Tuesday, September 20, 2016

THE LORD'S PRAYER - DAILY APPLICATION, ETERNAL BENEFITS

The just concluded seven part examination of the model prayer – the Lord’s Prayer – which Jesus Christ gave to all His disciples (past, present and future), leaves one thing now for us.  The question is “what do we do now”?  How does this apply to our daily lives? How do we walk this out and apply it effectively, so that we can be transformed by the teaching of the Savior into doing that which He hath called us to do?

Remember the Will of God is for us to reject the world, like Jesus did, and to be transformed into a new way of thinking. That is, if you will – to reject “stinking thinking” and live more like the new creation we have become, through rebirth (as a son or daughter of God).

So in applying the divine content of our Lord’s Prayer, we are free to abide in its structure and grow more and more fully into the widths and depths and lengths and breadths of it. Over almost two decades, my own personal prayer life and analysis on this amazing passage of Scripture has evolved into a depth of meaning, which stuns me, even though I have been a Christian for a long time. This is a perfect illustration of what a “closer walk with God” truly is.

Therefore, the first thing to note in personal application is this - don’t throw the long ball. Christianity is a slow maturing process where God has eternity to teach us as much as we wish to know this side of heaven with continuing education into eternity. Start small. 

We have all heard the mighty prayer warriors in all their verbal fluency and excellence, shaking the rafters with their power prayers, sounding like John Knox, George Mueller and Robert Sheffey rolled into one…or even dear old mom, who spent hours on her knees praying for us.  None of them started off sounding like Franklin Graham or his father. We all began our prayer lives stumbling and bumbling. The Bible tells us that we do not know how to pray, but the Spirit does it for us “(Romans 8:26).

So we simply begin to apply the following technique –

a.    Acknowledge God“Our Father Who is in Heaven”….is adoration! We must acknowledge our Heavenly Father, Abba, to Whom we are praying. God is not an ATM machine where we go pull out our daily withdrawal of blessings. 
b.    Gratitude – thank Him for all His blessings thus far. Thank Him for our very lives and just about anything you can think of, because anything we have, comes directly from Him. He owns everything including the food in our fridge. Be grateful for our families, our job any and everything. Most of all, be thankful for salvation. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people. Most of all He wishes His people to be grateful for ALL He has done for us…..and why shouldn’t we be? The very next breath we breathe literally belongs to Him, as does the food on our table and the roof over our heads. The One Who sent His own sinless Son to give it all for us, one and out, has every right to expect those whom He saved, sanctifies  and provides for, to fall over ourselves in sheer humble thanksgiving and worship to Him.
c.    Respectfully express what’s on your mind. One of the most fluent, powerful and effective prayers ever prayed was not by some super-spiritual prayer warrior on Wednesday night or at prayer meeting. It was done by a faithful king named Hezekiah. Hezekiah lived during the time of the prophet Isaiah and was surrounded by a vile, violent enemy named Sennacherib, who had the entire city of Jerusalem surrounded and cut off from all supplies, water and food. Sennacherib then sent a letter with a list of demands for Hezekiah to follow, if the King wanted Jerusalem to survive. Hezekiah took that same letter and went in private, in prayerful communication and presented it to Him. (Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD- 2 Kings 19:14). The next morning, the Lord responded and 185,000 of the occupying forces perished overnight at the Hands of the Lord.   If we get some of troubling report which seems impossible to for us to handle – be it health, financial, work, family or other related, let’s take it to the Lord, open the document before Him and seek His help.  This shows so much confidence in His ordering the issues of our lives, that He will respond when the time is right.  This actually shows turbo-speed Faith and a Trust in the Lord beyond average comprehension.
d.  
Pursue, Persist, And Persevere. Acknowledging the Father of Lights with thanksgiving are the common traits of the true servant of the Living God. Simply read the Psalms, the Prayer Book of the Bible and especially the ones written by King David to know the heart of person after God’s own Heart, when trying to walk this Christian life out. What distinguishes the extraordinary Christian from those who are saved but not caring to live up to their full potential is Perseverance.  The general Grace which is extended to all people, including Christians, takes on a personal flavor of Favor and Power when the Christian pursues “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”, as the song goes. Seeking to hear from Him more, like King Hezekiah did when he laid out that devastating letter before God, Who responded in stunning fashion, requires our active pursuit of a closer relationship with our Heavenly father through Prayer, Bible Study and worship (personal and corporate).  These three disciplines will not only solidify our Faith in Christ but will bring us maturity which leads to peace, joy and contentment. Where these disciplines are needed are in the areas of trials and testing.   Sometimes we feel the Lord does not answer, hear our cries or “feels our pain”. These thoughts are wrong on all accounts.  In troubled times  of personal testing especially, and when we feel we are in the valley of the shadow of death, that is when He is closest. Now, He IS quiet for a reason. Rewind back to our school days when there was a surprise quiz or even high school finals.  During those school or college days, there was utter silence. There was only us – the test booklet and our knowledge/ability to answer the questions correctly with clarity and purpose. If we “aced” that test, we either got a good grade in class or graduated with honors.
e.    This is the reasoning God uses behind our testing. The same process we used in school to apply knowledge, in order to answer multiple choice in complete silence, is the way we are expected to view our own personal trials, tribulations and testing when God is silent. When we sit in the classroom with our test booklet, the Teacher is always quiet as we test. But the Teacher always takes our booklets with a smile, knowing it will be graded. If we are confident in our execution of the examination, we get a passing grade. There is nothing like a passing grade with God! Praise His Great Name!

