In Quietness and Confidence Part Four

I want to be able to quietly handle things and allow others to see the great grace of God at work in me through it all.

May God work His grace in me more. I am returning to Him so I can be at rest in life.

Isaiah 30:15 For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: "In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." But you would not, 16 And you said, "No, for we will flee on horses" ––Therefore you shall flee! And, "We will ride on swift horses" ––Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift! 17 One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, At the threat of five you shall flee, Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain And as a banner on a hill. 18 ¶ Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

This whole passage is all about self deliverance. Self reliance is an enemy to the grace of God. In the insurance matter I told Sarah to seek the Lord for His help but I set out to handle it in my own strength. What an idiot I was.

Quietness and confidence will be our strength it says.

Talking at our problems will not make them go away, but if we learn to quietly rest and wait on the Lord then we show that we are strong.

When we refuse to wait on the Lord we make Him have to wait on us. That is what it says in VS.18 ¶ Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

God desires to be gracious to us, but too often we put Him on hold. We rush ahead with our horses and try to deliver ourselves.

God is exalted when He delivers us and shows us mercy. But He cannot do so if we are too busy trying to save ourselves from situations.

Is it any wonder this Scripture says, “blessed are all those who wait for Him?”

Can you wait for God to come through on your behalf?

This is what characterizes meekness. Meekness is that down to earth quality of trust and quiet assurance.

That’s where I want to be.

In Quietness and Confidence Part Three

Meekness is such a beautiful and admirable character trait to walk in. A New testament encouragement that embodies meekness is;

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

I think of the recent great failure in this I experienced. My daughter Sarah had been in an accident and it was the other drivers fault. The insurance company we had to deal with jerked her around and cost her lost time at work and delays on getting her money. I Totally blew it on the phone with the supervisor. I allowed my anger to take over and became demanding and critical. Now I am embarrassed I acted in such a way.

It never achieved what I hoped it would. In fact it might well have caused some of the delays seeing they had little to no desire to do anything after I pulled my stunt. I like to think I learned a great lesson from that mistake.

I don’t want to be all dramatic when situations arise. I just can’t see how it can bring any glory to God when we get all dramatic about what we are going through and act as if there is no hope.

As Americans we do not realize how pushy and demanding we are until we are outside our own borders encountering other cultures. We want the fastest and best service, we want things fixed right now when they go wrong, we expect to never be put out or on hold for anything. Just watch how Americans treat people at the airlines in other countries and you’ll see what I mean.

The modern American spirit is anything but meek. But we have the Spirit of the Living God within if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus was meekness expressed on the cross.

Christians want to be like Him when it comes to seeing people get healed, or fall under the power of the Spirit, or some miracle take place because they prayed. But who will be like Him when He was the Lamb led to the slaughter, when on a cruel Roman cross He said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

There are no long lines for that part of His character that I can see. But that is something we all desperately need today. It is something I want to be able to walk in.

In Quietness and Confidence Part Two

The Bible has something to say about being meek. In fact it has promises that are attached to being meek.

One such promise is the promise of peace. I don’t know about you but I enjoy peace when I have it. There is nothing like peace.

In Numbers 12:3 it says Moses was meek above all other men in the earth.

I think of how Israel stood trapped by the sea and the enemy was charging and Moses stood and declared stand still and see the salvation of your God. He was not troubled and in a panic about it. He was meek.

Life by nature can tend towards turmoil and anxiety. Discouragement awaits us around every turn, disappointments lurk in the shadows waiting to leap out a take hold of us.

Jesus told us in this world we would have tribulation, but that we could be of good cheer for He had overcome the world.

When He overcame the world He did not overthrow all the social systems and corruption. He did not remove all violence and greed in society. He rose above it Himself and in giving us His life gives us the power to do the same.

Psalms 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.

The New Testament idea of meekness is one of being humble and trusting as it pertains to God’s providence. It is being at rest in what God is doing even when things appear to be unjust. The believer walking in meekness can become reconciled to the will of God even in suffering and find joy through faith and trust in His goodness and faithfulness.

