And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ~John 3:19
The scriptures make it clear that the world hates Christ. The message of the cross, from the world’s side is this: “Away with this Jesus! We do not want him; we do not want the conviction that his presence brings. We are content to live our lives without him.”
With this being the truth, how in God’s Name can we try to make Jesus acceptable to a world that will accept him only according to their standards? To a world that hates him?
If you’re Wal Mart, it may make sense to ask in a survey: “What do you want us to provide that would make you feel comfortable in our store? But if you’re the church that is found in the scriptures, it makes no sense at all! Can you imagine Peter making the following declaration in the upper room:
“And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, Men and brethren, I know that Jesus clearly told us to wait here until we are endued with power from on high. But I am concerned about how the people will respond to another just like Jesus. I propose that we go to a church growth seminar, where we will learn how to survey the Romans who crucified him and the Jews who hated him and find out what they want in church.”
It’s clear what they want; they want a Christ that is dead and out of their way! Or better yet, they want a Christ that conforms to their world, one who doesn’t interfere with their lifestyles.
Such a survey would have proved one thing in Peter’s day to the Romans and the Jews: Jesus was still dead and the church that they were being asked to attend was a church with no Presence of God.
There is a survey that God is commanding of his people in these last days: a survey of the scriptures. It is here that you will find that it is not a new word, but an old word that God is speaking. It is here that you will find that the old word is the new word—that which he spoke is that which he is speaking because his word is timeless.
It is here that you will see that when the promise that God gave Abraham and Sarah finally came to pass, it was not a new promise but rather the same promise they had heard in the beginning.
And it is in the scriptures that you will find that the same is true for the church today: there is no new promise of power, there is no new plan. The church is the revelation of Christ on the earth and the plan is for the Holy Ghost to come as the Spirit of revelation and the Spirit of power. Oh, but he has already come, some will say.
Yes, but he is forever coming. Stick with the plan!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
ONLY CHRIST CAN BUILD HIS CHURCH
Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. ~ Genesis 16:1-2
If you want to see the church, where it is now and where it has been, you must look to the scriptures. It is here you will find a most detailed picture of the beginning and the ending of the church of Christ and the starting point is Abraham and Sarah. It is here that you will see that the true church, through impatience and the arm of flesh gives birth to an Ishmael church that must be repented of.
Where Sarah said, “It may be that I may obtain children by Hagar”, the margin reads, “It may be that I will be built by her.” This agrees with Hebrews 11:11, “Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed.” One of the meanings of conceive is to lay a foundation. The call is clear: Sarah was called by God to carry the church in her womb and give birth to its very foundation, thus building from the ground up that which is Christ.
The problem then and now is that this church is built on divine promise, not human perspiration. Please understand that I know we have our part to play. We hold out our rod over the Red Sea; we march around the walls of Jericho seven times; we roll the tombstone away from Lazarus’ grave. But we know who is really at work and anything less than His coming on the scene and working through us is a work of the flesh. If you don’t believe this go and find a four day grave, go and rent a backhoe and excavate the body. You will find that the power to remove the headstone is really no power at all!
Sarah referred to Hagar as “my handmaid.” Hagar was something she could control and something she could see. In other words, through Hagar, Sarah could see how this would work and best of all, it was something she could manage with careful strategy . . . and much posting on Facebook.
But this seeing how things can work out in the natural is not faith.
This had been Sarah’s problem all along. For her to come to the conclusion that she couldn’t do it can only mean that at one point she believed that she could produce the promise. She was the right woman married to the right man with the right promise and abounding opportunity. After all, Abraham was “alive” and she was having “periods” and everybody knows that “fourteen days after” is the right time to get pregnant. And above all, they had been in the absolute Presence of God who had entered into covenant with them and told them, “Your seed will be as the stars.”
Surly if God was going to move through her he would have done so by now. And God knows, Abraham isn’t getting any younger . . .
It was from this mindset that “another” church is birthed: We must do something to help God out! Amazingly this new church has none of poor Sarah’s issues. Whereas she had struck out for years, Hagar hits a homerun her first time up. One pitch, one swing, one baby.
