Author: jma47

The Power Of Seeing Beyond Part Two

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Every trial has God’s special provision for us. It is hidden until He reveals it. Mark 4:22 says, “For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.”
 
The Lord waits to be gracious to us. He has hidden benefits that are not revealed until our need. Amy Carmichael said that His grace to endure and to conquer is never given until the moment in need (Rose From Briar page 113).
 
His promise is to provide all our need. We can stand in that as we go through our trials–seeing beyond. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
 
I marvel at Paul’s words every time I read them or quote them to myself. He wrote about his ‘light afflictions’ in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33. 10 verses of intensely painful experiences. You can read them for yourself.
 
The key to our endurance is focus. A farmer plows his furrows straight because of a marker set at the end of each row. We cannot see beyond if we keep looking back. We cannot be see beyond when our thoughts and focus are mired in our circumstances.
 
Years ago I had a little beige Rabbit. A fellow hit me in a bank parking lot. His first words were, “Oh I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.” When the body shop repaired the damage, they asked me what color I wanted my car to be. I thought “bright yellow” because there are no cars that color.
 
I drove out of the shop singing, “Heavenly sunshine…” On the way home I saw 5 bright yellow cars. Why didn’t I see them before? My reticular activator hadn’t been activated!
 
Our spiritual reticular activator will be activated as we continue to look beyond to the things that are NOT seen, rather than focusing on the temporary. Seeing beyond requires filtering everything through our ‘eternal’ lenses, and setting our mind on things above (Colossians 3:2).

The Power Of Seeing Beyond

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Sometimes the Lord hides things in order to reveal what He wants us to see. Here are two incidents of this in Genesis 21 & 22.
 
Hagar was sent away with Ishmael. Genesis 21:15 says that the water was all used up. She placed Ishmael under one of the shrubs. Verse 16 says, “…Let me not see the death of the boy. So she sat opposite of him, and lifted her voice and wept.”
 
Verse 17 says, “And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.”
 
I’ve always wondered about this scene. Ishmael was probably 14. God heard Ishmael’s voice, but there was no mention of Hagar’s voice. Verse 18 described how frail Ishmael was. It says, “Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand…”
 
I love verse 19. The well was there all along, but she never saw it. She was near living water and yet they were both drying from thirst. Great application! How many right now are dying in the world? The well of salvation is right beside them, but they are not drinking of His living water.
 
Verse 19 says, “Then God opened her eyes, and she saw the well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.”
 
The next scene is Abraham and Isaac. You can read it for yourself. Abraham was about to slay Isaac when the angel of the Lord stopped him. Genesis 22:13 says, “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and look, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.” It doesn’t say, but I believe the ram was there all along. God was testing Abraham’s heart’s loyalty to Him.
 
God the Father, offered Jesus Christ His Son for us so we could drink of His living water. O Father, I ask You to open eyes that are spiritually blind. Let them see Jesus, holding out His hands to be nailed on the cross for them.
 

The Power of Believing Part Two

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The Lord had promised a son to Abram (Genesis 15:4) and Abram believed Him. However, as time passed by, Sarai took matters into her own hands. She ‘suggested’ to Abram that he take her Egyptian maid and have a child by her. Genesis 16:2 says, “…Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.” He did not stand in what God had said.
 
Fast forward. Ishmael was born. Genesis 16:16 says that Abram was eighty-six years old. Then the Lord made a covenant with Abram. The sign of the covenant was circumcision. Then God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai’s name to Sarah. Both reflected His promise to them. Each time their new name was spoken, they were reminded of His words.
 
Genesis 17:21 is a key verse in the story. It says, “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this SET TIME next year.” It seems that God waited until they could do nothing to help Him. Fast forward to Romans 4 and we see the power of believing.
 
Romans 4:19 says, “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”
 
Verse 20-21 says, “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was able to perform.”
 
Now back to Genesis 21:1-2. It says, “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the SET TIME of which God had spoken to him.”
 
The Lord has a SET TIME in all His promises. He will fulfill His word. It will not return to Him void. He cannot not deny Himself. He cannot lie. His words to Abraham are eternal words for us to hold onto. Genesis 18:14 says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
 
The answer is no! Our faith-focus must be on the Lord and not our circumstances. He is able to change our circumstances in a moment, but when He doesn’t, we can trust Him to take us through them, because He is Trustworthy.