That is what we witnessed in Haiti with Ignace and Franchette Augustine of Bethanie Missions. That is what I wish to walk in. I hope you would desire it as well.

In Quietness and Confidence Part One

While in Haiti this past week we had opportunity to observe a man of God in his element and see how it is that he goes about the work God has given him amidst troubles too many and too difficult for many of us to understand. Americans get nervous about their pension funds and how greatly this economy will effect their retirement, Haiti is trying to simply survive. We are unhappy about $2.00 gasoline, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere pays $5.85 for a gallon of gas.

Randy and I got to observe a man with a huge vision, a deep love for his people, who quietly and confidently executes his responsibilities although he does not have all the resources he would like to have to get everything done.

We never witnessed an anxious moment in him. When a vehicle would begin to break down he simply parked it and patiently went to work on another solution. He never felt a need to apologize for the condition of any of the vehicles we tried to use.

We never saw him in a hurry and his rest had nothing to do with laziness. Ignace is no lazy man. Quiet, resourceful, patient, gentle, are words that could be used to describe him, but not lazy.

Even when Hosanna House is filled with guests from here in America who can tend to be demanding and impatient, he and Franchette were a wonderful picture of grace, hospitality and patience.

It is amazing to see how much they have accomplished with so many obstacles to the work. When there is a great need Ignace simply says the Lord knows our need and He will provide.

He obeys whatever he feels the Lord has given him to do without wondering about how it will get done.

All this in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

For this reason I believe I was more humbled on this trip into Haiti than any other. I think the many other times I have gone in I was too immature to take notice of much more than the obvious things, such as the poverty, the chaos, the mess of things that the nation of Haiti is.

This time I became greatly impressed and humbled by the meekness and quietness of two people who simply desire to walk with God wherever He has called them to walk, without complaint and with much prayer.

A Sons of Issachar Anointing Part Five

The kingdoms of this world have been, and will be shaken, for they are the kingdoms of men. But His kingdom is one eternal, not of men, but of God Himself. An unshakeable kingdom of which we who believe are all a part of.

A kingdom with promises like:

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.

Who said this? The Lord! This is not a hokey political promise He needs to make for us to elect Him to high office.

He sits on the throne of heaven itself, the earth is His footstool! He has no need to be popular, He has no need for constituents. His throne is steadfastly secure and not even Satan himself can remove Him from it.

When 1/3 of the angels followed Lucifer in the rebellion to take the throne, God put them down with ease. No major difficulty for the Almighty of heaven.

I am here to bear witness today that an election here in the U.S did not phase the Almighty and catch Him off guard.

God is not wringing His hands and saying to Jesus what are we going to do now?

God is still in control!

Psalms 2:1 ¶ Why the big noise, nations? Why the mean plots, peoples? 2 Earth-leaders push for position, Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks, The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers: 3 "Let’s get free of God! Cast loose from Messiah!" 4 Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing. At first he’s amused at their presumption; 5 Then he gets good and angry. Furiously, he shuts them up: 6 "Don’t you know there’s a King in Zion? A coronation banquet Is spread for him on the holy summit." 7 ¶ Let me tell you what GOD said next. He said, "You’re my son, And today is your birthday. 8 What do you want? Name it: Nations as a present? continents as a prize? 9 You can command them all to dance for you, Or throw them out with tomorrow’s trash." 10 ¶ So, rebel-kings, use your heads; Upstart-judges, learn your lesson: 11 Worship GOD in adoring embrace, Celebrate in trembling awe. 12 Kiss Messiah! Your very lives are in danger, you know; His anger is about to explode, But if you make a run for God—you won’t regret it!

I believe we can put all our trust in our God during these difficult times.

A Sons of Issachar Anointing Part Four

In Hebrews 11 we are introduced to men and women of faith. The father of faith was a man who had eternal vision. He had a heart for the kingdom of God! He could see far into the distance!