What a fast growing church!
And what a despised old wore out church Sarah became with all of her promises that had yet come to pass: “And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes” (Genesis 16:4). There was a spirit operating through Hagar that was screaming out to Sarah: “It’s obvious that your way is a way of weakness. I don’t want to hear nothing you have to say!”
This is, in large part, the church today. How many faithful pastors of small congregations have been surrounded by the four “fastest growing” church’s in America? These new church’s have more members their first service than the old church have after many years of service. How dare you say that it is not of God!
Listen to what one of these “Hagar’s” said when rebuked by someone who dared to question a “move of God” that was led by a man who was drunk and in adultery:
“Lee, I think what you call “the Lakeland disaster” would be disputed by multitudes of people who got healed or touched there. If you are such judge of this what gives you the credentials? What moves of God have you led? What have you built?”
The credentials are the scriptures.
Hey, nobody ever said Ishmael didn’t exist and didn’t look good—in fact he looks a lot like the promise. But the root of this “church” is only skin deep—its origin is in the mind of man and not of God. As such, its error is fundamental: It seeks to change the unchangeable counsel of the Lord. From eternity the call was for Sarah to birth Isaac in the womb of impossibility, not for Hagar to birth Ishmael in the womb of the ordinary.
Are you holding on to a promise of a revelation of Christ that has yet to come to pass in your life, in your church? “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10: 35-37).
If you want to see the church, where it is now and where it has been, you must look to the scriptures. It is here you will find a most detailed picture of the beginning and the ending of the church of Christ and the starting point is Abraham and Sarah. It is here that you will see that the true church, through impatience and the arm of flesh gives birth to an Ishmael church that must be repented of.
Where Sarah said, “It may be that I may obtain children by Hagar”, the margin reads, “It may be that I will be built by her.” This agrees with Hebrews 11:11, “Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed.” One of the meanings of conceive is to lay a foundation. The call is clear: Sarah was called by God to carry the church in her womb and give birth to its very foundation, thus building from the ground up that which is Christ.
The problem then and now is that this church is built on divine promise, not human perspiration. Please understand that I know we have our part to play. We hold out our rod over the Red Sea; we march around the walls of Jericho seven times; we roll the tombstone away from Lazarus’ grave. But we know who is really at work and anything less than His coming on the scene and working through us is a work of the flesh. If you don’t believe this go and find a four day grave, go and rent a backhoe and excavate the body. You will find that the power to remove the headstone is really no power at all!
Sarah referred to Hagar as “my handmaid.” Hagar was something she could control and something she could see. In other words, through Hagar, Sarah could see how this would work and best of all, it was something she could manage with careful strategy . . . and much posting on Facebook.
But this seeing how things can work out in the natural is not faith.
This had been Sarah’s problem all along. For her to come to the conclusion that she couldn’t do it can only mean that at one point she believed that she could produce the promise. She was the right woman married to the right man with the right promise and abounding opportunity. After all, Abraham was “alive” and she was having “periods” and everybody knows that “fourteen days after” is the right time to get pregnant. And above all, they had been in the absolute Presence of God who had entered into covenant with them and told them, “Your seed will be as the stars.”
Surly if God was going to move through her he would have done so by now. And God knows, Abraham isn’t getting any younger . . .
It was from this mindset that “another” church is birthed: We must do something to help God out! Amazingly this new church has none of poor Sarah’s issues. Whereas she had struck out for years, Hagar hits a homerun her first time up. One pitch, one swing, one baby.
What a fast growing church!
And what a despised old wore out church Sarah became with all of her promises that had yet come to pass: “And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes” (Genesis 16:4). There was a spirit operating through Hagar that was screaming out to Sarah: “It’s obvious that your way is a way of weakness. I don’t want to hear nothing you have to say!”
This is, in large part, the church today. How many faithful pastors of small congregations have been surrounded by the four “fastest growing” church’s in America? These new church’s have more members their first service than the old church have after many years of service. How dare you say that it is not of God!
