin.  The Lord had directed him to come to me for prayer as well as just to visit--and there was no question that he needed prayer; but as we shared together that day, I realized that he had a much bigger need than the obvious.  He needed not only a physical healing from the diseases which were ravaging his body but also a spiritual healing from an inner malady that was even more devastating.  Even though he had been raised in a religious home, at one point he had turned to a life of crime.  As a result, his family had shunned him.  Even after his salvation and call into the ministry, they had refused to be reconciled, even to the point of returning his Christmas and birthday card unopened.  When he shared with me about the bitterness inside him, I instantly knew that we first had to deal with it and that it would be the key to his physical healing.  I insisted that he forgive them and make attempts to be restored.  It was a difficult decision on his part, but he eventually realized that holding a grudge is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.  In a miraculous turn of events, he was reinstated and his father even joined him in his ministry!  Even though my friend did eventually succumb to the disease, he experienced a remarkable recovery which even the doctors listed as a miracle--all because he stopped drinking spiritual poison!

 

 

 

 

     

September 15th, 2009 - Situations and Circumstances

         

Often we use the words “situation” and “circumstances” interchangeably when the truth is that they are exactly opposite in their meanings.  “Situation” refers to where we are seated, and “circumstance” refers to what surrounds us.  As Christians, we have a wonderful situation regardless of the circumstance.  According to Ephesians 1:20-21 and 2:6), we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places at the right hand of God Himself, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.  That means that we have a powerful advantage over any enemy which may choose to surround us.  I am reminded of the fortress of Masada in Israel.  Although the Romans had conquered the rest of the Holy Land, they found themselves unable to take the last bastion of Jewish resistance barricaded in this fortress.  Situated on a gigantic rock mesa some 1,300 feet high, just under one thousand Jews (including women, children, and clerics) defended themselves for several months against the full force of the Roman army.  When the Romans used other Jews as a shield in their approach, the resistance refused to endanger their brethren and committed suicide rather than surrender.  When the Romans eventually breached the fortress, they discover sufficient food and water to have sustained the resistance for months to come had they chosen to continue their fight.  In Christ, we also have protection and provision to withstand our enemy as long as we are willing to.  Remember that circumstances don’t make you or break you; they simply expose you for who you really are.

 

September 16th, 2009 - Have a Seat

         

One day in Japan, during the early days of the occupation following World War II, three American GIs boarded a train.  One of them noticed that only the men were seated.  All the women with all their baggage and babies on their backs were attempting to keep their balance by hanging onto the overhead straps.  When an older woman boarded with several heavy packages, one of the soldiers started to give her his seat.  But before she could move, a young man pushed his way in and took the seat.  Without thinking, the soldier grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him to his feet.   He then took the woman's elbow and directed her to sit down.  Next, he reached for the next man and assisted him to his feet also and gave his seat to a woman.  Suddenly another stood up, then another and another, until every man on the train was standing and every woman was seated.  Everyone acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world. 

 

Some forty years later, the soldier was back in Japan, this time as a missionary.  One day, a Japanese lady shared a story with him.  She explained that as the war was ending, the Japanese government, trying to sustain the will to fight, warned that if Americans invaded Japan they would rape all the women.  "But one day," she said, "three Americans got on a train and made all the men stand up and let the women sit down.  We knew then that we had nothing to fear from the Americans."  The missionary was dumbfounded.  This lady had not even been born when that happened.  She had heard it from a television anchorman who had been a boy on that train and told the story one day on the air.

 

September 17th, 2009 - Sterilized Gospel

 

In the eco-friendly world we live in today, the scientist are constantly developing new ways to avoid using  chemicals which may harm our environment.  One of these “green” alternatives to insecticides is introducing sterilized boll weevils into the cotton field of the South in hopes that the female boll weevils will mate with the sterile males and therefore not produce any baby weevils.  If enough of the lady weevils are attracted to the non-productive suitors, there will be limited damage to the crops since there will be fewer larvae to eat the bolls before they produce the cotton.           

