The Hope of His Calling

2Co 1:8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

2Co 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

2Co 1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

Do not misunderstand God is fully aware of the pressure that is squeezing many of His children mentally right now. There is a pressure unlike any previously known and the intensity is increasing. Many saints are struggling with anguish, burdened down, many are enduring persecution, or some form of tribulation. This will weigh you down, make you feel heavy with despair and cause you to struggle with depression, even. It will truly make you wonder about the purpose of your life, make you feel like your life isn't amounting to much, and seems so fruitless, so pointless, how could God ever be satisfied? Have you caught yourself wondering why, Lord? Of course the enemy will be right there to whisper God is mad at you. He'll throw your failures in your face, constantly seeking to harass and accuse. Why does God allow these things into our lives, those of us who love Him and truly desire to know Him and live for His glory, not for self?

I think Paul tells us in the next two verses. The word for sentence in verse 9 means answer. There is a judicial answer for the problem. There is something in us that has been sentenced to death-and that is self will-it has to die and God will allow things to press and come against us so we will learn that we cannot trust in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but only in God who once we are dead to ourselves, (no longer relying on or looking to please self) is well able to raise us up and make good use of our lives. Just as He rescued us from sin, and darkness, which truly was an awful death, He is well able to deliver us and will deliver those who trust in Him. No matter how it looks right now, no matter how you feel right now, He loves His people, and is working things out for their good and His glory. And He will yet deliver us. Think about what He delivered you from in the beginning. Look at how much your thinking, your desires, your life has been changed since He saved you. He saved us from our sins, but He wants that self will pressed out of us. Why does He want to empty us of self? He has something better to pour in us in its place.

Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

He can never give this kind of revelation, He can never have this kind of close fellowship with a carnal person. What will happen to a saint of God who gets a divine understanding of the Lord? When He manifests Himself to you, and reveals to you more of who He is then you are knowing Him yourself-you are learning Him. Intimately. As you begin to have this kind of deeper fellowship with Him, your faith is strengthened, your purpose in life is reaffirmed, redefined, and transformed. Now your focus has moved away from self and to HIM. When He begins to manifest His presence in your life, and open His Word to you more, drawing you in deeper, it's a thrilling thing. That aching longing deep in your soul that nothing around you satisfies, begins to find fulfillment in HIM alone as it was meant to do. In the knowledge and presence of this awesome God is fullness of joy. His precious Holy Spirit is working to this end. No matter what is wrong now, or how bad it may look, He wants to minister the cure to His people-His presence, and our divinely given awareness of His presence and who He is. He wants to reveal to us more of Himself. He wants us to understand and consider the hope or expectation of His calling which is an invitation. His calling us is His inviting us to something much better, much greater than what we have. He has such great richness, there is such a majesty about Him, and He has a glorious possession held in store for the saints, (the blameless, the consecrated, those who are HIS). What is that Possession? I believe it is His Beloved Son, the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. Remember, beloved, many are called but few are chosen. If we don't yield to the stripping and pressing process, we won't be chosen. He has to strip away all the chaff of the carnal and worldly thinking, and living. He wants to replace it with spiritual understanding, spiritual thinking and living, and dependence on God, not self or the world. What is the hope of His calling? The expectation of this invitation God has given us? It is in His Son. Our life is in His Son.

Now there is something else we must know as well....He wants us to know the exceeding magnitude of His power-His mighty ability freely extended toward us who have faith in Him, who are committed to Him, and know that HE ALONE is our hope, our security. As long as we try to do it ourselves, then God will allow things to move against that to tear down that reliance on and confidence in self. If He can't fix it, it can't be fixed. If He started it, He will finish it. He that has begun a good work in you will continue to perform that work until it is finished, if you will allow Him to. That requires yielding to His leadership. And He has to give the grace, the understanding, and Holy Ghost power to do this.

This kind of power He has already shown us when Jesus Christ was crucified, put to death, and the power of Almighty God working in Him raised Him from the dead and elevated Him to the throne in heaven. He rules over all, that which was, which is, and which is to come. Hallelujah!