Listen to what one of these “Hagar’s” said when rebuked by someone who dared to question a “move of God” that was led by a man who was drunk and in adultery:
“Lee, I think what you call “the Lakeland disaster” would be disputed by multitudes of people who got healed or touched there. If you are such judge of this what gives you the credentials? What moves of God have you led? What have you built?”
The credentials are the scriptures.
Hey, nobody ever said Ishmael didn’t exist and didn’t look good—in fact he looks a lot like the promise. But the root of this “church” is only skin deep—its origin is in the mind of man and not of God. As such, its error is fundamental: It seeks to change the unchangeable counsel of the Lord. From eternity the call was for Sarah to birth Isaac in the womb of impossibility, not for Hagar to birth Ishmael in the womb of the ordinary.
Are you holding on to a promise of a revelation of Christ that has yet to come to pass in your life, in your church? “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10: 35-37).
Thursday, March 18, 2010
HOPE DEFERRED
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. ~Proverbs 13:12
The mark of a barren woman is that boundless hope once thrived within your heart. Rachel, as the promised wife—mother— of a nation was full of hope. She was fertile ground for the seed of promise to be sown in. She was greatly loved, she was greatly pursued, she was well favored, young and beautiful.
And she was chosen, handpicked by God to be Jacob’s wife.
This was the revealed will of God. Jacob had been instructed to go and to “take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.” How much clearer could that be? And the purpose was just as clear: Rachel was to be the mother of “a multitude of people” (see Genesis 28:2-3). In this the promise of God to Abraham and Sarah lived in Jacob and Rachel.
No doubt Rachel spoke of “things that were not” as though they were, because the very nature of hope is an expectation that things are going to work out right. They had probably picked out the names of their first five children, especially the firstborn—that was most important. You would have found it impossible to discourage them at this point. Speaking to the “mountain” was no stretch for Rachel’s faith: she owned the mountain!
But sometimes God allows hope to be deferred. And it becomes apparent that you are on a fast track to a slow painful death to hope, in the natural. Everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. Everybody seems to pass you by.
To Rachel’s horror Jacob’s firstborn—the heir to the birthright—came through Leah: “And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben.” And then Leah had Simeon, Levi, and Judah. It was beginning to look like Rachel was going to lose her “birthright” to her sister. Sound familiar.
Reckon Jacob noticed?
I think it would have been hard to miss the fact that what Jacob had done to his brother, Leah—through Laban’s sin—was in a sense doing to her sister. Maybe that is why when he was faced with the problem, he got angry:
And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? ~Genesis 30:1-2
One thing is for sure: Rachel was asking the wrong person. Man in his best state altogether can’t meet your deepest need. Only God can. And the truth is, that need is not children or houses or mates or a thousand other things. That need is to know the Lord your God and to find your very existence, the core of your being wrapped up in his will. And His will is for you to be in his presence and to serve him with joy, trusting him, loving him, obeying him.
We know this to be true because "hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." Jesus is the tree of life, the highest desire of man.
The mark of a barren woman is that boundless hope once thrived within your heart. Rachel, as the promised wife—mother— of a nation was full of hope. She was fertile ground for the seed of promise to be sown in. She was greatly loved, she was greatly pursued, she was well favored, young and beautiful.
And she was chosen, handpicked by God to be Jacob’s wife.
This was the revealed will of God. Jacob had been instructed to go and to “take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.” How much clearer could that be? And the purpose was just as clear: Rachel was to be the mother of “a multitude of people” (see Genesis 28:2-3). In this the promise of God to Abraham and Sarah lived in Jacob and Rachel.
No doubt Rachel spoke of “things that were not” as though they were, because the very nature of hope is an expectation that things are going to work out right. They had probably picked out the names of their first five children, especially the firstborn—that was most important. You would have found it impossible to discourage them at this point. Speaking to the “mountain” was no stretch for Rachel’s faith: she owned the mountain!
But sometimes God allows hope to be deferred. And it becomes apparent that you are on a fast track to a slow painful death to hope, in the natural. Everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. Everybody seems to pass you by.