 

It seems like a great plan; and I suppose that it is effective.  I know at least that the same approach has proven to be an effective tool in the devil’s arsenal against the church.  For many years, he has been introducing sterilized weevils into the church to keep us from producing new generations of Christians who can destroy his kingdom.  I just read an article in a daily devotional based on the passage from Acts 4:33, “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”  Expecting an encouraging testimony of how the gospel is impacting the world today, I was shocked by the comment that the writer made on this passage, “Unlike the apostles, I do not see sudden changes coming in the people’s lives as I testify to God’s work.”  In a generation which teaches that Jesus doesn’t heal today, that homosexuality is okay, that individuals can still be good men even if they live in sin because God is looking at the heart, and that the gifts of the Spirit are just our own human abilities, it is no wonder that the writer was not seeing any sudden changes as he shared!

 

September 18th, 2009 - Walking Among Lions  

 

I recently heard a sermon by a minister who had been on a safari in Africa where he had some close encounters with lions.  Based on I Peter 5:8, the sermon made some very powerful points by paralleling what the preacher had learned about these big felines and what he already knew about the devil.  First, he pointed out that the Bible verse states that the devil is seeking whom he may devour, implying that there are some whom he may not devour.  Those who are immune to his advances are the ones who are sober (self-controlled) and vigilant (watchful but not fearful).  He then went on to point out three significant characteristic of lions.  Number one--they are nocturnal.  This is an important principal because we know that darkness belongs to the devil.  If we walk in the light, we are safely outside his domain. (Ephesians 5:8, I John 1:7) For his second point, he coined the word “peri-visual,” meaning that lions don’t see individual persons as long as they stay in the Land Rover.  However, as soon as a person would step outside the vehicle, he comes into the cat’s vision and is in grave danger of losing life and limb.  As believers, we are safe as long as we remain in Christ. (I Corinthians 1:2, 30; II Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 1:3)  His third observation was that lions are territorial and that their roar is intimidating, trying to get you to give up your territory.  Once an opponent stands up to them and shows them that he is not willing to yield the territory, the lion will cower down and back off just like the devil did when Jesus withstood him during the Temptation (Matthew 4:1-11) and as he will do when we stand against him. (Ephesians 6:10-13)

 

September 19th - A New Man

 

When the Jesus Movement hit our college campus in the 70s, we experienced a phenomenal revival that swept many of our campus “druggies” into the kingdom of God.  One particular young man was probably the biggest drug pusher on the campus.  He went after the Lord with the same intensity he had shown in his previous life as a “dealer.”  Because he was the connection point for so many students on campus, he had fairly constant traffic in and out of his dorm room.  As students would ask him for marijuana or LSD, he’d reply that he didn’t happen to have any stash of the particular substance they were looking for; however, he would add quickly that he had something that was even better.  Thinking that he had progressed to “the hard stuff,” they would start to ask more questions to which he would reply, “Well, this will give you the highest high you’ve ever been on!”  Then he would reach into the secret drawer where he used to hide his drugs and pull out the Bible!  Talk about a new creature--he was the poster boy of the revival on our campus.  Because his testimony was so outstanding, the pastor at our church was always eager to “show him off” when we had guest ministers.  One evening, the pastor patted him on the back and said something like, “This is our drug dealer for Jesus,” when presenting him to the visiting evangelist.  When the young man heard those words, they cut like a knife to the core of his soul.  He was no longer a drug dealer; he was simply for Jesus!  The lingering identity with the old man devastated him. 

 

“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh…He is a new creature.” (II Corinthians 5:16-17)

 

 

September 20th, 2009 - Sin

When I write, I do my own typing and proofreading--a surefire recipe for mistakes in the final copy.  As a result, most of my books have come out with some rather notable bloopers, but you should have seen the errors in the original versions!  Well, actually there were never any errors because the definition of an error is a mistake that you refuse to correct.  I’m perfectly willing to correct any mistake I make as long as I am made aware of it.  In our spiritual lives, the wonderful promise is that God has given us the Holy Spirit as a constant proofreader (John 16:8) to point out our mistakes before they become errors.  Our job is to be sensitive to His promptings and respond when He points out our shortcomings. (Ephesians 4:30)  However, we humans have a tendency to feel that we are getting by because we don’t get caught right away, but we must remember that our sins will eventually catch up with us. (Numbers 32:23).  Noah preached for a hundred years about a coming judgment, and the people thought that his warnings were only idle rantings until the flood came and it was too late.

