Learning Right with Might

“Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand” (Nehemiah 1:10).

Nehemiah was a Jewish man who served the pagan king of Persia. Nehemiah was living proof of some of the most important leadership principals: You cannot lead if you are not willing to follow. You cannot rule if you have never served. You cannot be over if you have never been under. You cannot give unless you have received. You cannot speak to the people if you have never listened.

Nehemiah was a man who waited patiently on God through prayer. Intercessory prayer involves waiting on God. When we wait we praise, persevere, and prepare for His ministry through us. Only those who truly wait on the Lord will truly understand the power of prayer.

Before we attempt great things for God, we must learn to wait on God’s timing. Don’t become impatient with God’s delays for it does not mean that God is denying. God is preparing you and I through prayer which leads to waiting upon Him for greater things than we could imagine. So be like Nehemiah. Yes, he suffered as he waited upon God. But he was learning and he was living and he was loving continually His God and the people before him as he prayed.

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  • Peace, God’s Peace

    “Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:7).

    The Lord Jesus was judged upon a cross that was planted in His heart. He grew in statue and wisdom having searched the Scriptures and found favor with God and with men. The Scriptures and His life with sinful men proved the necessity of a Savior for their sinfulness and ignorance, while viewing the utter hopelessness of mankind without God’s intervention.

    We are afraid of so much in this present evil world and fearful of the future ahead. We may not speak of this in sober words but inside there is great conflict that is hidden and controlled by a deafening low sound within the recesses of the soul. It’s there but we do nothing about it.

    We will find God’s pardon at the cross and we will see God’s peace at the tomb where He no longer is dead. He arose again and now all sinful men may find peace when they kiss the Son. The peace with God and the peace of God only comes to those who view God through the prism of His grace.

    Can we say, “The Son of man has been delivered into the hands of sinful men, and was crucified, and the third day He rose again?” If you can say that in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit then you have a peace that the world cannot give or take away. It is called God’s Peace which is none other than God’s Son the Lord Jesus.

  • Amusement, Children, and Prayerless Disciples

    “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).

    Our children are bombarded with “fun and done.”  After one event of fun then we go on to the next.  Water rides, the pool, cookouts, trips, videos, gaming, eating out, and taking off from church ministry are the norm today.  America’s Christian Culture is entertaining our kids and ourselves to spiritual and emotional death.  It is not healthy.  We teach them inadvertently how to whisk their days away instead of numbering their days.

    While we teach our children how to live by “do your work and then we play” attitude, adults are living continually on spiritual autopilot.  In our highly educated, technologically-hyped and prosperous society, and within our theologically almost astute Christian culture, we tend to settle for “zipper prayers” to open or close our days and gatherings.  Prayerlessness has become the attire of our independence from God.

    Vance Havner said, “Few people would want to live where there are no churches but millions live as though there were no churches.” Church attendance is taken lightly today.  Hearing the Word of God cost aplenty in days gone by.  Where much is given, much shall be required.  Today’s land sees a famine of the hearing of God’s Word, not because we cannot hear it, but because we do not listen to it.  Moreover, as the text declares, there is the duty of doing it when we hear it.

    Some things are inevitable, the status quo is here, but we do not have to be a part of this.  We should raise our heads and say, “Thy will be done.” I’m going for God and I’ll do my part and see that it is done. “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord“, Joshua of old said to the people of Israel.

  • Real Valor

     

    “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24).

        The Navy Seals train on the sand of Coronado Island so that can fight on the rocks of Afghanistan. Actually, the SEALs can fight anywhere–sea, air, and land. Hence the name and acronym SEALs.

          The training to become a SEAL is pure torture. But there is a reason for the harsh surroundings of training. The tests, drills, the lack of sleep, is all purposed to make a SEAL. Who will make it to become a SEAL? One writer said, “Not the weight-lifting meatheads…the kids covered in tattoos….the preening leaders who don’t want to get dirty…and the look-at-me former athletes who have always been told they are stars but who have never been pushed beyond the envelope of their talent to the core of their character.”

        Who does not make it in the Christian warfare and walk? In short, those who fail are the ones who focus on show. When it comes to famine (lean times in life), suffering (hard times in life), the rough times (doesn’t seem to-let-up times in life), many look for the exit. Though it is rough, tough, and fisticuffs, God means for us to not look for the exit, but to stay the course. His desire is for us not to be all show and no go. In Texas they have a saying, “Big hat, no cattle.”  Build on the Rock of Jesus! STAY the course!

  • Revival Means To Live in a New Way

    “The LORD is good unto those who wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him” (Lamentations 3:24).

    J.D. Grear in his book, “Jesus Continued”, said, “In an awakening, the Spirit of God does not typically do a “new” thing; he simply pours greater power upon the “normal” things faithful Christians are already doing. Prayers become more intense; worship becomes more joyous; repentance becomes more sorrowful; and the preached Word yields greater effect. The Spirit of God multiplies the effectiveness of our “normal” work of seed-planting, bringing a bountiful harvest. And he does more in a moment than we can accomplish in a lifetime.”

    This is what I dream of everyday that I awaken from my sleep. Looking, longing for this is a great desire that many have for their churches and for their land. This passion should drive each of us to our faces before a holy and righteous God. Yet the passion runs deep and the need arises paramount.

    Don’t you want to serve as a spiritual pyromaniac in igniting the heart of the church for Christ’s glory? Are you dreaming of this too? Could God do it here in Alamance County? Could you and I be used of God to help lead the way in a movement of unprecedented proportions to see the Gospel of God spread like wildfire and countless lives transformed?

  • How Do You Stay in Shape?

     

    “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

         In these days of exceptional evil, are we doing something exceptional? You and I are called upon to complete the race that God has called upon us to run. How do we do that?  Prayer! Prayer is to the soul what exercise is to the body. A man who prays consistently (1) eats the nutritious diet of the Scriptures; and (2) he consistently spends time in kneeling at the feet of the Father.

         There are three assumptions when it comes to the Christian life. Assumption #1: The Christian life is not a 100-yard dash. It is a marathon. Assumption #2: In the Christian life, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Assumption #3: Spiritual self-starters train.

        The man or woman who studies the Bible without praying will develop a good mind with a cold heart. The man or woman who prays without knowing Scripture will consistently pray outside the will of God, for that is where God’s will is revealed. Scripture with prayer is the road to travel that leads to a good finish.

  • The Third Day

    Only What’s Done for Christ Will Last

    “And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity” (Leviticus 7:16).

     

    God commanded the people of Israel not to eat of the flesh of the sacrifice after three days. For if the offering is given to God it will not be accepted. The Bible tells us that it is “an abomination.” For whosoever eats of the sacrifice on the third day will bear his own perverseness in penalty.

     

    When you and I are not enjoying the presence of Christ daily then we begin to stale-out and contaminate those around us. Our families are affected, our coworkers are contaminated, and all around us are brought down lower than where they were before.

     

    The church suffers and the glory of Christ becomes a non-reality in the life. What an abomination before God and among others. God brought us out of the bondage of sin, given us newness of life, and supplies us the opportunity for nobility of life.

     

    The sacrifice of the peace offering was meant for identification with Christ and with others. It was a meal shared together as well. He has become our peace and since we have the peace of God then we are to be at peace with one another. But the person who is compromised, the person who is play-acting, the one who is not in God’s Word failing to read, study, and feed off of Christ, will fail others and will fail to glorify God in the only life they have to offer to God.