Col 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

Col 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Col 1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

I know I was in terrible darkness until He opened the door! You never realize how awful that darkness is until you see the Light. Let us pray this way for one another, beloved. Pray the Lord of glory will open our spiritual eyes and ears and that we may be fully aware of His will for our lives, with a godly wisdom and spiritual understanding. That we no longer be carnal in our thinking or living. That we can mentally put the truth He reveals to us together-the pieces of the puzzle coming together so we can see the BIG picture-we can see beyond ourselves to His greater purpose. That we might live a life worthy of Him, pleasing and fertile-so His life is reproduced in us, no matter what work or labor we do, that we are continually being enlarged by Him in the recognition of Him, intimately knowing Him. That intimate fellowship produces a solid faith in us, which will enable and strengthen us, with His mighty power, that dunamis (G1411) power, that works the miraculous-that which only God can do. This will help us endure, patiently waiting for the completion of all things-when He comes for us. It all depends on Him revealing Himself to us. He can't do that if we don't meet with Him in prayer, if we don't pick up our Bibles and begin to dig in, and make time to get alone with God. We need to be filled with His Holy Spirit, we need to know HIM for ourselves, and we need to be depending on HIM and not ourselves. God help us once again to know how to tarry before Your presence, to be willing to tarry and not leave until we get filled. Help us be willing to put off any thing and every thing but You.

Dan 11:32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

There is a temptation to want to prevent suffering, to give in to the desires of ourselves, and indulge ourselves. We need to realize that voice is an enemy of what God wants to do for and give His people. Don't be corrupted by a smooth voice whispering you don't have to go to the cross. You don't have to deny yourself. He did it for you. But we must pick up ours and carry it and follow His example. In this time we live in there is a heavy sense of impending disaster. People everywhere are struggling, the only difference is some have the Holy Ghost in them, and the Word of God is their foundation. If we are on the Rock, built on His Word, and on His promise, no matter what storm hits, we will not go under. Remember, when Peter stepped out on that raging sea, as long as He kept His eyes focused on the Lord, He did not sink.

Those who continually meditate on Him, His Word, and stay in close contact with the Holy Spirit, acknowledging His presence in themselves, communing with Him, hungering to know Him, He will reveal Himself. What He reveals will strengthen, and edify and build us up. It will always leave us longing for more of Christ and less of self. You can reach a place in God where the voices of this world, the things of this world, the temporary pleasures of this world no longer hold any fascination for you. God can be and wants to become so real to you that these things lose their grip on you. When what you read in His Word is more real to your heart than what you see and hear in this world, you have moved into a heavenly place reserved for those who are dead and dying to self. Why does self have to die? Oh, what an awful thing to say, if you don't understand the recompense and the reward! For the carnal mind is enmity (HOSTILE) against God. That is why it has to die. It will never yield to God. It has to be denied. That nature in us that wants to please only itself regardless of the cost to others, to God, it has to be crucified.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

I am learning, this is how the Holy Spirit is working in me. Through His power and His love, He draws me to dig into His Word, to seek a greater understanding of this lovely and all powerful Christ who gave Himself for me, so that I might give myself to Him and for Him, and in knowing HIM, in seeing Him, through eyes of faith, through divine revelation, I hunger for more of Him and less of me. In this way, the Holy Spirit, by revealing Christ to me, more and more, creates the desire to give up self and embrace Christ, to do His will, regardless of the cost, and He is the power and ability of God in me to see this accomplished. Hallelujah.

Now, if God had never allowed me to be pressed, troubled, afflicted, so I would be stripped of confidence in self and human ability, see what I would miss out on? He wants to strip us of filthy rags of self and cover us with His glorious presence, with His glorious truth! Nothing is worth missing out on knowing Him! He is our exceeding great reward and our shield!

See Him, being pressed by a crowd of people, on His way to raise a dead girl, and you see that trembling, fearful, and very ill woman pressing through a crowd, pressing through many voices, much opposition, just to touch the hem of His garment. She's lived like an outcast for 12 long years, lost everything but nothing has brought relief. See her trembling fingers touch the very part of His garment that was put there in remembrance of the law that marked her as unclean. See sin, and sickness touch holiness and be cleansed!! See Him stop and turn and fasten His wondrous eyes on Her, as she tries to slip unnoticed back into the crowd. See her fearful eyes lock with His as He says "Who touched Me?" She knows He's not going anywhere. She's exposed. Her heart is pounding like a frightened rabbit's, but she comes forward, completely exposed and vulnerable. Oh, she got healed, immediately, but there was something else she needed. See Him take away the reproach of 12 long years of living as one unclean, a social outcast. See Him recognize that pain of being ostracized. Hear Him speak to her "Daughter, be of good comfort, your faith has made you whole." What a lovely heart for us He has! See Him as He is and desire Him! Love Him! This is what the Holy Spirit wants to reveal to us! He wants us to know who this wonderful Christ is! Our lives will be revolutionized! We will never be the same. We will no longer be content to live mediocre, barely getting by lives. We will no longer feel like we are barely hanging on when we are holding His unchanging Hand and we KNOW IT! See Him and Love HIM! See His mercy and praise Him! He is so worthy!!!! Glory to GOD!! He will not fail you, neither will He forsake you! The Perfect One who lives in you will make you perfect-complete in HIM. You stand in God's sight, complete in Him, but He wants to make that finished work a reality in you now. It doesn't happen overnight, but each yielding of your will to His is a step toward that perfection. That completion.

