How Do You Define Blessed?

Your definition of “blessed” is going to determine your ability to be used by God.

“Definitions” are important because we use them to order our world. If we believe that God’s highest and best for us is to be accumulating material goods and money, then we will order our world in such a way to make the acquisition and retention of these things “the” priority. Most people who believe in Jesus would never overtly state that materialism is next to godliness, yet, it is being taught in many circles and is believed by many to be true. While God knows we need goods and money to survive, He doesn’t define being “blessed” as the acquisition of such things.

I’ve learned that a sure way to make a bad decision is by using money and and the acquisition of goods as “the” barometer in ascertaining God’s will. God often promotes His people and increases their funds and position but satan can also use money and goods as an attraction to his will. Satan tempted Jesus to worship him by offering Him the world and its kingdoms (Matt. 4).  If you look at what happened in the lives of Jacob and his brother, Esau, you would have thought that Esau was the favored brother. Jacob’s descendants went down to Egypt during famine and were eventually enslaved there for four hundred years. Meanwhile, Esau went straight into his inheritance in the mountains of Edom and lived as a free man. Yet, the Bible tells us in Malachi, chapter 1:2:

“Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated.”

Well, if you’re using the acquisition of money and goods as the definition of being “blessed” you wouldn’t come to that conclusion. It would appear that Esau is favored and loved and Jacob is hated and rejected. We must be careful to be sure that our evaluations are biblical in nature.

Another aspect of a “blessed” life is safety. If we are protected from all harm, we consider ourselves “blessed”. Once again, to make decisions based upon what will keep us “safe” is going to prohibit many activities from being considered as being God’s will. The apostle Paul would not have done one-third of the things that he did if his personal safety would have been his priority.  Paul said in Acts 20:22:

“And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

I’ve noticed that when we pray over a mission trip, we often pray, “Lord, keep everyone safe.” Maybe a better, more biblical prayer would be, “Lord, Your will be done, no matter what.”

You see, the definition of success in the Kingdom of God is: Doing the will of God. A “blessed” life is not one which avoided all danger, or one in which decisions are made out of self-interest, but one in which the individual is able to say, “I finished what the Lord told me to do. “

Be careful of the “definitions” that are formed in your theology. You will make decisions based upon these definitions. Our kingdom and our personal safety is not to be primary in the making of decisions as servants of God. Our primary consideration is His will.

Remember, a player on the sidelines does not have to worry about his safety and a thief makes every decision based upon his own personal gain. But, I know that you don’t want to be on the sidelines rather than in the game and I know that you don’t want to have the heart of a thief.

To be “blessed” according to scripture means “to be happy with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions.”

Great things lie ahead for those whose definition of “blessed” matches God’s.

 

Keep it Real

Articles of high quality are valued by wise shoppers. People educated in the acquiring of quality goods spend a lot of time scrutinizing items before they purchase them to ensure that what they are buying is the genuine article, not some cleverly devised fake. Due to the amount of money people are willing to spend for a quality item, the production of “fakes” has become big business. People involved in this illegal activity spend a lot of time studying high quality items so they can recreate them using inferior, less expensive materials, passing them off to buyers as the “real deal”. The desire is to be good enough at producing “fakes” so that buyers will pay top dollar for items that are not what they appear to be.

How do you know if something is genuine? Anyone can put a “label” on something and call it the “real deal”. To find out if something is genuine, it must be inspected closely. Think about precious metals: they are revealed as genuine by putting them through fire. Gold reacts a certain way when exposed to heat. Metals being passed off as gold will be proved to be a fake when exposed to extreme heat. Every manufacturer of high quality goods puts some type of trademark embedded in the item they have created, so that when inspected, it will be revealed as the genuine article. Producers of fake items usually don’t have the knowledge or equipment to produce these trademarks, therefore making it difficult to pass them off as real. Close inspection reveals the trademark and declares the item genuine.

