What if we prayed?

Judges 6: 39 – 40

Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece.

This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew." That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry…

I watched with great interest last night, the Presidents public address, as it has to do with the world enemy, ISIS.

Afterwards, military strategists picked apart and measured the President’s plan.

The only thing I would have to say in opposition of the Presidents strategy, was that he never mentioned the need for prayer.

Gideon on the other hand, when he faced a formidable enemy, prayer was the first part of his military strategy.

England’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill called his nation to prayer, in a most desperate time.

On May 26^th, 1940—the lives of 500,000 British soldiers were saved—and many believe prayer was the key.

What if we as a nation, took upon the task of daily prayer?

Our church has had a time of prayer & fasting every Tuesday—which invite people to come to church to pray.

Honestly, only  a very small handful ever do, but I’m grateful for those who come to pray.

The United States of America needs prayer, like it has never needed it before.

Days are getting desperate, and God waits from above, and yearns to hear His people intercede.

The only thing that can thwart the plan of the enemy, is our great God.

What enemy will you be facing today?

Just be sure of this—whatever or whomever that enemy is—they serve absolutely no threat, to our great God.

Victory only happens, when get on our knees… 

Justice!

Jeremiah 12: 1

You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice:

Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?

Larry King from CNN, said following the 9-11 disaster… “If God is so good, then why does He allow good people to suffer?”

I also hear that same statement, from anyone who has witnessed some sort of natural disaster or tragedy.

I love the great preacher John MacArthur, and I heard him say one time… “It is literally the grace of God that you and I are not at this very moment, consumed by the fire of His wrath.”

If God wasn’t a God of love, understanding and goodness, then only one sin by any individual, would be the end of everything.

I often wonder why, that in the midst of the darkness and sewage of morality in this country, why God’s mercy and love is still being poured out?

I mean, why not a little justice?

Jeremiah declared God to be righteous—but he was disappointed apparently, by the slowness of His justice.

I know a friend of mine, who is just finishing up divorce proceedings.

This person’s spouse has racked up huge debt on a credit card, that they themselves have to pay.

Is that justice?

Just be sure of this! Justice may not be played out in our lifetime, but one day the gavel will fall.

No one—including me, will get away with the shenanigans we were involved with down here on earth, apart from the grace of God.

The wicked will one day give an account, and so will those faithless one’s who live at ease.

God is the standard of righteousness and justice—man’s standard of those things are really meaningless.

Let’s remember, that the death of Jesus, was the ultimate demonstration of God’s justice and righteousness.

It was also a demonstration of His great love for all people

The Right Power!

Exodus 33: 14 – 15

The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

Can you imagine doing anything, without the Divine intervention of God?

People do it every day, and is it any wonder why people are turned around spiritually.

Some of the most well meaning Christians, operate without the power and presence of God.

It shows up in the lack of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

Moses was keenly aware of what it was like to go without God—and what it was like to go with God.

Let’s just say, that the latter was always his best option.

Will you ask God to go with you today?

Will you invite him to be a part of every meeting you attend, or every appointment you have?

A.W. Tozier wrote: “We do not seem to sense the tragedy of having almost completely lost the awareness of His presence.”

It’s pretty difficult living everyday life, without God’s intervention.

Have you been operating on your power lately?

Inviting the power of the most high God, will show up in life results.

Very few people take the time to quiet themselves in sincere prayer anymore.

I wonder what might happen, if the collective church turned those tides?

It’s important that we not only just know God, but that we meet the conditions of really finding Him.

If we all tried that, I’ll be willing to bet we’d see a big difference in our day, and our lives… 

What measuring device are you using?

Ephesians 4: 13

...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.

When I was a young boy, my Dad would often hand me a tape measure, and say… “Why don’t you see how long you slept last night?”

It took me a while to learn, that he was just toying with me.

We know that we can’t measure the length of our slumber, with a tape measure.