He is circumcising our hearts, cutting us off from that tendency to live by self rule. Be encouraged Beloved, the stripping process is very unpleasant and painful, but God knows what He is doing, and doesn't delegate this task to another. No, He is right there, doing this Himself. That is in itself a declaration of His love. He will not entrust such a personal, painful process to one of His angels. He does this Himself-through the power of His Holy Spirit. He will not leave you alone, defenseless and wounded and raw, having been stripped. No, He wants to replace that confidence in self, with the kind of faith and peace that comes from intimacy with Him. Sharing His heart, and learning who He is, how He thinks, and what He thinks. Don't believe the lie of the devil that what you are going through is God's judgment because He is displeased! God knows your heart, He knows if you truly desire Him, and if you hunger and thirst after righteousness! He wants to fill you! He has to empty you first. Nothing must be allowed to remain that would hinder the free flowing river of living water. He wants to pour it in us that it may flow freely out of us to others. He is a hands on God, Beloved. Let this truth comfort you today, and pray this truth be real to your brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all being pressed, being afflicted, and things are growing darker by the day-but if we yield to God, He will trim the chaff off us and we will shine brightly in this dark hour. He wants us to shine so the lost can see and come and be saved. Let us be found willing vessels, submitting to the Refiner's fire, so we can be purified, and shine brightly to the praise of His glory. Knowing Him for yourself will produce a confident faith and peace that is never dependent on circumstances-and never goes unnoticed by the lost. In our tribulation, He is our Rock, our Refuge, an ever present Help in an increasingly dark and evil world.

After the Cross

Peter and John had ran to the sepulcher and found His tomb empty, but they could not believe the women or the two who met the Lord on the road to Emmaus. There was some stressed out men in this room. They had all failed Him. They had all forsook Him. If He had truly risen, why would He come to them? But how could that be? They saw Him die. They didn't think it possible, but they saw it. But then again, they were talking about a Man who could walk on water, who told the wind and waves to be at peace and they immediately stopped raging. This was no normal Man they were talking about. There was some arguing going on in here, too, I think. Perhaps they were blaming each other for not doing something to help the Lord. Perhaps they were picking at each other's mistakes, in their misery. I think they were blaming each other, and then realizing there was enough blame to go around. Oh, Peter had denied Him, James and John had wanted to call fire down on Samaria. They had all ran away in the garden. Nobody had spoken up in His defense at that mockery of a trial. None of them had lifted a finger to help Him in His worst hour. Surely, their misery and guilt was overwhelming. They were all devastated and none of them had any peace with themselves or with each other. There was still mourning and quiet weeping going on in this place. (Mar_16:10) They had learned so much, they had seen so many miracles performed by this Man-even performed many themselves in His name. And this is how it would end? In utter helplessness with His own paralyzed with fear, unable to move forward, their faith and confidence shattered? How could He forgive them for their abandoning Him in His hour of need? How could they forgive themselves? Was there resentment among the disciples toward one another? I don't know. But I do believe there was friction and depression and despair.
But then Peace appears in their midst. Oh, hallelujah, the church may be down, but not out.