Guess what reveals a believer in Jesus as the “genuine article” or the “real deal”?

You guessed it: Close inspection and testing. Studying the Bible in an effort to copy the real article; going to church in an effort to pass yourself off as the real thing or wearing the “label” Christian can fool some people. But, before you know it, the testing time comes and then, “copies” of the real thing are revealed as “fakes”.

1 Peter 1:6 in the Amplified Version says:

“You should be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations, so that the genuineness of your faith may be tested, your faith which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. This proving of your faith is intended to redound to your praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Anointed One is revealed.”

You should be glad when trials come: they are the very process through which you are revealed to be real in your faith. Anyone can make it through easy times. But closer inspection always reveals the presence of the trademark woven into the life of the disciple of Christ. I know, none of us like pain, but pain is the fire that refines what is real and gets rid of what is useless.

Now, don’t be fooled: it’s not only hard times that reveal you as genuine. Good times reveal you as genuine as well. They carry their own type of “fire”; not the fire of pain but the fire of satisfaction. You see, lack tests your commitment and abundance tests your character. When you are in lack of some sort, the test is: will I continue to believe in God’s Word that He will supply my need and that He is good and will cause this to work for good?

When you are in abundance, the test is: will I serve God or my stuff? Will I compromise to keep what I have? Will I hold on to my stuff lightly or tightly? Will I look down on those who don’t have what I have? Will I change the Word of God to fit my desires? Will I believe all the praise others are heaping on me due to my success?

Believe it or not, the test of success is harder than the test of commitment!

I’m reminded of the word of Jesus in John 14:30:

“For I will not talk with you much more, the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me. (He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.)” 

That’s the definition of true success! Yet, we will still be tested, just as He was:

“But (Satan is coming and) I do as the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know (be convinced) that I love the Father and that I do only what the Father has instructed Me to do. (I act in full agreement with His orders.)”

You are constantly being tested, not matter the circumstances. Your testing is revealing something about you. So, no matter where you are; in good times or bad, “keep it real”. Your success is defined by saying, like Jesus said, “the enemy has nothing in common with me; there is nothing in me that belongs to him – he has no power over me!

You will pass the test! I’m praying for you!!!!

 

The Spirit of Elijah

I believe that we are living in days that are reminiscent of the days of Elijah.

Political turmoil, spiritual apostasy, national division–all these things are evident in our day just as they were in the day Elijah lived. Elijah was a “nobody”; a complete unknown in the spiritual scene. He appeared on the stage by giving a word from God to Israel’s wicked top level leadership and then vanished for three years. As his words began to be manifest, he became the most wanted and hunted man in Israel. I believe that the spirit of Elijah is rising again within the church of Jesus Christ. Here, let me elaborate:

The confrontation of idolatry and the entry of judgment.

As I said earlier, Elijah just seemed to “appear out of nowhere”. The first word spoken in his ministry involved the entry of judgment. He came before Israel’s representative leaders and declared that there would be an economic disaster of unprecedented proportions. After his departure from the king’s court, I’m sure everyone had a good laugh about this crazy, unknown prophet of doom. Yet, as time went along, his word became reality. I believe, just as in the days of Elijah, we are living in a time of economic judgment. I believe that we could see a short reprieve in which things appear to get better, but it will be an illusion. The people of Israel experienced economic judgment in Elijah’s day due to their turning away from God and His ways. Same thing is happening here in America and around the world–we are turning from God and experiencing judgment in our economy. If the course is not altered, the destination will not be altered. These judgments are not set in motion by God’s anger as much as by our ignorance, false pride, and rebellion. For what we are experiencing, we shouldn’t blame God because we are just eating the fruit of our decisions. God is ready to help if we are ready to repent.

