I Found Him, I held Him and I Would Not Let Him Go!

Let Thy Mantle Fall of Me

Let Thy Mantle Fall of Me

A Double Portion of Your Spirit Lord

Let Thy Mantle Fall of Me

(Floyd W. Hawkins)

Songs 3:4 - I Found Him, I held Him and I Would Not Let Him Go!

The last few weeks God the Father has been moving upon my heart and has wrought in me almost an unprecedented victory. I say almost because many times I have had victory in the past only to be knocked down again by self-interest and the willful nature in me so this is familiar ground to me. It began about the time I had a vision of the Father, I did not see His face but rather His form and His left hand, my whole focus was on His left hand which was at chest level, He slowly moved His hand towards His chest just as one would if they were beckoning someone to come closer. I recall having a sense of pleasure in my spirit as I saw this. Whilst we remember the right hand of God as the hand of blessing there is something about His left hand that made me feel as though He was drawing me to Himself, it gave me a sense of warmth and love. There are, of course several verses that come to mind about the left hand. There is the portion in the Song of Solomon where Solomon’s left hand was under the Shulamite's head and with the right hand he embraced her Songs 2:6 “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me." I am not saying this is literally what God does with us I am simply implying it is a sign of closeness and affection much like we see as John leaned on the breast of Jesus. The left hand is also indicated in the priesthood to have a certain function, there is the cupped left hand of the priest which held the anointing oil. It became the reservoir the priest used to dip his right hand into and so the left hand is associated with the anointing. Lev 14:15  "And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand:" ; Lev 14:16  "And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD:" Ever since this experience Gods hand has been heavy upon me and I am seeking Him almost night and day for fresh experience, a fresh breaking, a fresh release and a fresh calling. It has been very dear to me but always, always in the back of my mind is this thought, "Take care Frank, you have been here before and the old nature has ruined it and His precious presence has left"

Remembering our past failures is a good thing in this sense, the failures of the past give us zeal to stay on the right path in the future. When we fall down we take note of what it was before we fell down that led to our declination and defeat. We consider our behavior, our thoughts and even our speech. All of this effort is to avoid the potential failures of the future. Here is what I have observed, sin is like a speeding train on a railroad track going the wrong way, once we jump on, it takes us very far, very quickly away from our goal. Many times we have a long wait before we can get back to where we started when we got off the right path. There is a chorus to a song written by Harold McWhorter "Sin Will Take You Farther" that goes like this:  "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, slowly but wholly taking control, sin will leave you longer than you want to stay, sin will cost you far more than you want to pay." It means that once we get off the right path we cannot always just change our minds and turn back into the right path, we will go through different states before we feel again the drawing of His Spirit. It can be very costly! Using our train metaphor we may have to strive to get back jumping from train to train, station to station to get back where we were; we search and search and search, sometimes seemingly in vain that God would bring us back to where we were before we stepped out of line. This is the experience the Shulamite had when she rejected the Lord in the Song of Solomon Chapter 5: When she rejected Him out of her own selfish desires, she eventually came to her senses and ran to the door to meet Him, He was gone and she searched and searched and could not find Him. She went about the city and had a rough time of it as the watchmen smote her while she looked for her beloved whom she did eventually find and clave to.

I recall a sermon I preached once in my home church, it was on this portion of scriptures from the Song of Solomon 5. I struggled in my spirit with the Lord about this message, I said to Him: everyone who is going to be in church Sunday morning is on the right path, they will feel I am saying they are not. Nevertheless, the Spirit compelled me to give this message on backsliding and how long it can take to return, I could feel inspiration on nothing else. Even as I was on the platform I was struggling and feeling uncomfortable about the message when in walked a young man who had walked off the path many times in spite of many warnings. He came in sat down, then I realized God had fashioned the message for him, we had not seen him in quite a while and there was no reason for me to expect him to be there but there he was. This is what the Lord said to Him, it came out in the message though it was not in my notes (It was used in support of an illustration on the Prodigal son, not directed directly at him but I knew it was God speaking to him, I felt it): "Take care, because you have left the path It is going to be a long, long time before you will get back to the sense of My presence" It was because he had selfishly gratified himself instead of remaining faithful to the Lord and he had done it many times. Sadly, he did not find the grace (as many do not) and God has removed him and sent him onto a lesser path with a lesser vision. 