Hebrews 11:8 (NLT) It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith––for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

I believe we are entering an hour of trial in which the Holy Spirit will use the situation to begin turning the eyes of the church back to the kingdom of God, and not so much on the kingdoms of men.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

This is not an hour to despair over who will be in the White House. It is an hour to look unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith!

God has been in the business of turning the hearts of wicked leaders to serve His purposes for all of history. It is time the church saw things through different glasses and began to realize that prayer is what we have been given to accomplish things in this earth.

I agree that it would be nice if whoever held the White House, the Senate and the Congress were all born again, Spirit filled, Bible believing, Christ honoring people.

But is that the only hope for this nation?

Was that the only hope for early believers who were saved while under the rule of the Roman Empire? An empire where Caesar was considered to be God? Where idolatry reigned, where lust and greed, and sexual perversions, and blood sports and debauchery was common place?

Brothers and sisters we must beware that we do not become engulfed with a love for America, over our love for His kingdom. It is perfectly fine to be patriotic, I encourage such, but not at the expense of seeking His kingdom first.

A Sons of Issachar Anointing Part Three

Although the candidate of my choice was not elected and the overall election did not turn out as I had hoped I am not dismayed.

Something is taking place in our nation and there has obviously been a major spiritual battle waged in this election.

Issues hit the front page that our generation found challenging.

Issues like the possibility a vice presidential candidate that may have spoke in tongues, wanted schools to allow both creation and evolution taught side by side, and believed life begins at conception.

Faith was a little more at the center in this election and we witnessed two candidates being interviewed in a church setting about their Biblical values and how they would influence their decisions.

Like the sons of Issachar we need to understand our times if we are to know what the church should be doing. We need our vision corrected!

I have good news today. God is still on His throne and His kingdom cannot be shaken!

Although we are citizens of these United States we are first and foremost citizens of His kingdom!

We must understand this for we belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken! We have had close up vision far too long. We could only see the things right in front of us but could not see beyond.

A Sons of Issachar Anointing Part Two

It is tough times when Paul writes young Timothy and says,

1Timothy 2: 1 ¶ Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

We must realize that early Christians had it difficult as it pertained to leadership.

I know many if not most were not excited over the outcome of our recent elections and I have heard people speak as though America as we know it is coming to an end.

Early Christians had no say in who would govern them yet they were being told to make supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks for all men, for kings and all who are in authority!

Now before we say that is just too difficult an instruction lets consider the instruction that says,

Matthew 5:43 ¶ "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

So lets not assume here that this instruction Paul gave Timothy to give to the church is based on ideal circumstances. Paul does not say that if you have a godly government leader pray for him. He says all men, for kings, and all in authority. That would have included Emporer Nero who was insane and killed Christians!

Now that puts this in better perspective in light of our own times.

A Sons of Issachar Anointing

In 1Chronicles 12 it lists all the tribes that came to David at Hebron to acknowledge him as king after Saul died. In that list it speaks of the sons of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel needed to do.

Like the sons of Issachar we too need to know what to do at a time when it appears the rest of our nation seems to be in a fog.

This brings us to the need to look at 1Timothy for a moment. But first let me give a background here.

It is believed that the first letter to Timothy was written around 63 –64 AD. Timothy had been left in Ephesus to labor in the church there. Paul had already prophesied that there would be wolves rise up even among their ranks, and it appears this came true because there were false teachers Paul named who were apparently men once noted as leaders in the church. What about Ephesus?

Ephesus was the central hub for Diana worship. It was a city filled with perversion, superstition and ungodliness. There is in Ephesus a real wrestling with the demonic powers due to rampant idolatry there, they even sacrificed children to appease the gods.

Sound familiar?

So here is young Timothy in a place where he is having to battle cultural immorality, false teachers from the churches own ranks, and demonic powers all at a time when Emperor Nero is about to unleash what will become know in history as Neroean Persecution and regarded as one of the most violent and horrible times of persecution against Christians due to the brutality of his methods.

James and Peter have already been put to death for their faith.