Such understanding of how the God, Who gave His own Son on a Cross for our sins, operates, will move us to persist and persevere in prayer. It will become second nature. It will become the best way to learn, like the original 12 Disciples did, how and WHY the Master taught us how we should pray. Amen.

THE LORD'S PRAYER: THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 7

For Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory
So what is the Kingdom.  By all means, it means – the Kingdom of Heaven.  But Kingdom living actually begins at the point of conversion, where we are changed transferred in an instant, supernaturally, from the domain of death and darkness to the Kingdom of Light. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that “if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation”.  The original word “creation” here is “kitsis”. This is the same word which is used in Genesis 1:1 where the earth was darkness and a void and God CREATED the world out of nothing! Please let that sink in for a moment. We are new creations living in a faulty creation, yearning for its creator! Wow!

The Creation of the earth and mankind was supposed to be an joyful thing for eternity. We all know what happened in Genesis 3 when sin entered the world. The Kingdom on earth which Jesus set up in the Garden of Eden was disrupted by Eve, Adam and the serpent (Satan). But there was an expiration date on this flawed state.  This expiration date is up when the Revelation chapter 19 white horse of Christ signals the permanent return to His planet of the Risen Messiah – Jesus Christ. He will then proceed to set His 1000 year (or Millennial ) Kingdom up in Jerusalem until the Final Judgment, which then leads to the Lake of Fire.

This is the “Kingdom come” we are praying for…on “earth as it is in Heaven”. The Kingdom of Christ is on this planet, believe it or not.  This will occur at the end of the Seven Years of Tribulation. But before all of this, we have today – now, the present time. These are the times God, our Heavenly Father, has chosen for us in which to live. This should be considered a privilege when we pray to Him, according to the model prayer He specifically taught us. 

What I have described above is a summary on the macro or larger picture of the Kingdom.  But to bring it to our own personal walk with God, in Christ, we have to know our own Identity in Christ (IIC). Going back to the original premise, at the point of conversion, the Righteousness of Christ, is imputed and embedded into our own spirit as the blessed Holy Spirit then comes immediately from Heaven to seal us until we come into His Presence – either through death in this life, or the coming Rapture. At that point, we also become heirs to Christ and therefore, are inheritors/participants of the Kingdom from Eternity past way into Eternity future!

What this means is we are living RIGHT NOW, as Kingdom people. The True Christian, born-again, converted and being sanctified in this life, IS a Kingdom man, woman and child in Christ! THIS is our IIC – our Identity in Christ. This is what gives us the right to even pray “Thy Kingdom come” to the King because (John 1:12).

Hence, we are Kingdom people, praying with authority, to the King to come and set up His 1000 year reign.  The discussion of the 1000  year Reign  of Christ with Him actually sitting in the Temple as King of Kings in Jerusalem, is going to happen on this blog, but in an appropriate time. But suffice it to say, that this is the kingdom we are praying for as all the saints will return to reign with Christ, until the second and final Judgment.  

Christians SHOULD be praying “Your Kingdom come on earth, as it is in Heaven…..because Yours is the Kingdom”. This will mean the complete end to ALL trials and tribulations, persecutions and the end of Satan’s reign on earth. There will be NO non-Christian in this Kingdom (and this means NONE)! This is our portion in the Land of the Living. This is what we lived our entire Christian lives for – because HIS is the Kingdom: Our Christ Who died on a Cross for us almost 2000 years ago!