But the thought of that joke, made me think about something a little more sobering.

Don’t we sometimes do the same thing when we use the wrong spiritual measuring device?

We assume that the larger churches and the one’s with the most resources, are the most blessed by God.

We also think the more popular preachers—the ones on TV for example, are more Godly than the ones who serve in little churches.

Let’s face it—they have more people following them than the little guy.

The best way to measure ourselves spiritually, is by the quality of our spiritual lives.

Maybe if we measured ourselves by Jesus, that would be the best and most accurate measurement?

The fullness of Christ, as spoken of in this verse this morning, are His very attributes.

His attributes, happen to be the fruits of the spirit. That’s the fullness of Christ.

We can measure our lives by those fruits, and they give an honest measurement of where people really are in a spiritual sense.

When we see those Godly attributes in play, it’s a good indication that we’re moving towards God’s goal for us.

I need to start this new week, by measuring where I am… 

Wake Up!

Revelation 22: 18 - 19

And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book.

And if anyone removes any of the words of this prophetic book, God will remove that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

Most people don’t realize, that our country is in a tail spin today, headed toward hell itself.

This kind of message isn’t popular today, but it’s true.

We live in a country today, where so called Christian intellectuals, commonly add their opinions regarding God’s Word, deceiving many people.

In the first place, God doesn’t care about our opinions.

We are called to preach the full council of God, and yet we are twisting the truth as we try to conform God to our lives.

It is time for the church of God to wake up.

The Bible is either the true and the inerrant message from God—or it is not.

Anytime we add/subtract something from it to pacify us, God will be sure to expel that person, who carries that opinion.

As long as the Ebola virus stays in Africa—or the beheading of Americans happen to someone else, we’ll continue on this path.

No—It is time for the church of God to stand up!

Churches have stopped preaching Jesus Christ crucified—but I don’t happen to belong to one of them.

The Word of God is true in its purest form, and if we embrace anything other than that—the plagues will come.

There are a few people out there today, who are taking a stand.

Be sure of this, God will honor them all, in the greatest way He knows how

Affirm your love!

Deuteronomy 6: 5

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

I have to wonder what living out this verse really looks like.

Loving something with everything that we are, has to take on the appearance of something special.

Moses first spoke these words, and the words came from the very heart of God.

These words are repeated over and over in the Bible, and Jesus said it was the greatest commandment.

A practicing Jew, repeated these words multiple times throughout the day, so they would never forget them.

Sometimes when we don’t focus on Godly things like we should, we seem to forget them.

The great “Shema”, is the liturgical prayer that every Jew prayed many times throughout the day, to affirm their loving relationship with a loving God.

How will you affirm that love today?

Often times, there are things that get in the way of our love of God.

On the cusp of the NFL football season, that seems to be one of them.

God made us in His image, and sometimes we have this backwards.

My youngest son wrote something in a e-mail yesterday, that reminded me of this verse.

He wrote; “Salvation is conforming my life to Christ’s will, not conforming Christ’s will/direction (His Word) to me and my life.”

I wonder what’s getting in the way, of us making God our top priority?

So then, what needs to change?

Listen well!

Revelation 2: 2

I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.

I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.

The Methodist Reformist, John Wesley once said…

"What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace." ~ John Wesley

It seems that even before the end of our lives, there should be this constant testing of our faith going on.

Romans 12: 2 tells us that we can test and approve the will of God.

I wonder if God came today to the church, would He find people who claim to be His followers, but really aren’t?

It is possible to find people who were living a false testimony?

A true follower of Jesus, takes on a true appearance.

It’s a person that’s hard to miss, in the midst of this sinful generation.

They’re the ones that stand out—especially in the church.

Would you say that you stand out, among all the people in the church today?

Is there something that you’re tolerating, that should be dismissed?

John Wesley was a man before his time.

His prophetic word seems eerily true.

Maybe we should actually listen to the prophets of God…