"THINK" SERIES: PART 3 - "CONSIDER"

GOD'S PROVISION:

In the greatest sermon ever preached - by the real KING of Preachers - Jesus, said the following in the Sermon on the Mount: "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these" (Matthew 6:25-29).

The word that Jesus used for "Consider" in the original biblical Greek is exciting for us to ponder as Christians and Believers. However, Jesus always means business and there is a level of accountability associated with His choice of this word, as there is, as one of His Disciples. The Biblical Greek word is "katamanthanó" and it means to observe carefully, to consider, to understand thoroughly (Bible Hub). It is not your "easy believism" surface-deep Western version of Christianity. 

The word "consider" appears 108 to 200 times in 29 of the 66 Books of the Bible, depending on your English translation. Like this passage from Matthew 6:25-29, many passages with the word "Consider" are familiar.

This call to consider implies that it will be not only to our benefit to take a serious look at how our Father in Heaven supplies the needs of the birds in the air; the fish in the sea and the cattle on a thousand hills, but He is true to His Promise to never leave or forsake, even those who are NOT called by His Name (i.e. non-Christians). Why is this significant?  It is so, because Life is full of more valleys than mountain-top experiences, regardless of human efforts to recreate and manufacture past exciting moments.

PERSEVERANCE:

The half-brother of the Lord, and the natural son of Mary - the human mother of Jesus - James, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit told us to " Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance" (James 1:2-3).

The Biblical Greek word here is different from Jesus' call to consider. James used "hégeomai" which exhorts us to be of the opinion or THINK (the title of this series) that we should look at the trials/tribulations and testings of this hard life, to be the fulcrum of Joy! This is counter-cultural stuff!

And this is the thing. The Christian walk is diametrically opposed to what the world considers the norm. 

We rejoice in trials, not because we love pain.

We rely on our Great God and Savior not because we are dumb sheep like those who are following the god of this world into hell. We rely on Him because He has been found faithful and true, FOREVER, in His Promise to never leave or forsake us.

We revere, adore and magnify His Holy Name because He is worthy of praise.  His Word is written forever in the Heavens.

As Psalm 8, verses 3 and 4 declares "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?"

PRAYER OF GRATITUDE:

Who are we, Lord, that YOU would even consider sending the Eternal Creator of ALL THINGS - the Lord Jesus Christ, down to earth, that He may suffer and be humiliated by those in His Creation, all for the cause of restoring the broken relationship that occurred in the Garden of Eden when the first Adam sinned? Father in Heaven, we do NOT deserve any of Your consideration but You gave it to us anyway. Many have taken the Graces, Gifts and Goodness of God and walked away from You, seeking their own pleasures, agendas and more. But we, oh God, who are called by Your Name, stand strong in the Faith, because we have both considered Christ and then the alternative, and chose Christ as our Lord and Savior, not for just being the Way to Heaven and Eternal Life, but because we LOVE Jesus and love Him with all our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, now and forever more, in His Name we pray, amen.

THE RESURRECTED LIFE: PART 2: REWARDING, REJOICING

TEXT: HEBREWS 13:20-21

REAL LIFE LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JOB

TEXT:  THE BOOK OF JOB

PERSEVERANCE - GODLY CHARACTER PART 2 ....SIXTH KEY TO THE KINGDOM

 TEXT: 1 PETER 4:12-19 and 1 PETER 5:7-11 (in part)

THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO....(PRAYER)

Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so

Little ones to Him belong, they are week, but He is strong....

Most Gracious God in Heaven, You created man, in the beginning to work and keep Your Garden in Eden. Even though that man, Adam, ushered in sin and death into the world, You, in Your grace, mercy and loving kindness, hath provided for us and all mankind throughout the generations, nay, the millennia. If through due diligence and hard work, we persevere, oh Lord, You will feed and clothe us and so much more than we deserve, because You and King Jesus love us so.

When You gave the Israelites, the Land of Milk and Honey, you gave them the lush lands to raise their milk cattle and the conditions to raise bees for honey.

You provide fertile soils across the bread baskets of the Americas and elsewhere where we feed the rest of the world.... from the cattle grasslands of South America to the flat wheat plains of Kansas...and so much more.

You provide the rich soil to plant the corn, fruits and veggies.

Then You provide the time and rain to cause them to grow. You, oh God, not some phony bing bang godlessness taught in colleges, universities and high schools worldwide.

You gave us the freedom to tend to Your creation to sustain life: past, present and future.

You gave us freedom to raise our families.

