A Revival of Repentance

“…as many as I love I rebuke and chasten” (Revelation 3:19).

Daniel was a man who lived among a people that was sinful and recalcitrant.  He found that even in his own heart there reposed a sinfulness that was not according to God’s righteousness.  His sinfulness within reflected the sinfulness of others without.

What do you do when you find yourself in the midst of pride and disobedience?  You get on your knees and pray.  We are not looking within or without as we should.  We have too much of the world in our view that is blocking our AWE of God.  Can you imagine the heartbreak of God to look down upon the ones He created who do not realize how good He is?  And we continue to do what?  To take God for granted and tolerate the only One who is able!

Let’s look and fervently ask the Lord to use us today.  It is of great joy to be in Rightness with God.  May we ask for His mercy to enter into our circles of influence so that others would feel the same about our God.  We need a revival of repentance in our circles that we travel in.

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  • Expectations: The Wise Men

    “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).

     They (the wise men) came from a great distance, with difficulty, and even through the midst of danger, to find their Desire–the Lord Jesus. They knew that all of life was found in that Child, the Desire of nations.

     To superimpose selfish expectations onto the Bible and our own personal relationships with God is to short-circuit that which God desires. We should understand that God is anxious to “make me” rather than for Him to “give me.”

     God is the One that we must seek, the God who is, not as the God I want. Our expectations toward God is to change the desires of my heart to fit into His desires for me. To delight in the Lord is “to be soft or pliable.” We are to be soft clay in the Potter’s hands, to come before Him without any heavy demands that we want but to look to Him for who He is.

     Instead of telling God what my desires are, we are to come to understand and know Him. What is His character? What are His attributes? How can I worship and serve Him more acceptably? Then an amazing thing takes place: His desires become my desires! When I know Him I will desire what He desires and will pray and serve in that wonderful, freeing capacity.

     

  • Truth Spoken In Love

    “And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love with which thou has loved me may be in them, and I in them”
    (John 17:26).

    People are looking for truth. They’re looking for reality. Deal with people in truth, and you will deal with reality.

    Speaking the truth isn’t even enough, though. Truth must be spoken in love.

    Many people think they are doing right by being very outspoken. Then, they put a veneer of respectability on what they say by commenting, “Well, I believe in telling the truth. You will always know what I think.” That is wrong, as well; for the child of God endeavors to balance that which “God says and what He says and how He says it”, in love.

    God’s people are to much like a see-saw. Unbalanced, too top-heavy, no real leverage, prideful, and liking it with a sneer. If the peace of God does not rule, He is not ruling in that person’s heart. God balances the see-saw with a fulcrum of truth and love.

    Truth balanced with love is Jesus on the cross praying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:33). “Forgive them” is love; “for they know not what they do” is truth. Mercy and peace kiss at the cross.

  • Rich in God

    “So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him…Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left. Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company…” (Genesis 13:1; 9-10).

     

    Abraham and Lot were men who both acquired wealth from God. Abraham developed his wealth to do the work of God, while Lot used his wealth to build his own empire, pleasure, and building.

     

    At the end of life we find Abraham won more, for his inheritance was of the Lord. Lot lost it all, even his own family. His resources were depleted and he ended up in heaven with his soul but lost his life and all things he lived for.

     

    Lot depended on Abram early on. He had a second-hand faith, a faith that was dependent on another, even though he had a genuine faith. But a Lot cannot live like that forever. It will show up eventually. His dependence was with Abraham as long as the heat was on. But one thing that Lot could not handle was his prosperity.

     

    There is one type of test that a carnal Christian cannot handle or stand – it is the test of prosperity. And it will show up eventually. When all is going well then a Christian will let go of his dependence, a strong Abraham, and will find himself dependent in his prosperity. He has moved on

     

    May we realize that if our faith is lived by the presence of another, that eventually we will fall to the test of prosperity, and most of the time prosperity and materialism will win. There are too many Lots in our midst who have lost their way to glory. May we learn from the lesson of Lot!

