I pray you enjoy this sermon and answer the question, Who is the Christ Child to you?  Below the video is the closed captioning for the sermon so you can read it if you desire.  What is in [brackets] is what the congregation says.  Have a blessed Saturday!

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Show 139
Who is the Christ Child To You?

It's all good. Let me see your Bibles. Anybody got a Bible here today?  Did you come to church and bring a Bible?  Lift it up, make the devil mad.  Come on, say it with me -  This is [this is] the Word of God [the Word of God] it's in my hand [it's in my hand] in my heart [in my heart] in my mouth [in my mouth],  I love [I love] the Word of God [the Word of God]...  Come on say, I love [I love] the Word of God [the Word of God] Now say it like Barry White - I love [I love] the Word of God [the Word of God]. Now say it like Twiggy -  I love [I love] the Word [the Word].  Some of you all don't remember her, huh.  That was a long time ago.  Long time ago. 

I want to open our study in the book of, the book of Mark.  And I want to ask you a question today, just a very simple question.  Who is the Christ Child to you?  Who is He to you?  Have you figured it out?  Let's go to the book of Mark, I'm going to go to the fifth or sixth chapter, somewhere in there.  Well who is He to you?  It was interesting that earlier today someone was speaking and they were trying to figure out who someone was to them.  It started out you know, trying to figure it out.  Who are you to me and are you my sister?  My brother?  Are you a friend?  What are you and who are you?  Go to Mark, Chapter 6.  The sixth chapter of the book of Mark...

I want you to see that you have to answer the question who the Lord is to you.  You have to answer it definitively and with assurety that you know who He is to you.  It's like going to a family reunion and you walk into the room and you see all of these people - some have your hair tone, your eye color, some are your height and look like you.  But as you go to a family reunion, you do walk up to people and you say, "Now who are you to me?"  [laughter]  Come on now, anybody ever been there?  Who are you to me?  What is our relationship?  Are you my third uncle's cousin's kid?  Are you the illegitimate one from Georgia  [laughter]  that everybody talks about but nobody confesses that we know you?  Who are you?  Are you my brother's uncle's cousin's kids or my daddy was a rolling stone, are you one of the pebbles he dropped along the way?  [laughter]  What is it?  Who are you to me?  What is your relationship? 

And you go up to one of the old guys or one of the old gals and say, "Excuse me Ma'am, but who are you to me?"  And she looks at you and she says, "Hold on sonny, what's your name?"  And then she asks you the question, "Who's your daddy?"  [yeah]  "Who's your daddy?"  Do you know who your daddy is? 

Have you figured out who the Christ Child is to you?  What is His status in your life?  Does He have a name for you?  Is He important?  What is the relationship?  Because it's the answer to that question that will determine whether or not miracles will work in your life.  It's the answer to that question that will determine whether or not healing is available for you.  The answer to that question will determine what your life will amount to.  The Bible says that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  [amen, alright now]  And to those who believe that He is, He will manifest to those who diligently seek Him and believe He is a rewarder of those who have that. 

You've got to be going after God to get God to manifest.  [amen]  But if He's a tree, [laughter]  He ain't showin' up.  If He's a car, He ain't showin' up.  If He's a baseball score, He ain't showin' up.  And guess what, Colby Bryant can't help you. [laughter]  Colby can't help you.  Nice jump shot but he can't help you.  Let me call, the Bronx, James, what's his new nickname?  The King?  The King?  The King.  His decree will not save you... Won't happen. 

And so we have to be careful about promising that God's going to do miracles for people who have no faith and don't believe in Him.  Can you prove it preacher?  You all know I can, don't you?  [laughter]  God is good, Chapter 6, Chapter 6 in the Book of Mark... "Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.  And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue.  And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, "Where did this Man get these things?  And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!"" 

In other words, they heard about the things that Jesus could do... but they hadn't figured out that this thing is based on relationship.  They hadn't figured out who He is to them.  And so, they began to be offended and ask offending questions.  ""Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon?  And are not His sisters here with us?"  So they were offended at Him."" 

Have you ever noticed how, with unbelievers, you can say anything.  You can say, "God."  You can say, "The Higher Power."  You can say, "The Supernatural One."  You can say, "The tree."  You can say any of that stuff, but the minute you say, "Jesus,"  the whole atmosphere changes. [yes sir]  I mean, have you noticed?  Just wave your hand if you've noticed that that is the name that people will get offended at quickly.  You can go to an ecumenical thingamajigabobba and shake hands with all the great people.  But the minute you say Jesus, the room divides.  It's like the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, you know what I mean?  [laughter]  You start talking about Jesus at the Mall, they all start doing the Moon Walk.  [laughter]  Away from you. 

You know.  I was playing basketball the other day, and this young man used the name of Jesus improperly.  And I just very quietly, I try not to be too obnoxious about it, but I said, "Yeah, He died for your soul."  [laughter]  You know, in a polite way, but I noticed that the atmosphere changed.  We are talking about a name that is so impactful in our culture that we have to realize that that Name is a Name of power.  And we must speak it with respect and honor because it is the Name that above that, no other name, no other name, no other  name in Heaven or earth, can do what that Name can do.   [amen]  And at that Name, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that that Name, Jesus...  I don't care how you say it, Yehashua, Youshua, Meshua, Heshua...[laughter]  But people figure out right away you're talking about Him. 

Isn't it great to think that one of the convincing things to let you know as a believer that you are right....  is the response of the people that are wrong.  [amen]  You need to think about what I just said.  That's one of the ways that you know you're right. 

 So, let's go a little bit further here.  Are you with me or again' me?  [with]  Well, alright, then.  Verse 4.  "But Jesus said to them,..."  Look at this. "...A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house."....

Now, let's break that down and make it simple.  You ain't about to get no honor, no respect, in your own country among your own relatives, and in your own house.  [hallelujah]  Forget about it.  Oh believing wife who is waiting for your husband, forget about it.  That's a Jesus thing.  Only Jesus can change that man.  [that's right]... Jesus said, leave him alone.  Let Him work with him.  I was trying to beat my wife to the Lord, [laughter], I mean, I wasn't laying a hand on her, but I was, you know.  I was playing tapes, [laughter]  leaving books around, [laughter]  I was putting pamphlets and fliers.  I was even so bold that you know, in those days, how many ever heard of cassettes?  You all know about cassettes?  I would put the cassette in her tape recorder, in her car, on the right verse she needed to hear. [laughter]  She'd get in the car in the morning, vroom..., "And the Lord said..." [laughter]  just screaming right at her, you know.  I'm telling you, you know.  And you just, Lord have mercy, aren't we obnoxious sometimes?  [laughter] 

There's nothing worse than a Christian on a crusade trying to, trying to beat the people in his house down.  [amen]  You know why?  We totally forget, what do we forget?  We forget that we were just like them, we were just on the other side of the fence not too long before that.  [amen]  And so, you know what the Lord told me?  "Leave her alone."...   And I was, "But Jesus, You need my help."  [laughter]  Leave her alone!  umnh umnh umnh.  Leave her alone. 

Wouldn't it be nice to go to the, do you know, do you realize that if you have family reunions, they already are waiting for you?  They know you are coming.  [oh yeah]  Here come Mr. Holy.  [laughter]  Here comes Sister Righteous.  [laughter]  And you know, they practice all their lines for you.  I believe, you know what I think?  I think that before the reunion they email each other to say, when she gets here [laughter]  you know, we're going to say... They figure out what they're going to say.  How they're going to treat you.  What they're going to do. 

You know, now we have the opposite problem in my family.  We had a praying Grandma.  Both my Grandmothers were praying saints.  And both my grandfathers were praying people.  So we are now in the third or fourth generation of free black people in America.  And everybody, this is very strange to say this, but everybody in our generations are saved in our family.  [Praise God!]   So don't tell me this prayer thing doesn't work.  Everybody, all of my cousins, all of my nephews, all of them, we, the heathens have a hard time being in our family.  Cause we don't have to talk about Jesus.  They just walk in the room and they go,... [laughter]  Oh, Lord. 

So you need to realize that prayer is, that prayer is the key that will do it, but expecting to be honored, forget about it.  Expecting that they're going to go, "You know, you got to the Lord before me, that means that, you know, you're what?"  No it doesn't.  It just means that Jesus moved that way first.  You lucked out.  I said, "You lucked out."  [amen]  I said, "You lucked out."  [amen, glory]  It was just the grace of God that brought you in, but guess what?  Bringing you in first doesn't mean you're going to run the race the longest.  Bringing you in first doesn't mean you're going to stand the greatest.  Bringing you in first doesn't mean that you're going to do anything that He tells you to do, because obedience does not come by the opportunity of time.  Obedience comes by wisdom, what you learn.  And then you obey.  Somebody say, "Amen."  [amen] 

So Jesus realizes that He's not going to be honored in the town, but that's not what bothers Him.  Listen to me.  That's not what bothers the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.  Let's read the next part and we'll figure it out here.  Verse 5, let's read it together.  Come on.  "Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them."  Let's read it again.  "Now He..."  Who's the He here?  [Jesus] Jesus - "Now Jesus could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them." ...

