Posts made in March, 2009
Tremendous Power in United Fellowship
“If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.“ (Matt 18:19 KJV)
Your prayer on earth rings a bell in heaven; rather, it pushes a button that releases power from heaven. Something happens every time you pray-unless a barrier between you and your brother blocks the current. Fellowship is just that important. If the circuit is cut, the circuit of Christ…your brother…you, you had better get to work at once on a repair job.
Prayer is a personal contact. It involves a strange three-cornered personal relationship which is: Jesus is with me if I am with my brother or my sister. When we get together He too is with us in a peculiar sense. Our relationship with Christ cannot be a self-centered, ingrown affair.
How sorely God’s cause needs prevailing, united prayer. How foolish, then, for us to let trifling differences separate us and hinder the flow of the Spirit in our prayers. The “agreement” that defeats the devil is no superficial, casual lip-asking; it is the outgoing of the depths of hearts that know only one desire…”as the hart panteth after the water brooks.” [Study Matt18:18-20; Acts 12:5-17]
Read MoreMustard Seed Living
“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.“ (Luke 17:5-6 KJV)
One of Jesus’ favorite ways of illustrating faith was with the mustard seed. He used this tiny seed to show how a big thing can come from a small beginning. The size of our faith is not the critical ingredient in Discipleship. Our tiny amount of faith in God is all that is needed from us. Our relationship with God is what the Old Testament called a “Suzerainty” Covenant; or, a partnership between a weak partner and a very strong partner. It is a legal term in today’s world, as when a person with a few thousand dollars enters into a business partnership with a partner who puts tens of thousands of dollars into the new business. Often, the weak party has some experience that will be of practical use in operating the new company. For example, a person who has years of experience operating a gas station, but little money, joins with a rich man who has no practical experience but a lot of capitol. Our weakness is made strong through God Almighty’s infusion of grace and power. Our contribution to the New Covenant, relationship with Christ is just a tiny, mustard seed sized, amount of faith. Indeed, our willingness is all that is necessary to enter into friendship with God.
In fact, our faith is so small that it is often described as “nothing.” There is no-thing that we can do to enter into partnership with God but present ourselves to Him. We are valuable to God because He loves us. God is our spiritual Father, and as a Father loves His child, so the child inherits a place at the table simply because we are a daughter or son. Thus, Jesus minimized our ticket price by comparing it to the tiniest of seeds.
A tiny amount of simple childlike faith is all it takes to get started, but as with a seed that is planted, it take sunshine, rain and most of all time for the seed to germinate and grow up to become a 35 foot tall mustard tree. Do we really want Jesus to increase our faith or, do we think that such notions are the signs of weakness? If we start taking this religious think really seriously, we might end up giving chunks of our money away, or volunteering our time, or forgiving folks whom we have judged as unforgivable. Christ likeness might remold the tough character that we have been trying to portray. Our secular foundations might begin to crumble. Faith might unveil a new you!
Read MoreFacing the Storm, Jesus is Victor!
“And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:37-39 KJV)
In the archives of British admiralty at Whitehall , London , England is the record of one of the finest examples of maritime strategy and courage. The ships of five nations were anchored in a bay in the South Pacific. A fierce storm was gathering off shore. It was reaching hurricane proportions. There was much discussion among the ship captains to the best course of action.
The British captain decided to run not away from the storm, but into it. Everything available was tied down. Out crashed the ship into the boiling seas, pitching, tossing, rolling, and shuddering. She did everything but capsize and go down. The struggle was intense.
A couple of days later, buffeted, battered, but not broken, and without the loss of a single life, she returned to port to find the wreckage of the ships of other nations piled in heaps on the beaches.
The storm of the ages is breaking, but the Lord Jesus Christ, the Master of every storm, the Victor in every circumstance, is still at the helm flying the bloodstained banner of the cross. So, though tribulation billows roll and Antichrist winds blow and all hell rages, there is still but one answer for us. In faith, follow our Captain right on into the storm…Jesus is Victor! His grace is sufficient! He will not fail us!
Read MoreBlank Check
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 KJV)
At one time J. Wilbur Chapman experienced a great sorrow that nearly shook his faith. In addition, his finances were almost depleted just when it was necessary for him to take a long trip to the western United States . One of the elders of his church who was a wealthy banker came to his home to offer a word of comfort and encouragement. As he left, he slipped a piece of paper into the pastor’s hand. Chapman looked at it and was surprised to find that it was a check made out to him and signed by this rich friend. But the figures to indicate the amount of the gift were missing. “Did you really mean to give me a signed blank check?” he asked.
“Yes,” said the man. “I didn’t know how much you’d need, and I wanted to be sure you would have enough.”
Later Chapman commented, “While I never had to use that check, it gave me a secure feeling to know that thousands of dollars were literally at my disposal.”
God too has given us a signed check in (Philippians 4:19 ) to provide for every genuine need that arises in our lives. Start filling it out today!
Read MoreForget the Repairs
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Co 5:17 KJV)
London businessman Lindsay Clegg told the story of a warehouse property he was selling. The building had been empty for months and needed repairs. Vandals had damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash all over the place. As he showed a prospective buyer the property, he took pains to say that he would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural damage, and clean out the garbage. The buyer said, “Forget about the repairs. When I buy this place, I’m going to build something completely different. I don’t want the building; I want the site.”
That’s God’s message to us! Compared with the renovation God has in mind, our efforts to improve our own lives are as trivial as sweeping a warehouse slated for the wrecking ball. When we become God’s the old life is over. He makes all things new. All He wants is the site and the permission to build. There are still some trying to “reform,” but God offers “redemption.” All we have to do is give Him the “property” and He will do the necessary “building.”
Read More