The Power and Glory which will be revealed at the end of the Tribulation which Christians will never see. Jesus will cut through the clouds to destroy the pagans, the one world  government and all who have rejected Him, alive then in all the other fake religions. Read the Book of Revelation to see how scary that moment will be. The same Power with which Jesus defeated the grave....the same Power with which He caused His Spirit to live in all His people for all time...the same Power which gave us the Word became Flesh and which was also written down for us – that Power is coming in ALL His Glory! And the Glory of the Lord will be revealed with all His glorious power is shown to the perishing world one last time. For us, the Christian, we will return to dwell in this millennial kingdom which He asked us to preach about in 
Jesus
Father in the Name of the Crucified, the One Eternal God, the Ancient of Days Who gave up His Throne in heaven, and became poor that we may become rich, thank You for this privilege not just belonging to Your Eternal family, but for granting mere mortals the right, authority and incredible amazing privilege of praying for the Return of the King! Lord, we long for That Day...that day, when we see Him face to Face, in glory and then fall at His feet, just like Your Apostle John in Revelation chapter 1! Lord Jesus, Yours is the Kingdom - the coming Kingdom which we speak off to Your people. Yours is the Power - You, oh Mighty King are all knowing, ever present and owner of everything. You, oh King of Kings are the true Commander of the Universe! 

You speak and the earth shakes. You speak and the seas roar. You whisper and all creation comes into being. The Heavens declare and reflect Your brilliant countenance. The oceans calls to the deep, the depth of Your Love for us. The winds blow a song of worship of the ever present Holy Spirit Who searches the hearts of men and women and children for those who are loyal to You. Yours is the Glory, the Glory which was Yours before the Foundation of the Earth. 

There is none more glorious. There is none more marvelous. There is none more magnificent. There is no adjective and there are not enough words in all the languages of the earth to describe You, oh Yahweh, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End! You, Who sees the End from the Beginning, birth in us a new birth of freedom to yearn for the pure milk of Truth - Truth of Who You are. Truth of the Glory of the soon coming ruler of the Kingdom. Your Glory precedes You, as we live in the eternal now, as co-inheritors, which You have made us, oh Ancient of Days. We love You. We adore You. We magnify and bless Your glorious and Holy Name above all Names, in Thy Name - the Name of Jesus, we pray! AMEN!! 

Thursday, September 15, 2016

THE LORD'S PRAYER - THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 6

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
This original language to English translation is not very accurate at all. God does not tempt anyone to do wrong things.  It is not His holy nature and God does not sin.  The audience at the time when Jesus was teaching the mechanics of His model prayer were Jews, who used to pray all the time to be kept far from bad things. What this really means in truthful terms, from the nuance of the original Greek word is “Lord, PLEASE do not allow or let me fall into some sort of trial or hardship which could cause me so much trouble and tribulation, that I would suffer a lot of lost – permanently or temporary”.

Temptation should not be confused with trials.  In fact, the actual original word “peirasmos” does NOT mean temptation such as you and I would think.  When we hear the word “temptation” – we think about temptation, as regards sins of the flesh – sex, overeating, uncontrolled spending, drinking alcohol and such human folly. What Jesus is teaching us to pray in this prayer, from HIS own word meaning is very crucial. He means for us,  in the literal meaning to pray, we are not enticed into sin but remember we have the Holy Spirit Who will always open a door of escape. Not just enticed, but this word “peirasmos” also instructs for us to invoke Heaven’s help to not fail and then lapse from 100% Faith and true Holiness! This is some serious business! 

Evil and temptation are aligned.  The devil is not worried about those who are unsaved, since he already has them in his grip, bound for an eternity in hell. Those who reject Christ do find a way to avoid temptation. They do have good moral families and some of them remain faithful to their spouses; do not steal; murder or lie under oath etc. There is a reason for this, however. The lost,  just like all humans ever created, all have the Law of God written on their hearts. The Law or Moral Code are the  same 10 Commandments which the atheists want to remove from the public square, not knowing they will be judged under that same Law and found sadly wanting. Yes, even these people know how to avoid temptation and prison from breaking the law of God and man. Spiritual evil never touch these people. This sort of evil only goes for the people of Christ – the saved, the Elect.....for now! The Day of the Lord is coming for those who have stored up wrath for themselves. Evil and temptation will be judged against the Law of God, which though written on the hearts of men, was rejected by them.

