Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established

Who are you going to believe?

There are basically three voices in the world: 1) The Holy Spirit, 2) The Devil and 3) Our human spirit. King Jehoshaphat (a godly king of Judah) instructed us 2 Chronicles which one we should listen to. 2Chron 20:20  “And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” Jesus Himself punctuated this instruction further when He said in John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” He is, of course, speaking of Himself.

Who we listen to and more specifically who we believe is very important; it forms what eventuall do. Belief is very important; belief can make us obedient or disobedient.

• Noah believed God was bringing a flood; he moved in the fear of the Lord to build and ark. He was obedient to Gods command to Him because he believed, as God said to him, that a flood was coming. He preserved the human race by that belief.
• Saul who had been told to wait and Samuel the prophet did not believed Samuel would  come so he sinned and crossed a very sacred line which led to his ultimate rejection and demise..

Israel, as a nation, did not guard what they believed either and it caused them to sin and fall short of Gods promises. God called it an evil heart of unbelief (Hebrews 3:12-14). They believed the giants they had run across while coming into their inheritance instead of the Word of the Lord that God Himself had spoken to them; Num 13:25-33  “And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.  (26)  And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.  (27)  And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.  (28)  Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.  (29)  The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.  (30)  And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.  (31)  But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.  (32)  And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.  (33)  And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

Here is the result of listening to the wrong voices; they believed the wrong voices:

1)      The giants could overcome them – “they are mightier”
2)      The giants could prevent them – “but the giants are there”
3)      Make void the promises of God – God said Yes/Giants said no…the giants won
4)      The giants were stronger than their God…the conclusion of their conviction

cHere is what they would have believed if they listened to the right voice:

1)      Gods prophet – Moses,  Num 13:1 – God spoke not Moses, he was just a vessel
2)      Gods message – “I will bring you in to a land that flows with milk and honey”
3)      Gods integrity – God is not a man that He should lie Num 23:19-20
4)      Gods might – “we are well able” Num 13:30

In conclusion let me say this: Our adversary is a believer too; let me tell you what he believes about you! He believes he can get you to doubt the leadership, Gods promises, Gods integrity and Gods ability to fulfill His promise in you. In a practical sense here is what happens, God allows us to experience drought, hunger, heat, pressure, inconvenience, loss and the like in order to find out what we really believe (Deut 8:2). For those who believe Him in spite of other voices (evil or human) they enter in to the good land and see the promise fulfilled. Those, however, who believe otherwise, end up missing it. Let’s hold fast to what God is saying. Is He as good as His word or not? Remember in a trial it is not really just you that is on trial it is the word God has spoke to you.

Take My Yoke (it is lighter than the one you now bear)!

Matt 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”.

This command goes out to all those who bear heavy burdens; to those for whom life itself has become a burden. The Lord will go on in the next few verses show us how to enter into perfect rest and thus alleviate our burdens. We will see from His instruction that actually the rest of God (which is the secret to lying down you burden) resides in getting into His yoke with Him.

V:29    “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls”.

“Take My yoke upon you…” This yoke of Christ is in contrast to the yoke one already wears; the yoke of bondage put upon us by our adversary (Lev 26:13).  There are only two yokes in life; the devils yoke and the Lords Yoke. Jesus indicted those of His day by essentially telling them they were yoked up with the devil (John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do…”). The Lord is encouraging the reader to take His yoke because in fact it is much lighter than the yoke of the enemy.

The enemy is subtle yet scheming; he convinces man that he is a "free agent" and is free to do anything he pleases. Yet he completely understands the trappings of sinful choices that it places an iron yoke around one's neck that will enslave them to sin. When we are born again Christ breaks that yoke and seeks to yoke us together with Him that at the end of our life we might have a reward for our labors.

I want to focus on this statement: "Learn of me..." Learn what? Learn what it means to walk in His yoke and to surrender yourself to His will for your life. Learn how to walk in His yoke by following His example for He Himself walked in a yoke with His Heavenly Father (to the cross). As we surrender ourselves to His yoke we learn of His ways. I have seen the end of those who reject His yoke and their way is fraught with snares and pits, it is better in the end to go His way all the way.

“For I am meek and lowly of heart…” This is one of the extraordinary aspects to the Godhead; it is the fruit of meekness. This virtue is defined thusly:

WEBSTER dictionary.

Ø      "Softness of temper; mildness; gentleness; forbearance under injuries and provocations. 1. In an evangelical sense, humility; resignation; submission to the divine will, without murmuring or peevishness; opposed to pride, arrogance and refractoriness”.

Matt 11:29 is educating us on the virtue of meekness "...ye shall find rest unto your souls." You see that a major component to finding rest is meekness. The Lord Jesus Christ epitomizes meekness (Speaking in prophetic essence Psalm 45:4; V:8 describes the garments or the characteristics of Christ and myrrh equates with meekness); He was completely submissive to the Father's will. When you think of the power He had access to and yet He allowed shame and spitting; physical pain and smiting; the Son of Royalty who up to His earthly ministry had known only wonderful and reverential treatment (Even the Satan rebellion did not inflict one physical scar on Christ). But in the ignominy of His crucifixion He settled once and for all the absolute power and triumph in the Godhead trough meekness.

V:30 “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”.

The Yoke - it is easy, does not bind, chaff or harm the wearer in any way. In other words, it is a perfect fit...if we will but come into it and plough in His field we shall find it very comfortable. When does it chaff or cause us difficulty? When there is a conflict between our will and His.

