Meditation: April 14, 2013

“Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” Philippians 2:2

What the Lord offers the Church should be shared alike by every believer. The benefits of salvation and the joy that accompanies obedience should be experienced by all. It is not enough for merely some to know the grace of the Lord and peace that resides within their hearts. God’s desire is that all should know Him in intimate and endearing ways. The mind can either be one’s best friend or worst enemy. When our minds retain the information of past experiences and attempt to decipher it without the renewing power of the Holy Spirit, division is inevitable. How can our varying experiences and thoughts lead to a unified conclusion? Each would interpret life and God on the basis of his own conclusions. Like-mindedness can only be attained when we hear the same message having the same Spirit in common.  The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of unity. He will take us from where we were to a new place of worship. Then we see Christ together and love Him with the same love. He then takes what is within us and distributes it from our hearts abroad. There is no greater joy than a shared experience of love for Jesus Christ shared with others who love Him as we love Him. We do not ever come together as strangers. We can then fellowship as intimate friends. 

Meditation: April 6, 2013

 “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3:16-17

 The love of Jesus Christ is expressed by what He gave, not by what He gained. The power of the mighty may attain for them both position and privilege, but none of our trappings of success are sufficient enough to endear their heart with passion. One may even know that God is good and be impressed with His benevolence, but he is only left with an impression of love but may never know it. To know His love is to know why His death was a necessity. Our sins ran deeper than surface adjustments would satisfy and required more than a courteous and casual approach towards duty could ever fill. Jesus was fully aware of what pleases the Father thus He also knew what displeases Him. To know love is to know and desire what pleases God alone. True love frees one to obey without compulsion or coercion. Our lives are hidden in Christ thus His love flows through us to others. We cannot give too much because nothing is exclusively ours. We belong to Him thus allowing what He did on Calvary to continually work in us even to this present hour.

Meditation: March 11, 2013

“Blessed is he who takes no offense of Me.” Luke 7:23

The offense that occurs among men is the contradistinction between His deity and His humanity. Some would view Him as not being human enough to understand man’s dilemma and the challenges that all men face, while others would reduce Him to being just a man, the son of a carpenter. Then there are those who view Him as being an impostor who proclaims to be God. The paradox of His life as being fully God and fully man is the reason for many taking an offense to Him. But blessed is he who has received from the Holy Spirit the revelation as Peter received, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In this statement, both His deity and humanity are genuinely and fully expressed. Flesh and blood cannot make this known. Only the Father in heaven can reveal this to us thus positioning us to receive the revelation of the Father through our surrender and obedience to Him.

Meditation: July 25, 2012

“Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?” Psalm 8:4 (MSG)

My smallness in contrast to His greatness and the vastness of His creation causes me to wonder. Why would God even bother with someone as small and seemingly insignificant as me? If it were only a case restricted to observation, my worth is very little. But since God looks at His creation from the perspective of potential, we all stand as His masterpieces and created for good works. What we have the potential to become and to do far outweighs the work of angels. We are to reflect His glory to all of His creation. Principalities and powers in heavenly places will know His many-faceted wisdom through those obedient souls that are surrendered to Him. God gives special attention to mankind. All of creation is held in subjection until the mature sons of God are manifested for its release. Therefore God is not merely looking at historical or current events.  He is looking at those who are in Christ being prepared to carry out His work.

Meditation: June 27, 2012

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.” Ecclesiastics 12:13

 
The fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins. It is the acknowledgement of God’s existence and His divine power. Even though He is invisible, the evidence remains that God is Almighty. Many have lost their fear of the Lord and has either disrespected and ignored Him altogether or reduced Him to a level that makes Him common. As important as it its, yet the fear of the Lord does not constitute salvation. Even the devil believes that there is a God and trembles. The second must accompany the first. We must keep His commandments. An attempt to keep His commandments solely on the basis of fear will lead to a Pharisaic and legalistic form of obedience. It is the motivation is love that provides consistency in our obedience to Him. If we love Him our will is to obey Him. The Royal Law of love provides a its constant flow from our hearts to the object of our faith. Then it is distributed towards the assignments given to us. We must see the objective from beginning to end. Then our path will remain straight because our intentions will remain pure.

