Meditation: November 18

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” John 12:32

Those who are drawn to Jesus by the Spirit are kept by the Spirit. The mysterious magnetic pull of the cross of Christ produces within the heart of the believer a willingness to fully follow after Him even when circumstances are difficult. They see the sacrifice that He has made in contrast to the challenges that lie before them and equate all in light of what Jesus Christ has already done. This is not the easy believe(ism) or our day where many are attracted to the trappings of success in this life and the glory that comes from others. It is a heart commitment to fully follow Christ in all that He may assign as a part of our journey. They lifted Him up as an enemy to their doctrines and lifestyles by crucifying Him. He transformed what would have been defeat into victory. Now the message of the cross of Jesus must be preached throughout world in order for any to be drawn by dimensions of love never known before. Love was the motive for Him to die for our sins which were many. It is the acknowledgement of sin and its effect upon our lives and our world that would bring one to understand the necessity of His sacrifice. Are you drawn to Christ today? He was lifted up and His message is now being preached throughout the world providing an opportunity for you to be delivered out of the bondage of sin and its affect to the glorious liberty that only He is able to provide.

Meditation: October 2

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (5) And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:4-5

Our comprehension will become the measure of our apprehension. When there is a willingness to understand that part of Jesus Christ which has been given to the saving of the soul, one then is able to be saved. If there is no interest in eternal life, but merely a desire to catch a few of the trappings from the promises given to the believer, he may prosper to a degree in those things, but be eternally lost. The light that God sent to men was the light of eternal life. This light illumines and guides the person to understand how little he really understands about Christ. Yet it awakens his interest to pursue Him with a passion never realized until the light has come. Those who are hungry for more than worldly pleasures or survival have seen something more of Him. The blinding light of His glory fixes their attention on a different object of affection. They become dead to the world and alive unto Christ. Paul wanted nothing more than to apprehend that for which he was apprehended. He wanted to pursue the purpose for which God arrested him from self destruction. May we walk in the light that shines in the midst of darkness.

“Are Fathers Raising Their Children?”

The study of genetics provides evidence that each of us has behavioral traits that can be traced back to our ancestry. We are the product of many centuries of cultural attributes and evolving modifications of cultural norms. It is easy to accept ourselves as we are and expect others to do the same if we are completely satisfied ourselves and see no need for change. Can we be blamed for what dwells within us as a part of our lineage? Our desires and passions form our emotional frame and our personal agenda, the things that we pursue in life. The propensity towards a particular thing, if we research the history, will be discovered within a relative who was of the same persuasion, even if the trait was expressed differently. The origin of our genetics generated from first cause. The word “pater” in Latin means first cause or brought forth from. From this word we have paternal or father. Our first father, Adam sinned against God which set in motion a course of rebellion against Him. His rebellion was not part of his original formation but was introduced to him by another in whom it originated. Satan, who rebelled against God, appeared in the form of a serpent who deceived Eve and his rebellion incubated in the heart of Adam. When he validated the deception of his wife by deliberately yielding to her offer, he set in motion a course of sin for every successive generation. Sinning is an insult to the Father whose intentions are for the good of His sons and daughters. It is a statement through actions that speak of wisdom in contradiction to the instructions and disciplines originally provided. Yielding to words spoken from another source changes the genetic structure of the individual. The renouncing of father is the entryway of adopting another as father instead. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are of your father, the devil.”

The good in the psyche of an individual, even before he or she is spiritually converted, is the result of training and discipline. Laws and prohibitions had to be established and enforced unless the hearts of rebellion inbred within the souls of men would run unrestricted. Their inhibitions would lead to self- destruction without parameters or the setting of standards. Sin is a reproach, or leads to God’sdispleasure and rebuke, but it also leads to death. God historically spoke to fathers through the prophets because the fathers were the closest to the children as authority to which they could identify. The fathers were given the role of instructions and discipline to their families. They were also held responsible if their assignments were neglected. Today the need for good home training is desperately wanting. Families need someone to speak what is right and wrong so that the line is drawn in the sand. For fathers to rightly instruct their children oftentimes it requires them to reach beyond the ways in which they were trained. Permissive fathers allow their children to literally raise themselves. They allow the popular opinion of a degenerate society, expressed through the media and the miseducation of a corrupted educational system, to determine their course. To raise our children rightly, the objective must be to set a higher standard than the one that was set for us, not just in the area of career choices, but including all the true essentials of life. Many of our children have lost their purpose for living while endlessly trying to make a living.

The original intent of the Father from which all fathering originated was to relate to His family inclusive of us. His desire remains to father through us. This is why He sent His only Begotten Son that through Him the order for life that never ends can be restored. God has given every father a job far greater than bringing home the bacon. We are to know the Lord and make Him known for the sake and safety of our children and our children’s children. Then generations can be restored as the path is paved by and through the testimonies of godly fathers.

Meditation: May 2

“For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe” (1Timothy 4:10). 

Those who trust in the living God labor with a goal in view that is different from the activities of others. There are luxuries not afforded the faithful for he must live his life with purpose. Every day must have a degree of significance that further sets him aside as God’s representative on the earth, maintaining the course leading to a destination. Kingdom business is his primary business. Now the world system will notice the difference but will not know how to interpret it. His strangeness will be repulsive to many who would much rather he be silent than speak. His activity appears to run counter to values of his contemporaries. Yet he has fully embraced his call and to suffer reproach because his life is not his own; he has been bought with a price. Therefore he trusts in the living God who is his constant companion to guide him through this maze of life to his eternal home. His life is a gift to the world so that others who would come to believe that Christ suffered for a reason. That reason being the very ones who do not understand. 

