Great Exchange

‘You are not good enough. You do not deserve anything. You fell down again. Why can’t you stay out of sin? You were warned about that, do you have a problem obeying? Look, Jesus, look at your so called believer. Ha! They cannot do a thing you have asked of them.’ Any of this sound familiar to your spirit? It does to mine. The Accuser, the enemy, the Father of Lies comes to the presence of the King and night and day, stands and tells of our failures and faults.

The thing about the Accuser standing before the Judge is that he is telling the truth. We are sinful, we do fail, we do fall, and we do spit on the cross with our flesh. But, in the midst of the enemy spitting out his dirt on us, the Father turns and looks at His Son, our Intercessor, our Savior, our Redeemer. Jesus stands before the Sovereign Judge, and He shows Him the scars, the holes, the blood. See, the Accuser comes, but we overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, clean, forgiven.

Joshua stood before the Lord, Satan right on his heels. Joshua was clothed in filthy rags. But, the Lord called for the old garments to be exchanged for new raiment. Taking the sin off him and clothing him with righteousness. That is exactly what the Lord does for us. We are not worthy to stand at the throne. But, Jesus is! Jesus saves! We were cursed under the law of sin, but Jesus took that curse and went to the cross. It is the Great Exchange!

The enemy can come and do his worst over us, but he was defeated by Calvary. Case closed!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI1sSZ1zTEs&feature=related

Sweetly Broken

I was pondering Psalm 23. Everyone knows it. The Lord is my shepherd. It makes me think of Sunday school, with little white fluffy sheep lying in grass that is unnaturally green and plush, a brook of tropical clear water flowing by. The Lord has painted a different picture for me lately.

When you see the pictures of the little lamb snuggled into the shepherd’s neck, what comes to mind? Cute, right? Maybe the lamb won the sheep fold lottery and goes on a ride along instead of walking that day?
When a lamb loses his way, the shepherd goes out on the search, and brings him back into the fold. If that same lamb ventures off again, and again, he has to be taught a lesson. The shepherd would break the legs of the little lamb, bandage it back up, and lay it on his shoulders. Harsh? The poster isn’t looking so cute now.

The Lord is our shepherd. He lays us in green pastures and still waters. He is the perfect, Good Shepherd. He wants what is best for us. We stupid sheep wander from the shepherd, free for the ravaging of wolves and prey. He loves us too much to let us get lost in the wilderness. This Shepherd loves us! He owns us. He is invested in us through the price of the blood of the Lamb that was slain!

What was the purpose of this harsh discipline to the lamb? Seems a little extreme! The lamb would learn to be completely, utterly dependant on the Shepherd. They would breathe in his air and walk where he walked. Most important, though, the lamb would learn his voice. It would learn to recognize his voice, the nature of the tones, the implied inflections. The lamb learns to tune into the Master.

The Good Shepherd carries both a staff… and a rod. He leads, and guides, nurtures and protects. He also corrects, disciplines and exhorts. When the Lord breaks us, he bandages our wounds, lays us on his shoulders, close to his heartbeat, and carries us until we can learn to depend solely on Him. We learn to constantly abide with Him, drinking in His character, His voice, His breath. We follow the Lord, we know His voice, and He knows our names!

When we feel broken by the Lord, He lifts us up, carries us through, and restores our souls. This is a sweet time with the Lord. Soak up the undivided attention of our Master, our Leader, and our Savior! Learn the lesson of abiding, tune your ears to the voice of your Creator. Then, when you are fully restored, He sets us down on solid ground, ready for His work once again.

Come, let us return to the Lord ; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; (Hosea 6:1, 3)
(Ps. 95:6-8, Hosea 6:1, 3, John 10: 11-16, 27, Psalm 23)

Clay Pots

I was thinking about Gideon this morning...

Have you ever had the feeling the Lord is calling you to ministry, and you just do not want to? I mean, you get all clammy, and light headed and you want to crawl in a hole somewhere? Maybe you just don’t feel worthy enough? Our first response may be, "Who, me? Sorry, Lord? I think you have the wrong number!" Sometimes we feel like we are nothing but a clay pot, not worth a thing. We feel kind of ugly and awkward, and dusty from sitting on the shelf.