Evil and temptation also are intertwined. They are two sides of the same coin. If a Christian gives in to temptation and falls into some kind of sin – lust, adultery, fiscal shenanigans etc – the coin rolls to the flip side and evil is now part of their lifestyle.  Christ is showing us in this prayer that we have to pray against this. We have to know the tricks of the devil and how to engage in spiritual warfare. Teaching in modern churches on this is woeful and lacking because the majority, especially mega churches focus more on Grace and not the full counsel of the Truth. But God in His Wisdom HAS shown us the way, and it is in Ephesians chapter 6 where the weapons of our spiritual warfare are laid out fully for Christians to grab for free and it’s the Full Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). Click here to familiarize oneself with this full arsenal of spiritual weaponry, and then let us pray thus:

Father in the Name of Jesus Who showed us how to protect not just our physical bodies, families and homes from all evil, but our testimonies and integrity, we thank You that You did not leave us defenseless. We thank You that in the short physical life we have on this beautiful planet, that You not only provide the means to a good life and for our daily needs of food and home, but for the Protection of our very souls! You love us so much, oh Holy God, that You do not wish us to come to emotional and relational harm with our loved ones and fellow man, and most of all with You. So thank You for this miracle of prayer where we can ask for, plead for and even cry out for Help! We need YOUR Help, Lord, to fight the evil of these corrupt depraved and perverted times. We need  Your angels watching our backs as they always do. We will never know how much bad stuff they protected us from until we get to Glory. But now, oh God, we ask that You know only keep us from bad people who will cause us to stumble and even fall, but that You help us to guard our hearts. 

We pray for a firewall of protection around our spiritual hearts, minds, eyes, ears, hands, mouths and thoughts that no weapon – ABSOLUTELY NO WEAPON – no dart, no temptation, no nothing will pierce that Shield of Righteous Faith which You have provided for our defense, in order that we are protected. Keep us from the evil one, therefore, and the evil circumstances, ideas and even people who can cause us harm. Even if there is no way we can avoid contact or temporal fellowship with them, in offices, in public or even our churches, help us to fortify our own faith, bodies, minds and souls so that nothing with pierce the Godly Armor You have provided for us. We love, praise, adore, admire, thank and worship You for Who You are and for the Godly Standard of Power and Righteous living You are, in the Mighty and Powerful Name of the Commander in Chief of the Universe – Jesus Christ, amen.

Monday, September 12, 2016

THE LORD'S PRAYER - THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 5

Wouldn’t be cool if all the credit card and auto loan companies cancelled our credit card charges and car loans all at once? Not just that, imagine the mortgage company telling you all you had to do in order to own your home outright is to bring in a $1 bill and you know the house free and clear?  Sounds incredible, doesn’t it…all this debt forgiving?!

Yes, it does. You and I cannot equate a car loan to the Savior of the world, but the concept is almost parallel.  When Jesus paid for ALL sin – from Creation to the end of time – for ALL time, He wiped away ALL debt which sinful man owed, for all time – if we repent and put all our faith In Jesus, and Him alone, as Lord and Master of our lives.   But before He did that ultimate act of love and sacrifice, He gave an account of a servant who had a massive debt forgiven. It was the equivalent of over $100,000. This man’s debt was completely forgiven. Yet, having been forgiven such a huge sum, this servant refused to extend even 1/100th of that same grace to another fellow servant, who had owed him a very small amount. For this act of selfishness and unforgiveness,  the man who was first forgive paid a price. (Click here to read).

Jesus is basically teaching us in this prayer a few life lessons, which we will do well to remember. Our position in Christ depends on it – not salvation. But unforgiveness is a horrible thing which should not be in the vocabulary of the Christian. Jesus gave us a lesson on this, for the ages. He says in Matthew 5:23-24 the following: "Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift". God does not need our stuff, obedience to Him is more acceptable than sacrifice.

In other words, it is better to be at peace with God, man and self….as indicated in Romans 12:18.  We first start by making sure that there is nothing between us and God, through issues with fellow human beings. While others may reject our offers of peace and fellowship, it is more than our responsibility on us to do the right thing.  It is our duty. We make the first step to reconciliation. We pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit to enable us to offer the hand of friendship and grace, even to the point of rejection. We do all these things in the right spirit, and the Lord will be pleased with our prayers, because we have forgiven those who had a "debt" or an issue against us.

