Cross Over

As we remember Pastor Chuck this 2 year mark of his being in heaven, I was prompted to revisit the story of passing the mantel .... 

 A mantle is a loose sleeveless cloak or cape used to cover the outer garments, normally made of sheepskin. 2 Kings 2:12 tells us that as Elijah was taken up his mantle fell upon Elisha…and Elisha took the mantle, but he didn't put it on as a covering…he used it as a tool, an instrument to accomplish the will of God. 

 The first thing Elisha did with the mantle is what he  saw Elijah do before he was take up in the firey chariot. He did what he was taught…what he saw with his own eyes…and what he knew worked! He was persistent and eager to learn…as he refused to go back when Elijah encouraged him to. He also was zealous as he boldly asked for a double portion of The Spirit! Most people would have been happy with all that the Lord did in and through Elijah, but Elisha wanted more. A bigger work of the Spirit of God! I love this about Elisha! God would bless the work and ministry of Elisha by giving him double the miracles as HE gave Elijah!

 I look at this story and can't help but see Pastor Chuck! He was our Elijah…our earthly example of what works and what doesn't. A godly man who heard and obeyed God. We have sat under him, studied with him, cried with him, laughed with him and watched God use him in an amazing way! Our desire is to take that mantel and be faithful to what we know and have been taught.

For Elisha he studied Elijah very carefully, and did exactly what his master did. His first miracle was also his first test…would he believe what he asked for" a double portion of God's spirit? As Elijah was taken up and his mantel fell on Elisha he would have a decision to make…"Do i believe what i prayed for can come true?" How many times have you prayed for something or someone and then questioned your prayer? Of course we don't question God's ability…we question our motives, our prayer and the situation on the other end. This is where faith comes in! Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. Elisha hoped that God would grant him his request, but he couldn't see it …that's until he was tested and passed! For Elisha he would have to cross over the same way they came…which was the Jordan River…this is where Elisha would put into practice what he had learned and observed from his master. If you want to follow Jesus you will have a Jordn crossing, a testing of your faith. Hang in there and cross over with confidence! 

The Power of Prayer

"Pray always without ceasing as the Bible says and praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplications for all the saints."Ephesians 6:18


With the release of the movie War Room hitting #1 in the box office many Christians are being stirred once again to pray.  Why is this? Have we forgotten it's power…it's purpose…it's privilege? No, I don't believe so. Most Christians know the importance of prayer, but are too busy to make it a part of their daily life. That is…until a crisis hits, then you will find them on their knees or on their face pleading with the Lord to answer, to work, or move on their behalf. This is good... for the Lord uses crisis in our lives to draw us to Him in prayer. He also can use a movie to stirred the hearts of His people back to Him in prayer. He can use any tool to accomplish this in our lives. I know for me, I was completely inspired by this movie and although it was not a true story, it resonates with many Christians who have heard, seen or experienced personally the supernatural power of persistent passionate prayer.

Prayer is not getting man's will  accomplished in heaven, it's getting God's will accomplished on earth. Many who enter into prayer do so to change their circumstances or to change someone else, but soon realize that the person doing the most changing is them! I have experienced this first hand in my own life! Many times I go to the Lord in my times of prayer interceding for others and soon realize that the Lord has reached down through my intercession and touched my own heart. He begins molding me and softening me toward a person or situation. This is the beautiful thing about intercession…it changes us first before changing anyone else. Intercession is praying on behalf of someone else. It is when we act as the go between God and man. Just like Moses interceded on behalf of the rebellious children of Israel. We too are called to intercede or be the go-between God and our loved ones. If we study the intercession of Moses we see that he confesses to not like what the people were doing…he didn't agree with what they were doing, and yet he loved them enough to labor in prayer and be the go-between them and God. The result…God was gracious and merciful and granted Moses request to save the people.

 One thing we don't want to happen is be inspired and touched by a powerful movie like this and do nothing about it! We want this to stir our hearts and move on it! We want to learn form this and apply it! But how? How do we  maintain a persistent prayer life? I suggest that you make it part of your daily devotional life not just on a need to know basis…but a need to breath basis! Prayer should become as vital to us as breathing! We cannot go on without it! Bring everything to the Lord in prayer…"Pray always without ceasing as the Bible says and praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplications for all the saints."

Worth the Wait!

"DO NOT grow weary in your waiting, for in the PROPER time you will reap the harvest, if you do not give up!" Galatians 6:9

No one likes to wait! Waiting is one of the most difficult things in the world to do. I marvel when I see little old men waiting so patiently for their wives while shopping. I can't help but think; "Have they always been patient?" Galatians 5 tells us that patience is a fruit of the Spirit. As we mature in our walk with the Lord patience is one of the areas that we grow in. We become more patient with others, and with the Lord. We accept that His timing is perfect and that He holds time in His hands. The problem is when we grow impatient in our waiting. What then? Well...then, is when we either take matters into our own hands like Abraham and we end up creating something of the flesh, or we grow weary in our waiting and get depressed. Both are not of the Lord. For the Lord has good plans for us Jeremiah 33:11 and David wrote in Psalm 37:4" Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."So, why fret? Why get depressed? Because …we do not like to wait! We want what we want and we want it NOW! right? Well…that's not how the Lord works. He works all things together for our good…ALL THINGS!  The good, the bad and the ugly! We must trust Him for His perfect timing, for our future, for our desires, for our needs, and our wants, and all the above! He is your ABBA Father who loves you so very much…don't you think He wants the best for you? He sees all and know all! He has a great vantage point in that He can see the beginning of our life…the middle and the end! He is preparing you for what lies ahead. Whether it be college, work, service, or marriage …the Lord is preparing you right now. Don't get ahead of Him…let Him lead the way and you follow close behind! Accept where HE has you…look at it as preparation. If you desire to be married…let Him mold you into the godly wife He wants you to be as you spend time getting to know Him first. Fall in love with Jesus and you will fall in love with the the right guy! "DO NOT grow weary in your waiting, for in the PROPER time you will reap the harvest, if you do not give up!" Galatians 6:9

