His Presence

There is nothing like the presence of the Lord. We need to spend time in His presence and go with His presence. When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, after being with God for 40 days and nights. His face was radiant and the people saw this radiance.  (Ex. 34:29-32). Also, we see that every time Moses met with the Lord, his face became radiant, and the people saw this. They knew he had been with the Lord.

It is important that we spend time in God's presence. When we do this for long periods of time and on a regular basis, people will see a difference in us. We will radiate Christ and be a light to others. Scripture reveals that Moses face did not remain radiant continually, but would shine again and again as He met with God. In the same way, we must meet with God often. We must not be satisfied with past experiences with God, but we must experience Him daily.

It is important to see as well that Moses came before the Lord with unveiled face. He didn't want anything between him and receiving from God. (Exodus 34:33-35) In this same way we must come before the Lord with and open mind and heart, and setting everything aside that might hinder us in receiving His fullness and glory. Its not enough to have a daily devotions. We must spend our time with Him in such a way that brings transformation. This can only be done by our availability and through the Holy Spirit's working. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

If we back up a little, we see that Moses desired God's presence and would not move forward without His presence going with him. (33:14-16) As believers God's Holy Spirit is in us and ever present. Yet, this does not automatically translate into His manifest presence. It is God's manifest presence that will distinguish you from other people. Its not looks, clothes, things, work, or our accomplishments that will separate us from the crowd, it is God's manifest presence in our lives. This can only be accomplished through continual communion with Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit as we spend time in His presence.

Truth

Seventy three times Jesus said, "I tell you the truth". Truth is important to Jesus and should be important to us as well. What is truth? Truth is an indisputable fact. Jesus is truth and He speaks and walks in truth.

The world needs a church that stands on the truth that it is only through Christ one can be saved.
The church needs to be convinced:
- God's Word is true.
- Of the purpose and power of God's Word. I Timothy 7:4-
Not only must we convinced of truth, we need to be clear and creative in presenting it, and careful not to compromise it.

Psalms 24:4-5 - "⁴ Show me your ways, LORD,  teach me your paths. ⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,  for you are God my Savior,  and my hope is in you all day long"

God is the source of truth and the one who is able to instruct and guide us in all truth.

The Goverment is on His Shoulders

Isaiah 9:6-7

“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, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.”

 

How often I have heard this verse and read it. Yet, it is amazing how God shows you new things. What struck me this time in reading this verse is that "the government shall be upon his shoulders." This is a comforting and reassuring thought. It is not on my shoulders. It is not for me to make it happen. I am not in charge. As ministers of God this takes a lot of pressure off of us. So often, we try to carry the burdens of ministry on our own. We think it is dependent on us for success or failure. The only thing God requires of us is to have faith in Him and obey him. The rest of what follows is up to Him. The kingdom is in His hands, and it is in good hands. My prayer Lord is to help us rest in your wisdom, might and peace. 

Spirit of Truth

John 16:7, 13-15

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you….When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”

 

I have said for years that since Satan has been unable to destroy the truth, he decided to bury the truth in a flood of information. We live in that day of misinformation when we often cannot tell what is true and what is error. Our minds and lives are often cluttered with so many bites of trivial information that we don’t have time for that which is most important. The tyranny of the urgent drowns out what is most essential in our lives.

 

We are in need of the Holy Spirit like never before. Jesus told His disciples that He had to go away so that He could send the Holy Spirit. Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of God making intercession for us, but the Holy Spirit is the one here on earth who dwells within us. Jesus calls Him the Helper, the Paraclete, the one who comes along side us and works on our behalf.

 

Who do your turn to for help on a day to day, minute-by-minute basis? I have a friend of mine that likes to say that the Holy Spirit is a genius. He is a genius in marriage, family, ministry, business, finances, health and anything else that you are involved in or are challenged by. He can be instantly accessed at any moment or in any situation. He is not limited by geographical, political, economical or cultural limitations. We can become proficient at accessing the recourses of the internet, but how proficient are we at accessing the Holy Spirit? Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” The Holy Spirit is our source of identity in this world. Without Him we are like everyone else around us functioning in the blindness of our limitations.