To Rachel’s horror Jacob’s firstborn—the heir to the birthright—came through Leah: “And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben.” And then Leah had Simeon, Levi, and Judah. It was beginning to look like Rachel was going to lose her “birthright” to her sister. Sound familiar.
Reckon Jacob noticed?
I think it would have been hard to miss the fact that what Jacob had done to his brother, Leah—through Laban’s sin—was in a sense doing to her sister. Maybe that is why when he was faced with the problem, he got angry:
And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? ~Genesis 30:1-2
One thing is for sure: Rachel was asking the wrong person. Man in his best state altogether can’t meet your deepest need. Only God can. And the truth is, that need is not children or houses or mates or a thousand other things. That need is to know the Lord your God and to find your very existence, the core of your being wrapped up in his will. And His will is for you to be in his presence and to serve him with joy, trusting him, loving him, obeying him.
We know this to be true because "hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." Jesus is the tree of life, the highest desire of man.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN
Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. ~ Genesis 29:27-28
Words cannot describe the anguish Rachel felt as Jacob fulfilled Leah’s week. How her mind must have been flooded with questions:
“Why is this happening to me, what have I done wrong? What if Leah gets pregnant . . . Oh my God! What if she is already pregnant . . . we’ll celebrate our one year anniversary with my nephew, which is my husband’s son. That’s just great. Does that make him my step-son? No way would God let that happen, just to think about the possibility gets me depressed. This can’t be right. God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Eve and Maria.”
How Rachel and Leah both suffered because of Jacob’s and Laban’s sinful deception. All of a sudden, they were pitted against one another—maybe this is where the demon of comparison originated.
For Rachel in particular, when her wedding day came seven days after Leah’s, it came with a whimper instead of the anticipated shout. Her brand new “dream camel” now had miles on the motor and less tread on the tires. It would be like buying a log house with five bedrooms for your children that were on the way, only to end up with a used trailer with one bedroom set aside for your husband’s other wife. Or for you to the spend the night in, when it was her turn to be with him, again.
What a mess.
And who says sin doesn’t affect your born again spirit? It affected Jacob’s. Not only his, but his wives also . . . and his sons. This is not to say that God in his infinite wisdom and mercy didn’t redeem the situation, but that doesn’t justify the sin. Neither did the fact that Jacob was a covenant man keep him from the consequences of his actions. Indeed he paid double.
Don't think that is only true in the Old Covenant. It is written in the New Covenant that God is the “God of Jacob” and that he changes not. Neither is He mocked, and what a man soweth, that shall he also reap--and those around him, especially family.
Just ask Jacob or Rachel. Or the millions of husbands and wives who have been divorced in a "Christian" marriage because of another man or woman. Or ask their children. They'll know.
Words cannot describe the anguish Rachel felt as Jacob fulfilled Leah’s week. How her mind must have been flooded with questions:
“Why is this happening to me, what have I done wrong? What if Leah gets pregnant . . . Oh my God! What if she is already pregnant . . . we’ll celebrate our one year anniversary with my nephew, which is my husband’s son. That’s just great. Does that make him my step-son? No way would God let that happen, just to think about the possibility gets me depressed. This can’t be right. God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Eve and Maria.”
How Rachel and Leah both suffered because of Jacob’s and Laban’s sinful deception. All of a sudden, they were pitted against one another—maybe this is where the demon of comparison originated.
For Rachel in particular, when her wedding day came seven days after Leah’s, it came with a whimper instead of the anticipated shout. Her brand new “dream camel” now had miles on the motor and less tread on the tires. It would be like buying a log house with five bedrooms for your children that were on the way, only to end up with a used trailer with one bedroom set aside for your husband’s other wife. Or for you to the spend the night in, when it was her turn to be with him, again.
What a mess.
And who says sin doesn’t affect your born again spirit? It affected Jacob’s. Not only his, but his wives also . . . and his sons. This is not to say that God in his infinite wisdom and mercy didn’t redeem the situation, but that doesn’t justify the sin. Neither did the fact that Jacob was a covenant man keep him from the consequences of his actions. Indeed he paid double.