  • Don’t Build A Golden Calf

    “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people.”
    –Exodus 32:9The children of Israel were too fast to blame Moses and easily became critical. Out of bondage they were led from a life that was not fulfilling nor appealing. God sent them a deliverer and his name was Moses. Moses led them under God’s discipline and direction and yet the children of Israel were not mature in their feelings and thoughts. They always gave this man a hard time but Moses loved them.The Word of God gives us the illustrations (I Cor. 10) so the 21st century church can learn. The rebels came to Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him” (Exodus 32:1). So quick to blame Moses and in their state of impatience and lack of faith they wanted something to see, to feel, and to quench their flesh’s desire.

    At another time the Lord Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “How long should I be with you before you get it?” We have a God who disciplines and directs us, but we must wait upon Him so that we may learn. Moses was up in the mountain meeting with God and God was giving him the instructions for lawful living and also the instructions of how to build the tabernacle, so that God could come down and dwell with His people.

    God gives to us the test of patience, purity, and faith in His seeming delays.  The question to us is, “When we do not see the tangible presence of God will we continue to trust Him?” Joseph was placed in situations where he did not see the presence of God but when Potiphar’s wife wanted him, he fled. He did not fail in patience and purity but he placed his faith in a Faithful God. Will we? Or do we have to see to believe?

  • The Feast of Tabernacles

    “And on the third day eleven bullocks, two Rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish” (Numbers 29:20).

    There is coming a day of remarkable position for the nation of Israel. The Feast of Tabernacles prophesy to the day when the Kingdom promises and the beautiful bountiful land of Israel will be fully restored and enlarged.

    All promises and prophecies of Scripture are fulfilled in Christ. God’s blood accomplished what the animal sacrifices could not. All sin is forgiven and God is able to move in and make a way.

    You and I cannot live without the intercession and ministry of our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus. He represents us before the Father. He is our advocate, mediator, and intercessor. As the day approaches to the coming of the King we need to spend much time in His presence depending upon Him for His work in us and through us.

    The sacrifices given during the Feast of Tabernacles were expensive. The grace of God is given to us because of the great value and expense of God’s sacrifice of His only Son. We should be thankful and offer all we are and have up to Him.

    May we not give to the Lord that which costs us nothing (2 Samuel 24:24; Malachi 1:6-11). What great joy to know the Lord of lords and the God of glory is going to return to set up His Kingdom forever!

  • The Saints Go Sleeping One by One

     
    “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

    We live in a twisted society. It is perverted and twisted sexually. People no longer honor God’s plan for marriage. They no longer find fulfillment within the confines of “man and wife.” They indulge their lusts, they prize experimentation, and they treat sexual encounters as base bodily functions instead of honoring them as God-given gifts to prize.

    What once embarrassed and shamed us now does not faze us. What used to slink down back alleys, now struts in openness, and walks upon man’s hearts freely. May God have mercy on us all. May God have mercy on a people who do not blush or repent.

    This type of living produces a society that is twisted spiritually. We indulge in our wickedness long enough, and we eventually become anti-God. We glaze over the gospel good news – that Jesus’ blood really does cover our every sin. We step away from the truths of salvation, figuring we’re better off going it alone. We eye the Bible with foolhardy skepticism, finding it to be a book of fables and nothing more. We do our dead level best to get rid of God, even as our very nature cries out for Him. We waste away our days and lives, chasing counterfeit answers to God, but in the end, business and vain pleasures can do nothing to scratch the angry itch in our souls.

    The Lord Jesus said to His disciples on the side of a mountain, “You’re the salt of the earth.” God knows you’ll meet a lot of tasteless people, hear a lot of tasteless jokes, and see a lot of tasteless things, down here on planet Earth. But don’t lose heart. As you and I fulfill our mission to honor God with our lives, we’ll bring tastefulness back in style.

    One day this King will stop and step upon Earth and do away with that which defiles and decays. This earthly son of a commoner, Joseph the carpenter, raised his son in a two-bit town called Nazareth. And yet the Lord Jesus possessed more influence than any man who every walked this world. The Master empowers and shapes the lives of those who have an encounter with Him. We can be average Joes and Janes, and yet God lays His hand upon us and declares us fit to utterly change the world. The most powerful agent of change is Christ’s church, people committed to doing His will.