The Ministry of the Interior

"And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends." Job 42:10


As I read one of my favorite devotionals the other morning my heart was pricked by the Holy Spirit. We see in this verse that a significant act was performed by Job that changed everything! Job was in an extreme time of adversity and yet he prayed for the very people that were treating him wrongly and discouraging him instead of encouraging him in his time of physical pain and extreme loss. Job had every right to be bitter and to resent his friends for this treatment, and yet he did not sin. We know that the devil asked for Job by name...how he could tempt Job to sin and ultimately turn his back on God...and yet, Job remained faithful to God and trusted Him. Job 42:10 serves as an example of what can happen when someone is willing to go beyond forgiveness and enter into a higher calling. For it was when Job humbled himself and prayed for those that wronged him that he was forever changed.  Oswald Chambers calls this,"the ministry of the interior", meaning Job went to work interceding for those that hurt him instead of holding a grudge and allowing himself to become bitter. Do you want to know how to become better instead of bitter? Start praying for those that have wronged you, those who have mistreated you and hurt you. Whether they are your friends or your enemies...pray! Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 5...blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called sons of God, blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." For if you love those that love you what reward have you?

The true test for the Believer is not loving those that love us, but loving and interceding for those that mistreat us. Intercession means to do battle on behalf of another...to go to war for them...to actually be the go between them and the enemy! As you inteceed instead of interject you will experince the true blessing of the ministry of the interior. This is a great and mighty tool that we have readily available to us. It will bless your marriage, your family, your friendships, and your life. You, like Job, will experience freedom from the captivity that words can hold and you will soar to great heights with the LORD!

D.L. Moody said; "I firmly believe a great many prayers are not answered because we are not willing to forgive someone." When we are bitter we will not experience freedom and victory...it's when we are willing to forgive and then go the extra mile that Jesus talks about that we will experience the blessing of the ministry of the interior...it truly is a ministry. It's hard work praying for our enemies...it takes humility and genuine love that can only come from Jesus Christ, but the results are worth it.  Let the Lord heal your wound as you pray for those that have wronged you! Let Him minister to you as you minister to others. In seeking to minister to others you will experience the true blessing of freedom from the bondage of bitterness.

    

Glean All You Can!

        

“So she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest.” Ruth 2:23

   To glean means to extract information from various sources, to obtain, to get, to take, to draw. Gleaning was the process by which reapers let some grain fall to the ground so that the poor may come by and gather it up for their provision. In the case of Ruth, she gleaned all day as she gathered the grain that was left behind.

   We too glean, but not wheat… we glean from the scripture. We gather information and we take it away, and what we gather becomes our provision. This is what we will live off of, what will sustain us, and it’s how we’ll grow. We can only be sustained as long as we are being fed. We need to gather our grain on a daily basis. Notice that Ruth gathered for the whole harvesting season. The harvesting season for barley was March through May and wheat was May through July. So that means that Ruth was in the fields of Boaz harvesting the barley and wheat for 4 months along side the other more experienced women. She was instructed by her mother in law to stay close by these women in Boaz’s field and she obeyed.

   This is a key point, and one that we can easily skip right over (I did!). There is a season in each of our lives, when we are just beginning to serve our greater then Boaz, the Lord Jesus, that it’s absolutely necessary that we plant ourselves in a safe and healthy field. One that is rich with love, care and wisdom. This environment is often found among the people who have walked with the Lord longer then we have, those who have many years under their belt and whose roots have sunken deeply into the Lord. I know for me, this was a crucial part of my maturity in the Lord. I was plopped into a good healthy field of older, more experienced, godly women and gleaned there for 3 years. This is where I matured leaps and bounds as I received and obeyed godly counsel.

    Boaz and Naomi both instructed Ruth in this way for several reasons. First, she would be safer with the women then with the men. When we are first coming out of the world we are vulnerable and an easy target for the enemy. Second, she would learn from the women as they instructed her in the ways of gleaning.  When we begin to walk with the Lord we need constant instruction, and prayer support from older godly women who can point us to Jesus, pray with us and instruct us in the Word. The final reason was to test Ruth’s obedience. Was she open to being taught? Would she obey her elders and those who had more experience then her? Or would she try it her own way?

   What we want to take away from this story is that zeal and maturity working together is what brings about a beautiful godly Christian women. I believe this is where many young women go wrong…they never get plugged into a good church where they can glean in the fields of Jesus. They are undernourished and under cared for because they never obeyed. Ladies, there are older godly women just waiting to pour into you…go into the fields and stay by the women. Watch them and learn form them. The Lord would say to you what Boaz said to Ruth; “Listen my daughter, do not go and glean in any other field, and do not go away from here, but stay close by my maidens.” Ruth 2:8