Words of Encouragement

 

Judas in the midst

Theme Scripture ~ I can do everything through him who gives me strength. – Philippians 4:13

Have you ever had to deal with betrayal? Have you had a friend that you thought was true to you to find out that they were plotting your destruction? What are you suppose to do? Do you get back, do you retaliate or do you cut them off? Today let’s look at how Jesus handled betrayal.

20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” 22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?” 23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” 25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “You have said so.” – Matthew 26:20-25

Background ~ What’s taking place is the Lord is preparing the last supper, the Passover supper with his disciples. As he is seated he tells them that one of them will betray him. Judas, the one that betrayed him ask surely it couldn’t be me? Jesus’ response, you have said so.

What stood out to me is that Jesus is in fellowship and part of the godhead. Therefore he knows everything. Even when he picked Judas he knew he would betray him, yet he picked him anyway. He took the time to teach him, he allowed him into a close fellowship with him even though he knew he would betray him. Does that make senses?

Not to you and I, but to God it simply shows his character. God is ready to give every man the opportunity to live for Him. He turns no one away, the liar, the cheater, the killer, the rapist, the everyday sinner, no one. Some will not change, but no one will have the opportunity to say God did not give them the chance.

Sometimes God will require you and I to allow some Judas’ in our midst. We may even know going in that we shouldn’t trust them, or that they may hurt us, but we are still to offer them the same opportunity as everyone else to hear the about goodness of God.

Now before we move from this point, let me make it clear. I’m not talking about a false understanding. See Jesus was well aware of what he was dealing with. We have to deal with people with godly wisdom and insight. For example, we may try to help someone on drugs, but we are not foolish enough to think well I can trust them with everything I have. Jesus knew what Judas was doing. He knew his character.

The question you may have is, that’s too hard, how can I put up with a Judas in my midst? Well that goes back to our scripture theme. It is only through the strength of Jesus that we will be able to handle those Judas’ in our midst. Oh it’s hard. I had one myself. I knew the person was lying on me, they were telling people things about me and trying to destroy my name. Yet, when they were around me they acted like the loved me. But I was aware of what was going on. I wanted to get out, but God said, not yet. You need to be the one that offers repentance. I did, and I was only able to stand because of God strengthening me.

Do you need him to strengthen you today as you stand through and face your Judas in your midst?

Words of Encouragement

THE GIFT OF LOVE

Some may send you flowers,

Some may send you perfume,

Some may send gifts beyond the imagination.

My gift does not smell of the flowers,

But when given time it blossoms

And it lingers long after the flowers wilt.

My gift may not excite the senses.

But it’s touch need never be replenished,

Like perfume that soon fades away,

With no trace of being there before.

I may not send expensive gifts

Beyond the imagination,

But my gift was designed by God

Who had no limit to His creations.

If I could give you the world, I would.

If I could give you the stars, I would.

If I could give you anything in the universe,

I would.

But I still do not think it could come close

To the gift I give to you,

You can not hold it or taste it,

But as you listen, you will feel the gift I give

The gift of love.

This is the greatest gift I can give you,

Because God first gave it to me.

For God so loved the world,

that He gave His only begotten

Son.

 

Happy Valentines! Better yet, Have a happy February!

The Week in Review

LIFE GIVER

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. - Genesis 2:7



God took dust or dirt from the ground and formed a man. He then breath life into that dry dust and it became a living being. As I was studying this chapter, there were a few points that stood out. The first thing that stood out was the fact that man was formed from a lifeless substance. The second point that I saw was that this lifeless substance took on a life-form after God breath into him.



I looked at these two points from a spiritual perspective. We may have physical life but we are actually lifeless people because we have not yet had the "spiritual" breath of God breathed into us. We are moving and utilizing our physical selves but we are really as lifeless as the dirt on the ground. Dirt on the ground it of no good until something is done with it. If you want grow something in dirt you must put seeds in it, water it and make sure the ground is is turned over so that oxygen can get it.



We are like that ground. We need to have something done to us so that we can be useful, living ground. God wants to deposit in our "soil" the seed of salvation. It then needs the living water and the oxygen, the breath of God to make sure it grows.