 

Jesus goes on to say that through the Holy Spirit we have access to everything that is His, and He has full access to the Father. So, by the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ we have access to everything that is God’s. In the midst of an age of relativity, He will lead us into all truth because He leads us to Jesus, “the truth, the way and the life.” There is no one else like Him, the beginning and the end, the bread of life, the light of the world, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In the midst of the chaos and uncertainty of our times, we need to tune in and yield to the Holy Spirit as never before to bring order and peace into our lives and our world. Shut out the clutter of life and take time to hear His still quiet voice in your life today.

The Fragrance of Christ

2 Corinthians 2:14-17

 

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?”

 

No matter who we are, where we are or what we are doing in the world, as believers in Christ we are called by God to be the fragrance of Christ to those with whom we come in contact. One key element to being able to diffuse the fragrance of Christ is our ability to always walk in triumph no matter what is going on around us because Christ has bought for us the victory. The picture Paul gives here is of an army returning victoriously from battle, and as they enter the city, people in celebration would fill the air with the sweet smell released by the burning of spices in the street. To the victorious it was an aroma of life. To the conquered it was an aroma of death.

 

Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:13) Our ability by the Spirit to be of good cheer in the midst of the chaos around is a sweet aroma that encourages and brings life. Paul and Silas after being beaten and put in chains in prison sang praises to God. The Bible says all those in the prison heard them. In the midst of a terrible situation, the fragrance of Christ diffused throughout the prison leading them into triumph and bringing many to Christ.

 

The second element to diffusing the fragrance of Christ is to grow in the knowledge of Him in every place. The word “knowledge” here is not just knowing about Christ, but a knowledge that comes from intimate relationship with Him and is life-changing. It means to saturate ourselves with Christ so that His character and nature just naturally diffuse His fragrance in our lives at all times and in all situations. In John 12, Jesus visits the home of Mary and Martha. Martha was busy serving Jesus, Lazarus was at the table eating with Jesus, while Mary was at His feet in worship anointing His feet with “a very costly oil, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” It is out of a life of worship that the fragrance of Christ is diffused wherever we go.

 

In 2 Corinthians 2, there are two kinds of people, “those being saved and those who are perishing.” Both should smell the fragrance of Christ in us. You can tell you are emanating the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ by the response of those around you. To those who are perishing, “we are the aroma of death” because they hate who we are and what we represent. Hiowever those who are being saved, we are “the aroma of life leading to life.” The aroma of Christ in us, while repelling the world, will attract those who are destined for salvation.

 

Jesus said, “I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” (John 15:19-20) Let us be careful that we don’t so blend with the culture that we fail to “diffuse the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”

Acting on Our Own

I have been reading in the book of Genesis. A  comment made by the Application Study Bible struck me. It is in reference to Adam when he ate the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3.
"Man was separated from God by his desire to act on his own." We often think of sin as separating us from God. Yet, at the root of sin is our desire to act on our own. Maybe you are not committing any of the many sins mentioned in the Bible, but maybe you are acting on your own. We may think that we are pretty good because we are not lying, cheating, stealing or committing adultery. Yet, our relationship and fellowship with God may not be right because we are acting on our own. What we are doing may not be bad, but we are not putting God in what we are doing. We are not being led by His Spirit in all we do. We are just cruising through life, not doing bad, but acting on our own.

Help us Lord Jesus!

By Faith He Still Speaks

There is a verse that I love. It is Hebrews 11:4. "By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offering. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead."

It is the last part of the verse that strikes me most. "And by faith he still speaks, even though dead." Will the same be said about our lives after we are dead? Will what you do now impact people for God even after you are dead? How many a great man and woman of God have made a continuing positive impact on other peoples lives, even though they are dead? Maybe you can think of some people like that. I know that I can. One of those people was my dad. To this day my dad continues to speak, even though he is dead. Of course there is my mother-in-law Tine Wilkens (Johnson).

God help me to speak, even after I am dead.