Joh 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Their eyes widen with astonishment. I can't imagine all the conflicting emotions that rushed through their minds and hearts. He knew they weren't at peace which was why that is the first thing He said. He didn't come with "I told you that you would all fail me." He didn't come to remind them of their failures. He came to put their fears at rest and give them peace.
Peace, He says, be yours. As My Father has sent Me to share the good news that there is freedom and hope possible, and to show the world who He is, and what He is like, even so I now send you. Then He breathed on them and said "receive ye the Holy Ghost."
In Gen_2:7 He formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Every part, every organ, every member of Adam's body began to function correctly, in perfect harmony with the rest of the members of this body when the breath of God blew in his nose. That word receive (G2983) in the Greek is 'lambano' and it means to accept, to strive to obtain, hold, gripped, to lay hold of any person or thing, claiming what is one's own to one's self, to make one's own companion or attendant. It also means to take a thing that is due, receive what is offered. We must give Him access to ourselves. We must have regard for His power, His position, who He is, with HIGH esteem. We must experience Him and get to know Him and listen to Him. Consult Him first always.

Thomas wasn't with the disciples at this time. His name means 'twin'. He doubts their word, just as they did, when others tried to tell them Jesus had risen. Something about Jesus' death had hit Thomas particularly hard. Unlike the others, his reaction was "unless I see the prints of the nails in His hands and touch them, and put my hand in His side, where they pierced Him, I will not believe." This was the disciple who was so passionate, when he heard Lazarus had died, said "lets go that we may die with him". (Joh_11:16) He asked questions, because he had a desire to understand, when Jesus was telling them He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I believe there was a deep work going on in Thomas' heart. He was unable to take anything on faith now. He loved Jesus passionately. He had never given the Lord any trouble. There is no mention of the Lord ever having to calm him down or rebuke him as he had with Peter, James and John. But neither had he been included in some of the intimate times with the Lord they had. When they tried to tell him the Lord had appeared to them, and brought peace to their hearts, he would not believe. He would not listen to them.

This church is getting off to a slow start. They have been shaken. They seem to have no direction, or motivation to do anything but stay indoors, out of sight, in hiding. Eight days later, the disciples are again gathered together, and this time Thomas is there. And again, Jesus comes, offering peace. His attention is on Thomas this time.

"Thomas, reach out, see my hands? Here they are...reach out your hand and thrust it in my side..don't be faithless...believe."

At the sight of Him, hearing Him echo his own words, I believe it took Thomas to His knees...for He said "My Lord, and My God." Understanding lit up His mind. This truly is the Lord. He really did come back from where men couldn't come.

But, still, after these two episodes, the disciples were still struggling, unable to put it together. They seemed unable to function as He had said they would. I think Peter was just fed up, and decided to go fishing. That was something he could understand. It was simple. The others went with him. They toiled all night but caught nothing. It was a wasted effort, for their was no fruit produced by the efforts of their flesh. There was nothing accomplished except frustration and emptiness, and weariness. When we try to serve the Lord in our own strength, we can accomplish nothing of eternal value. All works done in the flesh, not in and by the power of the Holy Spirit will be burnt up. They will be as wood, hay or stubble.

Early the next morning, as they approach land, they see Someone standing there. He asks them if they have any meat? Have you eaten? The implication is have you found any fulfillment in what you are doing? They have found nothing.

He says cast the net on the right side of the ship and you will find what you come out here for." They did, and the net filled up so fast with fish they could not pull it in. Then they knew it was the Lord. Peter grabbed his outer coat and unable to wait until the boat reached land, jumped in the sea and hurried to the shore...
I find it interesting that when the Lord's people obeyed, the harvest (and we worry why people aren't being saved like they should be) was there and all they had to do was pull it in. When He tells you where to spread the net,it's because only He knows where the hungry fish are. Same with people. He knows where those who are hungry for truth are. How important it is that we can hear His voice and follow Him for ourselves. God help us if we are depending on the preacher for a word from God. Bring what you caught, He says, but come eat what I prepared. Come and dine, He says. Come eat with Me. As they all sit down together, something is different about this meeting. Simon, you love Me more than they do? Jesus asks him. This word Jesus uses is Agapao. (G25) It means to love much, beloved, cherished. I believe He is saying this because Peter has made this boast. Perhaps it was when they were arguing over who would be the greatest-who would do more for the Lord, or perhaps it was when Peter told the Lord he would go all the way, that he'd die for the Lord, or go to jail with Him, right before Gethsemane, and Peter's denial of the Lord three times.

Yes, Lord, he said, You know I love you.
Feed My lambs. Tend them, rule them, supervise them. This should go without saying, but I am going to say this: Tend them as I have you-diligently, passionately, kindly, and patiently. Bear long with them in love. The word for feed here is G1006, bosko, and it means to feed, to protect, guard, to keep safe.

