Merry Christmas!

Isaiah 9:6-7New King James Version (NKJV)

6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Luke 1:30The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;…

Praying for Your Congregation

Psalm 122: 7Peace be within your walls,

Prosperity within your palaces.”

8For the sake of my brethren and companions,

I will now say, “Peace be within you.”

9Because of the house of the Lord our God

I will seek your good. (NKJV)

7O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls

and prosperity in your palaces.

8For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,

“May you have peace.”

9For the sake of the house of the lord our God,

I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.(NLT)

I must begin with a disclaimer.  I am NOT advocating replacement theology in this blog when I speak of the Church and Jerusalem in the same breath.  However, there are often, not always, double implications in Scripture that can apply to both.  My point in this writing is intended to make us more aware of our need to have the correct attitude and prayer posture when we are caring for the Church.  Our personal local congregation is a representation and in fact a living part of the Body of Christ.  Like any body it must be cared for properly and not neglected.  The Psalmist here is deeply concerned about his city and congregation.  He prays for peace and declares peace over his community.  Then he said, “I will seek your good.”  A congregation is a delicate mix of many different opinions, tastes and spiritual gifts.  How in the world can such a group walk in unity and accomplish anything of a redemptive nature?  Only in the supernatural arena when the blessing of the Lord is declared, unity is that location.  Unity is an attitude and a commitment that results in an atmosphere. The writer makes is very personal and very practical when he says, “for the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “may you have peace.”  He goes on to say, “For the sake of the house of the lord our God, I will seek what is best for you.”

It is critical that we all, every single member of the local congregation, pray and speak peace, unity and good to our congregation.  This is especially true when enemies are outside the gate and possibly even within our walls. 

Peace and good to our congregations this day! May we all be instruments of that atmosphere.  

Can You Do Anything?

Is it true that you can do anything you put your mind to?  We have all heard it and maybe all our lives.  Our parents told us so.  Our grandparents and teachers at school did too.  Then the Church told us the same exciting thing and raised our potential for possibilities.  Let's see now...what would I like to do with my life?  Maybe I'll be a brain surgeon or an astronaut?  I might even become President of the United States.  Hmmmm.... maybe an astronaut.  Who would want to be President? :)
Some of the teaching I have heard in the Church under the supposed validation of the Bible was based on Phil. 4:13 which tells us, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  That is quite different than, "I can do all things."  The word "through" in this verse is the all important word.  It implies a position of rest.  That would mean that the action of "doing" is not actually me but Christ.  In truth He strengthens me to accomplish.  He accomplishes through me as His channel.  This is much more than semantics.  This means that Christ Jesus is not looking for greatly talented people so much as available submissive people who are resting in Him.  I have heard people who began in this humble and submissive place end up believing, "I can do all things!"  There is a big difference here on many fronts.  

An important thing about the Lord using us is that most often He uses us within our God given interests, talents or abilities.  For example the Lord doesn't take people with a "C" average in high school and make brain surgeons out of them.  Could He?  Certainly!  Does He?  I don't think so.  At least I've never met one.  Even in the ministry there are pastors of churches of scores and pastors of churches of thousands.  Did one just get the breaks?  No, certainly not. Our gifts make way for us.  They create paths that we may follow.  Now, here we must introduce Lordship into the equation.  The Lordship of Jesus trumps all gifts, anointing, talents and tastes.  He is looking for willing and obedient sons and daughters who will follow Him wherever and whenever He leads.  Obedience is the most important attribute of all.  When we tie all this together we see that the ways of the Lord, working within our "God given talents" calls for obedience within our spiritual sphere.  We need to stop telling people that they can do all they set their mind to.  That is not true and they cannot!  We can do all that the Lord has called and gifted us to do within His will and Grace.  Even then, cooperation and obedience is required to rise to our full potential in the Jesus Life.  Truth be told, very few meet the full potential to which Jesus has called them.  Let's expand our horizons and increase our obedience.