LIGHTEN UP

“Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Do you ever find yourself weighted down with thoughts, opinions and cares? The Lord wants our load lightened. The things of this world choke out the Lord’s words. When we allow things and thoughts to clutter and distract us it becomes hard for us to experience His Presence consistently. Sometimes we take ourselves way to seriously. When this happens we get very into ourselves and self consumed. We become more concerned about how we look than how God looks. God always looks good, we don’t. We don’t ever look good apart from God. He is the source of all good things.

“Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of hurting.” James 1”17

He is the source. When we look to the source we are not looking at ourselves. There is nothing that we can do to fix our condition. The only way we are going to change is by being in His Presence listening to His transforming voice and beholding His face. When we look into the light of His face then our face will reflect His face and shine. The Lord wants us to “lighten up”. That means we cast all of our cares upon Him for He cares for us. We are able to cast all of our cares on Him when we get the revelation that we cannot change anything by holding on to our cares. This is where we begin to see Him and look Him in His eyes. Psalm 89:15

When we can look Him in the eye then we can see that He is the only One who is able to carry the weight that loads us down. It’s in this experiential revelation that we are able to say, “Okay Lord, I give these weighty things to you. I will no longer carry them.” So by positioning ourselves before Him we can receive grace to release the things that weight us down. Then we begin to lighten up. Then some joy begins to happen.

“Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord, Do not sorrow, for the joy of the lord is your strength.”

Joy is a very light expression in the Kingdom of God. Lightness can be used with a joyful heart. A joyful heart is like medicine. Everyone wants to be where the party is and where there is joy. Jesus was anointed with the oil of joy far beyond His followers. It was for the joy set before Him that He endured the cross. Jesus was aware of the cross but He saw beyond the cross to His resurrection, being seated at the right hand of His Father and bringing many sons and daughters into His Kingdom. Allow Him to lighten your load by casting your cares, laying down your life and allowing His Spirit to fill you, renewing your heart with the oil of joy and gladness.

THE EXCEEDING DANGER OF UNBELIEF

“To whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief…Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:18-19,12).

            Hebrews warns the New Testament Church; “Take heed to Israel’s example. If you don’t, you may fall the same way they did. You’ll descend into evil unbelief. And it will turn your life into one long continual wilderness.”

            Consider what happened to the unbelieving generation who were turned back into the wilderness. God told them pointedly, from the leaders to the judges to the Levites on down, that His hand would be against them. From then on, all they would know is distress and leanness of soul. They wouldn’t see His glory. Instead, they would become focused on their own problems and be consumed by their own lusts.

            That’s exactly what happens with all unbelieving people; They end up consumed with their own welfare. They have no vision, no sense of God’s presence, and no prayer life. They no longer care about their neighbors, or a lost world, or eventually even their friends. Instead, the entire focus of their lives is on their problems, their troubles, their illnesses. They go from one crisis to another, shut up in their own pain and suffering. And their days are filled with confusion, strife, envy, division.

            Without faith, it is simply impossible to please God. After God walled up the waters of the Red Sea on both sides and let the Israelites walk through safely, they danced and rejoiced. And then, just three days later, these same Israelites were grumbling against God, murmuring and complaining, and questioning the presence of God in their midst.

            For forty years, Moses watched as, one by one, every Israelite in the unbelieving generation died. As he looked back on those who wasted their lives away in the wilderness, he saw that everything God had warned about had happened. “The hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them until they were consumed.” (Deuteronomy 2). God suspended His eternal purpose for Israel for all those years.

            Just as today, some Christians are content to exist just until they die. They don’t want to risk anything, to believe God, to grow or mature in Him. They refuse to believe His Word, and have become hardened in their unbelief. Now they are just living to die. But, those who believe are living to live and eternity with Him.

