30 Days of Prayer and Praise--6!

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. Psalm 133 NIV

Day Six

Lord God our Father,

As we come before You again, with great expectation because of Your love for us, we thank You for giving us a mind to see our world as You desire it to be. That we are--one--in You--one race, one blood, united by our faith in You. Though You have poured into each of us--various gifts--both natural and spiritual--we have but one purpose and that is to please You--united by Love for You are Love!

Thank You for speaking to hearts and the message absorbed in our hearts, navigating to our minds and expressing itself in all we say and do in honor of You.

We thank You for giving us discernment--understanding the difference between just and unjust laws; between righteousness and unrighteousness, between morality and legality, and between love and hate.

We thank You for providing for every person that loves and honors You in the beauty of holiness and in the glory of Your Truth.

We thank You for ordering our steps in Your Word, releasing us from the dictates of man's laws to follow You and You alone--for who on earth has heaven or hell for us?

We thank You for righting all wrongs by whatever method You deem necessary and for allowing us to be used by You in all that we do to encourage the hearts of many who are fearful and discouraged.
Lord, grant all who are willing to hear You respond in obedience to all You speak to them in order to preserve their faith in You and love for all.

We thank You for giving us hearts of compassion and desire to serve others as a means of promoting Your love.

We thank You for pouring Your wisdom into willing vessels who will acknowledge it is You, and not us, who knows all things, sees all things, and hears all things. And with the wisdom You provide, we are able to speak to others--sharing with them what You have shared with us--not for our glory, but for Yours alone.

Fill us right now and provide a constant refilling of wisdom and love, running down like the oil used to anoint Aaron, seeping into hearts and minds, so that everywhere we go today, wherever our words are heard or seen--people will recognize You as the Author and Finisher of our faith.

We thank You for allowing the mind of Christ to rule in us by day and by night and that we will endeavor to live in unity--loving one another as You love us--all the days of our lives--recognizing that all who have called upon You are indeed our brothers and sisters in Your family. 

We give You all the praise, glory and honor for hearing and answering our prayers because You are the only One worthy of our praise! In Jesus' name, we pray and thank You, Amen!

Shadow Security!

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. Psalm 91:1,2; 9,10 NIV

When the shadows fall over the land, we can either feel security or fear. There are so many stories about our reactions to shadows that one blog post would not do it justice. There are times when shadows have caused people frightening experiences when they did not realize that tree branches and plastic bags caught on branches can give the allusion of something else that is far more sinister than what it is.

And then there are times when dangerous acts have been defeated because of the shadows alerting others of the dangers contrived by those who are evil.

But there is security in the knowledge that those of us who believe that the shadow of the Almighty is with us, daily. We can trust in the security of that shadow knowing that nothing by any means shall harm us when we dwell in His presence.

I started to title this post, shadow boxing--because that is what many of us do when we're trying to overcome mindsets that keep us from enjoying the benefit of belonging to God. We feel we must always fight back--boxing our imaginary opponent that only exists in our heads--and yet we never win. Though shadow boxing has its benefits for those who are training to be boxers, there is no win since we are actually boxing our own shadow. And every time we move--in the right conditions for shadows to exist--the shadow moves and looms larger than we are.

So, too does God's shadow--loom so much larger than we are and therefore we can trust Him to protect us. If we truly understood what dwelling in the shadow of His presence meant, we would indeed--fear no evil that conspires against us. We would boldly travel the paths He sets before us and not concern ourselves with the mediocrity that attempts to distract us. His shadow--on every side--because He is Light and where there is Light, His shadow is present.

Remember--when Peter passed by some and those who were enveloped in his shadow were healed. David said though the shadow of death was always present, he would not fear any evil coming upon him.

We do not have to fear shadows--unless we are in the wrong place for all the wrong reasons. Living in God's shadow--we are fully protected and have no need to fear.

Understanding Our Ministry Purpose!