Well, what are they saying?  He could do no mighty work there.  In other words, He laid His hand on somebody that had the common cold, and they were healed.  He laid His hands on somebody that had a headache.  It couldn't have been a severe migraine, or thing running through, you know, series and series of years in their lives, but they might have just had a little, you know, a headache, a little minor headache.  And He laid His hands on them.  A few minor things.  You know, somebody might have had a little, a little soreness in their elbow, and He laid hands on that and they were good to go.  But He could do no mighty works there.  In other words, He couldn't open blind eyes there.  He couldn't unstop deaf ears.  He couldn't get the crippled up.  He couldn't get someone who had a death sentence on them, and do anything about it.  He couldn't help anybody that had leprosy.  He couldn't help anybody that was demon possessed.  He couldn't help anybody that was what?  Off in the corner, by themselves, lost in the darkness of mental illness.  He couldn't bring them out.  All He could do was help somebody that had some minor kind of thing going on...

And we have to ask ourselves, whose fault was that?  Well, who is the Christ Child to you?  [alright now]  Who is He to you?  Because that's going to determine what He can do in your world.  Let's look at the next verse.  Look what it says in verse 6.  "And He marveled..."  Let's read it together so you get it now.  "And He marveled because of their unbelief...." He what?  [marveled]  "...marveled because of their unbelief."  And then it says, "...Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching."  Well, what does it mean, in a circuit teaching? 

Here's what, Jesus realized something.  He said, "Wait a minute."  He might have done like I do sometimes.  Sometimes, you know, when I pray for people and they don't get better, sometimes I question the anointing on my life.  Can I just be honest?  I say, "Lord, was it something I said?  Or something I did this week?  Or, you know, it's what?  What's wrong here, Lord?  Was it something that I didn't teach them properly?  Was it something that I didn't get down from in their brain down into their heart for them to understand so that they could receive their healing?  What, Lord, was it me?"  And I throw myself on the altar of self examination.  And I begin to peel back the thoughts in my mind.  Where did I let my mind go?  Maybe I strayed too much in my thinking and didn't have command.  Lord, what was it?  Maybe, maybe I just didn't have enough compassion for them.  Maybe I just didn't just love them enough this week and maybe they should show up next week, or the week before.  Maybe, maybe it's me.  Maybe there's something wrong with me...   And then I marvel.  Maybe it was them...  

And I thought to myself, here's Jesus, who's He to you?  I know who He is to me.  As the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, He marvels.  Well what does it mean when somebody marvels?  It means that he does the same thing I did.  He stepped back and said, "What in the world just happened here?"  Jesus said, "What in the world just happened?"  But, unlike me, the minute He asks the question, He's got the answer.  Aren't you glad Jesus already has the answer?  [yes]  I'd be looking for it for a week, but He's got it instantly. 

But Jesus knows the answer, because the Divine Spirit of God rests and resides upon Him because His anointing has no limit on it, and so, therefore, Jesus knows what the problem is.  And He goes immediately to do something about the problem.  What did He say was His problem? ... [unbelief] ...say it like you're not ashamed to be wrong.  [unbelief]  He says what?  He says, "The problem here is unbelief." ... Unbelief.... Unbelief in what?  You'd have to say, the question isn't in what.  The question is, in Whom.  I'm going somewhere today.  I want you to come with me. 

Our problem isn't in believing in what.  Our problem is believing in whom.  Can you say, "whom."  [whom]  Now say it like I'm saying it.  "Whooooom"  [Whooooom]  The question is, Whom.  He said He marveled at their unbelief.  Not their unbelief at what He could do because a few scriptures before it says they wondered about the marvelous, wonderful things He had done.  What Jesus had done was not in question.  They knew that He had done what the people said He had done.  Their question was, they were offended at who He is. [right]  And the question was, Whom...   Whom. 

Let's go through it again because I can see, I can see you know, confusion trying to get in here. And we're not going to permit that.  Look at verse 5 again...  Oh hold it, let's go to verse 2 1/2.  2 1/2 "..And what wisdom is this which is given to Him..."  They didn't question that He had wisdom did they? [no]  There's no question that He had the wisdom, and they say this is given to Him, "...that such mighty works are performed by His hands!"  They didn't question that He's done these mighty works, but what are they offended at?  They're offended at the fact that they know His momma. They're offended at the fact that they know His brothers and sisters.  In other words, watch this now.  They treat Him as a common thing...  They treat Him as a common thing. 

All the religions of the world have one thing in common concerning Jesus Christ.  Do you know what they have in common?  They all say He's a great teacher.  [yeah]  But they don't believe what He taught.  [right]  They say He was a great prophet, but they don't believe what He prophesied.  They say He was a great man.  But they don't believe in His ultimate character.  That what He said was true.  That it had some veracity, that it had some meaning that when He says, "I am the light of the World,"  Lord have mercy. "I am the light of the world."  When He said, "I am the Son of God."  When He says, "When you look at me you'll see, you'll see me coming in power and might."  Coming from where?  "From where I am from."  He says, "I came from above and I'm going back to above." 

Well at some point, Jesus realized the problem was not that they couldn't believe that He could do what He could do.  The problem was they did not believe that He was who He says He was.  Who's the Christmas Child to you today?  Maybe we can step up in your mindset who He is, so that the Whom can be answered at a more true level that would line up, not with what you know He can do, but would line up with whom He is.  Whom He is. 

I used to like it when my kids were little and Mom would come to visit.  My mother and father would load up the car and they'd drive from New York City up here.  And my kids would get excited.  And if you'd ask them, "Well why are you getting excited?"  They'd say, "Grandma and Grandpa are coming.  Yeah, Grandma and Grandpa are coming.  Yeah, Grandma's comin'.  I'm excited about that, Grandma's comin'."  Well, why?  Because Grandma to them significantly meant the best fried chicken in the world was coming to our house. [laughter]  They realized that there was no, no separation between who Grandma was, and what Grandma did.  If Grandma showed up, everything that she is, everything that she could do, was going to be busting loose at our house.  Because why?  That's who she was.  And when she showed up, all of her capability, all of her grace and power, all of her wonderful fried chicken was going to be in the house.  [laughter, yeah]  ...

When you show up, who's showing up?...  When you go to visit, who are they expecting?  When you stride through the door, do they go, "Uh, oh, trouble's here?"  [thank you Lord]  Or, "Old stingy showed up."  [laughter]  Or somebody in the kitchen bows their head and goes, "Oh, what's she want?"  [laughter]  Hallelujah.  Hallelujah. 

Jesus is disappointed because He is showing up, and the people are offended at who He is.  Huh.  Verse 5.  "...He could do no mighty work there...."  Verse 6 "...He marveled because of their unbelief."  ... I thank God that our God tells us what the solution to the problem is.  Anybody wanna see it?  [yes]  Do you want to see the solution to the problem?  [yes] 

One beautiful thing about Jesus is when He comes, He will not leave you the same.  Even if you reject Him, He will not leave you the same.  [amen, Thank you Jesus]  Even if you don't know who He is, He will not leave you the same.  But He will do something about the problem.  And so, in order that He will not have to run into this problem again, the end of verse 6 tells us, what the solution to the problem is.  "...He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching." 

In a circuit, teaching.  What's it mean, in a circuit?  It means that He's going around in a circle, doesn't it?  Doesn't it mean that He's going to go to a place, and then go past that place, and then to another place, and another place, and then come back to the place that He just left?  Come on somebody.  Can we see that?  Does anybody see that?  He's going around in a circuit.  So He's not just going to go to Kingston, and if they reject Him, and there's no signs, wonders, and miracles, He never comes back to Kingston.  It says that He's going in a circuit, teaching.  In other words, He is going to permeate, listen to me, He's going to permeate the area with His Word.  [amen, whooo]  Lord have mercy! [amen]  That He's just going to go around and permeate His Word, His Word is going to be expressed in the area around the Galilee, and He's coming back again... He's coming back again. 

In other words, my brother and my sister, Happy Holidays and all of that good stuff.  But the holiday is meaningless unless you answer the question:  Who is He to you?  Who is He to you?  And if we be honest, He'll come back in a circuit and teach us.  [amen]  He won't leave us in our ignorance and our pride.  How many of you know that?  I'm so glad He came back to me, and taught me the next time around.  [amen]  I'm so glad that when I missed Him, when I misunderstood Him, when I rejected His love and I didn't know how deep His love ran, I'm so glad, He came back around again in a circuit teaching.  That the things that I didn't understand back then, He was so kind to me.  So merciful to me that He says, "Oh I remember you.  You didn't get this last time.  But let me tell it to you another way.  Let me demonstrate it to you another way."  And He didn't give up on me. 

When I wasn't the best husband in the world, He gave me another chance.  He says, "No, that's not how you speak to the queen of your life.  That's not how you, that's not how you minister to her.  You've got to cover her in the Word."  He says, "Wash her in the Word of God."  And then I began to realize that there is no way that the washer who is washing something, or someone, there is no way that he stays dirty.  [yes, amen, hallelujah]... That if you will get into the water to wash someone else, there is no way that you stay unclean, even the dirt under your fingernails will come out.  [yeah]  ... Lord have mercy!  And the suds of Jesus, the suds of Jesus, will just roll over you, if you will get in the Water of the Word.  The Word of God is the Water.  Have you visited lately? 