“You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with joy given by the Holy Spirit.”
(I Thessalonians 1:6)

We find it so easy to let our circumstances determine our
moods. Paul reminds this group of new Christians under
attack that their new life in Christ had brought them joy
despite the outwardly harsh circumstances they were facing.
Their joy was not the fleeting, circumstance-determined veneer.
Instead, they had welcomed the powerful message of salvation
with joy! This joy was not dependent upon their
circumstances. It was rooted in their Saviour’s example, in His
abiding presence through the Holy Spirit, and the salvation
available through Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father. Help make our joy immune to outward circumstances and bless us
as we seek to confirm our lives and attitudes to the example of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Help us to become better examples of spiritual joy to
those around us. Amen

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If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
(1 John 1:7)

As we draw near to the Lord and live for Him, two amazing
blessings come our way. First, we find that our sins are
forgiven and we’re cleansed of those sins thanks to the loving
sacrifice of Jesus. Second, we find that we are not alone in this
wonderful cleansing. True fellowship among believers is built
when people seeking the Lord find each other in His presence.
This fellowship isn’t forced or contrived, it’s Heavenly!

Almighty God, we want to honor Jesus’ sacrificial death by living a life that is
pure, honorable, and holy. Thank you for providing
Our cleansing through the
blood of Jesus, and leading us to others who live for You. Intensify our hunger
to know you, Your Son, and other believers more. Amen

LAUNCHING OUT INTO THE DEEP

"And it came to pass, that, as they pressed upon Him to hear the word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret and saw two ships standing by the Lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when He had left speaking, He said to Simon, Launch our into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” (Luke 5:1-4)

“…the people pressed upon Him….” Our being in the place where we can receive the anointed Word should be more important to us than seeking satisfaction from other things. The Lord will respond to our need when we place Him first in all that we seek and desire.

“But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mathew 6:33)

This is the main requirement for the deeper working off the Lord in our spiritual experience, and will lead to the gaining of God’s divine favour resting on our lives.

“He…saw two ships.” These are always present, and speak of a choice that must be made, “His way“, or “our way."

“He entered into one of the ships.” The Lord will step into our “need” when we choose His way.
“He…thrust out a little from the land.” The “land” speaks of the natural realm - our everyday life experiences, with us in control. The “water” speaks of the spiritual realm - the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit, with Him in control.

The fact that He only “thrust out a little” means that the water is “shallow.” It’s here that we learn how to respond to the presence and power of God. This includes learning how to respond to the gifts and movings of the Holy Spirit. Our responses may result in laughing , shaking, falling, weeping, joy. The responses to His Spirit will be as varied as we are Jesus chose to teach us in “shallow” water, so we can learn how to function in the deeper realms of the Spirit of God. This can be compared to children being given “educated toys.” In shallow water, there may be some mixture, our feet touching the land under the water (sometimes us, sometimes in the Spirit). But, it’s here that we make our mistakes and learn the principles that will prepare us for the “deep.”

Therefore, some consider these movings of the Spirit to be spiritually shallow. If we become critical of judgmental of these manifestations, we may grieve the Holy Spirit and be left behind, becoming spiritually barren.

Only after Jesus had taught the people in the “shallow” place could He say, “launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught.” Here, the response will be in deeper levels of burdens for others, repentance, or prayer and intercession that will not only change us, but will deeply impact the lives of others.

If we don’t meet the Lord in the shallow places, we will never be prepared for the deep, and we may miss having a part with Jesus in the coming day of His power.