Don't think that is only true in the Old Covenant. It is written in the New Covenant that God is the “God of Jacob” and that he changes not. Neither is He mocked, and what a man soweth, that shall he also reap--and those around him, especially family.
Just ask Jacob or Rachel. Or the millions of husbands and wives who have been divorced in a "Christian" marriage because of another man or woman. Or ask their children. They'll know.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
NIGHTMARE ON LABAN STREET
And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.~ Genesis 29:10
When Jacob met Rachel he was full of the promise of God, a man on a divine appointment with destiny.
1. He had clear direction from his father Isaac: “Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.”
2. He was blessed by his father: “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people.”
3. He had a God given dream and a direct word from God: “And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.”
You can be sure that this word from the Lord produced faith in Jacob. You can be sure that, having the spirit of faith, he spoke it. And you can be sure the when he saw Rachel that he put the two together: “God has led me the right way! This is my wife, the mother of my children!”
And you can be sure that for the next seven years that Jacob and Rachel dreamed together, planned together, and spoke often of the certainty of God’s blessing on their lives. It was all part of God’s miraculous plan. After all, Jacob was the son of a miracle and the grandson of the father of faith, Abraham. What could possibly go wrong?
Was there anything that he hadn’t told her?
You can be sure that God had seen Jacob deceive his Isaac by pretending to be Esau in order to steal his birthright. And what a man sows is what a man reaps. And the truth is, when Jacob looked at his Uncle Laban, he was looking in a mirror at himself. What Jacob had done to Esau, Laban was fixing to do to Jacob.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. 21And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. 22And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 23And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. ~ Genesis 29:20-23
I believe Laban had this planned for some time and that Leah was probably informed of the switch. Not that she was guilty, she was a victim herself. But I bet you she was more than a little tired of all the talk of Rachel and Jacob this and Rachel and Jacob that. And I bet there was a smug and a smile that came on her face when she realized what was fixing to happen.
And I bet Rachel was devastated. “What! You’ve got to be kidding? He loves me, not Leah . . . THIS AIN’T RIGHT!! NOOOOOO . . .”
A river of tears must have flowed that night with an undercurrent of torturous thoughts of Leah with Jacob. During the seven years he had worked for her,time had flown because of their mutual love for each other. Now it was as if time was suspended because of anguish of heart, a nightmare on Laban Street.
And so begins the diary of a sad barren woman.
When Jacob met Rachel he was full of the promise of God, a man on a divine appointment with destiny.
1. He had clear direction from his father Isaac: “Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.”
2. He was blessed by his father: “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people.”
3. He had a God given dream and a direct word from God: “And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.”
You can be sure that this word from the Lord produced faith in Jacob. You can be sure that, having the spirit of faith, he spoke it. And you can be sure the when he saw Rachel that he put the two together: “God has led me the right way! This is my wife, the mother of my children!”
And you can be sure that for the next seven years that Jacob and Rachel dreamed together, planned together, and spoke often of the certainty of God’s blessing on their lives. It was all part of God’s miraculous plan. After all, Jacob was the son of a miracle and the grandson of the father of faith, Abraham. What could possibly go wrong?
Was there anything that he hadn’t told her?
You can be sure that God had seen Jacob deceive his Isaac by pretending to be Esau in order to steal his birthright. And what a man sows is what a man reaps. And the truth is, when Jacob looked at his Uncle Laban, he was looking in a mirror at himself. What Jacob had done to Esau, Laban was fixing to do to Jacob.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. 21And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. 22And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 23And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. ~ Genesis 29:20-23
I believe Laban had this planned for some time and that Leah was probably informed of the switch. Not that she was guilty, she was a victim herself. But I bet you she was more than a little tired of all the talk of Rachel and Jacob this and Rachel and Jacob that. And I bet there was a smug and a smile that came on her face when she realized what was fixing to happen.
