Meditation: December 30

“You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new.” Leviticus 26:10

Eating the old harvest is not a call to gluttony, but rather a challenge to release and dispense all that should be used. It is when we hoard what ought to be distributed that disqualifies one from full participation with God. His intention is to use each of His servants as conduit to reach others with what flows through us. As we enter into this New Year with and open heart and a clear conscience, room is available in us for an abundance of blessings from God to reach us. Yesterdays promises made and commitments are the opportunities to prove ones integrity when we rest at the end of the day with completed tasks. A fresh vision is given to visionaries who provide the impetus to see the old ones come to pass. The Spirit of God will grace the soul who is led to believe His Word and act accordingly. God wills to do a new thing among us. The New is before us, while the old is awaiting our consumption in order to make room.

Meditation: December 26

“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:34- 35

Births are produced out of pain. The agony of a mother in labor will eventually end at the bringing forth of her newborn child. God had sent forth His Son into a hostile world to rule and reign over it. But those who would subject themselves to His reign had to be born into His kingdom. All others would challenge and work at undermining His authority. His coming on the world scene would produce promotion among those to whom God willed to promote, but the demotion of any whose reign God arbitrarily decided to bring to an end. What had been introduced through the law and the prophets was now personified and fulfilled in one person. None could remain neutral to. His  presence. Jesus would either bring the best out of them or the worst out of them. When confronted with Jesus, whatever resides within the hearts of individuals is brought to the surface. And those who fully identify will suffer with Him as partakers of what would be measured against Him even to this day. If we are willing to go into labor with Him for souls, we too will experience new births, but an earnest desire for genuine conversions will come with a price.

Meditation: December 24

 “And thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

The long awaited Messiah was to come through a meek and humble virgin. She was to carry within her womb the answer to every question and the solution to every problem. The deepest questions in life are related to sins. They are multifaceted and pervasive as to penetrate every aspect of life. Sin was deeply woven into the fabric of man’s soul and conscience. He could not save Himself, but was in need of a Savior. Jesus would first come to fully identify with sinners as being his people. He became one of us thus fully identifying with every challenge that we may face in life. Yet He came to liberate us from the clutches of Satan that we may be set free from the enslavement of sin and light to guide us in a direction. All have been provided the opportunity to live differently and have a different walk because we live on the other side of the Cross. He came to save His people. All of His people now can be saved from the power of sin and shame.

Meditation: December 17

“But what did you go out to see?” Matthew 11:8

The search for significance will lead many out of their familiar environment. They believe that there has to be something out there that has a greater value and can add meaning to life. Many have abandoned family and home, while others have walked away from their employment because of this restlessness within themselves to see something or to experience something more than what had grown familiar. Jesus confronted the Pharisees and Priests who went into the wilderness in order to hear a message from a non-conformist who challenged the very core of their being. Even though they met a prophet with a prophetic word of preparation, their opinions of him did not lead them to the right action. Many are impressed but remain unchanged. Our pursuits in life must lead us to a wilderness journey of conviction and uncertainty, convicting us of sin and turn us to righteousness.  It is the uprooting of the old that will make room for the new. Without this radical change occurring, many will change the scenery of their lives but never the core of their being. Significance and true peace can only come from Jesus Christ. His message prepares the heart to receive Him.

Meditation: December 16

“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” Isaiah 7:11

God extended an invitation to an evil king to request a sign. It was His challenge to reveal degrees of His authority either in heaven, the earth, or under the earth. The offer to the king was to choose for himself the means for which God would make His presence known. It would change the course of history and provide for those who would receive it a new destiny. It would be for him personally to empower him to govern in righteousness and peace. If any lacks wisdom, ask God. He condescends to our level. A wicked and perverse generation seeks after a sign in unbelief. They place the burden of proof upon God’s shoulders with a predisposed view what is real or not. God still allows Himself to be questioned by the unbelieving world with a willingness to provide evidence of the truth in contrast to error of her ways. Even though the king rejected the offer, Jesus came into the world as the sign and a wonder to the world. “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