You gave us freedom to sing praises to our most high God. While godless men and women in political power have curtailed these temporal liberties, we, who know You as Lord and Savior, already have the freedom and peace that passeth all understanding. We, who are born-again, and trust Christ and the Holy Spirit, each and everyday, know that we are sojourners in this troubled land and our Eternal Future is so much more secure, beautiful and divine where no corrupt human being will ever be allowed.

There will be no sun, because the Magnificence and Brilliance of the Lord will light up Eternity.

There will be no fears because the King is on the Throne.

There will be no tears, because He wipeth them all away.

Oh death, where is thy sting?

Oh sin, you have been destroyed.

Oh rulers of this world, you will have been dispatched by the Great I AM - YHVH - on the White horse on the fields of Armageddon forever...and your day is coming closer to that event.

Until that day, oh great and Almighty God, we pray that You in Your Providence, will give us a work to do, our own piece of the wall, if You will, so that working together, here at the start of a new month, a new season, a new paradigm, we may further the interests of the Kingdom to a lost and dying world.

May we brush aside the noise of this world, like the annoying gnat that it is, and never take our eyes off the prize.

May our hearts be stayed upon Jehovah.

May our minds be found 100% immersed in the Bible - Your Precious Word - until He comes, or He calleth us Home.

Father, we love You, we praise You, we magnify and adore Your precious and Holy Name and it is in the Name, the strong and mighty Name of the Soon-coming King Jesus, we pray. Amen and amen.

FAITH ON TRIAL: MY DADDY IS IN HEAVEN..... A MOVIE REVIEW

There is a defining moment in every person’s life, where we come to a fork in the road. We can go the cute (an inaccurate) cliché route and “take it” or like most people under duress, the fork in the road can lead to despair. That moment came to a real person called Rebecca Crownover (then called Becca Smith) when she lost her husband Adam due to an ATV accident. The 2009 accident occurred late at night at her farm’s Annual July 4^th Celebration, in the hard, tough Texas countryside.  Adam Smith's untimely death left Becca with their very young daughter, Acie, a farm and a whole lot of grief.

“My Daddy is in Heaven” is a new movie created out of this troubled journey of Faith (and lack of) that came about as a result of this incident. The movie is produced by The Nasser Group. It is set for release on March 13, 2018, and based on a children’s book (published in 2012) by Rebecca Crownover. The entire adaptation of the book, as well as the human and other circumstances surrounding this life-changing personal trauma, is handled with delicate finesse by the movie producers and scriptwriters. If you love good scripting, here is one for you. Due to the tragedy in Becca’s life before the sudden loss of husband Adam, coming just a few years earlier, in the accidental train death of Adam’s father, it would take expert care and handling of such a delicate situation walk the fine line of telling the facts of such a huge family loss, while at the same time staying true to the message. If there is one thing you can see developing after Becca (Jenn Gotzon) loses the battle on her knees praying for Adam's life, is that there has to be more coming in this film, to which someone in the same situation can relate.

The casting choices were well done, as evidenced by the characters progressively becoming more intense and believable as the movie went on. Jenn Gotzon (God's Country, God's Not Dead 2, Doonby and more ) played the part of Rebecca (as Becca Smith) with so much emotion, you could tell she was all in, as far as being in character was concerned. Her counterpart was Corbin Bensen (L.A. Law, Major League II, and others), who played her old-school, hard-knuckled yet easy-going father. Bensen is now a staple in a lot of Christian or Faith-based movies.

According to the author of the book, on which this movie is based, she (Rebecca Crownover) published it to assist children in handling their grief, when there is a traumatic loss of a parent or a loved one very close. Over the years, the book has, but the author made a statement which was more a result or fruit of her trials. She said it is about “the ultimate message of peace and hope…..even though Acie’s dad left us early, God was not mean to us. He just had another plan for our lives”. By itself, all of this is true. However, what this new movie does is take the grieving person through a process, which is not easy at all to go through, at all. It had to be so, in order that the full story was told, with all its warts and bumps.  

Jenn Gotzon’s character, Becca Smith (Rebecca Crownover) has one major crisis of Faith in God, after another, through much of the movie, until she comes to a place where the defining moment presented itself. After the death of Adam, armed with the realization that God had an entirely different plan than letting her husband live, Becca leaves her farm life and heads for the city to live with her long-lost best friend, June. June had shown up, by divine appointment earlier, but what happened with the both of these ladies trying to “live the good life” is always a recipe for disaster.