FOLLOW CHRIST

Matthew 4:19, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

The main reason to follow Jesus Christ is here in this Scripture. The call, “Follow me…” also come with a promise, “I will make you…” Charles Spurgeon says that this call and promise should lead us to repent of who we have been and rejoice in what we may be. The promise is just as important to us today, “we have been made new creatures in Christ, the old things have passed away and behold all things have become new.” (1 Corinthians 5:17) The “I will make you…” is just as much for us today as for the ones to whom it was spoken. Notice also that Jesus doesn’t say to them, “Follow me, you know you guys are just the people I have been looking for. You are so skilled in your job, and you are prepared to come work with me”. Nor does He say, “Follow mw, I see real potential in you, you guys might turn out to be somebody some day and I want you on my team”. Nope, Jesus Christ says, “follow mw and I will make you”. These two who Jesus called were fishermen. They were brothers named Simon (Peter) and Andrew. They were from Capernaum and they were Galilean. History states of the Galileans that they were more anxious for honor than for gain, quick tempered, impulsive, emotional, impulsive, easily aroused by an appeal to adventure, LOYAL TO THE END.
Jesus says to them. “I will make you…” And what did they become? Both became leaders in the establishing of the Christian Church. Both became Martyrs for their faith in Christ. Both were crucified on a cross, both begged that they not be crucified as Jesus Christ had been because they were not worthy. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross, and Peter was crucified upside down.
There is a price to pay for following Jesus. We may not be physically crucified on a cross, but self, the things we want to do and control needs to die daily in order to follow Him and become what He wants us to be “fishers of men”, daily walking the talk and leading others to Him.

Walking With the Lord

If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
(1 John 1:7)

As we draw near to the Lord and live for Him, two amazing
blessings come our way. First, we find that our sins are
forgiven and we’re cleansed of those sins thanks to the loving
sacrifice of Jesus. Second, we find that we are not alone in this
wonderful cleansing. True fellowship among believers is built
when people seeking the Lord find each other in His presence.
This fellowship isn’t forced or contrived, it’s Heavenly!

Almighty God, we want to honor Jesus’ sacrificial death by living a life that is pure, honorable, and holy. Thank you for providing 0ur cleansing through the blood of Jesus, and leading us to others who live for You. Intensify our hunger to know you, Your Son, and other believers more. Amen

REPENT

LET ME TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO SHARE WHAT GOD HAS BEEN SPEAKING TO ME IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS. I BELIEVE IT'S A WORD FROM THE LORD FOR HIS CHURCH FOR NOW. LET'S PURPOSE TO BE AWARE OF THE TIMES AND SEASONS IN WHICH WE LIVE. THE SCRIPTURE IS IN ACTS 3:19-21. THE CALL BEING GIVEN IN VERSES IS TO TURN TO GOD.WE MUST TURN TO GOD.

I THINK WE WOULD ALL AGREE THAT IN THE CHURCH WORLD TODAY, WE HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING ELSE WITH VERY LITTLE EFFECTIVENESS IN CHANGING OUR CULTURE. HAVE WE FINALLY COME TO THE PLACE OF ACKNOWLEDGING THE POVERTY OF OUR OWN METHODS? PRIDEFUL PERSONALITY WILL NEVER SUSTAIN THE WORK OF GOD. POLISHED PROGRAMS WILL NOT CHANGE A LIFE. HIGH POWERED PROMOTION MAY GENERATE A CROWD, BUT IT WILL REMAIN A CROWN UNCONVERTED, APART FROM THE SPIRIT, THE WORD, AND THE BLOOD. MAY I BE SO BOLD AS TO CALL ON ALL OF US TO TURN TO GOD? LET'S TURN TO HIM INDIVIDUALLY; LET'S TURN TO HIM CORPORATELY AS A LOCAL CHURCH BODY; LET'S TURN TO HIM AS A MOVEMENT.Nothing else will do. NOTHING ELSE WILL CARRY US THROUGH. WE MUST TURN TO GOD.

