Surrounded By Enemies: Pray For Ukraine

 

“The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.” – (Psalm 27: 1-3 ESV)

What would our first response be if surrounded by hostile forces? King David trusted in his covenant-keeping LORD. Davids’s failures did not keep God from loving him. His gaze was on the beauty and splendor of Yahweh (Psalm 27:4.) The God who makes war cease (Psalm 46:9) also trained his hands for battle (Psalm 144:1.) As Christians, we see that real war is in heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12.) Hostile unseen forces guide leaders to do evil. The manifestation of spiritual warfare is played-out on earth.

Prayer: Father, deliver the Ukrainian believers from the evil one. LORD, surround them with songs of deliverance (Psalm 37:2.) And even though an army is deployed against them, help them not to fear. Be a shelter in the day of danger and hide them in an inaccessible place. May they experience Your presence in this danger.

In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

A Reflection On Psalm One

 

The Word:

1Blessed is the man (the person)
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law (instruction) of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish. – (Psalm 1 ESV)

A Reflection:

Psalm 1: 1-3 presents a picture of a person who lives under God’s blessing. The word blessed means happy. This happiness is not contingent on material blessing or what the world apart from God craves. Divine favor from God is a result of living life in his Kingdom. And finding pleasure reciting quietly (meditating) and obeying God’s Word. This type of meditation requires intense study and reflection. This approach to life produces soul prosperity and well-being.

It’s Kingdom living (Matthew 5-7.) Like a tree transplanted to a riverbank from its natural habitat. Its roots grow deep so that the tree is nourished and grows strong.

The contrast could not be starker between those who walk in obedience to God’s word and those that do not. By nature, we all gravitate to the advice of the world. We must protect our minds from ungodly influences. Internal change happens as we allow the Word and the Spirit to transform our thinking.

Those who do not delight in God’s ways go down a destructive path. They may seem to flourish for a season, but they bear no fruit.

Prayer: Father, help us avoid the path of those who reject your truth. Lord, give us a hunger and desire to delight in your word. And help us to obey you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Praying For The Sick

 Jesus never met a disease that he liked. The fact is, sickness is an enemy in both Old and New Testaments. God can indeed teach us perseverance and patience through our infirmities. And no one should feel condemned for being sick. But the Health and Wealth prosperity message has caused some Christians to feel spiritually inferior for having health problems. And this is sad because all sickness is not the result of personal sin. I believe the Bible encourages us to pray for the sick. And as followers of Jesus, we must pursue healing as part of our journey as his disciples. So let’s pray aggressively for the health of those who God puts in our paths.

(I copied the Scriptures below from Sam Storms blog http://www.samstorms.org. )

Some New Testament Verses on Sickness and Disease

Just consider this tiny sampling:

• And he [Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. (Matthew 4:23-24)

• And he [Jesus] called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. (Luke 9:1-2)

• Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him [Jesus], and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. (Matthew 12:22)

• Now he [Jesus] was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. (Luke 13:10-13)

• God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)

• But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he said to the paralytic — “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:10-12)

• Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (James [Jacob] 5:14-15)

The Spiritual Power Behind Political Chaos

 

“My kingdom is not of this world.” – Jesus

” For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. – Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” – Ephesians 6:12-13 ESV

We are living in spiritually dark times in America. Political divisions are causing great anxiety in our country. Many in the evangelical community have lost sight of the spiritual nature of this battle. All forms of media have been weaponized and used to divide our nation.

The political civil war that we are in is the fruit of cultural chaos. We cannot blame the Russians, the Chinese, or Middle Eastern countries that hate us – we are our biggest enemy.

We have allowed spiritual darkness into our Churches and our culture. There is very little difference in the lifestyle choices of those who claim to follow Jesus and those who do not.

The fact is we live in a materialistic culture that understands very little about supernatural cosmic beings. And the consequences of opening spiritual doors through rebellion to the revealed Word of God. 

We have given dark powers greater access to the very soul of our nation.

Much of our cultural and political chaos is the consequence of an anti-supernatural worldview in the American church. Our focus has been more on the political landscape than what is going on in the spiritual realm. 

Both nationalism and marxism are antithetical to the Kingdom of God. 

Cosmic Powers are behind the chaotic political decisions made by world leaders. The Kingdom of God – is not of this world. 

Our real enemies are spiritual forces, not political parties.

A return to prayer is desperately needed. We must follow Jesus’ example of blessing and serving those who hate us. I am not saying that Christians should not be involved in politics. But that we need to understand the powers behind political ideologies on the right and the left. As followers of Jesus, we must come to terms with what the Apostle Paul said,  “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood..”

We Need Reformation In The Church: A Reflection On The Word and The Spirit

 

Evangelical and Charismatic Churches in America are in desperate need of Reformation. We need to rediscover the Word of God as our final authority for our faith and doctrine. It is vital to the health of the evangelical Church to embrace the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit.

Let me explain: The miraculous gifts of the Spirit that we see in the book of Acts have never ceased to exist. It’s not that hard to look back over Church history and find examples of these supernatural gifts in operation.

The Bible does not teach that spiritual gifts would cease to operate before the return of Christ. Admittedly, there is some debate over the function of the office gift of the apostle today. (I won’t get into that debate here.)

Church history is full of examples of the abuse of revelatory gifts. The Apostle Paul warned the church at Corinth against the misuse of spiritual gifts. Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers (who had a history of misusing gifts) to pursue spiritual gifts, not to stop using them.

“Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” – 1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV

Cessationists believe that revelatory gifts undermine the sufficiency of Scripture. Sam Storms says:  “It is the cessationist denial of the on-going validity of revelatory gifts that compromises the sufficiency of Scripture. (1)

For example, someone giving a prophecy is not giving a message equal to the authority of the Scriptures. The Bible encourages believers to prophesy. So, if we want to be biblical, we should pursue spiritual gifts. The Spirit releases revelation to strengthen and encourage fellow believers. Not for the purpose of adding to the canon of Scripture. Any prophecy we give must never contradict the Scripture. If it does – it’s a false prophecy.

It’s a mistake to devalue something that God’s Word values.

Those who reject controversial gifts such as tounges, prophecy, and healing overreact to their misuse. A lack of experience with these gifts has caused many to fear them.

Some in the Church today doubt the authority of the Bible. Others who claim to believe it deny God’s power.

It’s time we rediscover the Word and the Spirit.

(1) Convergence: Equip Guidebook, page 3.

God's Empowering Presence

 

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (Romans 16:20 ESV)

God is always calling his people into deeper communion with himself. The Holy Spirit is nudging us to launch out into the deep. The Spirit leads us into deeper waters to experience more of God’s empowering presence. Growing in intimacy with him causes us to live in peace.

The sleeping Church is awakening to recognize that Satan is the source of our problem. People are not our real enemies. The devil is behind all strife and division.

The Lord is restoring those who have grown weary to re-enter the cosmic battle against spiritual darkness. We stand against darkness by walking in the light of truth. Our focus should be on Jesus, not the evil one.

We grow in discernment and holiness when we humble ourselves through prayer and worship.

It’s time for those who have fallen to stand back up and experience his mercy and grace. Broken people that have become unfruitful can bear fruit again as we learn the secret of abiding in Christ. God is extending his hand of grace and mercy to all that will take it. He will deliver us from the pit we dug for ourselves when we turn from sin. Grace will not leave us in our sin but will empower us to overcome it.

The God of peace will crush satan under our feet so that we can live to fight another day.

The Earliest Recorded Sermon Outside The Bible

 

This is an excerpt of the earliest recorded full sermon outside of the Bible. It was delivered by Melito of Sardis, the Bishop of Sardis around 167 A.D.  

ON PASCHA

This is the one who comes from heaven onto
the earth for us suffering ones,
and wraps himself in the suffering one
through a virgin womb
and comes as a human.
He accepted the suffering of us suffering ones,
through suffering in a body which could suffer,
and set free the flesh from suffering.
Through the spirit which cannot die
he slew the human-slayer death.

He is the one led like a lamb
and slaughtered like a sheep;
he ransomed us from the worship of the world
as from the land of Egypt,
and he set us free from the slavery of the devil
as from the hand of Pharaoh,
and sealed our souls with his own spirit,
and the members of our body with his blood.

This is the one who clad death in shame
and, as Moses did to Pharaoh,
made the devil grieve.
This is the one who struck down lawlessness
and made injustice childless,
as Moses did in Egypt,
This is the one who delivered us from slavery to freedom,
from darkness into light,
from death into life,
from tyranny into an eternal Kingdom,
and made us a new priesthood,
and a people everlasting for himself.

This is the Pascha of our salvation:
this is the one who in many people endured many things.
This is the one who was murdered in Abel,
tied up in Isaac,
exiled in Jacob,
sold in Joseph,
exposed in Moses,
slaughtered in the lamb,
hunted down in David,
dishonored in the prophets.

This is the one made flesh in a virgin
who was hanged on a tree,
who was buried in the earth,
who was raised from the dead,
who was exalted to the heights of heaven.

This is the lamb slain,
this is the speechless lamb,
this is the one born of Mary the fair ewe,
this is the one taken from the flock,
and led to slaughter.
Who was sacrificed in the evening,
and buried at night;
who was not broken on the tree,
who was not undone in the earth,
who rose from the dead and resurrected humankind from the grave below.

O mystifying murder! O mystifying injustice!
The master is obscured by his body exposed
and is not held worthy of a veil to shield him from view.
For this reason, the great lights turned away,
and the day was turned to darkness;
to hid the one denuded on the tree,
obscuring not the body of the Lord but human eyes.

For when the people did not tremble, the earth shook.
When the people did not fear, the heavens were afraid.
When the people did not rend their garments, the angel rent his own.
When the people did not lament, the Lord thundered from heaven,
and the most high gave voice.

“Who takes issue with me? Let him stand before me.
I set free the condemned.
I gave life to the dead.
I raise up the entombed.
Who will contradict me?

“It is I,” says the Christ,
“I am he who destroys death
and triumphs over the enemy,
and crushes Hades,
and binds the strong man,
and bears humanity off to the heavenly heights.”

“It is I,” says the Christ,
“So come all families of people,
adulterated with sin,
and receive forgiveness of sins.
For I am your freedom.
I am the Passover of salvation,
I am the Lamb slaughtered for you,
I am your ransom,
I am your life,
I am your light,
I am your salvation,
I am your resurrection,
I am your Kings.
I shall raise you up by my right hand,
I will lead you to the heights of heaven,
There shall I show you the everlasting Father.”

He it is who made the heaven and the earth,
and formed humanity in the beginning,
who was proclaimed through the law and the prophets,
who took flesh from a virgin,
who was hung on a tree,
who was buried in earth,
who was raised from the dead,
and ascended to the heights of heaven,
who sits at the right hand of the Father,
who has the power to save all things,
through whom the Father acted from the beginning and forever.

This is the alpha and omega,
this is the beginning and the incomprehensible end.
This is the Christ,
this is the King,
this is Jesus,
this is the commander,
this is the Lord,
this is he who rose from the dead,
this is he who sits at the right hand of the father,
he bears the father and is borne by him.
To him be the glory and the might forever.
Amen.