I also believe that we are going to see a confrontation between God and man’s idols. Just as in the showdown on Mount Carmel in the days of Elijah, I believe we are going to see God manifest Himself in ways unprecedented. These confrontations will bring many to say, “The Lord, He is God!” But, the Jezebel spirit of witchcraft and rebellion will not give up easily and the trend toward seeing Christianity as the enemy will continue. Attacks against the church and believers will continue and a divide will occur between the church that is false and that which is truly of God. While persecution continues, so will great manifestations of God’s glory. If the enemy touches the presence of God, we will see a recurrence of what happened when the Philistines took the ark of God.  God will knock over the idols of man and manifest His presence until the unsaved get right or get rid of the Presence.

In the book of Malachi, chapter 4, verse 5, we see another aspect of the rise of the spirit of Elijah.

“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

A breach has occurred in relationships due to our hardness or heart and rejection of God. I believe that God is calling the church to get out of its comfort zone and get involved in “reparenting” those who have been devastated by the consequences of the destruction of the home and the family. If the church doesn’t answer this call, the vacuum created in the younger generation will continue to get worse. It’s time to get up and parent an “unparented” generation. If we don’t, the curse of violence will get worse and worse.

The good news is that Elijah was the prophet of the manifestation of God and His power. The spirit of Elijah is rising in the church. Events in the world will be used by God to make His Presence known. Rise up, “Elijahs” in the church of Jesus Christ! You were created for such a time as this!

These are the days of your destiny!

Forgive as Often as You Want to Be Forgiven

“Lord, how often shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?”

Peter asked the Lord this question. When I read this, I think of how many times I’ve asked the same question of Jesus. How about you? Has someone offended you? Are you wondering just how much a person is supposed to take?

I truly believe that Peter would not have asked this question unless he believed that there was a limit to how far forgiveness was supposed to be extended before it is withdrawn. Just asking the question lets me know that he believed there was a limit to forgiveness for offense. The rabbis of Jesus’ day taught that you were to forgive someone three times for the same offense and after that, you could treat them like they deserve. Peter knew that Jesus was unlike anyone else, so he “jacked up” the amount of times to forgive and said, “Should I forgive up to seven times?”

I mean, I want to be spiritual, but there has got to be a limit to forgiveness for some people!

Jesus’ reply?

“I say not to you, up to seven times: but, seventy times seven!”

In the original language in which the New Testament is written, Jesus was saying that Peter (you and I also!) are to forgive as often as an offense occurs. Why would Jesus say such a thing?

Because there is no limit to His forgiveness toward us so we are to extend the “God type” of forgiveness to those who offend us. In other words, we are to forgive as often as we want to be forgiven!

How often do you need God’s forgiveness? With that in mind, how often do you want Him to forgive you?

If we willingly accept forgiveness for ourselves, yet deem others unworthy of forgiveness then we have become hypocrites and judges. Instead of grateful recipients of God’s mercy, we knock God off of His throne and sit down in His place and begin to be Lord. How worthy of judgment do you think that act is?

I hear someone saying, “You just don’t know what has been done to me.”

Many have been deeply hurt by others. But, another’s sin and offense against us will never rise to the level of our offense against God. You see, it is not just the acts that we perpetrate against God that determines our judgment but who we have sinned against. We have sinned against the Author of Life, King of Kings, Creator of All Existence, the All Knowing, All Seeing God! When we turn to Him and, through our sin call Him a liar and a fraud and tell Him to abdicate His position as God so we can sit as Lord – we are acting in the same spirit as the devil and deserve the same judgment.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:14 that if we do not forgive our debtors then we will not be forgiven. We cannot play God and be  hypocritical judges: we must be willing to give what we deem worthy to receive.

Does a dark cloud enter your soul when you think of a certain person who has offended you? Then, you need to forgive them. This is not for their benefit but for yours. If you give them to God and release their actions against you, you will finally receive the  freedom that has escaped you all this time.

Don’t wait: do it today! Let God be judge; you be joyful recipient of His mercy! Thank God He is willing to forgive you every time you ask Him! Be free by extending the same type of forgiveness to others!