The Power Of Oneness

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After the flood, Noah’s family increased dramatically and they spread out far and wide. Genesis 11 is the account of the Tower of Babel. Verse 1 says that the whole earth had one language and one speech.
 
Verse 6 says, “And the Lord said, Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they purpose to do will be withheld from them.”
 
The Lord confused their language so that they could not understand one another’s speech. He then scattered them abroad from there.
 
Fast forward to Acts 2:1. It says, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Acts 1:15 says that there were about a hundred and twenty of them.
 
I like to think of them all together confessing their sins to one another, asking forgiveness, and settling any unresolved issues. They were in one accord. The Strong’s defines it as: being unanimous, having mutual consent, being in agreement, having group unity, having one mind and purpose. It is harmony leading to action.
 
Right now we have an opportunity as never before to pray together though sheltering in place. Our prayers are like a sweet incense before the Lord.
 
I like to go back to 2 Chronicles 7:14. Though this was the Lord’s words to Solomon, we can apply them to our lives today. “If My people…will humble themselves…”
 
Walking in heart humility is something we can all strive to do together. It is to the humble that the Lord extends grace. Paul had a thorn in his flesh. In 2 Corinthian 12:7 Paul described it an a messenger of satan to buffet him. Hear his words, “…lest I be exalted above measure.”
 
The posture of humility before a king is to bow low. To fear the Lord is to revere and worship Him. He is to be exalted, honored, glorified, and worshipped. Right now, the C virus is a thorn in our flesh. Let us bow together before the Lord our Maker in humble petition for His mercy on us worldwide.
 
 
 

The Power In Walking Backwards

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After the flood, Noah was drunk in his tent and naked. His son Ham saw him and went and told his brothers. Genesis 9:23 says, “But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both of their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father…”
 
Ham exposed his father’s sin, but Shem and Japheth covered it. Noah knew that his younger son had dishonored him. As a result, Ham’s son Canaan was cursed.
 
1 Peter 4:8 says, “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.” Proverbs 10:12 says, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.”
 
There is power in walking backwards when another’s sin is exposed through gossip. Two things can happen. One, we tell another and the gossip continues. Two, we can take up an offense against the gossiper and the one gossiped about.
 
There is an arresting verse in Ecclesiastes 10:1 that says, “Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor; so does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.”
 
Received gossip lodges in the secret places of our heart. In an unguarded moment, it can slip into our conversation. If you have heard gossip, it is of utmost importance to ask the Lord to cleanse it from your mind. Don’t dialogue about it, and don’t tell anyone else. If it isn’t dealt with immediately, it can become an inner defilement, like the dead fly in the perfume.
 
Ham dishonored his father by gossiping to his brothers. Shem and Japheth immediately acted to block their brother’s gossip. Gossip must be nipped in the bud or it will defile and destroy relationships.

Heart Imbalance Part Two

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I’m reading the book of Genesis now. Yesterday I came to the part after the flood. Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings.
 
Genesis 8:22 says, “And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.”
 
God destroyed everything through the flood except those in the ark. Genesis 6:5 says that every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart was evil continually. Yet, in His mercy He saved Noah, his family, and chosen animals.
 
Hebrews 4:12 is the remedy for an imbalanced heart. Embracing and allowing God to work through His word will expose the hidden self in our heart. It is the ‘enthroned self’ that divides our heart.
 
Psalm 86:11 David said, “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” Truth is the medicine that heals an imbalanced heart.
 
Proverbs 3:5-7 helps us see how not to straddle the fence. It is by trusting Him with all our heart, acknowledging Him in all our ways, and not being wise is our own eyes.
 
The opposite side describes our enthroned self: leaning on our own understanding, acting independent of God, and departing from following Him.
 
Psalm 119:10 is the cry of an awakened heart. It says, “With my whole heart have I sought You, Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments.”
 
A. W. Tozer wrote, “The Pursuit of God.” At the end of each chapter he wrote a prayer. Each one is a cry of a balanced heart to remain in balance. Here is one (not copied word for word because of copyrights): I have tasted of Your goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty more…I want to want You; I long to long for You; I thirst to be more thirsty.
 