Father in the Name of Jesus in Heaven, thank You for Your Eternal guidance on how we should approach You in fellowship, friendship and prayer so that You will listen to us, without the stumbling block of sin and disobedience in our lives. You call on us daily to be not just salt and light, but to do the hard things - the HARDER things....to be the better person by saying "we're sorry" to someone who has wronged us. You call us to be like Christ Who looked down at those who spat at, cursed at and blasphemed at Him while beating and dishonoring Him and said "Father forgive them, they know not what they do". Lord we know they have had 2000 years to know what they did and regret it, but let US have no regrets NOW in this life. Let us follow the example and teaching of this prayer so we may be kind of disciple You called us to be, when Jesus told us to pick up our own Cross and follow Him. You called us to walk out this salvation, with purpose, power and even pain. You called us to grow and not live in unforgiveness since You, oh gracious and good God in Heaven, have forgiven us everything, when when we deserved nothing. For that, oh kind and merciful Father, we are eternally grateful, to the Praise and Glory of Your Wonderful, Precious and Holy Name, in Jesus Strong Name we pray, amen.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

THE LORD'S PRAYER- THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 4

Give us this Day our Daily Bread
We know from life experience that tomorrow is promised to no one. In fact, the very next breath is not promised. We have all seen the brevity and futility of the pursuit of long term prosperity while ignoring the needs of the moment.

God self-exists and operates in a different kind of economy and provides accordingly.  In the western world, it is almost impossible to go hungry with all the various government programs and church outreaches in almost every city. There are obviously pockets of poverty everywhere. Still God provides for His own children…and as a result, even non-believers get benefit from the largesse of Christians. Food kitchens run by churches or religious non-profits never ask the beliefs or religion of those they serve. They just feed people. They give grace to the humble.

This is the kind of attitude we, who are called by His Name, should have towards our Heavenly Father, Who provides for our every single need. Nothing we have on this earth, is completely because of us. Every opportunity we have to earn or purchase is because of the goodness of God. He lined up that job for us. It could have gone to someone else, but He placed you and I there. James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus tells that “Every Good and Perfect Gift is from above and comes from the Father of Lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow of  turning” (James 1:17).

The Lord Himself said in Matthew 6:31-34 "31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble".

In Psalm 37:25 we see God’s shepherd boy David, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, write I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread".

In all of this, we note a few things in order to be able to pray WITH UNDERSTANDING for our daily bread:
-         * Rich, poor or in between: we are nothing without God giving us good the health and mental awareness to obtain and hold down a job and the employer to pay us.
-         * Rich, poor or in between: whether non-believer or not, everything in this world is owned by Him and we are objects of His general grace, love and compassion for all people.
-         * God always provides for His people and eventually none every goes hungry, even those in the middle of a jungle somewhere. He is our Provider.
So we pray:

Heavenly Father, most kind and gracious and loving God in Heaven, thank You that You are a good, good God Who gives good things to His beloved. Lord, You are the Creator and owner of all things. Everything in this universe belongs to You and without You, nothing lives. I am supremely grateful for Your provision for not just my life, all through my lifetime, but for providing for my family, loved ones and friends.  You owe us nothing but You gave rain, which falls equally on the just and the unjust, on those who hate you as well as those of us who love You. You have bread to the hungry and meat for the tasting. You give crops which never fail from soil which belongs to You, yet which You anoint each day with the morning dew. Your sun caused the crops to rise when the rain has watered. Thank You for the cycle of life which feeds now just our families but those around the world, who are not as fortunate to manage the land You have given Your people temporary stewardship over.  Thank You for the jobs which provide the service for which we are paid, so that we are able to not just house our families, but give them food to eat and milk to drink. Oh most Heavenly Father of Lights,  You send down delightful things from Heaven, things we do not deserve but which You bless us with any way. There are no word to express our gratitude but to thank You for daily sustenance, through all these things mentioned above. There are nothing we can say except “Thank You, Lord”, in Jesus’ Most Powerful Name, amen.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

FIVE BENEFITS TO STUDYING THE BIBLE - EXEGETICALLY

etbblog_5benefitsStudyingExegetically
George Muller, a giant figure in the history of the church, cared for 10,024 orphans in his lifetime explored with great faith and enthusiasm the inner life, faith and prayer. That’s what we remember about him. But his words surprised me when I read them–
“What is the food of the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God; and….not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.”