My guess is that a lot of people will see themselves in these two women, who spend a lot of time out on the town, drinking a variety of high-proof alcohol drinks – ALL AT ONCE. Eventually, these multiple drinking sprees resulted in something which could have ended with disastrous consequences. Becca escapes and runs directly into the moment where she has to confront the truth. Seeing a homeless man with a sign, which says “Show God’s Mercy”. This statement sets Becca (Jenn Gotzon) off and every ounce of hatred, disappointment and more she felt because God took her young husband away, came flying out. She not only blasphemes the Lord and insults the panhandler but accidentally strikes a patrolman, who heard the ruckus and appeared on the scene.

This naturally ends with Becca Smith in handcuffs, in front of the police lieutenant who, – and remember this is a true story – is a friend of her father’s. In fact, the cop was also at Becca’s wedding. He instinctively senses she has basically hit rock bottom in just about every facet of her life and mercifully lets her go.

After she realizes this, most likely due to her upbringing on a family farm, as a Sunday school teacher, Becca finally decides to return to her little daughter, her dad and her life on the farm. Only this time, she is taking the seemingly flaky best friend June with her. On the long bus trip back to her country farm, from the wild city life, an incident on the bus, where a young man overdosed on an opioid (a modern menace).

On that bus is a young musician, played the TC Stallings, the lead actor of the very popular movie “WAR ROOM”. The Stallings character realizes the young man is about to pass away and proceeds to share the most crucial parts of the gospel with him, in order that he may literally have a deathbed conversion. Fortunately (for him), the young man agrees, prompting  (Stallings) to lead all the passengers on the bus, in the Lord’s prayer. June has been watching all of this and it has such a profound effect on her, that she is not far from surrendering her life to Jesus Christ. 

The principals were wonderful in this movie and  (Acie) was fabulous, indeed.  Her acting was mature beyond her years. There were a few lighthearted moments, but the serious message of the perseverance through tragedy got through loud clear. 

Here is where I think this fast-moving family movie can be of tremendous value to people from all walks of life.  There is no one alive who has not had tragedy in their lives. The thing is when that defining moment comes where folks, in the depths of pain and despair,  are faced two choices, which choice is made. Many react like Becca Smith in “My Daddy is in Heaven”, when she turned her back temporarily on God. Unfortunately, most never come back. Maybe this movie will help put some perspective on tragedy when Faith comes under fire.  There is hope if we are open to it seeing the entire picture. Hope can only be found in God.

VERDICT: solid movie; great photography; fast-moving dialogue and good casting.
FIVE STARS.

MOVIE WEBSITE: CLICK HERE

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PURCHASE OPTIONS, PREORDERS: CLICK HERE

DAVID A.R, & ANDREA LOGAN WHITE - THE REEL DEAL/NEW AUTHORS

The first I ever heard of  David A.R. White, was from watching a series of movies I had bought at the now defunct Family Christian Bookstores, over a decade ago.  Second Glance (1992) showed a young David, who himself was not too long out of high school, in what was the first of a multitude of independent Christian films which are assuming higher prominence, in these last days.  It was not his first movie, but the first one which led me on a journey to build a library of these early movies produced by transplanted New Yorker Rich Christiano, his brother Dave and starring David A.R. White. I have spoken with Rich several times over the years, in the course of public showing of his movies, and understand his heart and passion for what began in this genre over two decades ago with the young David and others in this now established field of Christian film.

Fasting forward to White's powerful alliance with Michael Scott, Russell Wolfe and Elizabeth Travis, David formed PURE FLIX (2005) which took the message of the Gospel, Christianity and the Bible to various action movies like Jerusalem Countdown; The Mark 1 and 2; Sarah's Choice with Rebecca St. James and so many more, one will have to go to their website (here) to get the full list. Some of my absolute favorites, for which I purchased several licenses over the years to show at church were The Book of Daniel; Woodlawn; Do You Believe and what several of us consider the best movie on Evangelism we have seen - Encounter with Bruce Marchiano!