Who is Christ to you?  He says, "I am the Living Water."  It won't help you if you're not drinking it.  It won't help you if you're not washing somebody in it.  What does He mean to you?  Who is He to you?  Is Jesus Christ just a nice suggestion, or is He Santa Claus, who is He to you? 

But to me He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  His Word is to be obeyed the instant that it is spoken.  He's Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.  All of that and more!  And He's coming around in a circuit to teach us again, and again, and again until we figure it out.  If He's just a teacher, He's not enough.  If He's just a prophet, it's not enough.  We have to receive Him as who He is:  The Son of God.  The Word of God.  The Ever Clean, Ever Worshipful, Ever Sanctified, All Powerful, Undefeated, Mighty in Battle, Gracious in Love and Kindness, His name is Yeshua, because He comes to save the people.  That's who He is!  And He's worthy to be praised.  That's who He is.  [applause]

Notes from Callin's Bible study on 12-4

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Word is a living force, it brings balance into our lives and helps us discern.

Psalm 119 is a wonderful Psalm that shows us the value of the Word. He highly recommends that we read this Psalm.

We don't understand the importance of the Word, but we need to be prophets of the Word, speaking forth the truth of God's Word. God gave His Word to the believer, and we were to share it with others. If we don't speak His Word, those that don't know His Word won't have a chance to hear it from us.

God's Word helps us get into focus, and we can look at the Word quickly or zero into a deeper meaning of a passage.  Callin used the example of a dial on a radio as you seek a channel - if you are not on the right setting the sound can be fuzzy or full of static; but as you come closer to the frequency there is a clarity of sound.

We were created in the image of God. God blew the breath of life into us. We are a body that has a soul (mind, will, emotions) and a spirit. Everything that is around us is created by the Word.

Hebrews 1:1-2  God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,  has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

This is speaking of Jesus. Jesus existed before the earth was created and manifested. Jesus is the WORD OF GOD.

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

We are programmed from the world to look at the physical, but the physical is not the whole reality.

Energy is not destroyed. We are created by a designer and He transforms us to new levels. We can be transformed in the twinkling of an eye to be like Jesus who is the Word of God.

Cal asked us a question:  If your words had an image what would they look like?

Cal then told us of a fairy tale he heard when he was a child. A young girl helped a deer out of a problem and in return whenever she spoke, precious stones came out of her mouth. Her older, mean sister went out looking for that deer and came across a rabbit in a trap. She passed the rabbit by looking for that deer. Because she didn't help the rabbit when she got home snakes and ugly things came out of her mouth.

We were created with the same characteristics that God has. God exhibits love and other emotions in the Word. Yes, God got angry but it was not anger like our anger, but a righteous anger - think of Jesus and the moneychangers. We need to examine ourselves to see if we are portraying Godly characteristics and emotions, or worldly ones.

Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

The Bible tells us that the power of life and death is in our tongue. This is true for our past, present and future.We can get stuck in our past, or dreaming of the future. But we need to begin speaking God's truth in the present.

God sees our past, present and future simultaneously. God knew our sin and the sins of the World before the World was created. He knew that we would be polluting our generations, and He set about providing a remedy for that in the form of His Son, the Word, who would come and die for our sins, be resurrected, and make it again possible for us to fellowship with God.

We get caught up in the corruption of the world and base our opinions on what we see.

2 Kings 6:16  So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

The King of Syria was disturbed that Elisha knew his every movement and was telling the Israelites. He surrounded the place where Elisha and his servant were staying. Elisha's servant saw all the armies of Syria and came in concerned to tell Elisha. Elisha prays that the servant's eyes would be opened for surrounding the enemies of Syria there was a vast army of God. The army of God was far greater than the earthly army.

There is so much more than what we see with our physical eyes. There is angelic activity in the background. The Bible tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

There are things going on in the background of our lives that we did not perceive, that caused us to be receptive to the call of God on our lives. God wanted us. Before we could be delivered, we needed to forgive. Unforgiveness binds us, holds us down. If you do not forgive a person, you are held down by the grudge that you carry toward them.  When you forgive them, it is not absolution. They are still answerable to God and will receive God's judgment. Forgiveness frees us from carrying them around with us. God is fair - and if you are holding them in unforgiveness, He can't act in their lives. Don't forget, satan is the accuser of the brethren, and he likes to keep us judging others.

We need to remember that we are nothing but for the grace of God.

We looked at some scriptures about the WORD:

Proverbs 18:20 A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled.

Matthew 12:34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Numbers 14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you:

Proverbs 12:13  The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous will come through trouble.

It is with our mouth that we speak words, we want to be careful what words come out of our mouths.

The classic example of things going on in the heavenlies that we do not perceive is Job.  All the angels had to present themselves before God, including satan. We find that satan is wandering the earth looking for whom he could accuse. God says, "Have you considered my servant Job?"

Job 1:6-12 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

satan believed that it was because God had a hedge of protection around Job that he praised God.  We will find that this is not true.  Even when Job's wife tells him to curse God and die, Job refuses to curse God.  When all of his children were destroyed, and his property, and Job even had painful boils, the Bible tells us that He did not charge God with wrong.

Job ultimately has restored to him far more than he lost during this trial.

When we are facing trials in our lives we need to realize that far more is going on than meets the eye. And we need to consider what we are saying about our situation. The more we speak the Word of God, the truth of God, the less our circumstances have control over us.  God will use our circumstances to help us grow in Him.

Callin suggested we spend time in Psalm 119 considering all that the Word gives to us.

Have a blessed day!

Heather

Worship is praising God, thanking Him for what He has done, thanking Him for who He is.

Your personal experience determines the type of praiser you are.  The woman who worshipped at the feet of Jesus suffered much and was very grateful.

If you have pride you do not have much of an attitude of gratitude. We don't want to be like the Scribes and the Pharisees.

You cannot perfectly keep the law - if you sin once (even a tiny sin) you have broken the whole covenant.

We can look at the scriptures through the eyes of Christ and see who we are. We definitely know what God has delivered us from.

Luke 17:11-12  Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.

In the mirror of our experience we can look at ourselves and realize we are like these lepers, unclean because of our sins. They stood afar off, from a distance  There was someone within their view that could do something about who they were, and Jesus can do something about who we are. Leprosy is a systematic disease, and parts of the body get hurt, infected and ultimately fall off - sin is the same way in our lives. When we sin we lose parts of ourselves.

Luke 17:13-16 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,  and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

Only one came back and worshipped Jesus after he was cleansed from leprosy.

Luke 17:17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?

Where were the other 9?

Luke 17:18-19 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

We need to find time to focus on God in praise and worship. Sometimes we get out of order and forget service to the Lord. We can be far more effective if we get in order and put praise and worship first.

Our gifts and talents won't get us far unless we are using them for God. If we use them in our own power and strength and rely on them, it will only lead us to self destruction.and if we are in leadership we can be taking everyone down with us.

Having a scab does not mean that we are not healed from our problem. The scab reminds us that we were healed. Focus on how far God has brought us. 

We can look at our lives as if they are a video. We can put them on fast forward and see God from afar off, or we can put it in slow motion and watch the power of God, and see where He was in the midst of the trials we faced. We need to find where God was in our pasts, reach down and pull that memory of God's wonderful power in our lives and use that to worship Him, thanking Him for what He has done in our lives.

What a God we serve!!!!

Praying your day is blessed!

Heather

Below is a transcript for closed captioning for Pastor Don's service. Any words in [brackets] are what the congregation says. I slightly edited this for readability.

Have a blessed day,

Heather

 

SAY AMEN
SHOW 140
REST IN THE LORD
01-03-10

Amen.[amen]  You may be and get your Bibles.  Let me see them.  Lift them up, come on, lift them up.  This is [this is]  the Word of God [the word of God] in my hand  [in my hand]  in my heart [in my heart]  in my mouth [in my mouth].  I love  [I love] the Word of God [the Word of God].  Come on, I love [I love]  the Word of God [the Word of God].  I love [I love]  the Word of God [the Word of God].  Amen. 

I want you to look at two scriptures with me.  And then we want to talk.  And I want you to start with Psalm 37.  Psalm 37.  If you don't have a Bible, you can look under your seat or look on with the person next to you.  Psalm 37.  Are you there yet?  [yes]  If you're there, say, "I'm there."  [I'm there].  If you're not, say, "I'm working on it."  [I'm working on it].  Well, more people are working on it than are there.  Ok, Psalm 37. 

This is one of my favorite Psalms, and I've never looked at this aspect of it until yesterday when seeking the Lord, He said this is a good topic, why  don't you present this to the people for their listening.  So I want you to begin with me, we're only going to read seven verses, but I want you  to hear it as the Lord speaks it.  "Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.  For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.  Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday."  I want you to read verse 7 with me.  You ready?  Come on.  "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass."  I want yo to look at the first line of that passage.  In verse seven it says, "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him." 

Today I want to talk to you about that word, rest.  R-E-S-T.  As I went to sleep, I was thinking about it.  And in the middle of a dream, the Spirit spoke to me and gave me one of those things, you know, what do they call them when they put a letter with a word.  [acronym] acronyms for it.  So, I want you to write this down.  And we'll go through it and be blessed.  Rest.  R-E-S-T.  The first word, "R" is to RELY.  To rely.  The next one, "E" is EASY.  "S" is two words, SATISFIED and STILL.  Satisfied and still.  And "T" is two words, TIME and TRUST.  Time and trust. 