It is the duty of a Christian teacher to promote, and instruct every member of the church in the way of truth. It is the duty of the teacher to be fully submitted to the Holy Spirit, to be in close communion with the Spirit of God because only then can the teacher get the food for the sheep that will strengthen, and prepare and keep them. The lambs have a hard journey ahead, with a deadly enemy stalking them, seeking whom he may devour. They cannot make it on milk alone. Milk alone will not help them grow strong as they need to in order to survive. They need strong meat, anointed and quickened by the Holy Spirit who alone knows when and how much they can digest. If the shepherd of the church-the pastor, or teacher is not in close communion with the Holy Spirit, the best he can come up with is milk. It will not do. The sheep will be sick and weak and fall away eventually on such a spiritual diet. The shepherd must feed on the Bread of life himself-in total dependence. Then there will be no arrogance, no harshness. You can't feed directly on HIM and it be any other way.

If you get in His presence, and He teaches you, and feeds you life, it will humble you, open your eyes to your own helplessness and you will know that there is no way you could have gotten this on your own.

This shepherd can then go and stand before the sheep and gently break the Bread of life he has been given, and ask and trust the Lord to bless and multiply it in the hearts and lives of the people, and deliver it to them. He will trust the Holy Spirit to convict hearts and work the work only HE can do as the seed is sowed. For then, the Word will be sent forth by the Lord, and it will accomplish what He intends it to accomplish. It's not just a man, searching for a message himself, with no spiritual leadership or guidance-or very little input, and get up and throw the Word at the people and dare them not to obey it. It grieves my heart when I see this happen. If you have to get up and threaten the people with God's judgment for their lack of worship, or their lack of being moved by the Word, and these folks have set under your leadership for years, then you need to go examine yourself and get alone with God and find out what the problem is. If the lambs are dying off, running away, or being devoured, and the sheep are sick and weak-the shepherd isn't feeding them right. The River of life is being hindered from flowing and the Spirit isn't moving in the midst like He wants to. Something is blocking the life of God working in the midst. Then, the shepherd can trust that the Master knows the difference between the tares and wheat and ministers to the wheat. He gives the sower the right seed to sow in the hearts of the people and the Holy Spirit is right there to water it, when it is done under His leadership.

Again, Jesus asks Peter, calling him Simon, Do you love me? Simon is one who hears, but he wasn't anchored by the Word. But he will become Peter, the rock, the one who won't be tossed about or shaken or go back ever again to the former things. That is the power of the Spirit of God.
Feed my sheep. He says this time. There is a difference between the sheep and the lambs. The word for feed here is different this time. It's G4165 pomaino. It means to feed, tend, and keep sheep, furnishing them food, and a place to feed, but also to rule, or govern them. This means dedication, as well, and diligence. The shepherd is required to protect, guard, feed, guide, instruct, govern, and provide a safe environment for the sheep. How we need to pray for our pastors. Theirs is a job that requires a complete submission to and close daily contact with the Lord.

The third time, the Lord looks at Peter and says "Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me?" This time, the word for love used here is phileo (G5368) and it means to have affection for, with personal attachment to, be a friend to, in fondness as a matter of sentiment or feelings. Peter was distressed, remembering his denial of the Lord, and wondering why was the Lord asking him again. Peter most likely thought, well I denied Him three times, now He doesn't believe I love Him. But I think there was another reason the Lord was putting Peter on the spot-and it had more to do with the other disciples' thoughts and feelings about this, I think.

Something was being taught them here. Lord, help us see and hear what You are saying and what you mean in these Scriptures for there are none of us who have not failed You, who by our indulging self and following the desires of our flesh, have not denied You. Please forgive us, and please open our understanding to these Scriptures. May Your Word strengthen and prepare us to face the days ahead, and draw us to communion with Yourself...help us reject the fear and guilt that would hinder us from coming to You and remember You said those who come to You that You would never cast out or send away empty.