CLICK HERE FOR BOOK INFO

Of course, what really blew Pure Flix, the Whites and Kevin "Hercules" Sorbo into the stratosphere was God's Not Dead (GND)1! The award winning GND 1 was the highest grossing indie movie of 2014. It has not stopped as the world keeps giving storylines with God's Not Dead 3 due in the near future. However, while most people associate David A.R. White with Pure Flix and Christian movies, they may not be too aware of his first book - "BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HOLLYWOOD....Chasing Your God-given Dream" (2016). Click here to read the First Chapter and here for purchasing opportunities. Any successful person will tell you, there is no such thing as an "overnight success". What can happen though, is a Christian who is faithful in the hard things, the seemingly small but important things and who completely follows the God Who will break things open in His Timing. I read the book and enjoyed the funny narrative of this young man from a conservative Mennonite background, who never took his eyes off why God put him here. I heard him describe the book for a full interview on Chris Fabry's Moody Bible Radio show and it became obvious why he wrote it - to encourage somebody else to follow their calling God has put in their hearts. White says on his website "there is no one too common, too uneducated, too poor, too inexperienced, or too broken that he or she cannot be used by God". This is reason enough to get his book.

CLICK HERE
 FOR BOOK INFO

The family that writes together, makes a whole of impact together! Andrea Logan White is David's beloved wife and from the state of Illinois.  Her book was released less than two months ago (Sept. 2017) and is a stunning work called "PERFECTLY UNFINISHED: Finding Beauty in the Midst of Brokenness"

Two things I gleaned from reading Andrea's book. The first one is do not start it unless you intended to finish reading the entire book, because it is not what you think. The second thing is, once you have decided to read it, you cannot put it down. It will stun you, make you scratch your head and then you get to the incident where God reveals Himself to the hurting and lost Andrea, your concern turns to rejoicing as another soul is added to the Rolls of Heaven.

I was not planning to write a full article like this on this, the REAL (reel?) Power Couple of Hollywood and both their books, until I could not put down the second half of Andrea's book, in spite of an busy early morning coming up. All I had planned on doing was to leave reviews on Amazon.com, where I got both David's and Andrea's books.  But completing Andrea's books in one sitting opened my mind to this article. It is, as Rich Christiano's movie is called - "A Matter of Faith" 

In troubled times, the matter of Faith, with feet that walk righteously, requires us to do the following:
1. Praise God in the Storm. This is not just a Casting Crowns Song. It is the foundation of a lasting Faith.
2. Love God in the choppy seas of doubt, pain and suffering.
3. Obey God even if you think you have nothing left to give...because you do (have something left to give - YOU).
4. Say NO to temptation to shake your fist at God. Job's wife told Job to "curse God and die". Job refused because He knew the Character of God and that His Redeemer liveth.
5. Trust, follow and BELIEVE God in Christ, no matter the depression, doubt and despair. Trust Him completely, even there seems no earthly hope. Trust Him because Hope in God IS out of this world.
6. Praise God in the Storms. While weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the morning (Psalm 30:5) 

The portion of the book which describes Andrea's Walk with Christ as a wife and mother could describe the hidden trials and tribulations of many in today's high-stressed world. What was incredible to me was the previously unheard-of level of pain (physical and other) which one human can endure. I minister in men's ministry (for over 20 years); senior homes for about 14 years; street ministry etc. for over a decade, and have never come across such a warm, heart-felt, completely heart-breaking yet uplifting series of pages as I read in PERFECTLY UNFINISHED.

As I read about the Faith behind Andrea's pain, which led to her present perseverance, my mind immediately shifted to the words of the great Joni Eareckson Tada (a quadraplegic) who had this to say about living in constant physical pain and a horrid diagnosis. Joni said the following during an interview with Christianity Today (in part): "Even though it seems like a lot is being piled on, I keep thinking about 1 Peter 2:21: 'To these hardships you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps.' Those steps most often lead Christians not to miraculous, divine interventions but directly into the fellowship of suffering".

Andrea Logan-White is not without her own movie portfolio! She was one of the leads in the hilarious "MOM's NIGHT OUT" and is currently in a weekly comedy series with her husband and several others, on the increasingly popular PURE FLIX Streaming service called "HITTING THE BREAKS".

PERFECTLY UNFINISHED is available here on Amazon.com.

KEVIN'S KORNER: "THE PLACE WHERE PAIN HEALS"

Kevin DeVries is a great adventurer, a confident man of God, father and conference speaker. Many may know him as the Lead Explorer who led the expedition up Mt. Arafat as documented in the 2015 Movie "FINDING NOAH". Kevin is also the founder and director of the nationally recognized GRACE EXPLORATIONS ministry.

His articles speaks to so many issues which can transform the heart of any man, woman or young person who is in the distress in our fast moving, loveless society. His articles will be posted here and on an associated website: Business Men In Christ, and all will be linked to the Grace Explorations site, so that the ENTIRE article will be available to digest and process.

The first in these series of articles is "THE PLACE WHERE PAIN HEALS". Read on and then click on the link below to continue into the full presentation. Countless video teachings and more are available at Grace Explorations. The sheer power and content of these teachings will bless you.