Gideon… poor guy! Talk about a very humble, maybe even humiliating character in the Bible. Well, at least at first. The Lord came to him while he was hiding out from the Midianites at the threshing floor. Amazing! The Lord called to Gideon with a title, the character of how Lord saw in him. 'Thou mighty man of valour!’ Umm… Who, me?

The Lord seeks to use a humble servant. He loves to take what you were and make you what you will be in Him. A clay pot is exactly what He wants to use for His glory. He is constantly looking for those in whom He can show Himself strong. As believers, we have treasure inside of us that the world is desperately seeking. It is the gospel, the key to life and death. If we hide the gospel, we only hide it from those who need it! The Lord commands that we shine in this dark world. We are earthen vessels.

So, how do we get what is inside of us out? We take our earthen vessels and become broken vessels. To have a spirit that is humble and willing to serve the Lord. To come to Him in our weakness and let Him be our strength. Just to fall at His feet and admit that we need Him for the task at hand.

Oh, back to Gideon. He took his puny army of 300 and surrounded the camp of the enemy. All they had were trumpets, clay pots, and a flame. That’s it. But, in their willingness to do the work the Lord had called them to do, they blew those trumpets with all their might, broke their clay pots and the light shined out from them. The enemy was defeated that day. They were victorious doing nothing more than letting their light shine.

The Lord is calling each one of us to His service in one way or another. You can do this! Take heart! The Lord sees you victorious already! The Lord is with you wherever you go! Walk in victory today and fear not, thou mighty man of valour!

Back To The Valley

Well, we are back from the mountaintop, and I suppose in the swing of our daily schedules. At our last Tuesday night study, we talked about how Jesus would go up to the Mount of Olives frequently and considered why He did. Having just come down the mountain from our Redeemed retreat, we KNOW why He spent so much time there!


The Mountain:  A place where the valley disappears underneath us. A place of reflection and meditation. A place where the stars are brighter and it seems that creation takes a breath around us. And, indeed, a place where our physical person stands closer to eternal home!


I just wanted to encourage you! The enemy will be hot on our tails to discourage us from the work the Lord did in removing the chaff off our souls, dusting off our walking shoes of faith, and setting us up in strength and boldness to leave a remnant for the travelers behind us!


Stay strong, ladies! Stay put in your Promised Land territory. You are in the House of Bread even if it feels famished. Take heart, dear Ruth! Your Redeemer lives!


Personal challenge for us:
        * Can we trust the God of the valley, just as firmly as we do the God of the mountain?

  * Will we have faith that the one Who holds you and leads you has your absolute best in mind, come what may?
  * Will we take our Remnant of Blessing, hold it high, and say in the face of the valley…. BUT GOD!?

Have an absolute blast with your Goel as He lavishes

His blessings and benefits on His beautiful bride!

Tuesday ~ Sacrifical Offering

Tuesday marks the day in Passion Week where Jesus is constantly challenged at every single turn. He must have been exhausted, yet He handled every situation with clarity, authority, and grace. He spoke the Parable of the Fig Tree, the two sons and the wicked husbandman. He proclaimed Himself greater than David, and gave the great commandment. He set the scribes and religious leaders down from their lofty perches. Conspirators and traitors loomed in the shadows as the plots for betrayal were finalized.

In the midst of all of this, we find Jesus sitting in the Court of Women where the temple treasury was kept. We are told that He is once again observing the people, and no doubt keeping a protective eye over the temple dealings. Worshippers passed by Him, leaving their offerings in the trumpet-shaped vessels.

Boisterous, gloating, pompous Pharisees came with their coins jingling in oversized, lined pockets of their costly robes. Drawing as much attention to themselves they could muster, they dropped their donations with announcement and noise. Others came, giving out of their abundance and riches, as large sums of money started to pile up.

Entering through the gate… A widowed woman shuffles towards the ruckus, making her way humbly through the crowd.

