Making It Easier For Ourself

“So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day” (I Kings 12:12).

The decision of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, would break or unite the kingdom that God brought together under the headship of David and Solomon. What would he do?

Rehoboam met with the older elders and then with the younger group, his peers. Who would he listen to? He didn’t listen to God who was above. Instead of turning to a multitude of counselors–he listened to his peers–he already knew what he would answer the people of Israel when they returned the third day.

If the decision does not lead by serving, to lighten the loads that people carry, and that which takes us to the throne of God, then it is a bad decision. The king used his people to build his agenda which resulted in a divided people and nation.

The Lord Jesus grew up with the people. He served them, loved them, and lifted their loads by taking the heavier loads. A leader leads by serving, asking God, and leaning upon Him no matter the cost.

Are you leading by serving or leading by selfishness? We are all leaders but the question is “How are we leading?” A true servant puts himself last while a selfish leader desires his desires.

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    “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.

  • Dreams

    “But while he (Joseph) thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream…” (Matthew 1:20).

     

    The phrase “in a dream” is found six times in Matthew’s Gospel, five times in the narrative of the birth of Jesus (1:20; 2:12,13,19, 22). The dreams revealed God’s loving care and protection for His Son and His servants to aid them from their enemies.

     

    The Lord spoke in dreams to Joseph and to the wise men because they had to act quickly at a time of great danger and there wasn’t time to send a prophet to warn them, even if one had been available. (Israel had not heard from a prophet in four hundred years).

     

    Today, in our decision making process, we have Christian history behind us, the Word of God before us, the Holy Spirit within us, and loving Christians around us. For believers today, we have what we need to make correct and wise decisions. We do not depend upon dreams but upon the resources He has given to us.

     

    Does God still move in dreams? We are told by missionaries that He does. There are difficult people groups who are hard to reach with the gospel. So they dream of Jesus or “a black book” (the Bible) and then seek out Christians to help them understand their dreams. And many of these place their faith in Christ.

     

    Whenever there are sincere people who seek truth, God can reveal His truth to them as He did to Abram in Ur, to Cornelius the Gentile soldier in the Book of Acts, or even to someone in Iraq, Turkey, or Iran. If they would only “touch the edge of his cloak” (Luke 8:43-48), He will graciously respond to the weakest faith.

     

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    “But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice [peace offering] on the third day shall be burned with fire” (Leviticus 7:17).

     

    God spoke to Moses out of the Tabernacle of the congregation (Leviticus 1:1). The offerings were now of worship and witness of Himself. Five offerings were given to Moses as God called out to him, not from Mount Sinai but from the Tabernacle.

     

    The first three offerings were “Dedicatory Offerings.” It spoke of the value of Christ’s death. They are called the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering. The offerings prefigured Christ as a “sweet smelling savor” to God, rather than as a sin offering.

     

    The burnt offering speaks of the value of Christ’s death in terms of his “devotion.” The meal offering speaks of the value of the death of Christ in terms of its “perfection.” The peace offering speaks of the value of Christ’s death in terms of His “communion” (Leviticus 3; 7:11-13; Romans 5:1; Colossians 1:20). This was not an offering to make peace, but celebrated and rejoiced in the peace already made.

     

    The power of the third day is that you and I are to experience communion in the Lord Jesus Christ daily, the same day the offering is made. Our communion in Christ ought to take us to tomorrow and then we start over again. To become stale is to lose our freshness and reality in our communion with Christ, and is meant to be cut off from fellowship. This applies not only to our quiet times, but to the holy celebration when we come together for the remembrance of the Lord in His death, until He comes.

     

  • The Must of Salvation

    “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).

    God delivered His only Son into the hands of sinful men to be crucified. It doesn’t seem fair for God the Father to desert His Son in that manner but He did. Why? Because it is the only way to be saved from sin. Do you see the “must”?

    God must take on human flesh if we are to be saved. He must be seen as the sinless Son of God. God must show His sovereignty and control. God’s must is divine and purposeful. His must is for you and for others is to be saved from SIN.

    Are you saved? Why are you waiting to repent? Why would you tarry so long when you understand the drawing of the Spirit saying, “Come to Jesus.” You must be born from above. You must be born again. The only way for you to be saved is you must come to Jesus. He must come again. He must judge sin. He must and you must!

  • Counter Cultural: Living Well in a Broken World

    “If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).

    The cross offends. It cuts across the grain of the heart that is against the very intentions of God Almighty. The cross stands before every person and says, “We offend a holy and righteous God.” We are to say, “I agree.” And we fall down in brokenness and humility and rise to say, “I’m reconciled to God and His ways.”

    The cross reconciles. It is through the cross of Christ where sinners find refuge and reconciliation with God and with other men, no matter color, class, or credit. All people who come into this world by their first birth are bent on their own ways and their own thoughts. But the cross of Christ brings us to God’s way. When we are born again we are twice-born and we show forth the praises of Him who died and rose again for us.

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    “Father, thank you for giving us peace through the blood of your Son’s cross. By your Son you have reconciled all things unto Himself. All things…things in heaven, all things in earth, and whereas we were enemies of God in our mind by wicked works, yet now has your Son reconciled us with Him to You.”

  • Joy

    “Joy is withered away from the sons of men…Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?” (Joel 1:12, 16).

    Joy!  What a scarce commodity this is.  There are many who say they are abiding in Christ.  There are few who show that they are abounding in Him.  Joy seems to be elusive.  How indescribably blessed is the believer who has his soul filled with it.

    This joy is as real at the graveside as at the fireside.  Joy does not evaporate under the heat and pressure of adversity.  Joy does not collapse in the presence of calamity.  Joy does not sour under the test of poverty.  Joy is alive and deep down in the bottom of the heart of a Spirit-filled believer.

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