 

When we do realize that we have made a mistake, we need to humbly confess it and boldly take action to correct it, not just try to make a superficial cosmetic make-over.  If you board the wrong train, running down the aisle backward isn’t the solution.  Adding more of the wrong ingredients isn’t the solution.  Remember that if lust conceived is what brings forth sin then the only real solution is to get to the root of the matter and perform an abortion.  When the Holy Spirit points out our mistakes, we must either get right or get left!

 

 

September 21st, 2009 - Family Economics 101

 

Several years ago, I had the bittersweet privilege of ministering to an elderly gentleman on his deathbed.  The sweetness of the experience was that I saw him restored to his sister whom he had not seen or spoken to in over forty years.  There had been an argument over a family inheritance which forged a wedge between them.  I’m certain that the money didn’t last nearly as long as did the family feud.  The bitterness of the experience was that he waited until the last minutes of life to restore the relationship.  His children had all grown up not knowing their aunt and uncle or cousins.  Though they lived only thirty miles apart, it was as if they had inhabited totally different planets.  I thought of Jesus’ words,  “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:34)  What is the most valuable treasure we have--our money or our relationships?  Philippians 2:4 says, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others.”  Therefore, it would be in keeping with the biblical pattern for us to train our children from the moment they begin to take responsibility around the home  to clean up after himself/herself and to also help others with their areas, developing a caring heart for other family members.  Sharing in the smallest things in life, like helping put away toys, can build bonds and prevent future separations which can be caused by making unrealistic expectations of others while not expecting the same from ourselves and making laws we cannot keep ourselves.  One good rule to bonding relationships is to always under-promise and over-deliver.  In other words, never promise something that you may not deliver and always deliver more than you promise.

 

 

 

       

September 22nd, 2009 - The Challenge of Parenting

         

After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.  His father asked him three times what was wrong.  Finally, the boy replied, "That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys."  Hopefully, our children will be a little more apt to recognize that we are actually the Christian parents that the pastor was speaking of.  For this to be the case, we must consistently apply biblical standards as we raise them.  Luke 2:52 lists four areas in which Jesus parents fostered His maturity: wisdom (his mental development), stature (His physical development), favor with God (His spiritual development), and favor with man (His social development.  Proverbs 22:6 suggests that we must find each child’s bent and then train him according to the way that most naturally takes into account his personal temperament and inclinations.  With big challenges like this ahead of us, it is no wonder that so many of us conclude that we thought we knew everything about parenting--and then we had children.  Actually, parenting is the most challenging job we are never prepared for.  Probably the greatest lesson we can all learn comes from James Dobson’s father who gave up four years of traveling ministry, sold his home, took a small church, and sacrificed the opportunity to re-enter the field of evangelism in order to invest himself in his son when he became rebellious.  The lesson is that what kids need is not a professional approach with all the answers pre-calculated; rather, they need loving parents whose lives demonstrate enough of the life of Jesus that they can see Him in them.

 

September 23rd, 2009 - How to Receive the Anointing of the Holy Spirit

         

Paul instructs us twice that we must have a desire for the spiritual gifts. (I Corinthians 12:31, 14:1)  He instructed us to actually covet the best gifts, meaning the best ones for your particular calling in life.  However, it doesn’t matter how much you desire the Spirit-filled life, you simply will not have it without taking the next obvious step--ask for it.  Jesus taught us to ask with the same sincerity and simple faith that we would ask our earthly fathers for a piece of bread and expect that he would give us bread and not a stone. (Luke 11:13)  Paul piggybacks on this idea by teaching us that faith is a key factor in receiving this blessing. (Galatians 3:2)  There is a biblical pattern of having church leaders lay their hands on those who are seeking to be filled with the Spirit as a form of impartation of the spiritual gifts. (Acts 8:17, 18, 19; 9:17; 13:3; 19:6; I Timothy 4:14; II Timothy 1:6)  I have observed that even some who have desired, asked in faith, and had hands laid on them have failed to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  I believe that this is because they failed at the very last step--activation.  According to II Timothy 1:6, we need to stir up the gift that came inside of us when we were prayed over by the church leaders.  I believe that stirring up that gift can come at the initial infilling of the Spirit by allowing the Holy Spirit to give you a new language.  Many people insist upon continuing to speak in their native language and expect the Holy Spirit to override their words.  Others refuse to say anything and just wait for the Holy Spirit to make them begin to speak in tongues.  On the Day of Pentecost, the apostles set the pattern when they did the speaking as the Holy Spirit gave the utterance.  