The point is this, when God calls us to Himself He wants us to stay close to Him. He does not want us to be drawn away by selfish desires, by worldly desires or sinful desires. Right now God is drawing me (and I hope He is drawing you too) and I am putting all my efforts into knowing what He wants from me and asking for the grace to do it, I am remembering my past failures and taking steps to avoid them. As I have been seeking Him He has been pouring out His grace and I want it to continue. My hope is that the selfish things that took away my victory in the past will be dealt with and the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father will compel me to ever follow Him more and more so that we can walk together in a new sense of communion and fellowship.  Let me conclude with the title of this message and may it be our most earnest desire: Songs 3:4 - I Found Him, I held Him and I Would Not Let Him Go!

Christ Formed In Us!

The message of the kingdom of God is not always completely understood by the Church; it is not just a message of salvation from hell but rather it is a message of Christ Likeness, a message of the great hope of being changed from a corruptible creature to a holy man or woman of God. Not holy in ourselves but holiness which comes from a total conversion to the nature of Jesus Christ. Some today are content to hold onto their salvation without embracing the full message of Christ Likeness.

Generally it is because in order for Him to come forth in His fullness we have to die to ourselves. It is very easy to say "We are embracing the Great Commission" and feel as though you are being a great Christian, however, Jesus Himself cuts this down as the litmus test when He rebukes the Ephesian Church (which was fulfilling this commission, See Rev 2:2-3) for losing their first love. Also, He demonstrates this is not the full message when He tells of the Great White Throne Judgment: Mat 7:21-23  "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Let's consider some opening verses to support these comments:

Col 1:27 "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"

Gal 4:19 "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,"

Rom 13:14 "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

Christ in you... Until Christ be formed in you... Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is one thing to have Christ birthed in us at salvation but another thing altogether to have Him formed in us (developed, matured, strong in us). Sin wants one thing but Christ wants something altogether different. Sin (in us) wants to be satisfied and is powerful bending our will at times to its demands, even as believers. As a pastor I have had good men and women break down and weep in front of me because they could not get the victory over sin. Christ and the Holy Spirit, however, have only one objective and it is to completely break sin so that we may walk in all pleasing before our heavenly Father as He did. This is only possible in reality as sin is defeated and Christ is formed is us. Our very calling is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (See Rom 8:29), the only way this is possible is to have Christ formed in us, strengthened in us and developed in us. Consider the following verses which support this:

Rom 8:29 "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."

Eph 4:11-13 "11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:"

In the text from Romans 8:29 we see we are called to be confirmed to His image. A calling which Paul charts for us through Romans Chapter 6 (The Crucified Life); Chapter 7 (The Old Nature and the Law); Chapter 8 (The New Life in the Spirit). We are conformed to His image first by exposure of old nature which does not reflect Christ, the old nature is exposed through the law in Romans chapter 7. Then, crucifying that same old nature by the cross in chapter 6 of Romans. Finally, coming forth as mature sons of God reflecting Christ in chapter 8 of Romans. This is the process whereby Christ is formed in us AND the old man is put to death (the two should be synonymous). 

In Ephesians he tells us that we might come to the fullness of the stature of Christ. Neither one of these states (conformed completely to His image and coming to the fullness of His stature) happen at salvation but indicate growth and development and so Paul says in Galatians 4, I travail until Christ be formed in you. From time to time we observe different levels of maturity, for some it very well may be that Christ had never developed beyond the infancy stage He was born in them at salvation but they have never let Him develop or form in them (little children, young men and father's -  1 John 2).