Bible Study isn’t a casual stroll through a book. Bible study isn’t googling various themes to help us find scriptures to fit our own personal predilections. It is an adventure into the voice, plan and providence of God. It is a living expedition that changes the reader not the interpretation. It’s pondering, applying, researching, and listening. Here are five benefits to an exegetical strategy of Bible study:
  1. We get the big picture and the larger story. Historically (and currently), certain unfortunate groups have zeroed in on one chapter or even one verse of the Bible in order to develop their worldview. These efforts pervert the meaning of scripture because it ignores the Canon in favor of a particular nuance found in a particular part. Once we look at the bigger picture, the larger story, that’s when the Bible gets interesting, my friend! We see shards of truth in the details but nothing can compare to the full mosaic of the Word as we see the progression of Scripture.
  1. Exegetical study reveals what God is saying rather than what we want Him to say. Exegetical Bible study begins with hands empty and open to God. If only we would constantly have the attitude: “Lord, I’m going to go deep, read with eyes afresh and heart open and allow You to speak truth. I will set my personal predilections aside and put on the full armor expecting that You will shake my foundation.”
  1. We grasp Scripture and apply it appropriately. Most people, when they think about theology, envision demanding degrees, multisyllabic mysteries, and complicated conundrums. But the truth of God’s word is much simpler than some make it out to be. I love this thought from Soren Kierkegaard: “The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.” 
  2. Organic discoveries are the best kind. It’s great to bask in the wisdom and inspiration of David Jeremiah, David Platt, Tim Keller and other amazing writers, but discovered truths from God’s word of the homegrown variety often have a greater, more personal impression on my life. I think you’ll agree. There are times when I discover something so relevant to my own crucible or to the struggle of those I love that I can’t resist sharing it. It brings me to life. It wrecks me in such a visceral way that I know it is the Holy Spirit at work.
  3. You’ll enjoy the diversity of genres and styles. Unlike a textbook that’s filled with codes, formulas and theorems, God gave us a book of stories, poems, metaphors, sayings, commandments, laments, and prophetic reveals. Through exegetical study of scriptures the brilliance and clarity of God’s story comes alive with dynamism and surprising depth. We breath deep the truth of God’s character and the power of his grace. It’s a unified message told in a variety of methods and styles. Even the four Gospels blend together; telling the same story but doing so differently. John’s Gospel is poetic and teaming with symbols and purposeful progressions. Luke’s Gospel, the Gentile voice with a vision of suffering humanity and those lost in the margins of society. Luke’s orderly account is very different from the “fasten-your-seatbelts” Gospel of Mark. Surely, to exegete scripture is to unravel a message and the mystery of the whole counsel of God. It’s hopping on board to the message and seeing where it takes you. You might not know it when you start, but its destination is always life-changing and beautiful.

Monday, September 5, 2016

THE LORD'S PRAYER- THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 3


Thy Kingdom Come on Earth as it is in Heaven
If a person is in distress and cries out to God in pain, panic or with persistent problems,  how does this phrase from the Model Prayer fit into the body of our prayer?


What Peter did here, was recognize the Power of Christ Who was walking ON the stormy sea and OVER the high waves towards them (looming larger than life). He had no other choice. The facts were right before His Eyes. He already knew Jesus was sinless and spoke the hallowed and holy Word of the Father. These are a given for the Christian, but to get to this point, we have to have been with Jesus like Peter had. This comes from knowing His Word and following the dictates of the Holy Spirit, if you are really born-again.

The Spirit had revealed to Peter just Who this Man was. His (Jesus’) sovereign rule over the elements was observed before when He calmed the storm, after the disciples woke Him from sleep to rescue them. The Kingdom had come. The Messiah was at hand. The Faith of the  disciples needed working on, but they had seen the miracles of the Loaves and Fishes and knew He was King.

Do we? Do we recognize Him as He is? Do we believe the scriptures where the Apostle John fell at His Feet in Revelation 1 when he (John) saw Jesus as He really is – from eternity past to forever? If we do….and if you’re saved, you have that ability, then we are living right now as Kingdom people.  How is this possible? When you and I were BORN AGAIN, we not only became a NEW Creation in Christ but God imputed and embedded His Holy Spirit in us as a seal of His promise, until the Day of Redemption.