THE PLACE WHERE PAIN HEALS

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. – Psalms 46:4 Many wonderful things were revealed to me during a recent, significant season of healing in my life. One of those “wonderful things” is the metaphor of a river and four healing streams found in Genesis 2. My prayer is that you will find the healing that Christ offers to your pain. I invite you to travel alongside me as we continue to explore God’s magnificent healing and grace. –Kevin DeVries

A RIVER AND FOUR HEALING STREAMS

Eden exists. 

It is a true place unknown to any map except the heart. A river runs through it to feed four healing streams. 1 Where these four streams converge and compliment each other, healing happens. We live in an age of trauma that has exiled us from our hearts as our home. Overcome with grief and regret, we’ve hung our unhappy harps on trees2 that grow as gallows along a river of bitter tears that hurts, but never heals. Alongside this river are forgotten fields that remain forever foreign to our original glory and design. We awoke one day and could no longer find our way home to where our hearts truly belong – Eden. Desolate deserts of pain have devoured Eden’s delicate dream. The garden where hearts once laughed and played has become a wounded wasteland. And where wounds linger, lies live. Lies that lead us to cover and wound others and ourselves with the deep shame of self-hatred. Something is terribly wrong with the human heart. Our home (where our heart is) has become a haunted house. An invisible war in the heavens is being waged in a battle for beauty; the human heart; the “priceless pearl” that plunders hell to populate heaven.

Is there a way back to Eden? 
If Eden exists as an echo of eternity experienced on earth, how do we experience the river of Living Water and its four emblematic streams of healing? Can we eat from a Tree of Life growing beside this river that feeds these streams and can its leaves, rustling with the rumor of a King’s return, still heal nations that are numb with the nameless numbers and frightened faces of the living dead? 3 Since time can only tell what eternity means to say, what would it say to our shattered selves? If we silence our shame and remember our original glory, we might hear these words echo from hallowed halls into our hurting hearts:

There is a way back to Eden. 
Healing happens where Living Water flows. Where eternity lives in our hearts, we thirst for living water. Deep down, we long for water to flood and heal every secret chamber where pain lurks and lingers in lands where love and laughter are lost. Dark places where trauma hides, frozen in fear, from the voice that calls us out of the shadows by our true and noble names. Places where pain is ever present despite the passing of time. Healing flows through not one but several streams. In my own experience, I believe exempting one stream tends to compromise the whole. Wholeness is achieved when sin is forgiven AND shame is healed. If we seek the cure from sin through sin management, it only leads to shame mismanagement, and we never heal. We continue to hurt others including ourselves. Hurt people hurt people, as the saying goes. Apart from God’s grace, we can only give away what we have first received. Providentially, pain redeemed as purpose, can drive us into secondary worlds to drown us in dreams of a primary world more real than our own. Northrop Frye said, “The real world is beyond time but can be reached only by a process that goes on in time.” Here are four streams fed by a river that helped my healing process in time as they flow from their ultimate source in eternity: 

1. CHURCH - Ephesians 5:25–27 Of all streams mentioned here, only the church and Christ spring eternal because the church is the immortal Bride of Christ. We are the church - His Immortal Bride. Never confuse Christ with the church. The church is made of imperfect people – you and I. The church is not perfect. Only Christ is perfect. Though the church has wounded many, far more have found healing in her waters. The church is the stream that provides corporate celebration and communion, which our hearts crave. We enter His gates and glory with praise and thanksgiving. We enter Christ wounds into wonder through our pain and trials. The church is a powerful portal to another dimension where wounds are healed with weapons of wonder. The church is a hospital for sick people just like us. If you fail to appreciate the role of the church in your healing process, you deny yourself the fair and tender love only the Bride can give, and you’ll only know the fierce and tough love of the Bridegroom. Just like a patient needs a doctor and a nurse, a child needs a father’s time and a mother’s nature to fully mature. Love is best when it is both both intimate and intense. Though a man or woman reigns and rules in a glorious garden, it is not good for either to be alone. The Church is there to be a place of belief AND belonging for us.