 

September 24th, 2009 - The Nine Gifts of the Holy Spirit

 

The gifts occur in three categories.  First are the gifts of revelation.  The word of wisdom is knowing how to act wisely now because of how it will affect the future.  The word of knowledge is knowing something that is impossible for you to discover at the moment.  Discerning of spirits is knowing what motivates people--their human spirits, demonic spirits, or the Holy Spirit. 

 

Next are the gifts of power.  The gift of faith is a supernatural level of believing God to work on your behalf.  The gifts of healing is supernatural authority over various diseases.  The working of miracles is the supernatural ability of God working through you. 
In the last category are the gifts of inspiration.  The gift of prophecy is a divine ability to speak words of edification, exhortation, and comfort.  Speaking in tongues occurs in three different operations.  The personal use of tongues is to offer prayer or praise to God and is not for use in a church service. (I Corinthians 14:2, 14-16, 28)  It needs no interpretation since God understands it.  Tongues can also be a sign to unbelievers. (I Corinthians 14:22)  This was the operation functioning on the Day of Pentecost when people of sixteen different languages heard the apostles speaking in their languages without having learned them. (Acts 2:8)  Obviously, this usage of tongues needs no interpretation since the hearers understand automatically.  The third manifestation of this gift is in giving a message for the church. (I Corinthians 14:13, 27)  Unless there is a supernatural interpretation of the message, this gift is being used outside proper its scriptural order.  The interpretation of tongues is the supernatural ability to translate the message given in tongues.

 

September 25th, 2009 - Walking in the Spirit

 

Paul speaks of the Spirit only four times in the first seven chapters of Romans, but twenty times in chapter eight.  He ends chapter seven in defeat, but moves into chapter eight in great victory.  The progression of the book in chapters one through five sets the theological stage for salvation, chapter six gives the salvation experience, and chapter seven describes the attempt to live one’s post-salvation existence  in our own human power.   This chapter is full of the first person pronoun, “I.”  Some Bible scholars try to suggest that Paul may have had an eye problem; this theory cannot be proven, but it is certain from this chapter that he definitely had an “I” problem.  In chapter eight Paul gives his victorious answer to his dilemma through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He concludes in chapters nine through sixteen by giving practical applications of these truths to our Christian lives.

 

Paul suggested that our ability to live victorious Christian lives was through the power of the Holy Spirit.  As early as verse six of chapter seven, he admonishes, “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”  But it wasn’t until the first couple verses of chapter eight that he spelled it out, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”  In Galatians 5:16-25, he makes it even plainer, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh…If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

 

September 26th, 2009 - Victorious Spirit

 

Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth. (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13)  He went on to add that the Holy Spirit would speak to us all that He learned from Jesus and that the result would be that He would be able to reveal things that are to come.  Jesus is the truth (John 14:6; Revelation 3:7, 14; 19:9, 11; 21:5; 22:6), but it is the Holy Spirit reveals Him to us.  Paul made a special point of praying for the believers at Ephesus that they would have the advantage of the revelatory power of the Holy Spirit because he knew that it is only through the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment that we will ever know what power resides in us through having Christ alive in us.  “[I] cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.” (Ephesians 1:16-19)  Writing to the Corinthians, he quoted the prophet Isaiah, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (I Corinthians 2:9)  But he then immediately added, “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” (verse 10)  Even the great prophet Isaiah didn’t have a clue as to all the victories we can experience when we are led by the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and revelation--the truth of Christ.