I read his book the first time in 1973 and began praying his prayers at the end of each chapter. Seeds were planted that He carefully tended until my heart was awakened and brought into intimate communion with Him four years later.

Heart Imbalance

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I had a dream this morning. I know these words are from the Lord. Please follow this telephone conversation between my first dr. who helped me detox from my mold contamination and me. Note: I’ve not talked to him since October 2018 when he turned me over to another dr.
 
Dr. I have looked over your paperwork. It appears that you have a heart imbalance.
Me. Is this Dr. V?
Dr. Yes
Me. What do you mean a heart imbalance?
Dr. It is rooted in not being able to trust.
Me. Oh, well how do I bring my heart into balance?
Dr. It is sacrificial
Then I woke up
 
Yesterday we celebrated the liberating truth of Jesus’ raising from the dead. Jesus gave His life for us that we might freely give to others in serving Him.
 
Matthew 6:25 says, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Withholding our heart is a prescription for loss. It is the opposite of sacrificial love.
 
Luke 9:23 says, “Then He said to them all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” A true disciple of Jesus willingly sacrifices their fleshly agenda to embrace the needs of others.
 
John 3:17 says, “But whoever…sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
 
We are in a worldwide crises. The mandate is to shelter in. For an authentic follower of Jesus, it is a time set aside our personal agendas to open wide our hearts in sacrificial prayer.
 
Nehemiah humbled himself by identifying with the sins of his nation as though they were his own. I confess to you, that when I first began to practice this flesh-sacrificing way of praying, pride rose up.
 
Me, a believer, saying, “I have rejected You. I have not followed Your ways. I have perverted that which is right” is still gut wrenchingly hard. However, it effectively rips open my heart to pour out His love for the unsaved. I encourage you to enter this kind of heart-felt prayer for His sake, and the needs of countless souls facing hell.
 
 

Celebrating Jesus!

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Celebrating the goodness of the Lord on this Resurrection Sunday! The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work within us.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

 

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Treading Water

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When I was on the swim team in my high school years, we spent a lot of time treading water. It helped us to build endurance. In a sense, with this C virus, we are treading water.
 
I made a list of my activities. On the left side are the things I do that bear fruit. The right side is another list, some are time wasters. The lists help me prioritize.
 
In treading water, the mind is free. Should something dangerous approach in the water, the mind would be occupied. What occupies your mind while you are treading water? Ephesians 5:15 says, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise.” Circumspectly means cautiously and carefully. It is a word of alertness.
 
Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” As you tread water, I encourage you to pray for every one you personally know that is not a believer. Then pray for those you don’t know.
 
As we continue in this worldwide crises, there are folks who are physically hungry. The breadwinner of the family can’t work, so there is no money to buy food. Others are grieving the loss of their loved ones.
 
Ephesians 5:16 says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Years ago my pastor wrote me a little note. I refer to it often. It says, “Seize the opportunity during the lifetime of the opportunity.”
 
What are you doing to seize this opportunity of a lifetime? I encourage you to evaluate how you are spending your time as you tread water. Write notes of encouragement, pray, and make phone calls. Seize this time with intentional steps. Set aside your agenda to embrace others in their needs. Let us fill our days in being about the Father’s business.

Unfathomable Love

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Ephesians 5:2 continues the subject of imitating God from verse 1. It says, “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
 
Imitating Christ’s unfathomable love is humanly impossible. We don’t have that capacity of ourselves. How do we practically apply this verse?
 
First I want to look at this illustration. Picture yourself on the beach. Stand at the edge of the water and look out as far as you can see. Way out there is a thin line of a horizon. Yet, when we consider God’s love, there is no vertical or horizontal line. His love is unfathomable, untraceable, and incalculable because He is without borders or boundaries.
 
I love Jeremiah 23:24. It says, “Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him? says the Lord; do I not fill heaven and earth?” The Lord is self-existent.
 
We imitate His love for us when we give from our heart to others. Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
 
The application of sacrificial love is to put others before our interests. It requires dying to self, by intentionally laying our own agenda down in order to serve others. That does not come natural. It is consciously living in His love in order to serve others through His love.
 
1 John 4:10-11 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another.”
 
We love as He loved when we forgive those who have hurt us. We can’t love with unforgiveness buried in our heart. The first step is forgiveness, then drawing from His love for us, we love.