King Me

 

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).

    Remember the game of checkers? Two opponents sit down across from each other and try to move their checkers forward on the board. At the same time you are endeavoring to remove their checkers. But the crowning moment comes when you are able to get your checker all the way over to your opponents side and say, “Crown me.” They place a checker on top of your checker. Now you have the opportunity to move your crowned checker forward and backward. You now have an advantage.

    Every son and daughter desires to hear confirmation from their father. They desire for you to crown him/her. They will not say the words out loud because in many ways they don’t know it themselves. But they desire to say to you, “King Me!” There are no fathers perfect and there are no perfect prescriptions out there. Only the Holy Spirit and God’s Word can lead a father to be a man who “Kings his children.”

    One day we are going to be off the scene and a good father will prepare his son/daughter to take over. It’s our job to get them ready for God and to groom them for this life. That’s what fathering is all about. It’s mentoring and equipping your son/daughter to become a man/woman who will assume their places for the next generation. We have no higher calling in life. It’s our God-given assignment.

    Andre Gide said, “The most decisive actions of our lives–I mean those that are most likely to decide the whole course of our future–are, more often than not, unconsidered.” Think that statement through.

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  • Not A Skirmish But Warfare

    Warren Wiersbe, one of my favorite speakers and commentators, told of the time he was pastoring in Chicago, “I met weekly with three pastor friends, and together we united in “warfare praying.” We claimed God’s promise to cast down the wrong thinking that was keeping people from surrendering to God; and God did great things in the lives of many people for who we interceded.”

    While you and I pray for others, once the strongholds in the minds of others have been torn down, the door to the heart can be opened. When the Jews obeyed God at the walls of Jericho while marching around them, God gave the victory and the walls came down. Once this took place then they were able to go in and defeat the enemy.

    Let us pray for the walls to be torn down so that God can gain the victory. We are not depending upon man’s wisdom and strength. We are not dependent upon our personality, human abilities, or even the authority we have in name of a Christian, but we are dependent upon our weapons of prayer, love, faith, and righteousness to bring the walls down. God is able to save to the uttermost.

  • From Rubble to Rejoicing

    “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

    Many of us maybe have come out of the wreckage of damaged lives. But because of God’s offer of forgiveness and His ability of rebuilding broken lives we can be lifted and secured in faith. Praise the One, the Only One, who can! We can be used again for His glory and majesty to bring honor, glory, unto the Almighty.

    The Bible is filled with stories of saints who have served God in the most of trying circumstances. Noah was a shipbuilder and he preached and worked for one hundred and twenty years to get others to go with him. Joseph was a slave who later became prime minister of Egypt. Moses and Joshua fought through much pain and sorrow as military generals and leaders of God’s people.

    God takes those who are willing and calls us away from the rubble of exiled living to the rejoicing of having rebuilt lives and homes. Many do not escape the damage done to their lives or even the damage they have caused themselves. But there are some who excelled in Christ. They go through life with faith in God, facing the trials, opposition, and setbacks of life with the strong, secure defense that God provides.

    If you are sitting in the midst of broken down walls, damaged relationships, or feeling isolated, turn the page with me–and let the rebuilding begin. God is good. He made the stone which makes the wall. He will take us and rebuild us into the people He has predestined us to be.

  • Can Revival Happen?

    “Run to and fro through the streets…and see now, and know, if you can find a man…that seeketh the truth…” (Jeremiah 5:1).

    There is a great problem today as it was in the days of Noah and Lot. Many do not believe in the existence of God, or the biblical God that we serve. Also, there is not a  respect for Scripture as authoritative and lawful. There is another quandary as well, it is the problem of a guilty conscience over personal sin.

    Throughout the history of the church, there have been episodes of revival and reformation within and through the church. But upon closer observation, the people revived and the sinners converted, already had, for the most part, a belief in the evidence of God, which is described in Scripture as a respect for the authenticity and authority of Holy Scripture, as well as the presence of a guilty conscience over one’s own personal sin.

    We must turn back to the doctrines of Scripture found in the only Book that shows us who God is and what we are. We are totally depraved–mankind is not lightly sinful-we are totally, entirely sinful. We sin because we are sinners. And because of this fact every unbeliever is headed for a future damnation. Society is ignoring this truth, but more than they, the church is ignoring the warning of the Bible.

    Pleasing God is better than feeling good. Truth hurts before it heals. There is coming judgment wherein a judgment day appointed by God. The payment for sin is death–an eternity in hell, instead of heaven. May we tell and may we tell someone soon.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • The Safety Net of Fear

    “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

    The fear of the Lord is the glue that holds a society together.  The fear of the Lord is the safety net that keeps a nation from falling into anarchy and great chaos.  And for the most part, unfortunately, we have lost the fear of the Lord in our nation.

    Here is a story of a public school teacher who retired early. When asked why, she responded:

    “The problem is really fear.  The teachers are now afraid of the principals.  The principals are afraid of the superintendents.  The superintendents are afraid of the school boards.  The boards are afraid of the parents.  And the parents are afraid of the children.  But the children?  They’re not afraid of anybody.”

    We have lost the fear of the Lord in our homes.  So what is the “fear of the Lord“?  I like what Proverbs 8:13 says to sum it all up:  “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil” (16:6).

    In Deuteronomy 6, fathers are instructed to teach their children the fear of the Lord.  How does a child learn the fear of the Lord?  This may surprise you, but a child learns the fear of the Lord by first experiencing the fear of a father.  They should fear their father in the biblical sense.  If a child never learns to “fear” his earthly father, then how is he ever going to learn to “fear” his Heavenly Father?

    Make no mistake about it.  We had a lot of fun with our dad.  And we knew that our dad loved us.  We didn’t shake when he walked into the room with fear, or even fear that he might lose control.  He did not beat us and he didn’t go into rages.  He was much in control, but he meant what he said.  There were consequences if not followed through.  They were “Meaningful Consequences.”  And those consequences had the effect of making you avoid the same behavior in the future.

  • Perpetual Joy

    “And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even” (Numbers 19:19).

    We can not be part-time Christians. We are all in full-time Christian service, or we should be. A man who is faithful to his wife most of the time is not faithful at all. A man who is a Christian and something else is not a Christian in deed.

    Have you noticed that birds do not sing because they have an answer, they sing because they have a song. When sin has touched us we are deadened and saddened. Yet God has made a way for us to be cleansed from all defilement.

    God has given you the power of the third day for continual cleansing and joyful singing. Wash yourselves in the ongoing work of the cross of Christ. Out of His wounded side flows the blood and the water. Confess and turn back to your God today for the song He gives.

  • 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!