Again, Feed my sheep. This is the first word "feed" as with the lambs. (G1006) Then the Lord begins to minister things to come to this man. When you were young, you followed your own path, wherever you wanted to go, you went. But when you are old, you will reach out your hands and Another will bind you and take you where you wouldn't want to go. There is a two-fold application here. Yes, the Lord is hinting at the death Peter will die one day for the sake of the Gospel. But, he's going to be an apostle, led by and governed by the Spirit of God and he will be led into some hard places where his flesh is unable to go or to want to go. He will be jailed, beaten, threatened, persecuted, and vilified. He will have to deny himself, and surrender lordship of His life to the Holy Spirit. He will be shown that the Word is for all people, not just Jews. His religious prejudices will be overcome, and destroyed. This will be a growing and learning process that will continue after the Lord ascends back to heaven-one to which he will submit.

When we die to self, it glorifies God. When we are willing to reject ourselves and embrace HIM, HE is glorified. People might call you crazy because the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Still, secretly they will wonder what it is about this great God we serve that would make us willing to go to such lengths to have Him. They will wonder and when they see Him in us, they will want Him or run from Him but they will not be able to be casual about Him. Then, Jesus said "Follow Me." I believe He is saying, I set the example by the life I lived here on earth before you. You are all witnesses to how I lived, what My life was about, who governed My life, and decisions. You saw the struggle in the Gethsemane, but My Father was faithful and saw Me through that hard time, when I had no one else to lean on. You saw a life poured out for others, so they might have hope and redemption and access to My Father. Follow My example. Live as I lived, walk and talk as I did. Follow Me, deny yourself and embrace ME and My way. My way means you have to die. But if you die to what you are, you will live to what and who I am. Will you follow Me?

Luk 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

He knows we can't do this on our own. We have to come to Him, and trust Him to be the strength in us to lay ourselves aside and embrace Him. Remember the testimony of Jesus Christ is one of self-sacrifice but it's also one of victory, power and it changed the world. If He told them to tarry and wait for the power to follow His example, then we must do this. If we try to follow His example in our own strength, we won't be able. We will make fools of ourselves and end up misrepresenting Him. Lord help us to bring our fears and failures to You, help us acknowledge it if we haven't been seeking You and we don't have the burden for the lost we should have. Help us to come running to Your presence, knowing You alone are our hope, and there is no other way. Help us to surrender ourselves fully to You, exchanging rags for true riches, and walk as You walked-totally devoted to the will of the Father. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and we can't fill ourselves. (Eph 5:18)

People are hurting, sin is destroying families, this nation is falling apart. All around the world, people are dying lost, miserable in life, and without hope in death because they don't know You. There are so many false teachers, false leaders and prophets leading the people into confusion. We know we've failed You, Lord. We read the Book of Acts, we read Your life on display in the Gospels and we battle shame and fear and confusion but we hunger to be like You and we can't fill ourselves. We have allowed too many things to hinder us from coming into Your holy presence and we just don't know how to fully give ourselves to You, but we want to. Lord empower us, draw us. Help us see You as You are! This poor and needy world has seen so much fake and phony they don't believe. Many are hard to You because of the deceit in religion. Religion truly does kill. Oh, Holy Spirit we need You to come, and breathe on us and set us in order in the Body of this Great Christ! Help us find our way to the place in Him we belong. Help us see the glorious hope placed before us is worth rejecting everything else so we might obtain Him and His glorious life. The sufferings of this time are truly not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed then. There is no comparison.

He is incomparable and one day all shall stand before Him. Those who surrendered fully to Him will be so glad they did and those who didn't will weep and wail when they behold His magnificence and see His love for them and know they are lost to Him forever because of a choice they made-many based on a misrepresentation of God to them in their lives. God help us not do that to someone. Forgive us for doing that. Help us, Holy Spirit, to follow you quickly to the cross and be done with self, trusting You alone can raise us up in the newness and power of a victorious life of Christ. We can't live this life in human strength. We can't follow you in our own strength. It's not by human might or human reasoning but by Your Spirit and Your Power (Zec 4:6). Have mercy on us and help us, Lord. You have given us the desire, but You must be the power in us working the work. We know You are more willing to do this than we have been to receive it in the past and we ask Your forgiveness. Make us willing to be willing to do anything it takes to have this victory over self, sin, the world and the devil. In Jesus' matchless and mighty name, we ask.

Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Can I get an amen?