February 2012 Article: “Revival is Needed in Our Times”

The Church during the times of revival has always been on the cutting edge of reform and restoration of the truth. When men would demoralize and dehumanize their brethren for the sake of economic expedience or adopt a position of superiority over others, it was the Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that would challenge corrupt systems of discrimination and division. Revered Pastor and abolitionist Charles Finney believed his duty was to abolish slavery and accept former slaves as fellow members of a kindred body of believers. Although many people may have given attention to his message on revival of religion, they fail to examine the effects of a genuine move of God that challenges religious systems to reexamine their hearts and be purged of the roots of racism underneath the surface of their outward expressions of piety.

                It will not be the world nor political or civic institutions that will provide the impetus for change. It will be the influence of a people that have returned to the foundation of biblical faith who believe that Jesus is the answer to every question and the solution to every problem. In recent years,  Jesus Christ were conveniently attached as an addendum to a set agenda used only to validate a cause that men had already adapted. He was not the Author of their faith, but instead a confirmer of what men had authored themselves and a faith that only led them to a life of self-indulgence. They believed in themselves and had confidence that they could change the world. Yet, the global crises grew worse and people experienced an unprecedented level of despondency. As it was in the past, people continue to spur hatred and polarization among people-groups with little effort to understand the other side. If there is no change in today’s climate of racial tensions, this decade could lead to the eruption of a racial civil war as a result of clashing cultures. It is not just the Shiites and Sunnis that are diametrically opposed to one another. How many define the Christian faith and give expression to what they truly believe could lead to contention among those who profess in honoring and worshiping the Prince of Peace.

                The Occupy Movement has directed our attention towards the civil unrest among the majority. While their message is a clarion call for change, who has been prepared to lead in an environment of change among the masses who are seeking something that none of our current civic leaders possess? Civil unrest can lead to anarchy unless there is a clear message directing people to a cause that is so great as to occupy the efforts of the Occupiers, and channel their energies towards a path of permanent change. The temporary resolution is what the Bible speaks of when it says, “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

                We are in desperate need of a Third Awakening! The comatose state of the Church has rendered her disengaged in providing and protecting the principles of truth faith in God, yet fully engaged in the practice of erecting monuments that deify the strength of humanity. It sets the world on a collision course with God, awaiting His judgments to prove all that it purports as being wrong. As the tensions surmount and the apathetic decrease their concerns, the standard of righteousness seems to lose its potency. However, when it happens as it is happening now, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up His standard against all standards that do not measure up to His own. Pray for revival here…Pray for revival now…”Lord send revival!”

January 2012 Article: “2012, The Year of Divine Order”

As each year is met with its special challenges, we must be prepared to navigate wisely and safely through it. Nothing is just circumstantial or by chance, but everything exists in a cause and effect relationship. Things might appear to be random, but there is an established order that must be maintained. Its origin is before the foundations of the world therefore we do not have to engage in guesswork and carelessly assemble what has been strategically designed. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Each of us was made for this time and a place fully known by God. When we are out of place, nature cries out in rebellion to our forceful habits of trying to make something that is not meant to be. We often wonder why things are not working right and life does not make any sense. It could be the disorder of one’s life working against the order for which all things are subjected to and must be surrendered if its truest purpose is ever to be realized.
God orchestrates order out of chaos. He is the only One who can bring forth light out of darkness. He does not have to find the light but rather, He produces the light that dispels the darkness regardless how dark it may be. “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” What if it was said to you that the only instrument of peace is Jesus Christ alone? In an environment of chaos, it would sound biased and extremely prejudiced against all other attempts to provide counsel and relief to our current crises. Yet there is no light without Him. A convergence of light and darkness will cast a gray shadow. The cloud of error has eclipsed the true Light thus contributing to the chaos and confusion of this generation. This is a generation of compromise. Compromise competes with the ageless truth requiring conformity to a more contemporary order that is sensible to this generation. There is no compromise sufficient enough for us to meet the deep and desperate needs of the soul. What price have we paid and are now paying for the allowances made for the vices of society that should be condemned? Only when we accept God’s choices will there be deliverance from influences that allure people further away from them. Either we believe that He is God or not. There is no safe middle ground. If He is God, then all things generate from Him and were made to glorify Him alone. If He is one among many other gods, then we are permitted to debate whether His way is the only way, and collaborate concerning the rightness or wrongness of His Word in light of other information made available to this present age.
We have prayerfully entitled this year “The Year of Divine Order” because God alone has established the order for government, family, religion, economics, education, world peace, and our personal lives. Every contending force is in opposition to His will and must be proven false and ineffective. Our objective this year is to provide historical evidence that manufactured kingdoms have ultimately fallen over time for no other reason than God stands alone in His sovereignty. When His Word is rightly divided, in essence, preached through those who are authorized by Him to speak on His behalf, the power of change is released enabling the hearers the privilege to conform to His will. Before one can receive His order, the disorder must be exposed and renounced through repentance. The Holy Spirit then does His work of constructing lives that can fulfill the purpose for which each was born. When God is pleased with our lives, we experience a dimension of peace that surpasses all understanding.