Let us consider an account where this was so. Jonah 1:1-3 - Jonah found the yoke burdensome; it conflicted with his own will and so he paid the fare and fled from God. And as a result he released a firestorm of Gods dealings (Jonah 1:9-12; V:15) in his life that took him to the very gates of hell (Jonah 2:1-2; V:6). You see, it is an easy yoke when you consider the alternative.

You will find people unable to accept the Lords yoke, they say it is too hard: Isa 49:20 "...the way is too strait" This word strait is unique in Isa, it means "too narrow" or "too tight" We are told to enter in at the "Narrow" gate for “Broad" is the way that leads to destruction. This yoke is only hard for those who reject it, for those who prefer to do their own will instead of Gods (the way of transgressor is hard!).

Grace for Obedience Romans 1:5

I am in preparation for teaching the book of Romans in our local Bible Certificate Program (see schedule down and to the right in the widget with the map, if you are in Erie or the surrounding area you are welcome to attend free of charge. There is a nominal charge for books but auditing is free). I spoke on this verse (Romans 1:5) in our church on a Sunday evening and I am going to share my thoughts here on my blog because I feel grace, in some circles, is greatly misunderstood (based on discussions I have had with various believers). Let me first highlight for you what has been communicated to me as a definition of "Grace"; it has be purported that grace is the ultimate "get out of jail free card". It is, to some, the reason why they do not have to pursue holiness or lead a disciplined christian life. To these, well meaning, believers it is the substance that lets them misbehave and not mature because it covers all their weaknesses and misconducts. It is not my position that I am an example myself of what real grace is, however, I can say I am certainly striving for its true reality to be realized in me.

What I am about to share concerning grace does not come from my own religious interpretation of it but rather a simple understanding of 1) God's nature and 2) What the scriptures say about this most important subject (after all we are what we are by the grace of God, Amen?).  First of all let's consider this verse Rom 1:5 "By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:" We have this phrase..."we have received grace...for obedience to the faith...". This, for me, identifies the true meaning of the word grace. It is not to excuse us (although I do want to be careful because there is most definitely this element to grace, to cover sin, so I am not dismissing that (See Rom 3:24)). It is important, however, that we absorb all the scriptures say about this, consider other verses that support this assertion that grace is for obedience to the faith (and not just to exempt us from judgment): Rom 5:20; Rom 6:1-2; Rom 6:14 and the list goes on and on. Grace is intended to help us overcome sin not just to cover it up!

Finally, let me end this little piece with a very valid definition of the word grace as defined for us using the original Greek. Romans 1:5 Grace - "...the divine influence upon the heart and it's reflection in the life..." In other words, it is not a covering at all but rather it is the influence of the Holy Spirit upon our lives to make the right choice, to go the right way. We should view the grace of God as the influence coming upon us to make right choices, the influence to go the right way and the influence to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. In our pursuit of Gods plan for our lives, let's look at grace as that influence of God that comes upon us to help us to always those things that please Him and to depart from sinful ways.  "Grace for obedience..."

2012 New Years Message - The Grace of God

When I reflect upon the personal words the Lord has given me at the beginning of the last two New Year events (2010 & 2011) I find two things to be true: 1) The words came to pass in my life and 2) They were fulfilled in ways that were much different then I expected (They were fulfilled negatively, although Romans 8:28 always works). They were personal words to me, they would have very little significance to anyone else but to me they were life altering even if by crisis. Therefore, I have been reluctant to ask the Lord for a word for 2012 because I had concerns that more of the same would come to me (Not very considerate of the Lord, I know, trust me I have already chastised myself for it). Never the less, the Lord did speak to me one word for 2012; it is the word "Grace".

Recently, I was waiting on the Lord before a service when this thought pierced my mind... "Everyone who makes good in this world (past present and the future) does so because of the deposit of grace bestowed upon them." And as this thought was germinating in me and spreading like leaven in my spirit such a cry came out in my spirit "O' God please, please, please, give me more and more of Your grace so I do not have to fail you". Suffice it to say, without going into too many details, that within 1 hour I had been called to the front of the church by a visiting minister who was unaware of my plea which was said only in my heart and not out loud "The Lord is going to meet with you and put his deposit of grace on you and it is going to be sufficient" (paraphrased). I am very very encouraged because I already begin to feel it working in me.

It is an encouragement to me to have God speak clearly that "2012 is a year of Grace" (and I feel this word is for many, many more than just myself or else I would not put it on this blog) but to be fair we need to consider two more things where grace is concerned. Before there can be grace deposited in us there needs to be 1) a terrible need that cannot be overcome by one's self and 2) the brokenness of heart in the recipient to receive it (Proverbs 3:3-4; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). So...we conclude that in order to receive grace we must have a need and in need cry out in brokenness. Finally, we must also receive the Grace of God when offered, for it is possible to fail of the grace as stated in Hebrews 12:15 (usually though bitterness, hardness, pride or idolatry (idolatry by not wanting to give up something God is requiring)).

So, does this mean there are challenges yet ahead for 2012? You bet there are but what is the key to survival, what is the key to victory and endurance?  It is the grace of God! I have one other little exhortation  to share before we conclude this little piece. When we say the hindrances to grace are bitterness, hardness and pride how is it that these sins are manifested? Is it not through the lips? I will maintain that one must profess a good profession in order to receive grace. Speaking bitterly, harshly or in pride does not move the heart of God to release this tremendous gift of grace. Charity, meekness and humility in our speech releases the heart and the Grace of God. Colossians 4:6 - "Let your speech be always seasoned with grace..." God bless you all and I pray God will manifest His grace in remarkable ways this year!!