Did you know that seeds won't grow well in packed down soil? That's because the air isn't circulating. You need to have some one come and do a treatment on your ground so that air will circulate and that your grass and plants will grow better. We need God to do a procedure on us so that the seed of salvation will take root and grow in us. He needs to treat our hearts so that hatred, hurt, anger, etc. won't pack it down so hard that nothing will grow there.



The Lord breathed life into a form that was without life. He was the only one that could do that. And when He did, Adam took on attributes of God. He had the ability to create, love, rule. etc. It wasn't until Adam allowed the enemy to trick him (through the woman) that he again became lifeless.



This is the plight that humanity finds itself in today. We are lifeless until we are united with God and He breaths life into us. I pray today that we allow God breath new life into us so that we can become a living soul. A person designed to show off the handiwork of God and to be His ambassadors in the world.

Watch out For the Crafty One

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” - Genesis 3:1-5

In this scripture, we are given some background about the serpent. The scripture says he is more crafty than any of the other animals. This sets the tone that we are going to have trouble. The scripture tells us that the devil is trouble, so why does God people hold converstations and debates with him?

He then approaches the woman and begins to have a conversation with her. He asked, "Did God really say...". This question is expressed in a way that is trying to call for doubt, or maybe to have the person question the instruction they have received. The woman responded but she added something to God's Word. When she answered she put in that God said you should not touch it or you will die.

 Eve's first mistake was listening to the serpent. As soon as he began to question her about God, she should have stopped the conversation. In fact, how natural was it for her to be having a conversation with the animals in this way?

Eve allowed the enemy to deceive her and she had what I call the "Eve Complex". She entertained a conversation with the serpent and in doing so, he began to make her turn her attention to the one tree she was forbidden to have and in doing so, she lost sight of all the other trees available to her. Remember she was in the garden. This is not like your backyard with a few trees, think more of a vast grove of trees upon trees. From all these different trees she could take and eat.

We sometimes have the Eve Complex ourselves. We allow the enemy to draw our focus to that one "tree" we don't have and therefore, we take our focus off the fact that we are living in the abundance of God.

We also should learn from Eve that as soon as the enemy see that we don't really understand the Word, he is ready to attack. In this instance Eve had been told the command, but somewhere along the way she changed it. She added her interpretation to it. When you and I add our own understanding or interpretation to the Word of God, the enemy is ready to attack us and trick us into sinning.

We must not entertain any conversations with the enemy. When he comes and ask us "did God really say..." we are to quickly rebuke him because we know he is trying to trick us.

Prayer: Lord help us to see the tricks of the enemy as he tries to deceive us and in doing so we begin to doubt your Word. Help us combat the enemy with your truth when he brings lies or questions your authority and your power. Help us to flee from him so that we do not become deceived into seeing the one thing we don't have and miss the bounty of what we have available to us. Amen.

Practice the WORD

Practice the WORD - God's Promises

One day as I was studying, I began to write down and pray the word of God. I wanted to remind myself of what God's WORD promises us and the best way to do that is to practice it. Meaning we need to recite it over and over again to ourselves and then think on it and finally act on it. Here are some of the scriptures that I study. I wrote down a few points that I prayed after reading the scripture, I hope they help you as well.

You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’” 18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. – 2 Chronicles 20:17-18

• God will fight my battle. - Therefore I do not have to try and figure everything out by myself.

• I must stand firm where God places me. - I have to be patient for God's timing and move as he instructs.

• God will deliver me. - Therefore, I do not have to fear anything that comes against me because there is no weapon that will prosper.

• I do not have to be afraid or discouraged. - Therefore, I can continue to have hope regardless of what my situations or circumstances look like.

• The Lord will be with me whatever I have to face each morning. - God promises we a full supply of new mercies every day. Therefore, I will make it through my day.

• Worshiping the Lord for his promises is done before the promise if fulfilled. - I can began to be grateful before I receive because I know God will fulfill all that I need.



Prayer: Lord today I thank you for fighting my battles and for delivering me from all and any difficulties I might face. I thank you that I do not have to be discouraged because you are a faithful God and you always keep your promises. I will thank you even now because I know that my answer is there, I am simply standing still and waiting for you to reveal it. Help me to stay where you have placed me. Amen.