Meditation: June 13

“but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ. —“ Ephesians 4:15

The alternative to flowing with the wind and being influenced by the culture is hearing that we might do what the Word says. It was Paul’s passion to speak only what the Lord had to say. Even though the message is a challenge to current culture, it is the expression of a higher and deeper dimension of love. It is spoken in love when the desire of the heart of the messenger is to see those he has been called to address grow into developing the character of Christ. Often the growth of the hearers may excel beyond the level of the speaker, but he should not be jealous of his spiritual children. Instead, he should encourage them to take what they have received beyond his level of understanding for the Word alive within the hearer increases as seed to produce a great harvest. Ministers should not waste time addressing every other subject rather than God’s Truth. There is no growth is these side issues. Christ is the answer to every problem but He can only be known through faithful ministers. We are obligated to counter the movements that prevail against the soul of the wayward. Then they have a course set before them leading them to life.

Meditation: May 28

‘‘Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low.” Isaiah 40:4

God reaches down to valleys in order to lift them up and pulls down ever-exalted mountain. He encounters the mighty when they trust in their own strength. Nothing is able to stand above Him. These mountains stand to challenge His authority. His is the power to uphold mountains, and He has the right to remove them. By His Word mountains quake and the earth trembles. He is awesome in power and majesty. Yet He dwells in the high and holy place with the humble and the contrite. He exalts the valleys. The same power that brings mountains down is the power that lifts valleys up. The purity of their hearts permits them to see God. Their perspective is not the same as those who have lofty goals and are selfish in nature. They possess His heart. Their wills are in synch with His will. The way up is down and the way down is up. So different from the nature of fallen man, but the way of life that leads us down the path of life. 

Meditation: May 14

“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” 1 John 5:16

The contrast between light and darkness is becoming more apparent and on different fronts. There are those who stand outside of what now is now considered to be the norm because they continue to uphold a standard that appears archaic. The tried and proven truths are constantly being challenged and tested. Yet they are able to withstand all the shifting currents of modernity. If we did not know that we were of God, even those who may be in places where worship is accepted would be in doubt. Those who know that they are of God have His Spirit as their guarantee and confirmation. He makes it known to them to whom they belong. We are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. He shakes all things that can be shaken in order for only the truth and children of wisdom to remain.  Doctrines that appeal to the vanity of the mind have become widespread and flourishing. When all who could be deceived would have gone their own way, the Son of God will be revealed affirming those who have God’s seal of approval. We know that we are of God, but God also know those who are His.

Meditation: May 8

“Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” John 19:27

Jesus made an oral testament to John, the beloved disciple, to provide as He would for her after His death. It was a binding agreement in the company of others if accepted, to care for her needs as the second oldest son. Even though there were other children, his responsibility was to treat her as He would treat her in absentia. John knowing Jesus was to compensate for the void that would otherwise be in her life. This example is a challenge to every son and daughter to consider the needs of parents. To honor our father and mother is to provide for them what is needed. Jesus told John to look intensively at the woman that will become his mother. And He told His mother Mary to look intensively at the man who would become her son. A new relationship was to be forged at that very moment. As we look at our mothers, if we could for a moment see what Jesus saw in His own mother. She was the vessel chosen by God for Him to enter into the earth. We owe a great degree of gratitude to our mothers, regardless of their weaknesses. They were the chosen vessels from which we were born.

Meditation: May 6

“If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success.” Eccl 10:10

The energy and strength exerted by the man who tries to figure things out on his own is constantly exerted. Yet the results are minimal because it is only mind challenging matter. The mind cannot achieve all that is believed when the axe is dull. But when God sharpens the edge, His Spirit begins to work and the prayer on earth is answered from heaven. God sharpens our axe in order to allow us to work with wisdom guiding us along the way. The Eternal God uses His faculties seeing the end before the beginning. He knows what it takes beforehand for the children of God to accomplish His will. We have a sharper cutting edge when we pray continually and do not lean to our own understanding. Then when His Word is spoken, it is sensible because the heart has been prepared to make room for the truth. Each moment must count with eternity in view. The wise seeks after wisdom and more is given to him. But the fool thinks that he has already attained it, thus grows more foolish. Success awaits us but we must maintain our cutting edge.