TO DO THIS WILL REQUIRE CHANGE. THE WORD USED IN VERSE 19 IS "REPENT." REPENTANCE IS CHANGE— A CHANGE OF MIND, HEART, A CHANGE OF PRIORITIES; A CHANGE IN HOW WE DO WHAT WE DO; A CHANGE IN CHURCH PROGRAM AND SCHEDULE. NOT CHANGE FOR CHANGE'S SAKE, BUT A CHANGE THAT WILL TURN US TO GOD. WHAT CAN WE DO DIFFERENTLY THAT WILL TURN US TO GOD? WHATEVER THE HOLY SPIRIT SURFACES, RESPOND WITH IMMEDIATE, DECISIVE ACTION. LET'S PRODUCE FRUIT IN KEEPING WITH OUR REPENTANCE, OUR TURNING TO GOD. IS IT WORTH IT? IS IT WORTH THE EFFORT? THE SCRIPTURE OUTLINES THE BENEFITS OF OUR SINS,OUR SHORT COMINGS, THE TIMES WE MISSED THE BULLS EYE WILL BE WIPED OUT. TIMES OF REFRESHING ARE PROMISED AS A RESULT.


DO WE ALL NEED TO HAVE THE SHORTCOMINGS IN OUR LIVES AND MINISTRIES WIPED OUT? HAVE WE EVER MISSED THE MARK IN MINISTRY? HAS THE CHURCH PASTOR EVER MISSED AN OPPORTUNE MOMENT FOR MINISTRY TO THE HURTING, THE LOST? GOD WANTS TO CLEAN THE SLATE. GIVE US A FRESH START. HE'S SAYING, "YES, THERE HAS BEEN FAILURE, MISSED OPPORTUNITIES, WRONG PRIORITIES, BUT IF YOU WILL TURN TO ME I WILL WIPE OUT THE SINS."

DO WE NEED A TIME OF REFRESHING? THIRSTING SOULS FAITHFULLY COME WEEK AFTER WEEK FOR SOMETHING FROM ABOVE. STALE, STUFFY PROGRAM REDUCES A WALK WITH JESUS TO DRUDGERY. LET'S TURN TO GOD, OPEN THE WINDOWS ALLOW THE HEAVENLY BREEZES TO BRING US A TIME OF REFRESHING.


DO WE WANT JESUS TO RETURN? HE IS OUR ONLY HOPE. NOTHING IN THIS WORLD HAS ANY ATTRACTION FOR THE REDEEMED.

TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, LOOK INTO HIS WONDERFUL FACE, AND THE THINGS OF EARTH WILL GROW STRANGELY DIM THROUGH THE LIGHT OF HIS GLORIOUS GRACE.

Diamonds In the King's Crown

Romans 12:1-3

Have you ever stopped to admire the beautiful gems displayed in fine jewelry stores? Spotlights make them glow and glitter.

A jewel is a precious object, something prized and treasured, looked upon with awe and wonder. But nothing is more exquisite and rare than a diamond.

A diamond is not easy to get; it's value far exceeds the worth of any other jewel. A diamond doesn't declare its value in a flashy way but subtly reveals its quiet beauty. It's protected and cared for not only because of its value but because it's rare.

Rare jewels are things or people that are precious because they are good, excellent, and rare. Jewels for the King's crown, King Jesus.

In our lives the Lord blesses us by placing different people in different times of our lives to give us what we need at those particular times. He uses their weaknesses and strengths to remind us of what he expects of us.

When we come to the cross of Jesus Christ, whatever we are accustomed to in our personalities or character, if those qualities don't line up with the Word of God thay have to change.

Just because some actions are the "norm" in our lives, doesn't mean they are right. He wants us to change everything. We are called to present ourselves a living and holy sacrifice unto the Lord, offering everything to Him is our reasonable service.

He wants to teach us how to believe and know that we are the royal people He has destined us to be. He wants us to recognize the call He has on our lives and to act accordingly. He wants us to truly believe in ourselves and our poltential in Him to achieve great things in His Kingdom.

Have you ever thought of yourself as a diamond in the rough? That's how God sees us--He's always at work in our lives, helping us to shine brighter for Him.

Are you prepared to allow God's power to transform you from within. It's time to stop blaming everyone else for your failures, for your seeming inability to excel in anything.

Maybe someone is successful so everyone looks up to him, and they are talented, pretty, and handsome. Are they then using their talent to cover up a mess? What if people took a look inside your life and saw the real you, what would they see?