However great the mystic marriage between the church and Christ truly is, it is still not enough to meet all your needs. Where church should be an expression of a sacred romance, our commodity driven culture has turned it into a service station where we get our weekly “faith fix.” If you believe church attendance alone will change you into someone you want to become, you will be disillusioned and join the unsatisfied ranks of the un-churched. There are other streams your wandering heart must seek to escape wounded wastelands and enter a field where a feast awaits your famished soul. Professional counseling is a muddy stream that will humble you before it heals you. Without this stream, we can become emotional dwarves; stunted, immature images of our former shimmering selves masquerading as self-righteous, spiritual giants standing on a heap of human wreckage our own wounds have wrought. We must wade into these murky waters if we ever hope to be cleansed of our pain that has left our unfeeling hearts numb with the modern day leprosy that plagues saint and sinner alike – Shame.

2. COUNSEL – Proverbs 15:22 Often at odds with the church, biblically based, professional therapy is needed as much as godly, pastoral care. Due to the many roles most pastors must play, they are the first responders and primary care providers of your spiritual health. Recovery from trauma is akin to safely detonating a bomb. It requires a special set of skills, nerves of steel and steady hands. Annual check-ups require a family doctor. Heart surgery requires a heart surgeon. More complicated cures require more specialized counseling. Sick bodies need doctors. Hungry sheep need shepherds. Sick souls need soul doctors – Christ-centered counselors.

After years of untreated trauma, my life was simply not working anymore. Church attendance alone was not able to penetrate the inner darkness I was living in. I was beginning to feel more like a wounded animal lurking in the shadows than a human that once sought the Light. I hated myself, and what I had become. My wounds were haunting me. I was a fugitive running from my past leaving a blood trail everywhere I went for the hounds of hell to follow. And like a wounded animal, I was angry, alone and afraid and lashed out anyone that dared rescue me. I was especially leery of counselors. I was too proud to admit I was sick and too sick to admit I was proud. One day I discovered we are only as sick as our secrets so I began to tell all my secrets to a counselor until I was no longer sick. Along the way I discovered godly counselors do not just treat the problem, they help people transform with truth. Christ-centered counselors help us understand a key truth:

You are not a prisoner. You are a patient. 

You are no longer a prisoner punished with pain. You are a patient perfected with pain for a redemptive purpose. The pain you feel is so you can heal. You cannot heal if you cannot feel. The goal is progress; not perfection.....

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL TEACHING

Article Published by Consent of Kevin DeVries and GRACE EXPLORATIONS
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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.

PRAY FOR.....PERSEVERANCE

....and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:2b-5).
Perseverance and Persistence are not the same thing. In everyday, whether you and I think Biblically or not, these two actions carry completely different meanings and results. Persistence is an action with a goal in mind to achieve.  If we had a project to complete, whether it is meeting a sales quota for XYZ Widgets (or in 2016 – for Essential Oils) we would persist through normal working hours and even breaks and lunch to get the job done. Persistence is a commitment and sticking with, in our case here – intense prayer, praise and supplication.

Perseverance on the other hand, is getting through difficulty without losing your focus, your character, your testimony and your relationship – first with God and then with those around you. Persistent prayer will bolster your faith and draw you and I closer to the Flame, the Consuming Fire of God, while Perseverance will use that  Faith, buttressed by prayer to see us through our circumstance. Persistent Prayer will enable us to praise God in the storms of life, so we can persevere and make it through even stronger than when we began the journey through the dark valley of life’s troubles.

The verse above has to be taken in the order as the Holy Spirit instructed the writing of the Oracles of God. But catch this amazing statement in Romans 5:3 which comes just after the Apostle writes that we rejoice in Hope of the Glory of God (Verse 2b). He does something which is antithetical to weak modernistic thinking.  God says through Paul that “we also glory in Tribulations”!  This is not what the corrupt western culture and its psychology of prosperity teaches us! Who in their right mind will “glory in tribulations”? We should! It takes a lot of Godly gumption to be like Job. Here he is –  all his children died. He  lost everything and then got violently ill. His wife tells him to curse God and die. Yet, Job declares “though He slay me, I will trust in Him”! (Job 13:15)

Looking at verses 3 and 4 again, we see that these same trials, hard times and terrible circumstances and Tribulations (from health to financial and relational) lead to Character. However, we are not getting from experiencing the trials and tribulations of life to being a person of solid Christian character WITHOUT Perseverance! This is as plain as the black and white ink the pages of the Book of Romans. The rest of the blessings from the Godly Character which result from Perseverance – Hope and Joy, will be null and void if we do not stand strong in the face of adversity.

Do not believe the untruths of the New Age and/or the Prosperity Gospel that Christians are not supposed to get sick or have hard times.  It was the Suffering Savior Himself – Jesus – Who said “in this world you will have troubles, but behold, I have overcome the World”.  Our Creator, Lord and Savior has not just overcome the world but He has taken the sting out of death and offered joy which can never be taken away – if we persevere.