Destroying the Works of the Devil

originally published January 2007


Jesus had been doing things, he had been healing people, casting out devils, working works that only He could do. He enters the synagogue which was the temple or the house of God. The synagogue when constructed was patterned after the tabernacle Moses had constructed in the wilderness. It was constructed so that worshipers as they entered the building looked toward Jerusalem. At the upper end of the Sanctuary, there was a replica of the ark of the covenant which contained the Book of the Law, and which faced toward Jerusalem, and at that end there were the upper seats reserved for honored or wealthy patrons. This is where the Pharisees and the Scribes sought to be seated. These seats were elevated above the heads of those on the lower level, and probably added to their own feelings of supremacy over the 'regular people' and the poor, for which they had very little concern. It was probably from their vantage point that they watched Jesus as He entered the synagogue.

Mar 3:1 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
Mar 3:2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.

This man had no strength in his hand. He could not use it. There was a law in Leviticus 21 that stated no man who had a blemish, such as being blind or lame, or any other physical deformity of the seed of Aaron which would be the Levitical priesthood, could come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord or the bread of the Lord. He was to eat the bread of His God, both of the most holy and of the holy, but he could not go into the veil or come near the altar for it would profane the sanctuary. The Pharisees had added so many of their own precepts to the Law that it burdened the people, and obscured the Law of God by the Pharisees' traditions and rules and regulations. They did not look kindly on the man with the withered hand being inside the synagogue. Remember, in Acts 3, the lame man was laid at the gate called Beautiful OUTSIDE the temple. He was not allowed in because of his condition. But remember, this was not what God instructed. It was men with carnal minds, who were offended by the sight of those with deformities or disabilities, and did not desire their presence before God. In so doing, they totally misrepresented the character and heart of God before the people.

Jesus looked at them and was grieved and angry with the hardness of their hearts, but healed the man with the withered hand. He knew they were just looking at Him to find fault. Here was a group of religious people who appeared holy, and clean, and had a head knowledge of the Scriptures but did not understand the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures, were blind to Its truths, and had no power. Their form of godliness was in word and appearance. Inside they had wicked, proud hearts, and Jesus said in one place, were full of dead mens bones as whited sepulchers. They were threatened. The very presence of Jesus, who HAD power and authority and who truly cared about the needs of the people, exposed them as the frauds they were, and they recognized He was a threat to their position, their image in the eyes of the people, and to their own power over the people. The Pharisees had so esteemed themselves they felt they would be defiled if a poor person accidentally brushed against their garments as they walked through town. If it was a poor and infirm person, why, the Pharisee would feel defiled.
There is no shortage of religious pride in the world today. Men take pride in their traditions and precepts, and tend to look on those who are different as unworthy, or as unclean. We must be shaped and conformed into the image of CHRIST by the Word of GOD not men's opinions of what we are to be. I've seen people in churches who thought it sin to wear jewelry and makeup, yet there was immorality among the leadership and they had a tendency to judge you by their yardstick and it was hard for one to measure up. The ladies' dresses had to be so long, and their sleeves had to go all the way to the wrists, no matter the weather, or they were considered 'worldly'. Yet those holding the yardstick and doing the measuring, figuratively speaking, were apt to judge and criticize rather than encourage and point that person to the loveliness and majesty of Christ. They became powerful tools the devil used to discourage people from the House of God, which was why their numbers in their churches dwindled and the young people left and did not return.
Jesus did not treat people like that. He was moved with compassion for them. He reached out and healed, comforted, restored, delivered, and helped people. He was so full of the power of God, and yet so approachable in the eyes of the people, they gathered around Him wherever they could find Him.

Mar 3:10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.
Mar 3:11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
Mar 3:12 And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.

People who were vexed and tormented by unclean spirits, which means demonic, foul spirits, when they recognized Jesus cried out and fell down before Him. Again, He told them to hush. He had the authority with His Word, so full of the power of God to silence the spirits, as well as cast them out.

Mar 3:13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.

This same Lord was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. He ascended back to the throne of God on High. He began to call and draw unto Him whom He would, and those who hear Him calling, and come, repentant and humble to Him, are saved and washed by His blood and redeemed. Hallelujah!!!