" (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:9-13 NIV)

Christ, Himself gave gifts to men and women to function in the roles of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers--all promoting The Word and how to live a Godly life--so that all in the Body of Christ will know what they are to do and how they are to live.  Christ did not set up denominations or religions to divide those who Believe Him, but to bring all who believe into unity--one purpose--teaching all, what God said in preparation for His return.

The ministry gifts--given to those chosen to function in those offices are accompanied with the Spiritual gifts as noted in I Corinthians 12:7-11 (a separate lesson coming soon). All of the spiritual gifts are given as Holy Spirit chooses to those He chooses--not as we desire. Many have been given the gifts of healing and manipulated the gift to bring attention to self and have been exposed for the deception. We are not give gifts to exploit people, but to provide purpose for what we do, magnifying God in all we do--so He gets the glory, not us.

But note this:  The nine gifts listed, cooperatively work in groups of three--faith, healing and miracles; prophecy, speaking in tongues and interpretation, wisdom, knowledge and discernment--all working together for the same purpose, but through different individuals. For anyone to claim they operate in all nine of the spiritual gifts--on their own--I would question the validity of that claim based upon the scriptures and discount anything else they had to say.

This is why it is important for all Believers to know and understand The Word. It is not enough to know what is said without having understanding of what is said and why. It is because so many have gone out--proclaiming and declaring things that God did not say, that we have so much confusion in the Body of Christ today. We must read, study, mediate upon The Word, gaining understanding before we attempt to tell anyone else, anything.

One of the reasons people attempt to manipulate the gift given is because they do not understand their purpose in ministry. They proclaim they have been called by God (when actually some have been called by people) and spend little to no time, preparing to function in the calling they claim. When God calls us--He equips us to do the work He has called us to do--naturally, supernaturally, and spiritually. He inspires us to study, directs us to where we can find information to clarify our roles and in understanding His Word. He speaks to us when we allow ourselves to hear Him, guiding us every step of the way.

When He anoints us to do something out of the ordinary, it is the supernatural gifting and operation of Holy Spirit in control, not us and all we have to do is submit to His leading and by this submission, people will know--whether we are called by God or we have allowed men/women to influence our decision to get into ministry.

Doing the work of ministry is not always a pleasant task, but it is a necessary task and when we do it to the glory of God, we know it is worthwhile.

Before we go out into the world of unsuspecting people trying to make our name for ourselves, let's seek God and obtain understanding the purpose of the ministry gifts and then allow Him to fill us  to overflowing to function in the gifts, He gives!

Good Gifts!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17 NIV).

How often have people received gifts from others they really did not want, but accepted because they didn't want to appear to be rude? They would accept the gift, smile, say "thank you" and do one of two things when out of the sight of the giver. The gift would find itself in the back of the closet, the basement or a drawer and not see the light of day or was given to someone else at a later time--re-gifted. Usually, this works into a cycle and sometimes--the original gift-giver was often given the gift they had given.

Fortunately, we cannot give the gifts that God gives us to anyone else--no re-gifting here. For the gifts He gives are not physical, but they are spiritual and the Holy Spirit anoints every person whom God has determined to receive a gift (I Corinthians 12:1-11). Each spiritual gift given is for the common good of the whole. Though there may be people who are envious of another's gifts, they should earnestly seek God about their own gift and work on developing that gift. 

Unlike the scarf or tie or sweater that is sent through an evolution of hands, God's gifts cannot be re-gifted by us nor can we return them or exchange them. And why should we? If we believe that "every gift from God is a perfect gift" we should be overjoyed with what we receive. And then, get this--God knows exactly what gift we will function in to develop the Body of Christ into wholeness where every need is met.  

When we either refuse to hone the gifts given, or reject the gifts out-of-hand, we are telling God He doesn't know what He's doing. Then, there are some who are so envious of the gifts God has given others that they practice to deceive and then declare they have a gift that they manufactured, but Holy Spirit did not give. We can tell who is operating in their own "manufactured gifts" because that person has attached a dollar sign to perform it. That gift--is manufactured for their benefit, not for the perfecting and development of the Body of Christ.