So how do we walk this out? How do we persevere. First of all, we cannot – at least NOT on our own! Second, we can only persevere in His Strength, His Power and His Love, under the umbrella of His Grace. Third, we MUST pray our way through this, standing on the following Scripture “He (God) only is my rock and my salvation, my Stronghold; I shall not be shaken (Psalm 62:6).

Heavenly Father, we can only make it through the storms, trials and tribulations of life, if we grow into the Mindset of Jesus Christ, Who for the joy set before Him, endured the Cross and not despising the pain, persecution and shame, yet He persevered to sit next to You in Glory for all time. Lord, while we are weak in body and a lot of times, weak in resolve and even Faith, help us oh God. Please help us. We believe. Help our unbelief. Help us not to be distracted by the injustice, pain, ungodliness and worse we see around us, which increases in intensity...sometimes even unbearable intensity. Lord, we can do nothing without Christ Who strengthen us, therefore in this time of Trial and Tribulation, first help us to have Your mindset, Your perspective through the pain and trouble and loss so that we may persevere and endure through it all. We know sometimes Your answer is now, and we have to move on, or we may lose everything, but this endurance which You have enabled in us will strengthen our Christian integrity and Character and draw us even closer to the Flame, to love, serve, adore, magnify, lift up and bless Your Holy Name, through Jesus Christ our Great God, King, Redeemer and Friend Who led Job to proclaim "though You slay me, I will trust in You". May this be our refrain. Amen

(Photo Credit Here)

REMEMBER ....AND WAIT

In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for You; Your Name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.....Isaiah 26:8 (ESV)

Most people not only have short memories but their concept of history begins and ends with their terms of reference. The majority alive today are unaware of the impact of past events in history and how their very existence is framed by it.

The wise remember, research and revisit the lessons of chronological events in order to learn from the unique circumstances of things which have altered the course of history. We are who we are, and where we are because of past decisions. It is said that whose who ignore the lessons of history, are doomed to repeat them. Those who manipulate the clueless at times, to go along with any philosophy - from cult to communism - know their audience...and the lack of historical perspective.

This is not so, for the authentic man or woman of God, who has been called, cleansed and classified as a Child of the Living Christ. The paths of the true believer should be different from the regular citizen because the Christian also possesses a future confirmed reservation in an Eternal Kingdom. Due to this very fact, the Ruler of this Eternal Kingdom expects certain things from every resident of this place called Heaven....and He gave those instructions almost 3500 years ago, when He gave the written record to Moses. He then had forty authors, over the next 1500 years, write inspired Scripture in their own style....with the same continuous message - #JesusIsLord!

The first thing we citizens of the Heavenly Realm need to do, according to His Word and His Holy Spirit abiding in us, is to Remember. Unfortunately, the corrupt culture of "self and selfie" has ingrained itself in the Body of Christ and we hear the chant universally almost, of "what have you done for me lately"?! It is not supposed to be like this for the Christian. WE, ABOVE ALL ELSE, ARE THE ONES WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR US, PERIOD.

We are supposed to be steeped in the Knowledge of the Holy Who is Good, Gracious, Forgiving, Compassionate, Loving, Full of Mercy, Miracles and Matchless Wonder! If we are not even aware of one third of any of this, we need to go back to the drawing board of the altar, fall on our faces, beg forgiveness and start all over again. Time and time again, the Lord exhorts us to remember Him, not just in the time of our youth but throughout our lives when we have both great success and failure. We need to remember Him, in ALL His attributes throughout our lifetime, in good times and bad. It is not wise the trivialize the absolute significance of Remembering DAILY just WHO God really is.

Which brings us to the second point - "wait". The "paths of Your Judgments" in terms of the Lord, is focal point of our spiritual growth and maturity. Maturing in the Ways and Wonders of God takes patience. Sanctification is the crockpot of true Wisdom and Grace and we have no choice but to wait, hold on and persevere through those times of trials, afflictions, even times of chastisement and Godly discipline because these are the paths God has chosen to keep us on the straight and narrow highway back to our heavenly abode. These times of patient endurance mold us into the type of solid believer, which God recommends anyone associated with Him become....for our own sakes!