Meditation: April 17

“He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray” (Proverbs 5:23 NKJV). 

“Death is the reward of an undisciplined life; your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end” (Proverbs 5:23 MSG). 

A warning to the wise is the anecdote to his falling away and divorcing himself from his wisdom. Disciples are to exercise disciplines in order to safeguard areas that would otherwise be vulnerable to the enemy. He is seeking to influence those who have taken pride in their stance as being invincible thus allowing their guards to be down. Death is the price paid for our redemption. Since we are alive to Christ and dead to the world, Satan’s ploy is to attempt to resurrect things that once dominated and controlled our lives. Daily decisions have far-reaching and severe consequences. Nothing is done in isolation from a path leading to a destination. And nothing is done that does not follow a pattern of living modeled by a master. Our death in Jesus Christ produced life with a purpose. We are being led to triumph over all the works of darkness. Our thoughts must be directed towards the eternal unless we become entrapped by temporal pleasures requiring more than we have come to understand. We must allow wisdom to teach and guide us in a straight path. 

Meditation: April 13

“God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes” (Psalm 18:24 MSG). 

An open heart to the Word of God gives Him permission to transform one’s life. The Holy Spirit working within us not only affects our future, but takes into account our past and our present state and weaves all things into a beautiful tapestry fit to be presented to the King. He gives us a new beginning; the reorientation of those things that would otherwise condemn us. This does not happen in the life of the half-hearted. They can only be awakened to the reality that there is more to life than what is being lived. However, the open heart is giving God permission to search deeply into those secret compartments where none are allowed but maybe a select few. When we are under His scrutiny, those things that are contrary to His will are highlighted. He does this, not to be heavy handed in discipline but to lovingly purge the heart of the residue of sin that may linger so that He may be worshiped in purity. Our lives then tell a different story. It expresses the message of His mercy, His grace, and His love.

Meditation: April 4

“And He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ’This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me’ “(Luke 22:19). 

The typology of the Old Testament symbolized the sufferings and death of the Messiah. He kept the ceremonial laws in order to illustrate what He had come to fulfill. At the end of His earthly ministry, the Bread of Life took bread from the table from which He and His disciples were to dine. Before they ate their last meal together prior to His death, He broke the bread and fed it to them from His own hands. His sufferings would be a shared experience. His would be immediate and theirs would be ultimate. Yet they would have the same power to withstand the pressure and remain in faith because of the sameness of Spirit. 

Your body can bear under any pressure as long as you remain in faith. It is His life residing in you as a believer in Christ Jesus. The sacraments of bread and wine represented His Body and Blood. We are corporately the Body of Christ on the earth. As we share with Him in His experience we share with one another. His focus was not merely upon Himself, but He was looking at this day. He was seeing us together sharing this moment in fellowship, communing in remembrance of the sacrifice made on our behalf affording us the privilege of being one together with Him. 

Meditation: April 3

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21). 

The restlessness of the soul was resulting from the waywardness of the heart. When you were determined to fix your own problems your own way, none of the benefits made available by God through our Lord Jesus Christ could be applied. Now that the struggle has ended as to whether the life of Christ was to be followed because His death was sufficient enough for His life to be our life, we are being made complete. What a difference now in comparison to then. All you need to do is remember how strained the struggle was and how difficult your life would be if His knowledge was absent. But now that you know Him, allow Him to complete the great work within you that He has begun. His objective is to complete you. When your ways please the Lord, you are at peace with yourself and even with your enemies. He is the God of peace who will ultimately prove all things according to its character and His original design. Therefore, give Him the glory that He so rightly deserves now for it will be His forever and ever. Amen

Meditation: April 2

“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, ’It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves’ “(Matthew 21:12-17). 

When Jesus arrived at the seat of both religious and political power, He confronted religious authorities as being “a den of thieves.” When Jerusalem was robbed of an environment conducive for spiritual renewal, their leaders were indicted by Jesus as thieves. Religious leaders were using their followers as merchandise to be traded for profit, and their souls were both hungry and lost. An atmosphere of greed reproduces after its own kind. It spreads like a contagious disease thus hindering those who would otherwise listen. They would rather gravitate in the direction of their instructions. Jesus did not approach the civic leaders first. He confronted religious leaders for their perverse ways. The house erected with the intent of worship must first become a house of prayer. If the priorities are misaligned, the activities will be dishonorable. The confrontation followed the coronation among those who recognized Him as King. The Lord is determined to have what He desires. His communion with the Father was the source of His strength as the Son of Man. The Church will be as strong as she is consistent in prayer from which all other activities must find their origin. 

Meditation: April 1

“Later a few religion scholars and Pharisees got on him. ’Teacher, we want to see your credentials. Give us some hard evidence that God is in this. How about a miracle?’ ” (Matthew 12:38). 

Those who appear before men as authorities in relation to God’s order seldom recognize the fact that He refuses to restrict Himself to their expectations. Formulas and theorems of success do not work. He will withhold from them what they expected, but show forth the unexpected. These few that approached Him thought that He would be anxious to validate Himself before such an impressive crowd. But Jesus had nothing to prove. He was as sure of Himself then as He was when Satan tempted Him on the pinnacle of the Temple requesting Him to show off His divine powers. When we are asked to prove ourselves to be what we have been called by God to be, we must first recognize who it is that requires of us evidence. If not God by way of His Spirit, a prophetic word is sufficient. We live by what God has said and it serves as the basis for all He is now saying. If not by the Word of God, we become performance oriented. We must live by the Word and allow the Word to be given full expression through us. But never should we hide behind our credentials of education to prove our pedigree nor miracles to prove our power before men. It is God who wills and performs His work in and through us.