What keeps you captive to your hurts and disappointments? God has given us all we need to be people of the Kingdom of God. It's time to take off the masks that disguise the truth about ourselves and get real with the Lord. He knows all about your hurts and pains. He knows the struggle you go through waiting and relying on Him. He also knows that it's during these times of struggling and and waiting and wondering that we develop character that will last for an eternity.

Our desire should be that we strive to be people of excellence. Let's lay aside everything that could possibly steal our self-esteem. God has created us with a precious value. Naturally there are those who want us to forget who we are in Jesus Christ. They know we, at times, fail to see ourselves as God sees us. That's why it's so important to acknowledge today that we are people in the King's court.

Drop the walls of protection that you have built up through the years. Get rid of the trash in your life and come clean and honest before Jesus Christ. Today is the day for change and renewal of His promise and power in your life. Reclaim your position as God's rare and precious jewel created in His image and likeness.

BEHOLD, THE FORMER THINGS HAVE COME TO PASS, AND NEW THINGS I NOW DECLARE; BEFORE THEY SPRING FORTH I TELL YOU OF THEM.

ISAIAH 42: 9 (AMPLIFIED BIBLE)

THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD

The changing of the guard has many levels to it. First of all, we need to go on with the new thing and not get stuck in the old. The church is littered with movements that built altars around a move of God they once had, but refuse to go on with the new. Not only do they refuse to move with the cloud of God's Spirit to a new place in Him, but they usually end up persecuting the new thing.

The changing of the guard can be a shift in our thinking, a physical change, a new position, or a fresh understanding of what the Holy Spirit is doing in this last hour. It never hurts to check and ask the Lord, "Am I in the place I need to be in my beliefs and opinions on how God moves, or in the place in Spirit and prayer where God wants me to be?"

Jonathan loved David and was in a covenant relationship with him, I Samuel 18:1, but, it was a soul covenant. When God changed the guard and anointed David in Saul's place, Jonathan stayed with the old guard and died with it. If the Body of Christ, individually and corporately doesn't move on to the new thing, it's death. Death of a vision, death of relationships, and sometimes, life.

John the Baptist could be called a type of the old guard. When Jesus came he believed at first, but when persecution came, he doubted. It may have cost him his head. There's a dotted line on our heads, and if we don't make a change, or ridicule changes us....well....take a tip from John the Baptist.

It's time to seek God as we have never done before. How does God want to change the guard in your life and heart? "But, God told me to do what I am doing." To that I would say, "That was yesterday. What is He saying to you today?" God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, but he didn't do it. Why? Because God said a second thing. Many people are shipwrecked with dead visions because they didn't hear the next command.

Ezekiel 43:8 talks of setting up thresholds by God's thresholds or doorposts. This scripture is talking about idolatrous defilements in the temple of God. When we don't move into the new things, we make an idol out of the past things and we have set up our own thresholds. By thresholds we're talking about belief systems about how God moves, the things He wants to accomplish in our lives and in the church, when we pray, how to pray, etc. In addition to all this, there are doorposts that say, "God doesn't move like that. His will is static is my life. I don't need to change. I have my beliefs and no one has greater revelations that I do." THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS PLACE TO BE.

REMEMBER THIS: Assumption brings presumption. It never hurts to stop and access what you believe and what you are dpong. You will either come out with a stronger knowing that you are in the center of God's will, or you will make a change. I believe God wants us all to change in some respect to the new things. Maybe the Lord will tell you, "You're resisting the nre move of the Spirit of God, repent and get in it." You might have set up your thresholds against His thresholds and your doorposts against His doorposts. Allow the sweeping move of the Holy Spirit to tear away foundations that are not of God and build Hid foundations for your life, which cannot be shaken in the violent winds and rains of life.

A Father's Prayer by Douglas MacArthur

Build me a son, O lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is week, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know Thee and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challange. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm, here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sence of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain"