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The Proof

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2 Thessalonians 1:3-5 We ought and indeed are obligated [as those in debt] to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, as is fitting, because your faith is growing exceedingly and the love of every one of you each toward the others is increasing and abounds.4 And this is a cause of our mentioning you with pride among the churches (assemblies) of God for your steadfastness (your unflinching endurance and patience) and your firm faith in the midst of all the persecutions and crushing distresses and afflictions under which you are holding up. 5 This is positive proof of the just and right judgment of God to the end that you may be deemed deserving of His kingdom [a plain token of His fair verdict which designs that you should be made and counted worthy of the kingdom of God], for the sake of which you are also suffering.

Two things really stand out in this passage: growing faith and suffering. Growing faith will cause you to overflow with thanksgiving especially when you consider those who have suffered along with you. Growing faith will even cause you to overflow with thanks for those who have caused you to suffer. The Christian worldview in the West thinks it a strange thing to suffer for Jesus. Often the idea is dismissed when comparing themselves with other saints who live under oppressive regimes. Regimes and governments that are anti-Christ, and antagonistic to Jesus and all who follow Him. We fail to realize that Jesus and any, and all who chose to follow Jesus were under probably the most religious system the world has ever known. They believed in similar things. They participated in worship, prayer, fasting, tithing, Bible reading, and teaching. Yet, many were anti-Christ, and antagonistic to many of the things Jesus taught. He was considered extreme, and because of this He was rejected. Rest assured if they reject Him, they will reject Him in you – if you are growing in faith.

1 Corinthians 1:23 states: We preach Christ (the Messiah) crucified, [preaching which] to the Jews is a scandal and an offensive stumbling block [that springs a snare or trap], and to the Gentiles it is absurd and utterly unphilosophical nonsense.

1 Corinthians 2:1-2 As for myself, brethren, when I came to you, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony and evidence or mystery and secret of God [concerning what He has done through Christ for the salvation of men] in lofty words of eloquence or human philosophy and wisdom;2 For I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified.

Paul only preached Jesus crucified? If you take the time to consider that thought: preach Christ (the Messiah) crucified – it should cause you to question, Is that all he preached? Chapter 2 makes a similar claim: For I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified. Think about it. All he taught, day in and day out, was the crucifixion of Jesus. But is that what Paul meant by that phrase? Absolutely not. Paul’s message was based on the crucified life Jesus lived. From the day Jesus was conceived, to the time He could understand the whispers and the gossip of the villagers surrounding His virgin birth – Jesus was living the crucified life. In fact you could easily surmise He was crucified, everyday, as He sought to do the will of the Father; to obey Him without compromise. Now imagine, in the midst of all these things, and much more, not only your faith growing and increasing, but your love. Paul commended the Thessalonians for both their faith growing, and their love increasing, and abounding. If these early followers of Jesus did it surely Jesus had done it before them.

Paul added that all of these things taken together was proof that you were worthy of entering the Kingdom of God. In an age of sloppy, and cheap grace, this statement is startling. Salvation is free, but I have been freed to grow in faith, thanksgiving, love, and suffering. Cheap Grace adherents would be incredulous over this statement. Rather than a statement of fact it would be turned into a question: I have been freed to grow in faith, thanksgiving, love, and suffering? Another way to think about this is by asking, Are you growing through suffering? Are you growing through sacrificial obedience, surrender, and love? Now that is preaching Christ crucified. That is knowing Christ crucified. Are you knowing Him?

Cycles of God

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Numbers 1:1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai in the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the second month in the second year after they came out of the land of Egypt, saying,…

Recently I saw an article entitled: Fasting – What a Blessing! When I was younger I undertook fasting for 40 days and only lasted 30. The next time I was called to fast I went for the full 40 days. Other than the physical weakness, once I surpassed the 2-3 day mark, I was amazed at how His Grace carried me through. I even began to feel better, experiencing clearer thinking. I say all of this to say I am no stranger to fasting and have to admit that when God has called you to it – there is a great grace to make the impossible become possible. It’s quite amazing. But in all my fasting I would be quick to confess that I’ve not been caught up to the Third Heaven with the Apostle Paul, or experienced Throne Room worship with the saints and angels. Actually quite the opposite occurred and I would not have called it a blessing. But thank the Lord for His Grace that has caused me to learn a better approach in what to expect, or what some may call its’ secrets. What are some of those secrets?

Prepare to Enter a Spiritual Wilderness. When I first read books about fasting I was misled to believe it was going to be this glorious mountain top experience. But that was not to be the case. The Bible teaches that God has spiritual cycles that it carries us through (if we are paying attention): Ecclesiastus 3:1-4 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—2 A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.

Studying the life of the children of Israel from the exodus out of Egypt – through the wilderness – to their emerging victorious to enter the Promised Land – you observe three major cycles of God for His people. The Mountaintop Season or Cycle, the Wilderness or Valley Season or Cycle, and the Season or cycle of Warfare. To choose to enter a fast or even to seek after God will automatically default you to the Season or Cycle of the Valley or Wilderness.

Many of the things you lean on for spiritual props are removed during fasting teaching you to get in touch with your spirit. Prayer warrior, Andrew Murray once remarked: Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal.  Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God. And there it is: fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. It is not to be an emotional high but a walk through the dusty places of your soul in order to get to the wealth and riches of your spirit man. It is a journey of faith – not sight; not emotional highs – but one that can only be taken one day at a time.

Prepare to Listen for His Still, Small Voice. I have learned that through fasting I can count on receiving more revelation from God’s Word. The spiritual wilderness is where the “manna” of His Word falls. Like Israel of old rise early to gather as much as you want and trust and believe God will provide. Position yourself to hear His Spirit unlock the Word of God for you like never before.

Prepare for Offense. Another thing I have observed and experienced is that fasting “kick’s” up the offenses in me. Fasting is a means of humbling yourself not going on some quest to pay penance for your sins (although you can do that). Dt. 8:3 And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you recognize and personally know that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

Fasting is a means to humble yourself under what the Spirit causes to surface through others. What do I mean? I have learned that while fasting I need to pay special attention to every negative event in my life (for they will surely come). People will make me angry, offend, irritate, and confound me with all their many sins, weaknesses, self-centeredness, and pride. The painful truth is that their so-called weaknesses are really being used by God to expose my own. I’ve learned to not blame others for my offenses and irritations – but that these are the very things God is seeking to eliminate in me. I have learned to turn those issue into prayers of confession and repentance. I have learned to press into more of His Presence through thanksgiving and worship. These are the weapons that fight my battle.

Whatever season or cycle you find yourself in learn to open the DOOR of Laodicea and listen for His call and knock. He’s longing for any one who will take the time to enter His Narrow DOOR.

John Hancock

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Often when we ask for a person’s signature, we will call it their “John Hancock.” This is because of the fifty-six signatures on the Declaration of Independence, one stands out above the rest. That signature belongs to John Hancock. He was the first to sign the declaration and he signed it in a large and legible script so that the King of England could read his name without using glasses. Mr. Hancock wanted it to be very clear where his allegiance lay. His commitment to his country was so clear that when King George III offered amnesty to all who would cease fighting, John Hancock was among the select few who were left out of the offer.

A similar thing happened to Moses. Its found in Exodus 34:5-7 Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

At first it appears to be pretty pompous of the Lord. But when we seek to connect to the Lord, listening for His still small Voice to teach us, He will lead us to the Truth, guiding us beyond what offends our natural minds. As I sought Him He surprised me with His answer. Numbers 6:24-27 “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” God places His Name upon His people through His Word. Add to that this revelation: Psalms 138:2 I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name! God magnifies His Word above His Name. Let that sink in. Reading this for the first time you immediately think of the Scripture, and that would be right. Yet consider that Jesus is the Living Word of God. In essence, God was exalting Jesus – the Word above His Name, and writing His Sons’ Name onto the heart of Moses. And don’t forget Acts 11:26 …and in Antioch the disciples were first called Christ…..ians. Jesus put His Word in their hearts along with His Name! The good news for us is that God writes His Name – Jesus, Yeshua – on our hearts through His Word. Through our obedience and surrender in our wilderness; and in our dying spiritually to ourselves through prayer, fasting, seeking, submission, and obedience. As we meet Him – the Word, outside the camp, at Christ’s crucifixion, He is, and will continue to write His Name – His Word – His Story – on our hearts. That’s pretty powerful.

Is My Sacrifice Living?

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Genesis 22:9 “When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there; then he laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on the wood.”

Oswald Chambers: This event is a picture of the mistake we make in thinking that the ultimate God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, that is, sacrifice our lives. Not— “Lord, I am ready to go with You…to death” (Luke 22:33). But— “I am willing to be identified with Your death so that I may sacrifice my life to God.”

We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this error, and the same process is at work in our lives. God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, namely, life with Himself. It is a matter of loosening the bands that hold back our lives. Those bands are loosened immediately by identification with the death of Jesus. Then we enter into a relationship with God whereby we may sacrifice our lives to Him.

Precious Church family while you are praying about what to fast during our 21 day fast know that it’s not what you are giving up that matters to the Lord. Rather it is what you are in pursuit of. Are we giving those things up for the only ting worth having and that is Jesus Himself? The year of 2019 should be a year of pursuing Jesus. May God bless you with His Grace in this endeavor.

“Prepare the Way – Forty Days of Seeking God for the Feast of Trumpets”

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During this season God is drawing near to us inviting us to come up to His Mountain. Use this season of seeking the Lord to seek an answer to the following questions:
1. What does the Lord think about my relationship with Him?
2. What does He want to do to enhance our relationship?
3. What did you do in the past to get closer to Him when nothing else took priority?
4. What activities can you do together to develop greater intimacy – especially during this season of 40 days?
5. What ideas does He have about your getting closer to Him?
Isa 55:6-7 Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
Jer 3:12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: ‘Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful,’ says the LORD; ‘I will not remain angry forever.
Eph 5:14 Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
The “Prepare the Way” Commitment
Q. How could Christians prepare the way for the Return of Jesus?
40 Days of Seeking God through…thanksgiving, praise, confession, prayer, QT, and the Word
40 Days of Seeking God through…a fast of turning off the distractions
40 Days of Seeking God through…partner prayer
40 Days of Seeking God through…prayer room deposits
40 Days of Seeking God through…committing to become sons and daughters of the Word
This Weeks Commitment?- Thanksgiving Journaling and Rigorous Thanksgiving.
10 things a day that you are thankful for – journaled and expressed aloud to God.
Throughout the day especially when you are tempted to be negative, critical, anxious, angry, discouraged – thank God for the opposite; through it; in spite of it.
Seek to enter in and remain in His Presence through thanksgiving.
Thank God for the things you’ve been praying that haven’t happened – as if they have happened.

21 Day Fast – Day 20

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21 Day Fast – Day 19

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21 Day Fast – Day 18

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21 Day Fast – Day 17

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21 Day Fast – Day 16

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21 Day Fast – Day 13

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21 Day Fast – Day 12

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21 Day Fast – Day 11

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Day 11. Hump Day. We are half-way through our 21 day fast. I was doing my Experiencing God study and happened upon this statement by Henry Blackaby:

“What is God’s will for my life? One of my seminary professors, Gaines S. Dobbins, used to say, “If you ask the wrong question, you will get the wrong answer.” Sometimes we assume every question is legitimate. However when we ask the wrong question, we may find an answer but remain disoriented to God and His activity. Always check to see whether you have the right question before you pursue the answer. “What is God’s will for my life?” is not the right question. I think the proper question is, What is God’s will? Once I know God’s will, then I can adjust my life to Him. In other words, what is it God is purposing to accomplish where I am? Once I know what God is doing, then I know what I need to do. The focus needs to be on God, not on my life.”

This morning as I was meditating on Experiencing God I was reminded of a thought I have had for quite some time:

“You can’t have a Pentecost without a resurrection. You can’t have a resurrection with out a crucifixion.”

Mulling over this thought I was reminded of the many people I have known throughout the years of ministry, and another thought occurred to me: “Before there can be a crucifixion you must know God.” The Bible tells us that “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Yet our perceptions of God are shaped through our experiences, sins of our fathers, lies of the enemy, and the world. The self-centered filter and lens of who we think God is will be distorted, deformed, cloudy, and out of focus at best. All of these like tethering chains pull on us dragging us to everything but God.

Fasting offends our minds (and our stomachs) exposing what’s really in our hearts. Pay close attention and you will notice that you have been tethered to something that has been actually taking you away from God – not closer to Him. Ultimately the solution is to have God as our Center. But it has to be “the Center” found in the whole counsel of God – not just certain passages of Scripture. The whole counsel of God will shine the necessary light to snap the shackles of bondage, and torment. May we all cry out with Braveheart’s William Wallace: “Freedom!”

21 Day Fast – Day 10

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How is everyone doing on there fast? Today is day 10 of our 21 day, and the second day of our meditations in Experiencing God. Tomorrow night we have our second prayer meeting.

I began fasting back in the 90’s and was often amazed at how God’s grace would “carry” me through the time of fasting. Yet I would be disappointed more often than not in the results of what I was seeking God for in prayer. If God awarded gold medals for effort I would have a wall full. I’ve been on 40, 30, and 20 day fasts only to suffer disappointment after disappointment. But not this time. This time I combined several aspects into seeking God. And my belief is that as a result of my being called by God to seek Him through this fast, having no other ulterior motives other than to get closer to Him – that He is drawing near to me. I’ve combined praise, thanksgiving, holiness (turning the media slime off), prolonged prayer, and the pure pursuit of simply wanting to be near Him. And He is drawing me into His loving embrace. This morning I awoke at 1:30 and He began answering questions I had been praying about. It took me a while to make the connection but I realized God was working and wanted me to come join Him. When I made that connection from John 5:19: “Jesus gave them this answer: I tell you the truth the Son can do nothing by Himself. He can do only what He sees His Father doing. Because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” – I rolled out of bed and headed to my “prayer tent.” (I have a chair in my study that I like to kneel in front of and pray. But I’ve added a new twist. I’ve been taking a blanket, draping it over it’s back, sliding underneath, and climbing into my “tent.” it takes me back to my childhood when my sister and I made “forts” out of blankets and chairs.)

Under my “tent of meeting” God has told me so many things, and has been so good to me. With each passing day of the fast the commitment level intensifies – the bar being raised higher. But His grace empowers me to do things I can’t do in the flesh. And by that grace His eagles “will mount up” higher and higher.

Are you hearing the call? “Come up here?” Set yourself up a “tent of meeting.” Moses and David did. The friends of God have tents of meeting. You want to be a friend of God?

21 Day Fast – Day 8

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Today is Day 8 of our church’s 21 Day Fast. How’s everyone holding up? This morning I was questioning the purpose of fasting as I thought about my hunger pains. In the shower I told the Lord that I could seek Him without having to go without food. Basically I was saying to Him, “What’s the point?” My prayers did not go unheard. After arriving at the church, turning on the lights, and cranking up the heat I went into my office to spend time with the Lord. I wrote in my thanksgiving journal, and then verbally acknowledged the things I was thankful for. I reviewed my Scripture memory, and then settled down for some meditation in the word. Usually I have 8 passages of Scripture that I try to meditate on during the week, and today I was meditating on the word “word” in the Scripture. Using my concordance I searched for the Scripture that I was to look up which happened to be Deut. 8:3. And here is what its said:
“And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you recognize and personally know that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”

I realized the Lord was answering my prayer, reminding me from the rest of the verse and chapter what fasting was all about:
It’s about humbling yourself before the Lord

How was it humbling?
Deut. 8:2 “And you shall [earnestly] remember all the way which the Lord your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and to prove you, to know what was in your [mind and] heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”

To see if I will obey God’s Word.
To test and prove what’s in my heart.
To help me see that I don’t live on bread alone. (What really should be making me come to life is God’s Word – His written Word and His spoken, revealed word.)
To not forget the Lord when he prospers me and I start looking to things to satisfy and make me happy.
To cause me to turn back to Him while I’m fasting, knowing that I need Him and His grace to to pray and fast, and to be free of the distractions.
In the end I recognize all of God’s goodness, I experience His grace empowering me to fast and pray, and I see God clearer than I did before I began.

During your fast don’t forget the Word. Remember the Word is a mirror which Jesus- the Word, holds up so that you can see yourself as you truly are. He really will feed you. So go to His banqueting table as your stomach rumbles in protest and ask Daddy God to feed you some fresh baked “manna” from Heaven.

21 Day Fast – Day 7

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Day seven of our 21 Day Fast I have been seeking the Lord first of all because I felt that He was inviting me to so. In December I was going through my Scripture memory and my eye just happened to fall on some scripture I had written down that I wanted to memorize. (These Scripture go back about three years ago) My eyes happened to fall on one – Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while He may be found call upon Him while He is near.” Then I saw several other Scripture: 2 Chronicles 15:12 “Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.” Job 5:8 “But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause.” As the scriptures seemed to pop up off the page I smiled. I knew the Lord was answering the prayer I had been praying for several months regarding whether I should lead the church in this fast. I felt that this was His answer. A week before the fast began I pressed into seeking Jesus desiring to see Him; desiring for Him to appear before me. In my search the first thing that He drew my attention to was this question: What do I need from God? I wrote down a list: breakthrough in my walk with the Lord; breakthrough in my coming into what He’s purposed for my life; breakthrough in Bethany Church’s ministries, growth and God’s Presence; breakthrough for my son; breaking off of fear; girding up of my faith; what country God wanted out church to be on mission to; reformation of the church; revival, transformation, awakening; and renewal in our church’s life. Those things gave me some extra things to pray. But before I answered this question I had made another list. In this list I had written: “The purpose of this fast would be to seek a dramatic encounter that would transform my relationship with God. My focus would be seeking the Lord’s appearing, His Presence, a transformation. To have a new being. To be “dictated” to by the Spirit. To pray for a movement of the Holy Spirit to be birthed in me and the people of Bethany that will shake our neighborhood, the City of Weddington, Union Co., NC, America and the world. Transformation of the people of Bethany. Awakening of the lost through the people of Bethany. That God would do something only He could do. Pray that God would release grace expectation, and anointing in me and others at Bethany.” 

These were the things that I would seek God to obtain. Is He able? All day long. Is He doing it? I don’t know yet. But my encouragement to you is to write down what He is saying and pay close attention to all that’s going on around you. He loves you and wants you to find Him. He hides, we seek. Join in God’s hide and seek. Remember: “The fire of God, the manifested Presence of God, does not fall on an empty altar.”