 

 

September 27th, 2009 - Reach Out and Touch Someone

 

In a recent experiment to see how connected the world is, the researchers analyzed cell phone and email usage of people all over the world.  For the purpose of the experiment, two people were acquainted if they had sent one another a data message.  The researchers then looked at the minimum chain links it would take to connect one hundred eighty billion different pairs of users in the database.  In other words, if Matthew knows Mark (meaning that he has emailed or sent Mark a text message) and Mark knows Luke (having made data communication with him), then Matthew and Luke are connected by one link.  Add John, whom Luke has sent a data message, and now Matthew and John are connected by a two-link chain.  When the analysis was run, it was discovered that the average length was 6.6 links and that seventy-eight percent of the pairs could be connected in seven links or less.  The longest chain contained only twenty-nine links.  Amazing!  Just think that each of us is only seven connections away from any person in the whole world.  Of course, there are still a few places in the world that are yet to be connected with cell phones and emails; but these are becoming more and more rare every day.  I’ve been to some of the most remote places on our planet and found that they are just as eager to get connected as American teenagers are!

 

The thing that excites me about this research is that it shows us that we are so close to the possible fulfillment of Jesus’ command to tell the Good News to every creature.  If each one of us would only do as the old telephone commercial used to say, “Reach out and touch someone,” within just a few links, everyone would know!

 

September 28th, 2009 - Tragedy in Yosemite

 

When the park rangers showed up at the front desk of the lodge where I was working in Yosemite National Park and asked to speak privately with one of the other desk clerks, we could tell by the solemn looks on their faces that something serious was on their minds.  It turned out that they were bearers of really bad news.  The clerk’s husband had been involved in a mountaineering accident.  Although he was a top-notch climber and one of the leading members on the park’s search and rescue team, he had taken a fall.  While on a rescue operation, he had stepped on a rock which dislodged and sent him tumbling hundreds of feet down the cliff to his death.  In an accident which has never been fully explained, this ace rock climber met his death by falling from a trail that average tourists hike every day.  He was not doing some complicated dare-devil maneuver on the face of one of the park’s monoliths or one of the heroic rescue operations for which he was so famous.  He was simply climbing the trail to get to a vantage point from which to rappel down the face of the cliff to help an endangered climber.

 

From this tragic story, we can learn a life lesson about the dangers we face in life--not just in our physical lives, but in our spiritual lives as well.  Many times, it is the simple things, which become so common that we do them without any special consideration or caution, that destroy us.  Scaling the face of Half Dome would have taken the climber’s concentrated attention, but walking a public path seemed too mundane for precaution.  Solomon warned us to watch out for little innocent-looking foxes because they do real damage. (Song of Solomon 2:15)

 

September 29th, 2009 - The Check’s in the Mail

         

Neither the fulfillment companies that process rebates for retail purchases nor the retailers themselves give out information on rebates; however, some researchers have suggested that only about half of rebates over $50 are cashed in and less than one tenth of rebates under $10 are claimed.  Being an avid rebater myself, I’ve looked at the system and discovered that it is truly built in the favor of the retailer who sells the product, expecting that the customer will be lured in by the rebate but will never cash it in--thus putting more money in the retailer’s pocket.  Most rebates have a limited time for redemption, causing customers to miss the deadline.  Allowing longer redemption time actually pushes the redemption rates lower due to hum, an procrastination and the tendency to misplace rebate forms, store receipts, and proofs of purchase during the wait.  Even rebates that are received are often not cashed because they come in mailers that look like junk mail which gets discarded.  It also seems that the addresses are even deliberately chosen to make customers misaddress their returns; for example, when the post office box contains four or five zeros, it is easy to miss one and send the rebate request to the dead letter box.
Well, that’s the way of the world--to promise you something while all the time planning to cheat you out of the goods.  It is wonderful that even though we are in this world, our citizenship is of another world which operates on a totally different system--one where the system is stacked in YOUR favor!  “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (II Corinthians 1:20)

 

 

September 30th, 2009 - Biblical Keys to Prosperity

         

Patience and doing the will of God: “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” (Hebrews 10:36)
Faithfulness and wisdom: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household?” (Matthew 24:45)

 

Love: “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (I Corinthians 13:3)

 

Pray in the Spirit: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities...He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:26-28)

 

Pray for Jerusalem: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.” (Psalm 122:6)

 

Give thanks: “Let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippines 4:6)
Forgive: “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any.” (Mark 11:25)

 

Confess and believe: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:23-24)

 

Hold fast to the Word of God: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. ” (Joshua 1:8)