Nobody notices her. Nobody would…

She reaches into her worn, weathered widowed garment and says a prayer. She extends her hand over the mouth of the box as the last of everything she has to her name comes to rest on the shiny gold coins. These copper pieces were not worth enough to even make a clink.

Calling His disciples over, Jesus gives a lesson concerning offerings and how they are measured in eternity. This woman gave everything she had. All. She offered until she was completely dependent on the Lord to sustain her. It may not have been much in quantity, but her coins resounded in the heavens loud and weighty!

And unbeknown to this sweet lady… she was noticed. The Messiah was watching her, teaches His disciples a lesson about her, and what she gave to the Lord remains in the cannon of scripture for us to talk about today.

Why does the Lord give so much attention to this woman? May I suggest to you that a true sacrificial heart, without any selfish gain, without looking to receive recognition, is a gem and a precious thing to the Him!

David had the same heart in 2 Samuel 24, where he demands to purchase the threshing floor to build an altar at a cost, even though it was being freely given to him.

‘I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that costs me nothing!’

A challenge for us to think about:

µ       Have I recently given out to the Lord at a cost? Cost of money, time, resources, effort?

      µ       In our hearts, if we were honest, do we wait to see if someone will notice us if we do?
      µ       Is receiving a heavenly reward good enough for us, or does our flesh always require a pat on the back?
      µ       Has the Lord called us to true sacrifice and we declined the call?

When we give of ourselves in whatever way the Lord is asking us to, it is always noticed!

Not too far away, your Messiah is sitting, watching you in your obedience, smiling from ear to ear, and whispers to your spirit, “That’s my girl!”

Lord, would You give us the strength to see things the way You see them. Keep our flesh at bay as we strive to obey You in sacrifice. We thank You and are amazed that You would take notice of us at all, but we are so elated that you do!

(Mark 12: 38-44, 2 Sam 24:18-25, 1 Sam 15:22,  2 Cor 9:6-15)

 


 

Monday ~ House cleaning!

It was Passover week in Jerusalem. Pilgrims from all over the known world would come to gather to worship and take part in the celebrations. The city would be busting at the seams as the population would erupt to 100,000 visitors. Jesus and His disciples were in town, preparing for what would be the greatest Passover of all history.

Worshippers of all kinds approached the temple to purchase their sacrificial lambs and exchange foreign currencies. Many were not allowed to venture any further then the Court of Gentiles. The Sadducees, who were the elected overseers of these commercial ventures, placed their tables near the front entrance, open for their lucrative business. Money was short-changed, and perfectly approvable sacrificial animals were deemed unworthy just to make a profit. Sojourners, simply desiring to offer true worship and to bring a sacrifice to the Lord, were hindered at the gate by thieves and robbers.

Jesus, undoubtedly in a prayerful and heightened sense of compassion, observes how the people were being cheated and mistreated. In righteous indignation, and passion we could only imagine, Jesus rushes the crowd, turns over the tables, and not so kindly dismisses the employees as He drives them out of the temple court.

We, as the bride of Christ, are called the temple of the Living God. We are a dwelling the Holy Spirit has chosen by grace to come and abide with Jesus as the cornerstone and sure foundation of our faith.

A challenge for us to think about:

µ       How do our temples look?

µ       Is it time to clean house?

µ       Do we hinder true worship from ascending in our hearts because there may be sin at the gate?

µ       Are there still locked doors and hidden closets we are hoping are not exposed to the light of His glory?

µ       How do our dwelling places look on the inside behind the pulled shades?

I do not think it is by chance that the very first task on the Lord’s agenda for Passion Week was the temple cleansing. If the Lord cannot enter the temple and be glorified, we have some serious problems. Do you agree?

The temple is where worship ascends, sacrifices are offered, incense rises from the altar, prayers mingle in the throne room, the mercy seat heavy with the glory of the Lord, atonement is made. It is a beautiful thing to the Lord!

May You, Lord, find Your temple to be a dwelling with which You approve, that You would come down and consume us with His glory! Show us where we have failed, and correct us with Your grace and leading!

(Matt 21:12-13, 2 Cor 6:16, Eph 2:19-22, 1 Peter 2:1-12)