R - rely
E - easy
S - satisfied and still
T - time and trust

Let's go to the book of Matthew in the 11th Chapter... Matthew, Chapter 11.  There are two verses in Matthew, Chapter 11  that are of great importance to us.  We want to see if we can't gather this in.  Verse 28.  Matthew 11, verse 28.  And it reads, ""Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls"...

These passages speak of this rest that God has for us.  When we look at the long history of God speaking to His people, from Genesis to Revelation, we have to honestly admit that God, when He started the whole thing off, was concerned about rest from the beginning.  For He made everything and on the seventh day He rested.  Isn't it interesting that rest in the seventh day, the number seven itself, echoes down through the pages of history, and tells us  that rest, Lord have Mercy!  That that rest is provided for us by God in that He rested also in His own day.  He got to the seventh day and He said, "Everything is now complete and my work is finished, guess what?  Let's rest." 

It's interesting to me that at this time period here, in these quote, "Last Days."  The one thing that the World is taking away from us is our ability to rest.  We are driven people.  We are so driven that we are never quite satisfied or at peace enough to rest.  I was speaking to a friend and I just asked him, you know, "Well, when's the last time you went fishing?"  And he said to me, "Who's got the time to go do that?"  And I watch and I see that very seldom are we able to sit down and do nothing.  Nothing looks like this.  We get something to drink, get something to eat, sit in front of the TV, and find something that is stimulating to the point of excitation.  So we very seldom ever rest. 

We're usually looking for a movie that is dramatic or drama, is going to emotionally affect us to tears, or affect us to celebration, or is going to bring us to high blood pressure of battles, of life and death.  Or, we're going to go on the shopping channel and look at what we don't have, and get frustrated, trying to figure out how we can find it.  [laughter]  And yet we would say, "What did you do today?"  We would say, "I rested."  You liar!  You did not.  [laughter]  You looked for ways to get diversion and ways to get excitement. 

And what's wrong with our marriages?  People don't know how to rest in their marriage, so they look for some stimulant outside of it.  I actually had a woman sit in my office and say, "I want out of this marriage."  And I said, "Why?"  She says, "Because it's too peaceful.  There's nothing going on."  [Oh! What in the world?  Nothing going on?]  And I said, "Baby doll, do you have any idea how exciting it's going to get if you divorce this man?"  [laughter]  She said, "What do you mean?"  I says, "Well, you know, your economics are going to be affected.  Your sex life is history."  I says, "You're just going to go through a lot of turmoil.  Do you need that?"  "Well, aaah, well aaaah, well aaaaa...he's boring."  I said, "Well train him."  [laughter]  "Teach him how to jump rope or something."  [laughter]  I got a kick out of that.  [laughter] 

But we've forgotten the art of resting.  We look at recreation of, you know, let's go to Disneyland and lose our minds.  Let's run around and stand in line and, what is the excitement about getting on a rollercoaster so that you feel like you just lost your gut?  [laughter]  We don't know how to rest.  We don't know how to just do nuttin'  To just coil, you know, even some of the books.  I don't see how anyone can call reading a Stephen King novel resting.  [laughter]  I'm relaxing.  Have you ever looked at these romance novels?  [laughter]  You know, Jesse, isn't that his name?  Something.  I don't even know.  I just see people reading these things and getting all excited.  But we don't know how to rest. 

God gave us the Sabbath to rest.  So the devil invented Sunday football.  [laughter]  And when that wasn't enough, they moved all the little league games on to Sunday.  Did anybody notice this?  [yes]  The devil doesn't even want you in your church where you might just relax and go home happy.  Well, I've got to dump my Pastor.  Why?  He doesn't get me excited.... You know, he's not entertaining.  I leave church at peace.  It's not the way it's supposed to be.  I should be agitated!  [laughter]  What???  We should be able to rest. 

Men are a problem when it comes to resting.  They don't know how to do that.  A lot of men have forgotten how to just play.  One of the joys, one of the greatest joys of my life when my kids were little was just sitting.  I would just go in the living room and sit on the floor.  And they would just come and roll around and we'd laugh, and play. And my wife would say, "What are you doing?"  I would say, "Doing nothing."  And we were, we were doing nothing but it sure was fun.  [amen]  I don't want to wrestle with them now cause they're bigger and stronger than me, but you know, they don't know that, though.  [laughter]  There's just some things as a father you don't tell your kids. 

So this word, rest... God has given us the Sabbath so that we would learn to rest.  He has given us salvation so that we would come into a relationship that we could rest in Him.  He's going to give us Heaven so we can rest from our labors.  Rest is essential.  They did a study many years ago, of giving a culture.  They developed a culture where people would not be able to rest.  They gave them an 8 day work week. And you know, the Beatles had a song about it.  Eight days a week.  What we have in this culture, they did it, they went to a village in Mexico and tried it.  And they didn't give the people a seventh day rest.  Within 30 to 60 days people were having nervous breakdowns and mental struggles and all kinds of problems broke out because they didn't know how to rest. 

I was a professional workaholic.  I worked seven days a week, all the time.  And I'm not bragging about it.  It was the stupidest thing ever.  Not only did I work seven days a week, but I worked two and three jobs during those seven days a week.  And I had all the justification for it.  I was doing it for my family.  They didn't know who I was.  [laughter]  I'd come in sometimes to eat and they'd go, "Who is this guy?"  [laughter]  My wife would just make food and put it in a plastic container and she'd be standing by the stove, and as I was going out the door she would just, put it out. 

You know, there was a song in those days.  The guy's in Boston, he gets on the train, and he's stuck on the train forever.  [Charlie and the MTA]  "Charlie and the MTA." (singing) "He never returned, no he never returned, and his fate is still unknown.  Poor Charlie, he may ride forever, neath the streets of Boston, he's the man who never returned."  The guy got on the subway and didn't have enough money to get off. So his wife would run down to the station as the train passed by, she'd hand him food to go through. 

You know, we have ridiculous scenarios like that that we do.  We're working, we're working for a reason.  We're working for a goal.  We're working for a purpose.  And we have to ask ourselves, is that what God created me for?  [there you go]  Did God create me to be a workaholic?  Did God create me to destroy myself?  Why do men and women have affairs?  It's usually because they're working so hard, watch this now.  They're working so hard that they needed a diversion and distraction.  And then they make bad choices...

Rest.  "R" rely upon.  Who do you trust tonight?  Who are you relying upon?  There's probably maybe only two people out of this vast crowd that's here today that could possibly really say, "I have absolutely no financial worries."  I absolutely have no financial need.  But for the most of us, most of us have needs and the bills are going to come.  And we have bills to pay on a regular basis.  We have rent or we have a mortgage.  And we have these needs.  I'm not saying that you don't have needs, I'm saying that in the process of life, who are you relying upon for life?  Not just to meet your finances or your bills.  Who are you relying upon for life?  Who are you trusting in and relying upon?  Who are you placing the weight of your life upon?  I can remember being younger and feeling that I had to be a success.  And that I had to be a success for the different reasons I defined, success.  And then I realized, wait a minute.  There's something about this thing called Christ living in me... [hah, I know]  That if Christ is living in me, might it be that He wants to rest with me sometimes?  [come on] 

I had a really hard time a few years ago when I realized that financially we were at the place where I could buy a boat.  And I really thought boats were really expensive, this boat was only $6000, which you know, you can get a used car for that.  So I bought a used boat for that.  You know, I felt guilty getting on the boat and doing nothing?... I could always think whenever I got on the boat in the water, I got this boat to rest and relax with my wife, and I'd get on there and just feel so guilty that I needed to do something.  And then I began to look around the harbor, and do you know what I saw?  I saw everybody that bought a boat, they bought their boats to work on their boats.  And they'd be down there every weekend working on the boat.  After awhile, I would go down there and I would say, well maybe I'm supposed to work on the boat.  [laughter]  And so, I'd bought all the sponges and the sticks and all the other stuff, [laughter]  and I'm down there, and I'm scrubbing the hull of the boat, and waving at the people scrubbing the hull of their boat and looking over, and my wife is downstairs and she's doing the carpet, and she's doing the curtains, and she's wiping down the cabinets, and she's whatever, whatever.  And it just dawned on me, wait a minute.  It took awhile not to feel guilty that I got it.  Now I'm feeling guilty that I'm not working on it.  And I says, "Am I crazy?"  I saw that I'm scrubbing, I saw this guy walking down, "Hey what do you do?"  He said, "I work on people's boats."  I said, "Good. Cause I'm through working on mine."  [laughter]  "Come over here.  Clean this boat, and I'll see you later, because I bought it to rest on it."  [amen] 

I'm talking to somebody here.  Some of you bought timeshares, and you don't use them.  I had a lady say to me, "Pastor Don, I'm too busy to use my timeshare."  I said, "Well, give it here."  [laughter]  I'll find a way to rest.  Because why?  At some point you have to say, "Who are you relying upon?"  Well, I want to rely on the LORD to get me through from point A to point B.  [amen]  I want to rely on Him to give me a God idea as to what I should be doing for money, or how to do it for money.  Who are you relying on?  Are you relying on the Lord to put you in position to promote you?  And give you God ideas to move forward with it.  Who are you trusting in?  Who are you relying on?  REST.  To rest means to rely upon God who is greater than you because He will lead you.  You all know that one about He'll guide my steps.  What's wrong with those verses?  He'll light my path.  What are those all about?  Those are about relying on God to get a God idea. 