At the writing of 1Timothy it is believed Paul is enjoying a short reprieve from his house arrest and is in Macedonia. By the time of 2Timothy Paul is back under house arrest and will not have to wait too long to be beheaded for his faith.

The Second Greatest Gift in My Life

Twenty Two years ago I stood at the front of Trinity Chapel of Knoxville and watched with eager anticipation as the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on approached from the back in a flowing white wedding dress. What a glorious gift she is! My Sheila with deep green eyes, tremendous wit, wonderful humor and incredible innocence. She was so full of God and on fire but on this day I was all caught up in her beauty and the Lord delighted in it.

There is only one thing in all my life that tops the gift this became to me and that was when I met Christ and received the Holy Ghost.

God was so good to me Twenty Two years ago, to give me such a gift as a wife. Her beauty has not diminished, her love for the Lord has grown, her love me is stronger today and our relationship together is something we both rejoice over. We love to have alone time just the two of us, in fact we welcome it at every opportunity we get.

Having four children together, the oldest ones being 21 and the youngest 15 we didn't have much time at the beginning of our lives just the two of us. I am thankful that it has always been easy to be together and I look forward to when it is what we enjoy most of the time and find we must schedule in opportunity to be with others.

The grace of God has been rich in our relationship and for that I am extremely grateful for I can boast of no magic formula that makes us who we are together and makes loving each other such a thing of rest. I can only give credit to God for His grace and His active role in our relationship.

Of course part of that worked itself out in giving me a woman of great depth that He knew would smite my heart. So today we celebrate twenty two years and should Jesus tarry His coming we look forward to the years ahead. It's so nice to be in love with such an incredible gift.

The Clothes Make the Man Part Six

The clothes make the man.

1Peter 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

2Chronicles 6:41 Arise Oh GOD, enjoy your new place of quiet repose, You and your mighty covenant Chest; Dress your priests up in salvation clothes, let your holy people celebrate goodness.

Christ came to change what we wear so we can be ready to enter the great wedding feast in the proper garment!

Isaiah 61:1 ¶ "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."

No more filthy rags! No more arrogance! No more being known as sinner! No more the garment of depression and hopelessness!

Praise the Rock of our Salvation!

What clothes are you wearing?

Are you still trying to merit friendship?

If you have been clothed in righteousness why would you act like one outside the camp?

It is time to believe! Time to rejoice! Time for the world to see your great reveal and know that you are clothed in His salvation!

Hallelujah! Let’s give Him the praise for what He has already done!

The Clothes Make the Man Part Five

Romans 5:1 ¶ Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 ¶ For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

The point in all this utterance is the matter of glorious reconciliation.

I hear “worship” songs today sung by people with no understanding of this glorious doctrine of reconciliation through justification. Songs that speak of wanting to be a friend of God as though even after receiving Christ something else must be done before friendship can be guaranteed. People sing these kinds of songs with great passion in the hope that God will see their desire and somehow make it possible for them to live uprightly enough to feel like a friend. They are songs of doubt, not faith.

Brothers and sisters that is an offensive ideology to God because it is ignorant of the glorious reality of justification by faith alone.

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners! While you and I were wearing the garment of the sin nature and were called the enemies of God Jesus died for us. He did not decree a set of formulas we must follow to deserve this glorious atoning and reconciliation.

When we received Christ through faith we immediately became the friends of God, we were justified and reconciled that very moment. Better yet, Jesus is called the friend of sinners for this very reason.

Jesus didn’t do something to get us to the starting line so we could now finish what He began. His work was complete!

Glorious salvation, marvelous reconciliation, joyous justification is mine and yours through the finished work of Christ!

The Clothes Make the Man Part Four

The Message

Romans 5:12 You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we’re in—first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. 13 That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. 14 Even those who didn’t sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God. But Adam, who got us into this, also points ahead to the One who will get us out of it. 15 Yet the rescuing gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If one man’s sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God’s gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do! 16 There’s no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift. The verdict on that one sin was the death sentence; the verdict on the many sins that followed was this wonderful life sentence. 17 If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?

