promises – Page 3 – Cross Culture Church

Meditation: August 27

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

To lose heart is to become fainthearted when fear holds its grips upon the soul. It is when discouragement occurs as result of failed hopes and dreams. Things were expected in a certain amount of time; a rescue from a dilemma, but the situation remained the same. Time is beyond our control, but not beyond our management. Each moment must be used as an opportunity to further develop the stature of the soul. Each day, a lesson is learned and applied to our eternal destinies so that even our failures amount to success in God. We are being trained for eternity. God is taking us through a course in life that will increase the measure of our faith in Him alone. The outward man is perishing along with its passions for the external and temporal things. As we grow older we grow wiser in our values. We are now seeking those things which are above where Christ is. All other things are being held loosely in light of their eternal value. The confidence we have in Christ is that life as we have known it to be is not the only chapter in this story. The greatest chapters await us and are yet to be written regardless of how old we may be. Even death cannot stop what God has in store for us but only serves as a passageway into the eternal. The outward man is perishing, but the inward man is being renewed day by day. Now the gospel message is known to be good news to us. We are able to see the goodness of the Lord that surpasses the temporary elements of this world and to see beyond our own feebleness. The time will come when we will be re-clothed or re-suited with a body conducive to the spiritual development of our souls thus possessing the ability to give full expression to what God have placed within our hearts to both be and to do. We do not desire to be naked, but to be clothed in immortality and now we have hope that the God who promises it will deliver.

11 Aug 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: August 11

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” John 14:21

The attachment to God’s Word is the same as being attached to all of His promises. The heart must be made ready to contain the infusion of life that comes as result of God speaking into it. It is not just the mind even though the message must pass through the mind. The heart must agree wholly with the Spirit who causes the Word to come alive within the Christian. The result is a quality of love that surpasses any effort on the part of the person to love Jesus. It is His love deposited within the heart and directed towards Him without reservation. It is His power that preserves the believer through making the Person of Jesus Christ known in every situation. He is not absent when things are tough. He does not conceal His identity in the midst of one’s greatest trial. He is there causing all things to work together for the good of all who have His love within them. He not only manifests His love, but His glory is revealed.

09 Aug 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: August 9

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

Life takes on a new meaning once Christ has come into the heart of the believer. He does not merely exist among the other things once deemed important, but rather sets the priorities for ones existence. Any other place given to Him constitutes a warms feeling in His regards, but not the quality of life He promises and died to give. This was the revelation given to Paul, the Apostle by the Holy Spirit. “For me, the meaning of life has shifted. For me, it’s no longer a matter of consulting with God as to whether it is permissible for me or not to have my own way. For me, to live is for Christ to fully live His life through me.”

This ought to be the earnest desire of each and every Christian. This is a life of discovery whereas one is freed from pretense or attempting to force himself to do what he thinks that Jesus would do. But rather discovering in his own flesh the life and works of Jesus personally.

“To die is gain.” Death died on the Cross when Jesus was crucified and rose from the grave. The victory of resurrection life becomes our victory as we identify with His death. The more one dies to self, he provides the opportunity for Spirit Life rise within Him. It eradicates the fear of physical death because the assurance of God’s promise become ever present; “To live is Christ, and to die is gain for me.”

26 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 26

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…” Phil 3:10

There is continuing aspects of Jesus Christ made available to us. Our spiritual hunger to fully identify with Him qualifies us to know what was unknown. We have come to know that He is our Savior and Lord through His Word. We believe on Him and apply faith in all of His promises. Yet the more we know of Him a fire is ignited within our hearts to experience Him. To share with Him in His experience of life is the grandest endeavor one could ever attain. The evidence that we know Him is that we recognize that there is much more to be known than what we have come to know. The height and depth of His love is to be explored throughout our lifetime. Oh the joy of knowing that it is Christ working in us and the sufficiency is not of us! We have been raised in newness of life. Now each experience whether it be painful or pleasurable, is ordered by our Master for a purpose far greater than any at this moment are able to see. “None of me, all of Thee; None of me, all unto Thee!” As portions of my self-life dies, I am attaining to the resurrection of the dead.

07 Feb 0Comments 0Likes

February 2015 Article: “Godly Fear and Freedom”

Posted by wwalker Categories: Articles

“In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.” Proverbs (14:26-27)

I have been recently reflecting on the effects of godly fear and am amazed at all of its benefits. Fear, apart from godly fear, involves torment according to 1John 4:18, but the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. “The righteous are as bold as a lion” because they are wise enough to choose the right path of life. Some believe that all fear is negative, so they think knowing the love of God alone is sufficient. But you cannot know His love unless there is a deep level of reverence for Him. His power to heal is the same as His power to kill. His power to deliver is the same as His power to bind. He loves what reflects His character, but hates all the works that are measured against His will being made known among humanity and nature. Without healthy fear, you would be prone to unhealthy fears or phobias. God does not make promises, but He remains too omnipotent not to fulfill them. Many are impressed to believe in Him just in case He is real, but not to trust Him completely. Salvation cannot come to any individual unless one reaches that point of seeing sin as being exceedingly sinful. Therefore, the redeemed loves what He loves and despises what He despises. This even precedes the regeneration of the heart and soul. It is my fallen nature or the sin in me that I must first despise. Since we are all descendants of Adam and possess the sin of all humanity, even our attempts to progress in life would be motivated by some disguised fear working against my benevolence. We will not be able to love unconditionally unless that healthy fear is arrested.

The fear of the Lord arrests the fear of death because it contains the fountain of life. In Him is life and He becomes life to you once you are able to see Him as All-Wise and All-Powerful. The confidence to stand in faith will position you to trust His power to deliver you and His wisdom to guide you. Both are necessary in life in order to know your purpose. There is a freedom that further binds the soul. It is the freedom to do as you please without the constraints of God. This is the path of death and self-destruction. It is the way that seems right to a person but the end is death. The paths and patterns all around are there to vie for your attention. The culture competes with Truth and bids all within it to conform. Yet God stands above what is observable with long lasting solutions in time that are transferable into eternity. Even the fear of death is conquered because it has lost its sting and the grave gains its victory! While rights are fought for and often privileges are pursued, life itself is often ignored.

What good is it to have the privilege without the substance? Those who are seeking to gain life lose it in search of the privilege while compromising its very essence. Can you imagine dying at 90 or 100 years old, but only living five or ten years or never living at all? Jesus came that you might have life and has life more abundantly. Unless life is lived in reverence to the Giver of life, all that remains is the diurnal drifting between hither and yon.

Where should you begin this journey of living life every day? It must begin with wisdom. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning….” The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. If that first step is never taken the second step is impossible to take. If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then lacking this fear is the furtherance of the propagation of ignorance. I pray that this will be your place of refuge (safety and security).

07 Feb 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: February 7

Posted by wwalker Categories: Meditations

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” 2 Corinthians 1:20

God’s promises are fulfilled through Jesus Christ. This is the test as to whether they originated from God or from some other source. We are positioned in Christ in order to go where He is going and to do what He is doing. The divine affirmation of God is the testimony of His Son. His life gave full expression of every one of His intentions. None of His promises will ever fall to the ground. If He said it, He will bring it to pass. If purposed it, He will do it. God is yet speaking today through what He has always said. His will is to accomplish His eternal Word in and through each of us. This is the glory of God, that we carry within us the evidence of His faithfulness in fulfilling His promises. They are Yes, and in Him Amen.