Let's consider this another way using the mathematics given to use in Matthew 13. We have three divisions, 30 fold, 60 fold and 100 fold. Let's consider these as measurements of influence, how influenced are we by Christ who is "The New Man" and how influenced are we by the fallen nature who is the "old man"?

·         Little Children - 30 fold are 70% old man and 30% new man - they are the least fruitful

·         Young Men - 60 fold are 40% old man and 60% new man - a more fruitful category.

·         Father's -100 fold are 0% influenced by the old man and 100% influenced by the new man, this is the most fruitful category.

This really is a question of mixture, what are we most influenced by? Christ and the Holy Spirit or the old man? Paul gives warning about mixture, mixing our walk with Christ and with idols or the world or humanistic thinking. These are things that will impede the development of Jesus Christ in one’s life. Let's consider one final verse to close: 2Co 6:16-18 "16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Verse 18, the Father and son/daughter relationship is not based on the act of salvation but is based on coming out or being sanctified. Let’s embrace a fuller scope of the kingdom of God, not just salvation but having Christ come to fullness in us, eradicating the old man and under the complete influence of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

The Existence of God

Job 28:12-13 "But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living."

Man speaks of the big bang theory and seeks to take us back to a point of origin, they come up with lengthy scientific explanations for all that we see and they are content with the organic explanations of how life developed but there is one aspect of life they cannot explain organically and that is where did consciousness and wisdom come from. How did the organic cellular life become self aware and learn wisdom? We are told where wisdom comes from, it comes from the mouth of God. Pro 2:6 "For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."

Wisdom which is intangible and a product of consciousness and thought are evidences of a Creator. One posted on a blog that wisdom just happened, it was the natural growth of experience. This does not quite solve the problem, how did anyone know we needed to develop this wisdom, how could consciousness and thought develop on their own. Are we saying that the bacteria on my arm, if given enough time and experience will develop conscious thought and eventually obtain wisdom? We cannot get away with saying things just happened; everything we know has a place of origin. The only thing that breaks this rule is God Himself because He is eternal, He always was and always will be. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1).

The world cannot explain origins and where all the matter has come from or why the Big Bang (Their pet theory) happened. Christians too, if we are honest, cannot explain the beginning of God; He just always was and we cannot explain it. And so we are both faced with an impossible beginning. Now what do we do? It becomes an argument of credibility, which story is more credible (it matters not to God since He does not need to justify Himself; it matters only to us mere mortals). In order for the "God is alive" argument to be valid there has to be only one single evidence of His existence. One single evidence proves He is real and throws the weight of credibility in His favor (again, He does not need our help to prove His existence; this argument is for carnal man). In order for the evolutionist to have the weight of credibility he needs to disprove every existence of God, one evidence of a Creator and his whole argument breaks down. This burden is on them because our "God" argument can produce every evidence the evolutionist uses to explain their theory but the evolutionists position cannot explain any evidence of God, they must eliminate Him entirely. In other words if God exists then we can explain everything else plausibly though creation but the evolutionist has nothing in his theory that explains God. So, in order for their theory to work they must totally and completely eliminate God, every trace, every evidence of Him in every corner of the universe (by the way, it is an impossible task for them because the greatest evidence of God is in their own theory. The particle and energy it took for the alleged Big Bang to happen, someone had to create them).

This impossible position the evolutionist comes from was explained to me this way once (and I like it): "If one says there is no gold in the earth then they must search every inch of this planet to prove their theory of no gold but if I say there is gold on the planet I only need to produce one small nugget of gold and my theory is the correct one." This is the battle the evolutionist faces...it is an impossible position because there is evidence of God everywhere, they cannot even disprove God using their pet theory of the Big Bang because someone has to create the particle and energy it took to make it happen. Then there are the intangible things which cannot be explained organically such as thought, conscience and wisdom. God is everywhere and to deny His existence is a special kind of madness that, through intentional blindness, seeks to deny what is obvious. 