The beauty of God's gift-giving is in the fact that no matter how we act--"His gifts and callings are without repentance"--He won't take them back. What happens when we don't use the gifts He has given is that we truly miss the blessings that come with "obedience" to God and the Body of Christ has a void that can only be filled with the gift we are not using. We all have a role to play in promoting the Gospel, developing unity, and perfection within the Body of Christ--all of the born-again believers--especially within the local Body. Churches that do not have spiritual gifts operating are usually dull and boring and no one is exalted other than the preacher. They are dry and stagnant, critical and judgmental because they chose not to exercise the gifts given or they manufactured a gift that does not glorify God.

I pray today that all will earnestly seek God for understanding of the Gift they have been given and then will exercise that gift to reach the perfection needed to operate in the Body of Christ to bring wholeness. Our spiritual gifts are like our bodies--if we do not exercise the body, muscles become atrophied and lax and we become weak and lazy. The same thing happens when we do not exercise our good and perfect spiritual gift from God--the Body of Christ becomes weak and lazy.

Father, in the name of Jesus, speak to our hearts and help us to understand the gifts given to us and wisdom in using them. Show us how we are to function in the Body of Christ and ignite desire in us to exercise the gift to the development of perfection to fill the void in the Body of Christ.

Can You Hear Me Now?

"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2 NIV).

Are we listening to God through His Word, when His spirit speaks to us or are we bombarded by the chaos that reigns in the midst of confusion and disobedience? I can only imagine what  God might be thinking about what is happening in the land, He created for our good.

"Good morning, children," God said.

"I have much to say to you concerning this world."

"On this planet, I had devised the means for your survival and even for you to prosper in it."

"On this planet, I had determined my purposes for your lives if you would surrender your all to me."

"Over and over again, I have sustained a remnant of people who will obey and do what I have asked them to do."

"Throughout the generations, I have loved you, warned you, and even sacrificed myself for you, yet you do not hear me."

"You have not heeded my warnings or learned from your past mistakes, and even when I attempt to correct you, you turn from me."

"You have defiled yourselves in all manner of abominations and turned what I have said is evil to good--for your own selfish purposes--to appease your flesh."

"You have ignored my teachings so your children will be upstanding, productive people and now instead they are whore-mongers, warmongers, and haters of self and parents, and me."

"You care more about what people think that what I have said and you constantly change your views to adapt to people, but you constantly ignore what I have said that does not change."

"You attempt to talk to me when things go south and then you expect me to act on your behalf as though I am a magician."

"You refuse to obey me, but you get angry when the consequences of your actions are made known to all."

"When I am attempting to talk to you about your behavior, you tune-me out or try to justify your actions."

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? I Am God and I change not, nor do my purposes for you change."

"Nevertheless, since you insist on doing things your way, I will abide by my word and remove my hand from your lives and allow the consequences to fall upon the just and the unjust."

"There is no more need to seek me for direction, when you refuse to hear me.  I will not hear you because you do not listen to those I have appointed and anointed for such a time as this."

"And when you hear the sounds of war knocking at your borders, do not wonder why.  You know why.  Do not point fingers at others until you have realized your part in all of the world's undoing."

"Know that I love you, but I will not tolerate your blatant disregard of my people, my Word, or those I purposed to serve your needs."

"Since you love the praise of men more than your relationship with me, and will praise others more than you praise me, I will leave you to serve what you desire and you will hear from me--no more!"

"C A N  Y O U  H E A R   M E   N O W?"

What is your response? O God, I hear and ask for Your abiding love to sustain us against evil and that You will create in us a heart to hear, a will to do, the courage to speak out against evil and a determination to get it all done, to Your glory! Cut away everything in our lives that keeps us from true repentance, so we may honor You with our lives!