And I bet Rachel was devastated. “What! You’ve got to be kidding? He loves me, not Leah . . . THIS AIN’T RIGHT!! NOOOOOO . . .”
A river of tears must have flowed that night with an undercurrent of torturous thoughts of Leah with Jacob. During the seven years he had worked for her,time had flown because of their mutual love for each other. Now it was as if time was suspended because of anguish of heart, a nightmare on Laban Street.
And so begins the diary of a sad barren woman.
Monday, March 15, 2010
GET THE BABY ROOM READY
Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. ~Isaiah 54:1
To learn what barren means, you need not look any further than Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah. Here you will find that it means to be married to a promise, yet unable to produce, unable to put down roots. And in case the barren needs any further proof of their impotency, they are subjected to the horror of watching their promise prosper in the bosom of their rival’s, Hagar, Leah, and Peninnah.
To be barren is to be desolate, which means: “to be deserted, to be deflowered, to be awestruck.” It is the feeling of, “How can this be happening to me.” The exact feeling Tamar felt when she was raped by her half brother Amnon: “So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house” (2 Samuel 13:20). It also means to be a widow, but in the sense of “dead woman walking.” In other words, Hannah had to watch all of Peninnahs’ kids run around and call Elkanah daddy, all the while her womb was dead.
But her heart wasn’t dead. And in that heart lived a promise that refused to die and in that heart lived a new found strength that relied on God and God alone.
God had her right where he wanted her: “With God all things are possible.”
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. ~Isaiah 54:2-3
This is the word of the Lord: Get the baby room ready, there’s an Isaac coming, there’s a Joseph coming. Get ready! Samuel is on the way: Not one good word of his promise will fail you!
To learn what barren means, you need not look any further than Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah. Here you will find that it means to be married to a promise, yet unable to produce, unable to put down roots. And in case the barren needs any further proof of their impotency, they are subjected to the horror of watching their promise prosper in the bosom of their rival’s, Hagar, Leah, and Peninnah.
To be barren is to be desolate, which means: “to be deserted, to be deflowered, to be awestruck.” It is the feeling of, “How can this be happening to me.” The exact feeling Tamar felt when she was raped by her half brother Amnon: “So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house” (2 Samuel 13:20). It also means to be a widow, but in the sense of “dead woman walking.” In other words, Hannah had to watch all of Peninnahs’ kids run around and call Elkanah daddy, all the while her womb was dead.
But her heart wasn’t dead. And in that heart lived a promise that refused to die and in that heart lived a new found strength that relied on God and God alone.
God had her right where he wanted her: “With God all things are possible.”
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. ~Isaiah 54:2-3
This is the word of the Lord: Get the baby room ready, there’s an Isaac coming, there’s a Joseph coming. Get ready! Samuel is on the way: Not one good word of his promise will fail you!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
INVESTORS PARADISE
Her princes within are roaring lions. ~ Zephaniah 3:3
Mike Murdock recently stated that “the next two years will be an investor’s paradise.” I hope he got that through a praying heart instead of a preying heart. I hope that he is not implying for the rich to take advantage of the poor, those who are set to lose their houses and land because of the economic downfall in America with its loss of jobs.
Or maybe he is encouraging the rich to invest in the poor, to give abundantly towards their debt. Maybe give a $58,000 seed faith offering to a struggling widow who is getting further and further behind due to rising utilities and medical bills. Then they would get 58 million dollars back and then they could give that to the poor and soon they would have all the money in the world!
Reckon?
Mike Murdock recently stated that “the next two years will be an investor’s paradise.” I hope he got that through a praying heart instead of a preying heart. I hope that he is not implying for the rich to take advantage of the poor, those who are set to lose their houses and land because of the economic downfall in America with its loss of jobs.
Or maybe he is encouraging the rich to invest in the poor, to give abundantly towards their debt. Maybe give a $58,000 seed faith offering to a struggling widow who is getting further and further behind due to rising utilities and medical bills. Then they would get 58 million dollars back and then they could give that to the poor and soon they would have all the money in the world!
Reckon?
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