Jesus lived, this is a historical fact. He dies for the sins of the world and then His corpse is buried. Three days after His burial He is resurrected and is seen by over 500 witnesses, no one during His era disputes this, it is accepted as fact. We are even told of a conspiracy to cover it up but it fails abysmally. I only need one fact to prove the existence of God, rising from the dead satisfies this requirement. Some say, there is a "kinda dead" explanation whereby Jesus was not really dead but only seemed dead. They are immediately faced with another problem, these same witnesses saw Him physically ascend into the clouds; this dramatic event was well witnessed and well documented. If I can produce one evidence of God then my theory is the correct one; this will not, of course, satisfy the nay sayers who choose to keep their eyes shut never the less it is truth and it must be faced.

The next conclusion we need to make is that if there is a God then there is a heaven and there is a hell and when we die we will go to one or other of these places. The way to heaven is charted very clearly in the scriptures; it is through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He came to pay for our sins and through this very death and resurrection overcame death for us all and purchased for us our salvation. If God is real and by extension heaven and hell are real then we must make sure we end up in the right place (heaven). I encourage you to accept the free gift of Gods Son (nailing our sins to His cross) and make your eternal home heaven.  

Gems, Gold and Silver Are Not in the Clouds

Job 28:7-10 "7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: 8 The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. 9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. 10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing."

This is not that path the eagles soar in nor do the young lions trod there because it is subterranean; it is in the depths of the earth where it is cold and dark. In one’s life there are the high places, triumphs where they soar as overcomers above the trials of life then there are the deep dark experiences where they shiver from the cold and cling in desperation to hope. This latter description is the path that is being described in Job 28 and it represents a place where one is forced to go beyond the superficial realms in their relationship with God.

But it is in this deep dark place where every precious thing is buried. The gold, the silver and all the precious stones are not found in the clouds but in the depths of the earth. It is in the hidden mines and in the darkness that they are found. When God takes us through painful and dark experiences we have opportunity to see these gems (if we do not become bitter or resentful). This is what is being spoken of when it is said "...and his eye seeth every precious thing."

What is it like in this dark place? There are many who suffer in silent darkness and few discern they are there. They alone hope in Gods mercy and they alone bear the weight of the darkness and they alone will emerge with the gems of the earth as the fruit of their trial. Life goes on around them and people are many times oblivious to their struggle (not that people are intentionally unkind or mean; God simply has not opened their eyes to see). Take hope in this dark place dear one because like Job you will come forth to the light with great treasures from your darkness. Did you ever meet anyone who has suffered? Many times they possess some richness of character, some depth of compassion that others can only admire. Where did they get that depth from? It was from the darkness they experienced.

This is the place Job is in; his friends are around him they see his trial from a different vantage point and they cannot offer him kind words of hope to ease the pain because they do not see it is of God. He is in full light of his friends and yet they are oblivious to the dark trial he is in. Standing right in front of him they cannot comfort him with one word.

Being Fed By His Hand

Son 1:7-8 KJV 7 "Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? 8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents." 

Tell me where you feed, where can I find your provision and be hand fed by you? Like Solomon in this passage God does desire to hand feed his flock, He desires to feed us and give us food specifically suited for us; that which we personally need to make us strong spiritually. The bride states here that she desires to feed from his hand and not that of a stranger. ("...why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions [someone other than you]"). We want always to feed from the hand of our Good Shepherd. We should desire to be fed from His hand, eating only His provision. 

What does eating from Gods hand represent to us? It is feeding upon His word, meditating on His thoughts, especially those thoughts He quickens to us, this is feeding from His hand. Jesus had this kind of a relationship with His Father, feeding from His hand: John 4:32 KJV "But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of." Jesus was eating from the Fathers hand. Speaking prophetically of Christ we see this feature predicted years before He was even born of woman: Isa 50:4-5 KJV 4 "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back". 