October 2011 Article: “Spiritually Discerning Leaders”

The heart and soul of the leader is of paramount importance. God’s requirement for any who will rightly lead is that they have the heart and passion to completely embrace the heavenly vision. It is initiated by God who arrests the heart of the one that He has chosen in order to impart spiritual gifts along with wisdom and knowledge to use each gift for His glory. The vision is not common and so easily conveyed that any person who choose the position as a career rather than being chosen would be able to master it. They would stumble over and misapply instructions that are spiritually discerned. It must be the perfect fit for the individual who has been specifically called to that assigned task. God chooses His leaders. They are not the products of man’s choices else they would be as King Saul who would take matters into his own hands rather than remain obedient to God. When people lacking spiritual discernment make choices, they usually choose the most impressive rather than the one with the greater degree of character. Appearances are shallow while character is deep. The veneer of appearance wears thin when temptations arise. The lustful leader will abandon his position as a watcher for the souls of others for immediate gratification of his own flesh.

When God does the choosing we can rest assured that He has full knowledge of the qualities He has imparted to leader. The devil may test him but he will resist the alluring tactics of Satan. His focus is on the end of a thing rather than just the process leading him there. Therefore he makes prophetic judgments. He is spiritual as result of experiencing warfare fought on many battlegrounds. It is the memory of surmounting victories that causes his faith to soar to new heights. It is the exercise of one’s spiritual senses that increases his ability to discern the difference between what is good and what is evil. He may look battle worn but every scar and bruise on his body and soul has a story attached to it. If we could just read his life we would find so many intriguing episodes leading him to becoming a faithful servant-leader. He has learned to trust and serve God well thus earning the right to be fully followed. In this age of distrust, people have a difficult time trusting their leaders. If it is the polished and well groomed leader that stands as a mannequin; the knight in shining armor insulated in the glass window you may have a picture rather than a preacher. But if he has the appearance of just returning from the battle, maybe even bleeding from the last scrimmage, that one is able to discern the strategies of the enemy. We do not learn spiritual warfare in an insulated environment void of any challenges. We learn how to strategically fight when we take the fight to the battlefield.

God asked His prophets, Zechariah and Jeremiah the same question, “What do you see?” He did not ask them “what do you feel”, or “what do you think?” Discerning leaders must see with God what He sees. Only then are they enabled to participate with God in what He is doing. When we see with Him then we are enabled to fight with Him. He shares with us the victory in the battles He has won. When we must fight, even in situations that appear to be overwhelming and defeat appears to be inevitable, faith rises higher than rising current against us. The enemy comes in like a flood, a tsunami threatening to overwhelm our banks. Then there arises before us a righteous standard judging the threat of evil and dismantling its attempts to overtake us. Discerning leaders will lead his troops into to battle. But he will also lead them through each battle to triumph.