We sat around the table and there was a question around the table, and it said, "To discuss dreams and goals."  Dreams and goals.  One young lady came up with a beautiful answer.  She said, "A dream is what you, a dream is what you think about or dream about or fantasize about, that comes up.  And a goal is what you decide to do about what you dreamed about."  [amen]  I thought that was a beautiful thing.  But when you're dreaming, what are you relying upon to bring you from dream to identify it as a goal? ... Did I just lose you?  You're looking at me funny.  In other words, there are many things we dream about, but at some point, when does that transfer into this is now a goal?  Well I want to just offer.  How many are born again believers?  Guess what, the One who's to point out if your dreams becomes a goal is God.  [yes, amen]  He's supposed to tell ya, that's a dream, but now go for it.  He's the one that's supposed to set your sail in the right direction and say, "Go for this now."  Because why?  "If you rely upon Me, I will bring it to pass for you."  [hallelujah] 

The next one is "E" for easy.  Easy.  And I thought about it.  I'm in the middle of the night.  It's 3:00 in the morning.  And the Lord is giving me, easy.  And you know what He said?  "Take it easy."  We need to lighten up.  [yes]  We are just too dog gone serious.  [yep]  We need to really lighten up and laugh.  I'd buy joke books.  I read them whether they're good or not.  And the goods ones I tell you, the bad ones, I just go, ha, ha, ha.  I laugh at the bad ones too.  [laughter]  I laugh at them because they're bad.  I get just as many laughs from telling a good joke good or a bad joke bad.  It's true.  I just enjoy it.  We need to take it easy.  We are really too serious.  [yes]  I mean, we're just too serious.  I said, "We're just too serious."  [yes]  Some of you people who are working for your salvation, are the most serious, boring, hardworking, people in the world.  And you need to take it easy.  [amen]  I mean, take it easy.  Easy.  Take it easy. 

Don't take up golf if you want to relax.  That's a bad hobby.  You can't play golf and have it relaxing till you learn how to take it easy.  You don't care where the ball goes, just as long as it goes.  [laughter, right]  Easy.  How many of you have ever paid a bill?  [laughter]  Come on, raise your hands.  How many of you have ever paid a bill?  How many of you know for sure you're going to have to do it again? [oh, yeah]  Take it easy.  Take it easy.  After you pay that one, there's another one coming.  Why should you get upset?  I have two piles of bills.  Ones I can pay, the ones that I can't.  And guess what?  I'm not attached to either pile.  [laughter]  I just put them up there and I put the other ones next to it, and they seem to get along fine.  [laughter]  We really need to take it easy. 

I've seen many people ruin their lives because they feel they should have this amount of money and whatever.  You know, a guy told me, "I can't be happy."  "Why can't you be happy?"  "I don't have enough money to retire."  That's a lie.  You have enough money to retire.  You have enough to retire!  Cause whatever it is that you've got, when you get ready to retire, that's all you're going to get.  [laughter]  So how can it not be enough?  That's what you got. 

"S" - satisfy.  We need to reach a point where we just go, "That's good enough."  [alright]  That's good enough.  The other day I was in a car, I was, one of the sisters cars.  I got in the car, it was a mess.  So I had to kick all of the stuff out of the way.  [laughter]  So I had somewhere to put my feet, and throw the stuff off the seat.  So I had somewhere to put my behind.  And I thought, I thought, it's cool.  If she's satisfied with that, I'm satisfied with that.  I brushed off my clothes when I got out the car, [laughter]  but you need to be satisfied.  Sometimes you're doing the best you can do.  You go to work, you've got kids to take care of, you've got meals to cook, you know, if you can't afford to hire a housekeeper, train your husband.  [laughter]  Train your husband and then just be satisfied.  Some people will buy a bigger house, just because they need more room to put their stuff.  And then they go out and buy more stuff.  If I come to your house and I've got to walk through aisles between stuff, I'm going to get you committed and locked up.  But short of that, short of that, we need to be satisfied.  [amen] 

I don't want to get up every morning and go to a job that I hate.  I'm going to tell myself I'm satisfied with the job till the One I'm relying on, opens another door. [amen]  Be satisfied.  I'm satisfied with my kids.  None of them are going to be President of the United States right now.  But I'm satisfied.  I'm satisfied with where they are in their lives.  And you have to be satisfied.  I'm satisfied with that. 

Still.  Still's hard for me.  But I've really learned how to be still.  I want to ask you a question.  Can you sit down in your house and be still? ... Cause if you can't, you're out of position to hear from God.  [right]  Learn to be still.  And don't give me the kids thing.  Eventually the kids go to bed, and then you can be still with the Lord before you go to bed.  Or you can get up a half hour early or 20 minutes early and be still.  I have my chair.  And when I'm sitting in my chair, nobody bothers me.  My wife walks by, the children walk by, and I just get to sit there in my rocking chair, and be still... Can you say, "I can be still?"  [I can be still]  Some of you didn't tell the truth.  But I pray you'll work on it.  [yes]  You'll get wonderful words from the Lord if you can learn to be still.  [amen] 

And then the last one, "T" , time. ... Time.  If we're going to rest in the Lord, we have to realize that time is different.  You may set goals and so forth, and so on.  But we're relying on God.  We're going to take it easy, we're satisfied with the way things are, and we're going to learn to be still so that we can realize that God's time is not like your time.  [amen]  There's some marriages in here that, if they had ended 10 years ago, they would never have gotten to where they are now... There's some of us, that if we had given up on our dream and the goals that God set, we wouldn't be where we are now.  [that's true]  And we have to recognize that God's got timing.  One of the sisters in the church, by the time she came here, she didn't think she would probably ever get married. That it was probably too late for her.  That God's not going to send the man.  It's just a done deal.  I remember praying with her and saying, "Oh now, wait a minute.  He'll give you the desire of your heart.  Give you everything you need.  Let's just pray and wait for him."  [amen]  Pray and wait... Pray and wait... Because God's timing is different than our timing.  God's got a schedule.  And His schedule is the best. 

So we have to then, easy, satisfied, be still, God's timing, and we've got to trust that timing.  God will bring you to the place that is ordained for you, if you'll trust Him.  Really trust Him.  

 

We had so many new people attending our Bible study that Pastor Don reviewed a few of the earlier verses of chapter 11 so that everyone would be on the same page.

Sometimes the response to decisions may hit immediately, and it may take time to stop the process even though you have changed and repented.

The Holy Spirit helps us to minster and leads and guides us using the gifts of God.

Isaiah 11:1-4 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

Without the Spirit power of the Lord we will not know to respect, honor, fear, and pursue God. When we have the Spirit we can have no fear and say and do anything required at any time.

The Lord has to terrorize them into a sensible position. Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,

In this passage the word "fear" means awesome respect. It is the way we fear a father, putting him in the place and position to be honored.  Honor they father and mother, the same idea is expressed with this word, fear. We don't honor our parents because they are perfect, but because they are in a position of responsibility for us, and we need to respect the person God has placed over us. It is funny that as you get wiser as a child, so do your parents grow in wisdom in your eyes.

In Isaiah 11:2 (see above) the Lord gives us the Spirit of Wisdom  and Knowledge.  Because God has promised to provide it, we can pray for Him to give us this.

We looked at the prayer in Daniel 2:20-23 Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king’s demand.

He gives wisdom and might - notice he gives wisdom to the wise. We need wisdom to know what to do, we don't know everything.  Daniel thanked God. This is a prayer of faith, calling those things that be not as though they were. Have is past tense.

Daniel has shown knowledge and greatness, because he has absolute confidence that if it is something he needs, he can get it from God.

Daniel 2:10-11 The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

The Chaldean sorcerers, wizards, so-called wise men, said that to know the king's dream without being told it is an impossibility, they made the problem greater by their intellectual discourse.

The bigger you make your mountain, the harder it is to get over it. When there is no other possibility, we need to turn to God to get answers.

Daniel 2:14-16 Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; he answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, “Why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.

Daniel asked for TIME. Time is needed to accomplish anything. The devil takes away our understanding of patience. He creates urgency about what bad things are going to happen, such as a fear we won't meet our deadline.  Daniel asks, why is this so urgent. He knew he could get to a place where all of this could be resolved, all he needed was TIME. We usually view time as an enemy, but time is a great ally.We can be successful if we don't rush blindly into things. He asked the king, with confidence, to give him time so that he could get the king's interpretation.

Daniel 22:23 (see above)  He gave God thanks and praised God. If we say we are grateful and don't give praise, we are a liar. Out of the abundance of the heart our mouth speaks.  If we can't get past our pride to give thanks and praise the problem is ours. Calling those things that be not as though they were. Speaking it into existence.

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

Count it all joy. Praise God even if you are in a trial.

James 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Patience develops when our faith is tested.

James 1:4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Lacking nothing.

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

We have to get to the place where we are tested, tried, and have our faith stressed so that we realize we are not whole and complete - where we learn those things we need to work on.