Now this is glorious revelation that stirs deep joy and rejoicing in those who get it! This is the source of our life and joy!

Adam clothed us with the sin nature which made us enemies of God. It separated us from God. But in Christ we are clothed with the very righteousness of God so that we are no longer enemies but friends having the very life of God at work in us.

The Clothes Make the Man Part Three

This disease of sin has taken over every cell in the human body and under the scrutiny of God it is clearly seen. But men are blind to it so the law came and like an MRI it revealed what men otherwise may not see.

All the Law did was reveal what was already there. For those without the law God granted conscience and it revealed what may not have otherwise been seen. But what they reveal are just symptoms of the greater problem.

If I sneeze it reveals something is irritating my sinuses. It might be an allergic reaction, or it might be the symptom of a head cold.

If it is a head cold and I treat it like an allergy I am unlikely to effectively see it cured, and vice versa.

So, if I am to effectively get it treated I must first understand what is the cause of the symptom I have experienced. How we approach the remedy determines the effect of any cure we seek.

If I come because I am only convinced I have told a few lies then my reason for seeking help is to mask a symptom. Masking the symptom does not heal the problem at it’s source.

If I think I need to exchange my lying garment for a truth one I still have on the wrong garment. The garment of salvation is designed to replace the sin nature garment of the old man.

This is why referring to the lost as sinners is not a racial, or derogatory term meant to insult another human being. The Bible refers to the human race as sinners because the whole human race is infected and the symptoms of the root cause vary from person to person. But the Bible concludes all are dead in sin.

Romans 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

What set Jesus apart from all other men is that He had no earthly father, He was virgin born and thus the Son of God. This kept the nature of sin from clothing him from birth and this is why He is referred to as the second Adam. He faced temptation and resisted it. He refused the garment of sin.

Adam clothed us with sin and death but Christ came to clothe us with righteousness and eternal life through His obedience and sacrifice.

The Clothes Make the Man Part Two

Ever heard the saying, “the clothes make the man?”

Jesus spoke a parable of a man who sneaked into the weeding feast and was mingling when he was asked how it was that he got into the wedding feast without the proper garment.
Until a man or woman is born again through faith in Christ they’re clothed in the garment of the sin nature. It is not so visible to family, friends, or coworkers even. They may say that the person in question is a really good person they give money to charities, they volunteer at the rescue mission, are really polite and kind.

But God sees what man cannot. He sees what it is we are clothed in spiritually. The clothes make the man!

Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

This means the most seemingly decent person on the planet is spiritually dressed in filthy clothing before God unless he has received a new garment from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Knowing this is of utmost importance because otherwise we think of salvation in a wrong manner. For us to understand the value of what Christ has done we must know the depth of the effect of the sin nature we inherited as human beings.

Outside of Christ we are not just prone to sin, we are sin.

The Clothes Make the Man Part One

Did you know we are all part of the ultimate statistic: Ten out of ten people die?

Death isn’t prejudice, it knows no social boundaries is not gender sensitive it simply is a fact of life.

Death of course is the result of one man’s sin at the beginning of the human race. It was through Adam that death entered humanity.

Death is the direct result of sin. Not just a sin but the very nature of sin. Often when someone thinks of sin they think in terms of an act committed that violates a commandment and although it is true that the violation of a commandment is a sin, the Scripture addresses a much more profound problem in the human race.

The problem is that sin is inherent in all human beings from birth.

In other words we all are born with the nature of sin embedded in our being. That doesn’t simply mean we are capable of choosing to sin, it means we are by nature sin.

The commandments easily prove all are guilty before God on the basis of an actual sin committed. But it is the sin nature that made us enemies of God. It is the sin nature that will be judged by God.

This is why the law was unable to save. It relied on the power of the flesh to become righteous before God but since it could do nothing to change the very nature of a man or woman it cannot forever remove the enemy status every lost man or woman has.