Whether a truly regenerated and reborn Christian believes this or not, it is so. We are thus indwelled by the same Spirit of God Who self-existed from Eternity Past. He is the same Holy Spirit Who hovered over the Waters in Genesis 1 and executed the plan of the Creator Yahweh (Jesus). He is the same Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead on Resurrection (or Easter) Sunday morning, on the Third Day. He – Holy Spirit= is the Guarantee of our inheritance as Kingdom people.

So when Jesus includes this phrase in His model prayer, He is telling us that we have the permission and power and authority, as declared to us from John 1:12. Given our current Kingdom status, we can there therefore pray in confidence…..just like Peter did in John “Lord, save me!” When you pray that, He automatically tune in and waits.


Father in the Strong, Holy and Mighty Name of Jesus,  King of the Universe and Ruler of all things, thank You, thank You, Lord! We are so grateful beyond words, that You win all Your power, majesty and wisdom would choose us to be Your Kingdom children! This is beyond belief and beyond comprehension, Lord! Lord as we pray to make it through each day, in these evil last days, we also anticipate the Return of the Lord Jesus , to rule the earth and make all things right. We look and long for that incredible Day of the Lord, will all will be revealed and we say “COME, LORD JESUS! Establish Thy Kingdom, in Your Name we pray. Amen

PART TWO: THE LORD'S PRAYER & ITS JEWISH PARENT~~~

Saturday, September 3, 2016

THE LORD'S PRAYER- THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 2

Hallowed by Thy Name
We know all of the great attributes of God – He is all powerful, knows all, owns all and sees all.  2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us that “the Eyes of the Lord roam across the WHOLE earth in search of those whose hearts are loyal to Him”. There is absolutely no doubting that fact.

But the first attribute of God is His Holiness. He abhors sin. He despises it and even turned His back on His own Son – the Lord Jesus – Who had to cry out from the Cross “my God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Psalm 22:1 and Matthew 27:46).

How do we know this? Well, the greatest Old Testament prophet, who wrote about those times as well as the End Times, was pulled up into Heaven before the Lord Himself in Isaiah Chapter 6. The first thing anyone who has had an encounter with Holy God does is this: fall down at His feet in total surrender and humility. Isaiah did it. John did it.

The next thing that happens to a man, who, in the rare occasion, is recorded to be in the fearsome Presence of Holy God is – the self-realization of one’s worthlessness to be in such a lofty place. Isaiahfalls down (Chapter 6) and knew immediately he was a sinner….that he was notworthy of being there….that he was a man of unclean lips, even as a man of Godand a prophet. We can relate to that today.  We, every one of us, use language which our forefathers – regardless of background – would never use and would even consider untoward.

The Lord took care of Isaiah’s problem with swearing and probably even blaspheming when He sent one of His emissaries to take a burning coal off the altar to cleans the prophet’s inclination towards such speech. God sends the Holy Spirit to convict you and I immediately after we say something we swore we would not say 500 times before. 


What is the connection to the practical matter of us praying to Abba Father, Who is in Heaven? The Knowledge of the Holy – the Holy One of Israel, should act as a check in our spirit as to how we approach the Lord.  Just as we do not take the Lord’s Table or communion in an unworthy manner, meaning with active sin in our lives, we need to be instinctively circumspect in our prayer, following the example of the Messiah Who gave us this prayer. In light of this, let us pray into it:

Heavenly Father, we do not deserve to even be in the same zip code as You. But You in Your love and mercy adopted us, who believe in Jesus as Lord, as Your Children. Lord we are people of unclean lips, and too many times unclean hearts and minds. Purify us, oh God, remove our sin as far as the east is from the west. Wash us with hyssop that we may be clean. Cleanse us that we may be as white as snow. May these spiritual broken bones be healed or done away with that we may stand pure and holy before You, because You are Holy. You are worthy. You are mighty. Forgive  us as we approach in true repentance and surrender all at the Foot of the Cross right now, in Jesus’ Name amen.
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Thursday, September 1, 2016

THE LORD'S PRAYER- THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 1

Our Father Who art in Heaven
This begins the first in our closer look at the Model Prayer of the Bible – The Lord’s Prayer. To comprehend the context of it,  we look at what led up to Jesus presenting these timeless words as the most famous prayer in all human history.  The Words of what we call “The Lord’s Prayer”  are a larger part of the great Jewish Prayer – The Amidah. I examined this fully in three parts on my TV program, Plumbline (Part 1 of 3 is below in the YouTube video). Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13, that this is HOW they should prayer, when they asked as if He (the Lord) would teach them HOW to pray.