7 Arise, LORD! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. 8 From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. - Psalm 3:7-8 (New International Version)

• God will deliver me when I ask. - God will answer my call for help.

• God will defend me from my enemies. - God will not allow my enemies to defeat me.

• Deliverance comes only from God. - God is the only one that can save me from my situations or difficulties.

Prayer: Lord I thank you for answering me call for help. No weapons that are aimed to destroy me or stop me will be successful against me because you are my God. You will deliver me from any problems as only you can. Lord help me not to run away from you in times of need, but help me to run quickly towards you for you are the only source of help. Amen.


6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. - Psalm 32:6-8 (New International Version)

• I should pray for my help. - Seeking God should be the first thing I do when difficulties arise.

• God is my hiding place.- When I seek God, He becomes my place of safety away from all that would try to pull me down.

• God will protect me from trouble. - God keeps me from the troubles that would try to take my joy and peace.

• He will surround me with songs that remind me of his deliverance. - His Spirit will help me to continue to walk in victory as I think on the right things.

• God will instruct me. - The Lord will lead me, if I listen.

• God will teach me how I should go. - He gives me His Word to guide me, if I will apply it.

• God will keep his loving eyes on me as he guides me. - God never leaves me to walk this way alone.

Prayer: Lord help me to always seek you first in all things. When I come to you first, you will provide me with a safe place, a place that keeps my from being overcome by my problems. You will teach me and guild we lovingly through this journey. You will even give me encouragement in the things around me, such as a song. Help me to so that I can stay focused on you and your goodness. Amen.


(Come back next week for the final installment)

Unusual Assignments Bring Miraculous Results~ Are you taking your position?- Part 4

2 Chronicles Chapter 17  

We are lulled to sleep by our traditions. Let me say this carefully so we understand what I am trying to convey. It is good to look back at our history within the church. It is good to hear about the early pioneers of the faith. But for many, they are figures in history. There are others that are coming into this church now that these names have little or no significance to. So when we talk about what has gone before, but we don’t see the hero’s of today, you actually discourage those coming behind. How do we discourage them, because we hear about what was done in our past, about greatness, but we want to know what are we doing with our future, where is the greatness, the power NOW? We have been lulled to sleep resting on our history. Those in the Bible talked about their history but it was to rally them to stand up and take their positions for the time they were in. When Jehoshaphat talks about God’s goodness it is to remind the people about what they could lean on for today. We are here for such a time as this. The saints of yesterday have their rewards because they stood and refuse to be lulled to sleep by their history; instead they used it to build on. They took what had gone before and stood on the shoulders of those earlier pioneers of the faith and looked further into the future. They become reformers of their time. A reformer is one that has vision, for without it the people will die. However, many of us today are lulled to sleep in our pride of where we have come from as if the work is complete, not so.




Now let’s take a look at how hardening our hearts lulls us to sleep like Asa.



We are also lulled to sleep because things don’t go our way. When God wants us to do something one-way and we do it another, we have moved into disobedience. When God sends us the correction it is to our advance to heed it. We must not be like Asa and have a tantrum and get mad at the messenger. The messenger is just like the UPS or FEDEX person they just deliver the package and if you have problems with the package, go back to the sender. Asa just like Ahab both wanted to imprison or stop the messenger, but God won’t let you stop his move, so you better watch out what you try to do to those he has anointed to carry out his ways. It is foolish to try and stop what God wants to happen. I envision it is just like a person standing with a superman suit on in front of a cannon and thinking they can stop a cannonball, yet what comes out is a missile, and that thing will blow a hole right through them. That is truly under estimating the power of God, you don’t have enough power to stop even the slightest move of God. Like Asa, if we refuse to heed the correction God is giving to us even now, we risk dying in our diseases of disobedience looking to other things to remove it, when only God can do it. He says lulled to sleep, by disobedience and refusal to stand. And when we refuse to heed God’s correction, we set ourselves up for hell. Many don’t want to talk about it, but I’ve got to say this. If God is calling you to repent of something you are doing and you refuse, you are playing a foolish game. It is foolish to think you can refuse God and still receive his mercy and favor. Do you know why hell is a place of torment? If you die in your sins you go to stand before God and in that moment you will experience the fullness of God. See here we know something about love, both the saved and the unsaved. We love our husbands and wives, our children, our parents and we feel and receive love in return. But when you stand before God you will experience the fullness of his love, only to have it quickly snatched away. What is the torment? To have known what you could have had, to be in the fullness of God, to fill his fullness of love, yet not receive it and to realize what you have missed. You will be forever in torment because for an eternity you will never feel the love of God again, but your mind will always long for it, your heart will always long for it to never have it fulfilled. See the worst thing about hell, is you miss heaven. There is no joy there, no peace there, but to be forever aware of what you could have had, because just as the saved will know the Lord more fully, so will the unsaved know more fully what they have refused (return next week for the next installment).