God will give us, if we ask Him, wisdom liberally and without reproach. It is a fact of faith that if you ask God to give you wisdom, He will give it to you and He is faithful. We can do any difficult thing with wisdom. Wisdom requires obedience to truth and the flesh hates that. We need to recognize and obey truth. Wisdom tells us our faults, error, and stupid behavior and if we acknowledge the truth, our response to the truth has to be instantaneous, even if we do not understand it. Wisdom understands the hidden things that we can't wrap our minds around.

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

We need to ask in faith without doubting, and then obey the Spirit of truth. We need to make this a practice, and it does not come naturally to us.

Isaiah 11:4-6 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

This has not happened yet, wolves with lions, etc. This is an End Times Prophesy. The Garden of Eden was without violence.

Isaiah 11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Eating habits will change.

Isaiah 11:8-9 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 

The earth will be filled with the Knowledge of the Lord.

Isaiah 11:10-11 And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious. It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea.

In THAT DAY - future, the root of Jesse is the offspring. A remnant of His people will be gathered in, the culmination of bringing all the Jews back together.

Isaiah 11:12 He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

The dispersed will be gathered from the four corners of the earth,

Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 30-31 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew 25:31-32 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

Mark 13:27 And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.

Luke 21:27-28 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.

Daniel 12:2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.

None who are of the world will understand. The devil tells people that he doesn't exist.  The truth is that he does exist and we do battle. We don't want to be caught unawares. Pastor Don spoke about how a good boxer will watch a film of his opponent and analyze how he responds in a match, so that when the boxer fights his opponent he knows how to win the battle, and understands the moves and actions of the opponent.

Isaiah 11:12 He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

This passage also speaks of the rapture and the second coming of Christ.

Isaiah 11:13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

All of these are relatively close to Judah. Ephriam is the Jordanians.  Jews and 1/2 Jews, he is forgiving them even though they opposed Israel. The Jordanians were the first to form a peace agreement with Israel.

Isaiah 11:14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; together they shall plunder the people of the East; they shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; and the people of Ammon shall obey them.

Philistines - Palestinians

Isaiah 11:15 The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; with His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, and strike it in the seven streams, and make men cross over dryshod.

Saudi Arabia, the Sea of Egypt, the Tigris, Euphrates is Turkey. And God will make these streams dry.

The prophesies speak of a 200 million man army, and what was once seen as an impossibility is now a possibility because China can muster up a 200 million man army.

Isaiah 11:16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will be left from Assyria, as it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.

Assyria, the Persians.

We quickly covered a few chapters to get us to Chapter 14 where Pastor Don wanted to teach the following week. Some chapters of Isaiah we are going to sort of skim over, other chapters we will spend more time with.

Isaiah 12:1-2 And in that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You; though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’”

A Psalm of Thanksgiving. The peoples and nations will be singing this when God shows His strength and might. All those who call on Him will be singing this Psalm of Thanksgiving.

Isaiah 12:3-5 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And in that day you will say: “Praise the LORD, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth.

This will go global - all the earth.

Isaiah 12:6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!

Isaiah 13:1-2 The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. Lift up a banner on the high mountain, raise your voice to them; wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

Babylon - the reference to high mountains is where the idols are worshipped.

Isaiah 13:3 I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger— those who rejoice in My exaltation.

Do not worry about adversity, that is how the underground church grew. God will show Himself.

Isaiah 13:4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts musters the army for battle.

God gathers His army for battle. The nations gather together for battle against God.

Isaiah 13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven— the LORD and His weapons of indignation,  to destroy the whole land.

God is gathering His army, supernatural bodies, not killed and destroyed - Jew and Gentile together to fight this battle.

Revelation 19:11-15  Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.  His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.  He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.  Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Isaiah 13:6-11 Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, every man’s heart will melt, and they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; they will be amazed at one another; their faces will be like flames. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. I will punish the world for its evil,  and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Painful stuff. God will only punish those who are evil and want nothing to do with Him.

Isaiah 13:12-13 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.  Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger.

During a recent tsunami the axis of the earth was moved a tiny bit, and when the axis of the earth moved it caused changes in the weather. This will be even larger in the End Days.

Isaiah 13:14-16 It shall be as the hunted gazelle, and as a sheep that no man takes up; every man will turn to his own people, and everyone will flee to his own land. Everyone who is found will be thrust through, and everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished.

We are the Army of God.

Isaiah 13:17-18 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not regard silver; and as for gold, they will not delight in it. Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, and they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye will not spare children.

The Medes will also attack.

Isaiah 13:19-20 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation;  or will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.

This is regarding the future, Babylon will rebel against God. God will cut them no slack.

Isaiah 13:21-22 But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, ad their houses will be full of owls; ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will caper there. The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals in their pleasant palaces.  Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.

Pastor Don then gave us homework.  We are to read Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 before next week.

God is a God of love and because He loves us, He is going to destroy evil.

Praying your day is blessed.

Heather

Isaiah 11:1-2 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

Last time we looked up what the Rod from the stem of Jesse and the branch out of His roots referred to - and found that it referred to the Messiah. Then Isaiah speaks of the Seven Spirits of the Lord - The Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel, the Spirit of Might, the Spirit of Knowledge, and the Spirit of the fear (awe) of the Lord.)

Isaiah 11:3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears;

We need not to desire the spirits, but rather to delight and fear the Lord, make God first. Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. We don't judge by our eyes. Everything doesn't look like what you think it should look like. We cannot judge by appearances or circumstances. Don't look at faces and be afraid, you can be misled by their expressions and actions. We need to look at the heart.

Isaiah 11:4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

He judges the poor based on their righteousness. God's mercy extends to the weak and the poor. Bill Gates is not entitled to have it all in Heaven. Wealth must be used to balance life's inequalities.

The Rod of His mouth - the breath of His lips slays the wicked.

The Bible tells us that we will have what we say and that we have the power of life and death in our tongues.When God says He will strike the Earth, He will. What we speak will come to pass. We have the power over what we say both with our lips and in our minds and hearts. We have endless RAM between our ears.

Isaiah 11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.

Pastor Don had us take a look back at Verse 1 and 2.  This is how Jesus functioned in righteousness and faithfulness, by using these Spirits. The Spirits exist and they can endow you with gifts that they bring.

Pastor Don told us that for the next 30 days we need to specifically ask the Lord to give us the Spirits specifically. Ask Him to give us these Spirits to edify the Kingdom, for the Body of Christ.

He told us that a good prayer to pray is Daniel 2:20-23 ...Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king’s demand.”

God is glad to give us wisdom for He is our God. When we face the silence of life, we need to hear from God. The devil is a bully and we intercede to interrupt his bullying. When we know that God is real and are committed to Him, and have patience, we begin to know that He will supply all of our needs.

We need to develop an ability to protect our self when we sleep at night. Ask the Holy Spirit to be a sentinel to watch over us so that no dreams from the devil come. Sometimes we get dreams that are not from God, and often they come between the hours of 4-6, when we are not so fully awake and aware and discerning.

We need to delineate between what I do and who I am. God will still keep His seal of approval on us even if we mess up. The devil knows our weaknesses and will try to cause us to doubt God's calling on our lives. That is why we need to keep renewing our minds. Speak forth the Word of God, and especially before you go to sleep, to keep your mind renewed. When you are sleeping the devil will try to get you to feel unworthy. That is why we need the Holy Spirit as our sentinel.

How you wake up in the morning sets you up for the day. Pastor Don prays and affirms that his day will be a day of health and vitality, productivity and peace.

Praying that your day is a day of health and vitality, productivity and peace.

Heather

Here are my notes for the Bible study I taught this week at Living Word Chapel on the book of Judges.  We managed to get the first two chapters covered.  When I can get my husband to take a picture of the diagram I did of the cycle of sin mentioned in Judges I will put it up for you.  Praying your Sunday is blessed!

*****

The Book of Judges

The people have begun to claim the Promised Land. Moses has died and the people have been following Joshua.

We want to take a bit of a look at Joshua 24 to lay some foundation work.

Joshua 24:13-15 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’  “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!  And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

God gave the people the land. He wanted them to worship Him, and not the idols of the land. God has given the people the 10 Commandments, has told them how to live and has promised to be with them if they follow His principles. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Joshua 24:16-17 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.

God was with the people and amazing miracles and conquests were made with the help of God. Having accompanied Moses in the wilderness, Joshua knew that the Israelites often forgot their vows, and disobeyed God. He gives the people a stern warning.

Joshua 24:18-20 And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.” But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.  If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”

The people do what they do often, swear to obey God, but later as time goes by we will see that they do not keep their promises.

Joshua 24:21-28 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD!” So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses!”  “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.  And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.”  So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.

This brings us to the book of Judges. The first two chapters review the situation at the time of the death of Joshua. The first two chapters of the book of Judges show a pattern of defeat that continues to repeat. God will come in and in His Grace deliver the people, but they will enter another cycle of defeat. This is repeated over and over in the book of Judges. It is believed that the book of Judges was written by Samuel around 1050-1000 BC. It contrasts greatly with the victorious time of Joshua.  

1 Corinthians 10:6-13 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”  Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell;  nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents;  nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.  Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.  No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

I once asked Pastor Don about why the Israelites never seemed to learn from their mistakes, and he pointed out that these segments of the chapter lasted many years and during those years the people did good things as well. God just put into the Bible the things that He knew that we needed to know to live better lives.