Additionally the book of Isaiah gives us a very important clue and identifies what He wants to feed us: Isa 7:15 KJV "Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good." Eating butter and honey helps the child of God choose the good path and refuse the evil path. Butter and Honey are significant, they represent the richest portions of His word and revelation from the Holy Spirit. Butter - It requires a lot of milk to get a small amount of butter so that speaks to us of the abundance of Gods word but butter particles are small rich particles in milk and you must labor long (churning) to get it and so it also speaks of the richness of Gods word obtained though much labor or seeking. Honey - this speaks to us of the revelation of Gods word, the opening of our eyes to things we cannot see ourselves. Kings Saul's son Jonathan's eyes were enlightened by honey and in type this reveals to us this truth that honey (revelation) enlightens the eyes (1 Samuel 14:27). Therefore, we want to fill ourselves with His provision from His hand and not feed on the food of a stranger (false religions, philosophy, psychology and the like) or fill ourselves up with thoughts of our unruly fleshly mind (envy, strife, jealousy, hatred, lust and the like). These are bitter foods and they make one sick spiritually. 

I love this beautiful portion of scripture where the Shulamite is asking Solomon where he feeds his flock and his response is as the echo of God to His child. He says to her, this is where I feed come and eat and if you do not know the way then go to the shepherds tents and eat there. The meaning is clear, hear from Me and feed from Me but if you do not yet now how then go to my shepherds to be fed. We are to seek Him ourselves and if we cannot hear directly God will speak to us from the mouth of His shepherds and so we should expect to hear from Him in the House of the Lord so we must frequent the house of God if we expect to learn to hear from Him.

Rejoice In This- That You Know Me!

Psalms 22:10 "I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly."

"...thou art my God from my mother belly [womb]." This is interesting because it says that Gods hand was upon him from his mothers womb, even from before he was born. This is an important fact to know when we struggle in life. God knows who will serve Him and who will not, even from the womb and because of that He has called to the righteous and brought them into His kingdom to live with Him. This gives us something we can always rejoice in no matter how bleak life becomes, that He called to us even from the womb. The prophet Jeremiah understood by his gift that he himself was called to the ministry from his mothers womb: Jer 1:4-5 KJV 4 "Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." 

 There is another scripture of interest along the opposite line where the scripture speaks of those He knows are rebels even from their mothers womb, they are estranged from Him before they are born and they go astray as soon as they are born: Psa 58:3 KJV "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." How unfortunate that this is within them even in their mothers womb, it is a heart that will reject Him and is in danger of never knowing Him. Another interesting point is this, that although God knows they will be estranged from the womb he does not hinder their birth and their life. Such is the humility of God that even though they may never come to know Him He does not interfere with them. He does not create a race of those who will only serve Him and bless Him but allows even those who are estranged from the womb to have life, grow and have the same opportunities as one who will serve Him. 

 There are several places in the Word of God where we are told to rejoice that we know Him and you can see from these verses what a wonder it is that we know Him, that there is something within us that reaches out to Him, even from the womb, that needs Him and creates a posture where faith can be born in us and salvation through faith. Both in the Old Testament and the New we are told to be thankful because we know Him (and perhaps more to the point, He knows us):

 1. Jer 9:23-24 KJV 23 "Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD." 

2. Luk 10:17-20 KJV 17 "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." 

 When we are feeling down because of struggles we face and it is hard for us to life up our heads for the weight of worries and the threat of troubles, it would do our hearts good and release us to praise Him in the midst when we know that he has chosen us from the womb to know Him and to be His child and nothing we face can change that. He looked upon us in the womb, laid His hand upon us because He saw we would serve Him. How wonderful and no matter what pain we face our eternity is with Him because He knew us from the womb.