Mar 3:14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
Mar 3:15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

That word 'ordained' means to make ready, prepare, to declare someone whatever the One in authority says he is, and put one forth and lead him out. To appoint one. He sent them forth to spread the message that people needed to repent for the kingdom of God was at hand. Help was here. Hope was here. Deliverance was here. They thought they needed deliverance from Roman authority, when in fact they needed immediate deliverance from demonic oppression and religious pride. Those He chose were to possess the authority given by the Lord Himself to heal sickness. Now that word 'heal' in the Greek is 'therapeuo'. It's like our word 'therapy.' It means to wait upon, menially, as a servant would for his Master, to adore God, as well as relieve one of disease, to cure, and worship. I was surprised to find worship was one of the definitions of the word heal. Isn't that what happens when we come, and like He told us to, cast our cares on Him, and worship Him, and adore Him, and spend time in His presence? He is able to reach down and work in us and fix what is wrong. I remember the first time I knelt in surrender before Him, he did a deep work in me, He healed a hurt in me so deep nothing else had ever been able to reach it, and it was destroying me from within.

But in a moments' time, He took that out, and poured in His love, and healed the pain I had carried for so long. There is so much in that verse. He calls and draws, and those who come and yield their all, He chooses and appoints and empowers. He reaches in the very depths of their being and heals their pain and that relieved soul breaks out in worship for the One who did what no other could do, and because they experienced His healing power, they can share this with others He sends them out to minister to. He also gave them power to cast out devils. Authority to drive them out, expel them from the habitation in a person's life and body. Force is not needed, violence is not needed, because when HE gives you authority, is the authority of God that backs you up. That is all that is needed. Someone who loves Him and believes His Word, and is willing to stand on what HE said, in faith, can put the devil out. It's not to say he won't try to sneak back in another way, the thief always tries to come back in some other way. Just as a wolf will hide in darkness or thick underbrush, waiting for his chance to snatch up a helpless sheep if the shepherd is not watching, or asleep, the devil watches. But praise the Lord, HE never slumbers or sleeps. He that keepeth me never slumbers. He watches over me always. Oh, thank you Jesus!!! Folks, I did nothing to deserve this wondrous, matchless love! He is so awesome!!! What He ever saw in me I could not even begin to figure out. But I am sooooooooooooo glad He reached down and saved me!

He said Fear not I will help thee! He said He'd be my rearward guard! He said He'd go before me and behind me, and nothing shall by any means hurt me. He promised me the power of His life and Spirit working in me that which is pleasing in His sight, and His Word which worketh powerfully, effectually in those who believe. When Jesus stopped the devil cold, He did it with His Word. He did not argue with, or converse with the devil. He did not threaten the devil. He did not shout or yell or wave his hands wildly. He did not have to lay hands on the person possessed. With the Word of His power, demons come out. Nor did they come out free to wreak havoc in another nearby person. They had to leave and go where He sent them, whether it be in a far country, into the swine, or into the abyss. He knew who He was. He knew He acted on behalf of a Holy God who was HIS FATHER. He knew His Father because He spent time with Him.

Dan 11:32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

It is not for our reputation or so men will think we are something-we are nothing and can do nothing without HIM. We must not go unless we are sent. We must wait to be endued with power from on high, as He instructed His disciples, although He gave them the authority to cast out devils and heal the sick before they were filled with the Holy Ghost. They were filled with the Holy Ghost so they could be empowered to lay down their lives and thoughts and ways completely for the Lord. That's what He said. Ye shall be witnesses unto me. The word 'witness' in the Greek is 'martus' and it's where the word 'martyr' comes from. The old self life, it's all about me, has to die. Who wants to keep rags of self righteousness that are filthy and corrupt when we can have pure and holy righteousness that is Christ? Not me. No wonder that filthy, lying devil will tell God's people, 'give up, go back. It's too hard, God expects too much, His standard is too high, you'll never measure up, you can't make it!" HA! Liar!!!!! I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME!!!!!!!! (Phil 4:13) I can't do it, but CHRIST IN ME CAN AND HE'S MY HOPE OF GLORY. HE KNOWS THE WAY AND HE LEADS. ALL I HAVE TO DO IS FOLLOW HIM. EAT HIS WORD, PRAY AND LET HIM FILL ME WITH KNOWLEDGE AND THE POWER OF HIS SPIRIT TO DO YIELD MY LIFE TO HIS CONTROL SO HE CAN WALK AND LIVE AND MINISTER THROUGH ME. And people in this world are seeking thrills? THAT is going to be a thrill! He didn't write this Book through the hands of holy men filled with the Holy Spirit for us to just read but for us to live! He gave us some things and we are fools if we let the devil lie and intimidate us out of claiming that which is ours-HIS LIFE in us, to build up the kingdom of God and tear down the works of the devil!