I looked up the meaning of the word, “Judge”  8199 To pronounce sentence (for or against), vindicate or punish, govern, litigate, judge, deliver, rule, in some cases judging really means deliverance from injustice or oppression. It can also be used as a process whereby order and law are maintained within a group. The Judge had two rules: 1. To discern the will of God and 2. To lead an army or overthrow the oppressors.

The Israelites were to completely conquer the land of Canaan, but they did not do so. In essence we can think of Canaan as the Spirit-filled life, for the Israelites were saved from Egypt, crossed the Jordan (baptism) and now were going to learn to operate in freedom and truth in the land that God gave them. It is much like us, who have been saved from sin, and are now at the point of learning to live the life of freedom that Jesus provided for us with His shed blood.

The Israelites were chosen by God to perform three tasks,

1.       By their heart attitudes and actions to live out being a Child of God, sons and daughters of God, sons and daughters of the King, and their lives were to demonstrate character and action that is above reproach.

2.       They were to live their lives in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation filled with moral decay, and still be Children of God, living above reproach and not distant from others who were in pain, but not drawn into the lifestyle of the common people around them. Their lives were to be sanctified.

3.       They were to be a light in the world against the darkness of their generation, and the darkness would be attracted to the light.

The book of Judges takes place in a climate that is very much like our day and age, with moral decline both among the people of God and in the world. The book begins with a picture of Joshua (who is a representation of Jesus) who lived a life in obedience to God and tried to live out what God instructed him. When compared to Joshua’s life the others pale in comparison.

The book of Judges takes place before Israel demands a king like those nations around them. God had provided Judges, but God was the KING OF ISRAEL, the Israelites rejected Him in favor of an earthly King, and it is this that begins to lead to the problems Israel would continue to face.

The book of Judges ends this way: Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

This is the problem that we will see over and over in the book of Judges. The Israelites were not trying to do wrong, they were trying to do right, but the problem is they wanted to do right in THEIR OWN EYES, and that will lead to anarchy. Our understanding is deceptive and what we think is right, may not be what is God’s best, and many times is the wrong thing. Only God has a clear picture and we end up hurting ourselves when we lean on our own understanding.

Judges 1:1 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?”

The people ASKED THE LORD. We always do well when we go to God first before we act on our own.

Judges 1:2 And the LORD said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”

This is appropriate – Judah means praise.  Praise should always go up first. Notice that God promised to deliver the land into Judah’s hand.

Judges 1:3 So Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him.

Is this a good idea?  Joining forces with Simeon?  It sure seems that way in the natural – larger numbers to conquer the land. But did God say Judah & Simeon?  No, He only said Judah, so they are disobeying God’s instructions after asking Him for them. God had promised that Judah would overthrow the land, so by asking for Simeon’s help they are saying that God isn’t powerful enough to do what He said.

How often have we asked God for advice and then added to what He has told us? The end result is never as good as pure obedience to God. So here we see a sign of DISOBEDIENCE. To not fully comply with God’s directives is disobedience.

Judges 1:5-7  And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.  Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

Adoni-bezek (lord of lightning or fragments) was a Canaanite king – and the Canaanites were wicked, depraved and diseased. They were opposite of the truth and righteousness of God and what God stood for. Adoni-bezek had conquered seventy men and mutilated them – thumbs and toes being cut off meant that they would never fight again, and it was humiliating. The people of God came in and did the same thing to Adoni-bezek, instead of just occupying the territory and exterminating the opposition, they were not to humiliate the enemy. This is a precursor of the people of God beginning to act like the enemies around them, instead of being sanctified and separate. If we read further, we see that Jerusalem is sacked and burned, not occupied – in verse 8, and we will see later – verse 21 that the Jebusites retake Jerusalem. Judah and Benjamin had Jerusalem at their border and neither one would occupy Jerusalem so we will find the Jebusites as one of the enemies of the people who diluted the worship of God.

Caleb in Verse 10 went up against the Anak, the Nephilim – remember when the 10 spies went into the land Caleb told the people that with God’s help those that appeared to be giants could be defeated. Caleb went and defeated these giants, and it reminds us that there can be people who want what God wants.

They do conquer some land and then we come to this scene:

Judges 1:12-15 Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.” And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”  So she said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

OTHNIEL- GOD IS POWERFUL
ACHSAH – BANGLE, ANKLE, ORNAMENT
KIRJATH SEPHER – CITY OF BOOKS
DEBIR –SANCTUARY

Caleb’s daughter asked for springs of water – upper and lower (former & latter rain). Lands without water are not useful, and springs are fresh, flowing water. Springs also imply the Holy Spirit, springs of flowing water.

Quotes from Charles Spurgeon’s sermon, “A Pattern of Prayer”

She was newly-married, and she had an estate to go with her to her husband. She naturally wished that her husband should find in that estate all that was convenient and all that might be profitable, and looking it all over, she saw what was wanted. Before you pray, know what you are needing. That man, who blunders down on his knees, with nothing in his mind, will blunder up again, and get nothing for his pains. When this young woman goes to her father to ask for something, she knows what she is going to ask. She will not open her mouth till first her heart has been filled with knowledge as to what she requires. She saw that the land her father gave her would be of very little use to her husband and herself because it wanted water-springs. So she therefore goes to her father with a very definite request, “Give me also springs of water.” … Next, as you ought to know what you want, you are to ask for it. God’s way of giving is through our asking. I suppose that he does that in order that he may give twice over, for a prayer is itself a blessing as well as the answer to prayer. Perhaps it sometimes does us as much good to pray for a blessing as to get the blessing. At any rate, this is God’s way, “Ask, and ye, shall receive.” He puts even his own Son, our blessed Savior, under this rule, for he says even to him, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” It is a rule, then, without exception, that you are to know what you want, and you are to ask for it. Will you do this, dear friend, while the Lord says to you, “What wilt thou?”… “Lord, thou hast given me so much, and it will all be good for nothing if thou dost not give me more. If thou dost not finish, it is a pity that thou didst ever begin; thou hast given me very many mercies, but if I do not have many more, all thy generosity will be lost. Thou dost not begin to build unless thou meanest to finish; and so I come to thee to say, ’Thou hast given me a south land, but it is dry; give me also springs of water to make it of real value to me.’“ In this prayer of Aclisah’s there is a particularity and a speciality: “Give me also springs of water.” She knew what she was praying for; and that is the way to pray. When you ask of God, ask distinctly: “Give me springs of water.” You may say, “Give me my daily bread.” You may cry, “Give me a sense of pardoned sin.” You may distinctly ask for anything which God has promised to give; but mind that, like this woman, you are distinct and plain in what you ask of God: “Give me springs of water.”…. Observe, her father gave her what she asked. She asked for springs, and he gave her springs. “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?” God gives us what we ask for when it is wise to do so. Sometimes we make mistakes, and ask for the wrong thing; and then he is kind enough to put the pen through the petition, and write another word into the prayer, and answer the amended prayer rather than the first foolish edition of it. Caleb gave Achsah what she asked…Next, he gave her in large measure. She asked for springs of water, and he gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. The Lord “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask, or think.” Some use that passage in prayer, and misquote it, “above what we can ask or even think.” That is not in the Bible, because you can ask or even think anything you like; but it is “above all that we ask, or think.” Our asking or our thinking falls short; but God’s giving never does….And her father gave her this without a word of upbraiding. He did not say, Ah, you Achsab, you are always begging of me!” He did not say, Now that I have given you to your husband, it is too bad of him to let you come and ask for more from me, when I have given you plenty already.”

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Judges 1:19-20 So the LORD was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.

Successful in the mountains but not in the valley.  Yet they also expelled Anak.  In the valley they must have taken their eyes off of God and focused on the chariots of iron rather than the might of God.

Then we see in Verse 21: But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

THEY DID NOT DRIVE OUT THE JEBUSITES.  And these Jebusites will continue to be a thorn in the people’s land.

Notice the NOR DID’S  verse 27 to end of the chapter, God had told the people to completely eradicate the inhabitants of the land – yet they did not do a complete job.

They had the power from God and the ability to do it, but they chose to not obey God’s rules.  One of the reasons that they said was that they put the people under tribute – taxes – so instead of obeying God, they chose to gain profit from the enemy.

God has a reason for eliminating the enemy, he knew that the enemy would ultimately rise up and hurt the people. We will see as Bible history goes on that there was intermarrying, the idol worship came in, and ideas that were not godly began to pollute the people. The enemy in the land would grow and gain power and ultimately cause more and more trouble for the people.

The people would come to the villages and investigate them. The villages did not seem so dangerous and they permitted the people to remain, settling for less than total victory. I know I have done that in my life with certain habits and things, and find myself sucked back into those habits. Words like, that’s just the way I am, that’s just the way we have always done that, this is too much to ask, etc. are all statements of less than total victory. We are made for more than defeat. The descent into lawlessness and anarchy begins with compromise, and the people are compromising.

JUDGES CHAPTER 2

Judges 2:1 Then the Angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: "I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you.