Peace on Earth and Good Will To Men

Luke 2:8-14 "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

This is my absolute favorite passage in the scriptures of the birth and arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is one of the premier sections of Christmas verses as well. It embodies the joy in heaven at the birth of Christ. And the question we ask is "why such joy in heaven"? It is because God has come down to man, to live among him to walk among him and to express, not harsh penalties or stern words but He is come down with a Good Will. He is arriving to bless and to save man from the sting of death and hell and from the cruel grave. It brings God no pleasure at all to be exacting or harsh or demanding with mankind, God genuinely wants man to be well, He has a good will towards man. In fact, if God had His true desire all men would be saved from the harshness of penalties and judgment. It is only when man is disobedient and self-willed that he need fear anything harsh at all. It is only when man rejects the free gift God has provided in the death and resurrection of His Son that God has any issue with man at all, He seeks peace and reconciliation with man, it is the very purpose for which he has come down and He has come with a good will. His desire is that man would accept His good will and accept His free gift of salvation.

We understand a dignitaries function by the title they bear, consider the titles of the Lord God and you will understand that He has come as an ambassador or peace: Isaiah 9:6-7  v 6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. v 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

Considering the names that He is known by you will understand all that is embodied in these verses in Luke about a good will. This Christmas season why not open your hearts to Him and ask Him to come in your life with good will and accomplish everything in you He desires, all things that pertain to peace and reconciliation.

Merry Christmas!

The Anderson's

Do Not Hesitate In Doing The Will Of God

Ecclesiastes 11:4 

"He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." 

What this verse is saying is that one who observes the conditions before sowing will invariably come to the conclusion that they cannot sow because the conditions are not just right (as a result they will not reap any fruit either). Solomon is not commending them for their practicality or prudence in actual fact he is chiding them for paying too much attention to the conditions. He is chiding them because those conditions are preventing them from sowing (when they should). We want to apply this verse to doing the will of God. Let me re-state this verse in that context: "He or she that observes conditions will hold back from doing the will of God and will not obey because of those conditions" People, over the years, have observed the impediments of doing the will of God. Some of the reasons are very practical. "I will wait until I have enough money in the bank", or "I will wait until my family has grown up and my children are older" or "I am not a good speaker" or "I do not have enough education". There can be a host of reasons why one observes the wind or the clouds and does not sow. One of the biggies is the money issue, they cannot move in the will of God because they will not have enough money; it may require they move to an area of lower income or leave their career which is providing a good income. Years ago when God asked me to move my family from my home state to Bible School He knew this would have been a struggle for me so He mercifully removed me from my job through a work related injury so that it would not be an issue. Since then I have learned that you just commit to do the will of God and finances take care of themselves. I suspect this is a struggle for many but if only we could learn that obeying the voice of the Lord it is a righteous act and God upholds the righteous. 

There is another verse that comes to mind and we want to apply it here: Proverbs 11:24 KJV "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." We observe that those who hold back become weak in spirit, weak in faith, weak in resource and tend to poverty but those who disregard risk and simply obey prosper and increase. We should have a zeal to perform the will of God (once He has revealed and burdened us with what His will is). We should disregard the wind and the clouds and simply obey. Bear in mind the following verse and you will see the wonders of God performed in your life: 2 Chonicles 16:9 KJV 9 "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him..."

Forgive Our Sin and Heal Our Broken Land!

Job 12:23 "He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again."