To get our minds around what the Lord means, alongside the Jewishness of this prayer, it will be helpful to exegete or go through the words and phrases which the Creator uses to teach His disciples HOW to pray. This prayer is not some magic formula for some to use to punish wayward church members into reciting “xyz”….and five “Our Fathers”.  This is Truth from the Oracles of Heaven for us to examine and enter into an even closer relationship with our God and King – Yahweh. 

In light of this, we begin:
“Our Father Who art (is) in Heaven” – Right off the bat, Jesus is telling us, via His disciples at the time, to Whom ANY prayer needs to be addressed – Almighty God, the Father of Lights.  It is from Him that ALL good things come to anyone who has ever been alive on this planet, since creation.  Please do, let us try and wrap the frail human mind around this for a few minutes!  Please consider this: the Creator and Giver of Life is actually listening to each and every one of His redeemed-by-Christ children (us) and hears our pleas, petitions and yes, our praises! This is not just anybody or some “higher power” as the unsaved calls Him. This is God, Almighty Father, Who said to the Son – Yahweh (the Great I Am) “Let us make man in our image”.

The Father declared man and Jesus spoke Adam into existence, fashioning Adam from dust. Then the Third person of the GodHead –Who never disagree- breathed LIFE into this lifeless piece of dust and the first man came into existence. So let’s get this thing in order once and for all. We are His creation and He does not work for us. Every breath we take, every move we make, He’s been watching us, knowing our next step and still, He loves us and wants to hear our prayer. He is the Ultimate Parent. He sees the horrible and wrong things we do, say and feel and still, His mercy, grace and long suffering last a lifetime. That’s our Father.

If we wish to add the dimension of time to Him, He would have existed for billions of years before Moses recorded the account of Creation and eternity is, well, God knows – how many billions of years! We live on a tiny speck of a planet which is one puny galaxy when we consider the Universe. When we consider the moon and stars and the Heavens….what is man, what is this planet that He would be so mindful of us, that He, in the form of the Son would step down from His Eternal Heavenly Throne for 33 years separated from our Father?

He lives in another dimension. His Throne is in the heavenlies. We have several glimpses of the power and majesty of our Father Who is in Heaven and remains there as Ruler of all. In Isaiah 6 we read in part about the worship and power and share fearsome Presence of God which should cause up to sit up straight right now.  In Daniel 7
, there is an actual live streaming, so to speak of what is going on in the Throne Room of God as we read here. Then the Apostle John was given the tour of Heaven in the End Times,  he saw things which were amazing to behold (Revelation chapter 4). (Click all links to read those specific passages).


This is the God, our Father in Heaven, to Whom we pray. So right from the start, the very first thing which Jesus is teaching us is this – be VERY aware just to Whom you and I are addressing our prayers.  In light of His Power, Awesome Fearsome Majesty and more, we are therefore supposed to be EXTREMELY careful HOW we pray and WHAT we pray for. When we are not sure about where we are going with this thing, it will be beneficial if we just tell the Lord in all humility, that we have no idea how to pray for a situation and we need help.  That’s it!  We are promised Holy Spirit will translate our prayers up to the Father.

Our Father Who is in Heaven – Who is our Sustainer, Master and Ruler of the Universe. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing and Almighty. He can be depended on. He is to Whom we pray. In the Mighty Name of Jesus, Father, we thank You so very much that You have chosen us as Your people, from the Foundation of the earth that we, who are being saved, can call upon Your Name - You the Mighty God of all the universe, of all creation, Owner of all things, Giver of Life, Mighty to Save and Victorious in the Heavens. Thank You for allowing weak and sinful mankind the opportunity to approach You, under the banner of Prayer, that we may be considered worthy enough, under the Blood of The Lamb, to have our pleas, petitions and sometimes pitiful prayers heard in the very Throne Room of Heaven. Thank You that You see us through the lens of Your Son...that You have taken us from the Pit to the very heights of the Heavens. Thank You for Your all powerful attributes that we may be able to stand firm while resting in the Glory and Might of Your Name and those attributes, in Jesus' Holy Name amen and amen. Thank You, most kind, gracious and wonderful Father in Heaven, amen.