This is the two legs of the one who loves, adores and pursues a closer walk with the Lord. This twofold daily exercise will not only reveal the work we still have to do, in order to attain to God's standards, but these simple straightforward steps are there for both the young and old in the Faith to grab on to and run with. Jesus has equipped us with His Spirit, the same Spirit Who raised Him on Resurrection Sunday, to enable us to accomplish this amazing task. The only thing holding anyone back, from grasping this baton with both hands and running with intention, is desire to proceed. May our desire be for the Great God of Heaven, and to be called a man or woman after His own Heart, in Jesus' Name, amen.

Photo Credit Here

PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES - THE BOOK OF JAMES, #7

METHODOLOGY: CONCERNING HARDSHIP

The half-brother of the Lord Jesus – James the great winds up his five chapters of Instruction on Prayer with a huge punctuation mark.  The rapid fire teaching on corporate prayer is designed to build up the individual Christian’s prayer life by ordaining the proper role of corporate prayer, in the Body of Christ.  Here is the Power List for the Church of Prayer Concerns, which will survive  until Christ calls the Church home (the Rapture)”

PRAYER POINTS:
- Hardship (Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray....James 5:13a)
- Happy (Verse 13b)
- Healing and Bodily Restoration (Verse 14-15)
- Confession of sin (Verse 16)
- Prayer for the Community…or nation (Verse17)

The good Lord addresses Hardship many different ways in Scripture. He does so for our edification, illumination, our application and then our liberation....in that order. In this significant tutorial from the entire Book of James, we have an Apostle who knows precisely that of which he speaks. The man was persecuted (and then killed) by the religious authorities in Jerusalem and did not have an easy time even living day to day. So he not only spoke truth, he lived truth

A lot of Christians do not need to have someone describe hardship because it is their current state. What can we tell someone who is physically limited and/or in horrible pain and cannot cope with it spiritually and emotionally? What can we tell someone who is economically challenged and even in dire straits with apparently nowhere to turn? We do not need to teach hardship. People live it. They live it here in the West and in the persecuted Church of the third world countries.  We have all gone through hardship in our lives, in many different forms and at many different times. It is the universal condition since the Fall of Mankind (in Genesis 3).

However, what qualifies us to offer assistance to a fellow traveler here is what we learned while emerging victorious through these hardships and how the Lord did it. If we are wise and open to listening to the Spirit of God in these trying times, we will submit to God, lay our lives bare before Him and He will fortify us as we walk through these valleys, but will teach us hope to persevere. This perseverance through prayer and obedience is what James is instructing us towards maturity in Christ and being stronger in prayer, just like he was.

An obedient, repentant Christian, under duress, will keep clean hands or prayers will not be heard. Through it all, God has not left us alone but He has given us His Word to buffet our spirits, and soothe our souls. So as we come to Him in prayer, let us press in on these few of many powerful verses of Scripture, which zone in on Hardship and what God has to say. Our ability to make it through, rests solely on our availability to His Guidance and the reality of His dependability. The sooner we believe these promises and embed them in our minds and souls, the more confident we become of direction of victory in any matter. Therefore, pray through these verses in humility and surrender and then watch God move in a mighty way!

The Premise: 2 Corinthians 8:9 - "you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich" (Jesus knows our fears, cares and pains).

The Prescription: Philippians 4:11-14 "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. read more."

The Promise: "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3) "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:7) and "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:6-9)

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY THIRTY ONE:

VERSE:

"'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine"....Exodus 19:5

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we long to abide in Your Presence all the days of our lives and in eternity. Therefore, Lord we commit our way from the hour of our redemption and rejuvenation to now, the rest of this year and always, to obey You, listen to You, walk in Your Ways and Keep Your Covenant.

Thou hast shown us the way of all Truth. I thank Thee, Oh Lord.

Thou hast given me the Road Map and the spiritual fuel to go the distance. I am so grateful, my God.

Thou hast given me the Faith and Endurance to persevere until the end. I am all in for ever, oh God.

Thou hast shared Thy bountiful Goodness and all the Earth which You create and watch over. I am so humbled, my God.

Thou hast taken me out of the pit, sit my feet upon a rock, put a NEW song in my mouth - a hymn of Praise to our God. I will proclaim Thy Name throughout the Earth, for as long as life shall last.

I rest under the Shadow of Thy Wings.

I bow down in the Sanctity of the Throne Room.

I surrender to the Will of Christ.

I commit my ways and will to the Obedience You asked me to choose.

I am Yours. I abide in Thee and long to dwell in Thy Holy Presence on a soon coming day, choosing as King David wrote for my life verse "One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple".

On this I stand, oh God, and not just me but all who love Your appearing! Even so, come Lord Jesus! In Your Name I pray. Amen.