Week In Review

Unusual assignments bring miraculous results - Are you taking your position? - part 3

Preached in 2007

We are lulled to sleep by our worship. A few years ago, we had a birthday party for my husband's grandmother. We had gathered together to discuss who would do the food, who would do the decorations, what committee would be responsible for what, but she was never invited into the planning process. Then the day of the party came. We invited her into the party, told her to have a seat and we set about celebrating and honoring her. Some told about how important she was to them. Some told about the impact she had on their life. Songs were sung to honor her and for a few brief moments we allowed her to get up and give us a few remarks. She was quickly done and things were over. We thought it was a success. Well God says that works fine for a birthday party or an anniversary but not as worship to him. In churches across this country we are inviting God in, when we offer the invocation, we say come in have a seat and we will honor you. We will talk about you in our life, we will even say how you have changed our lives and we will sing songs to honor you, and for a few brief moments we will allow the guest of honor to say something through the speaker or preacher. We however, want the speaker to get up and give the message of God quickly sit back down and then we say, wasn’t that a good worship service? God says not. He wants us to be willing to let go of our plans and give him 100% access. So if that means that we skip something on the list and allow the Spirit to direct in another direction, we do so without getting upset, sitting down, folding our arms, closing our eyes and being lulled to sleep because we feel slighted because we were suppose to sing the solo and instead someone else was called or because you were suppose to do one thing and it was left out. Who is this about anyway, us or God? He says, lulled to sleep.


We are lulled to sleep by our programs, plans and agenda’s. When we planned for that birthday celebration, we didn’t let grandmommy know what was going on. It was for her, about her, to honor her, but we didn’t involve her in the planning. Just like we planned what we wanted to do for that party, in our churches we do the same things. We begin by planning things to line up with what we want, how we want to honor God and we forget that as long as we lined ourselves up with God first, we were successful, we had victories, we had healings taking place, we had deliverances from sin and demonic possession. We become comfortable and turn to our own thinking. So we plan our programs and then we ask God to bless them. Well that doesn’t seem like a bad idea, but the problem is it is based on our own ideas and understanding. We do like Jehoshaphat, and move from Judah and head toward Israel. We move from where God has placed us and turn to seeking after what looks good to us. Instead God says, stop asking me to bless your programs, and start asking me to show you what I want you to do, for that I am surely blessing. We plan our agenda’s a year in advance. I have no problems with list; I’m a list person. I’ll write something down on my list that wasn’t on it, just so I can cross it off, because I did it. But even with that, I still must be careful not to get so involved in doing what I think, that I miss what God is saying. When we get to the end of the year, is the calendar saving a soul? Is the calendar changing individuals from being converts, because God didn’t ask for converts, he asked for disciples? Are the things we plan teaching the basic training that disciples need so they can go out and do the same? Are the saints encouraged and strengthen. Sadly no, for agendas, programs and calendars do not save or change people, only the living power of God. Instead what happens is we get to the end of the year and the end of the business of doing all the events posted on the calendar and we are tired, and frustrated because we have been spinning our wheels and longing to feel the presence of God. Jehoshaphat took steps that led him away from Judah and away from being a reformer, and so has God’s people when they take any steps away from being a true reformer led by God’s Spirit. And just as Jehospaphat was led into aligning Judah up with the sinful behavior of their brother, Ahab, out of ignorance, so does God's people when they turn from teaching and preaching his truth to going after what is popular during the times, programming for the sake of programming. Lulled to sleep. (Return next week to read the next installment.)