All the striving of the nations are but a wave by His hand, He raises one up and He brings down another. When there are wars and conflicts it is God who decides the outcome. It is God who increases a nations and it is He who diminishes the nations. We must not think, however, that this is an arbitrary activity designed by the whim of God (As portrayed by the Greek writers of old, Homer and Virgil in the Iliad the Odyssey and the Aeneid.  These books malign the nature of the true God by making the mythical gods appear petty and arbitrary). Our God has very specific criteria for those He raises up and those He uses for a good versus an evil purpose (and this applies to the individual as well as on the national level). What is the criteria that God uses to raise a nation up or to bring them down low, to bless them or to bring on them a curse? We can find the answer to that in the book of Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 KJV 1 "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God." The lifting up of the nations is not speculative nor is it on a whim; we are clearly told in Gods word, in the book of the law that those who keep His commandments and listen closely to His word to keep it will be lifted up above all other nations and will enjoy the blessing of the Lord on their land. As you read through the first half of chapter twenty eight of Deuteronomy then you will see all the great blessings that will follow. This is encouragement for us to follow in His ways and to keep His commandments. We should pray for our nation that God would magnify His law again that we would be a people who would please Him and walk in His ways, that is the way to be lifted up above other nations. It is not a secret nor is it complicated, walk in his ways and you will be blessed.

Contrariwise, we have the other side of the spectrum where a nation is broken down and becomes cursed. Deuteronomy 28:15 KJV "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:" As you read through the remaining verses of Deuteronomy twenty eight you will see how a nation is brought down low, it is by disregarding His commandments and not listening to His words. This is the deplorable state of many nations today and therefore the entire earth is in a terrible state making the godly to long for the millennium, a reign of peace. Those of us who believe Gods word are moved to pray for our nation that God would bring a revival that will make His Word honorable again; that we would please Him with godly judgments and godly laws to govern us. The primary example is walking in his ten commandments and keeping His judgments and statutes but also that all our laws that govern us civily would be laws that bring Him pleasure and not displeasure.

O' God, forgive our sin and heal our broken land! 

The Finest of the Wheat and Honey That Satisfies!

Psalms 81:16

"He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee."

This is what the Lord would have done if His people had listened to His voice. Implied here, of course, is complete obedience to His voice not just that they would hear it; the indication that one is listening to God is obedience to what He has said. If they had listened to His counsel He would have fed them with the finest of the wheat, and while this was certainly applicable to the original hearers of this verse what we want to gather is what does it mean for us today? It simply means that if we would hearken to His word He would feed us with the finest of His word, the bread of life. Obedience is the key element to the finest of the wheat, or good doctrine. There is such a thing as inferior wheat, the finest of the wheat implies that wheat is graded from fine to poor; obedience produces the finest wheat. Our spiritual standing and well being is dependent upon what we feed on.

I have often considered fellow believers who are content to feed upon the inferior wheat of Gods word (Teachers and leaders who are teaching a mixed message and others who omit part of the full counsel of God) and wondered, "How can they be content with an inferior word?" We want to be those who desire the finest of the wheat, the best of Gods Word and if we are to partake of this finest wheat then we must obey and walk in His counsels. The opposite of this is what the children of Israel actually experienced because of disobedience and we see this in verse twelve: Psa 81:12 KJV "So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels." They forfeited the finest of the wheat, His doctrine, for their own counsels (mans counsels are infinitely less than the counsel of the Lord contained in His word).

Then the Lord takes it to the next level when He says "And with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee" Honey speaks of revelation (Jonathan's eyes were opened when he ate the honey in the book of 1 Samuel). God gives revelation to those who are obedient to His word but notice this, it is not just revelation but it is revelation that satisfies our spirit. It brings joy and contentment to the heart and causes one to be greatly satisfied. This is a wonderful promise indeed but all of this was sacrificed because they did not hearken to the Almighty nor did they obey His voice. What a tragedy that we should hold to our own ways, that we should miss this blessing because of some part of our rebellious nature. Man is horribly insecure, he strives to fight and protect what is his own but Oh that we would freely give up what the Lord requires of us knowing that if we hearken to Him He will give us the finest of the wheat and the honey that satisfies. May God quicken these verses to us and give us a fresh zeal to obey, not as one who is coerced into doing what is right or else they are punished but as one who knows, who really knows the benefit of simple obedience, the finest of the wheat and to be satisfied by the honey from the rock.