The Angel of the LORD appeared to the people to remind them of the covenant and their history. This is a wonderful act of the Grace of God. Each time that The Angel of the LORD appeared it was to protect the people. Genesis 16:7-14 Hagar meets with the Angel of the LORD after Sari had abused her and she ran away. The Angel instructs Hagar to return to her mistress. And informs Hagar of the son she will birth called Ishmael. Genesis 22:11-18 Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, where God substitutes a ram. Exodus 3:2 Moses and the burning bush. Numbers 22:22-35 Balaam & the donkey.

I think it is no accident that the Angel of the LORD appeared at Gilgal (rolling). This was where Joshua and the Israelites camped before crossing the Jordan - and it was where they began to eat the fruit of the land and the manna stopped. The time of the conquest was to begin. Then Joshua 5:9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day. Now the people are at a new point of rolling (our growth is sort of like a spiral, and we often come full circle to move up to another level of growth.) Bochim means weeping, and we will find the Israelites doing that as the Angel of the Lord continues talking.

Notice, GOD NEVER BREAKS COVENANT, but the people break covenant with Him. The people have not fully driven out the enemy, have taken tribute from them, let them remain among the people and let the enemy keep their idols and pagan gods - some of which are equated with sexual perversion and child sacrifice. In many cases we will see the Israelites adopt the pagan gods. They also enslaved some of the locals, and did not fully obey God.

Sometimes I think that we believe that if we partially obey God that that is good enough, it isn't. God wants us to fully obey Him. Partial obedience is disobedience. We need to be ever seeking to obey Him fully. It took me a long time to realize that God's plans for me are the best.

Judges 2:2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed my voice. Why have you done this?

They did not tear down the altars. Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." God often asks us rhetorical questions to get us to think over what we are doing and why. He wants us to change course. If God is questioning what you are doing there may be reason to change. Do we ever learn? We have what we think are good reasons for our disobedience, reasons that seem logical to our senses, bur are not good in God's estimation.

Judges 2:3 Therefore I also said, "I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you."

There are repercussions for disobedience. In this case, the fact that the people did not remove the enemy will completely backfire, for the enemy will be a thorn in the side of the people and a snare to the Israelites. God will now withhold His assistance because of their disobedience. Canaan did become a thorn in their side and kept siding with other enemies to attack Israel. Yet God is good at multitasking. The thorns in the Israelite's side will also serve as goads to push the people toward obedience.

I often wonder how things would have been different had I obeyed God in certain circumstances. Pastor Don speaks about detors - show "d" with hands. What have we missed by the detors we have taken from God's perfect plan for our lives?

Judges 2:4 So it was, when the Angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.

Why are the people weeping? Partly because they now have repercussions to face and partly out of sorrow for their disobedience. I know that sometimes when my children were little and they got caught in an infraction they cried -- hoping to get pity, but their sorrow was more that they got caught and would get grounded. They did not always feel sincere repentance. Here the people have a mix of feelings, and we can see that by the pattern of sin and disobedience that will be displayed throughout the rest of the Old Testament. We will look at the cycle in a few more verses.

Judges 2:5 Then they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the LORD.

Bochim means weepers. The sacrifice to the LORD was to atone for their sins, but their atonement was not permanent. In fact we never find the name Bochim any other place in the Old Testament, so was this a temporary name? When Israel looks back on their past, when their world is crashing down around them, they will not e able to say that they were not warned by God. They will know the reason for their troubles.

Pastor Don often reminds us that God will always warn us if we choose to listen to Him. For Israel, God never did anything that He did not tell the people through His prophets, but often the people chose to ignore the prophesies or feel that they did not matter to them.

Judges 2:6-9 And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land. So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel. Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

Timnath Heres means portion of the sun, remaining portion, and we will see that the remaining portion causes a problem for the Israelites. Mount Gaash means rising and falling noisily.

Joshua sent the people to their inheritance and they went anticipating victory that God had given them their inheritance, and that nothing could hinder them. Yet they will have a Mount Gaash experience with the remaining portion - for the nation will rise and fall repeatedly. They had to empty the land of the Canaanites (those things that ensnared, the nets laid by the fowlers). But doubt and fear and trouble came at them and we will see the reason why in the next verse. Their knowledge of the LORD was fading, and they did not know Him. The parents of Joshua's generation did not instruct their children in the ways of the LORD. For faith to be strong it has to be renewed. Our thinking has to be constantly renewed with the Word of the LORD.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Judges 2:10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.

The elders and the previous generation died without passing on information to the next generation. We can't depend on the past; we need to be sure that TODAY we are filled with His Spirit and following His path. The rest of the book of Judges will show us the failure of the people, God's attempt to woo them by deliverance, and their continual backsliding. But we do not judge them to condemn them, but rather to learn from them so that we do not fall into the same cycle of coming to God, backsliding, coming to God, backsliding....

Judges 2:11-13  Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

Baal was like a statue of a bull, some just used baals as good luck charms, others went more fully into their "worship" by visiting prostitutes and having wild sex orgies. Even those who only minutely worshipped baal were doing sin in the eyes of God, for anything that distracts from full obedience to God is sin. They did not love God with all their heart and soul and might.

Deuteronomy 6:4-19 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. So it shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build,  houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full— then beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.  You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (for the LORD your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the LORD your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth. You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the LORD swore to your fathers, to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken."

God knew that this was what the people were going to do. Sure enough they are in the Promised Land and already they are forgetting God, and beginning to worship idols and bowed down before them. Remember God told the people He was a jealous God. This is not jealousy as man knows jealousy, not jealousy against someone, but rather jealousy FOR His people - God cares and He knows that these idols are not potent, that worshipping them will not help the people, but rather hinder them. God wants the best for His people and it angers Him to see the people choose the lesser when they could have so much more.

Isaiah 44 & Jeremiah 10 speak of the foolishness of idols, how man fashions them, uses scraps to cook his food, then bows down and worships the useless idols that can neither speak nor move.

They were forsaking their covenant made through Abraham, Isaac, and Moses. They were forsaking the very one who made their conquest of the land possible. ONLY ONE was able to deliver them, and they chose the wrong one to worship when they chose idols instead of God. Just like only ONE can save us, will we choose the wrong one? God wanted the Israelites to remain separate from the people around them, but they ignored Him and thus they got trapped in their circumstances for they took their eyes off of God. When we get pulled into the world around us it is easy to be led astray. We are to be IN the WORLD, not OF it. John 17:15-19 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Ashtoreth was a goddess of fertility, love, and war (ishtar, astarte), depraved sex was the mode of worship and she was considered to be the goddess of reproduction. At times when there were bad farming years, the Israelites would turn to her instead of turning to God, compromising their faithfulness to the LORD. They kept a nominal obedience to God, but built sanctuaries and altars in the high places. We cannot, as Jesus tells us serve God and mammon - we have to choose, just like Joshua told the people in the book of Joshua. Whom will you serve?

Judges 2:14-19  And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed. Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so.  And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them.  And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

Here is the cycle of sin that is so evident in Judges, and if we look honestly at our lives, we see the same thing in areas of our lives. The sin of the Israelites caused God's hand of protection to be removed, and God withholds His mercy. The first indication that God was withholding His mercy was that the enemy would begin to attack the people and their nation would be troubled. Strong kings would come in to take booty and tribute, then others would come in to steal the people's wealth, in a similar way that the Israelites did to the Canaanites. This was not God's plan. The people would repent, cry out to God, and then God would raise up a judge to save the people. God did not totally desert the people because God is the one who made Covenant with Abraham. The judges were charismatic leaders who led the people out from under the enemy. These men were filled with the SPIRIT OF THE LORD and that is why they were successful. The people would be restored and free, prospering and recognizing that it was GO who delivered them. As time goes by, they again forget the Lord, fall into sin and the cycle begins over again. Again and again God would raise up judges to save various tribes. Sometimes God would raise up a judge for one tribe, other times it was a group of tribes. Sometimes judges overlapped. When it says that God relents because of the people's groaning, it is not that He changed His mind, it was that the people came to a place of repentance where God could again raise a hand of protection against them.

Judges 2:20-23 Then the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

When God repeats Himself it means that He is serious about what is happening, and the people's disobedience is rebelion. God decides to leave the nations and not drive them out immediately. The people are receiving the fruits of their rebelion. Notice that God leaves the nations to TEST Israel to see if they will walk in the ways of the LORD and keep God's commandments. In our lives God permits situations to test us for the same purpose. The truth is that God wants us to pass the test and will keep giving it to us until we ace it. If we pass the test, then God moves us to the next level, if not we keep getting tested in the area that troubles us. Sometimes God even tests us in areas that we think we have successfully mastered. God's purpose for testing is not so He knows if we have learned our lesson - God also knows the results of our tests before we take them. It is rather a measuring stick for our lives so that we know what we need to work on in our lives, and to keep us humble. Only Jesus successfully passed the tests God gave Him, for only Jesus is perfect. God is burnishing us to perfection in His kingdom, and testing helps us to grow stronger. As Pastor Don says, you will not grow strong if you go to a weight room and lift a feather; it is the resistance of the weight that builds muscles. Every test and trial that we face, while uncomfortable for us, helps us grow stronger. As we grow stronger the tests change and we are not facing the same old, same old tests. If we find our lives caught in a cycle of a certain test, it may be beneficial to ask the Holy Spirit what it is that we need to learn from this trial. I get tired of reruns of tests.

Romans 1:18-25  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,  because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,  who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

This is the cycle of sin that God is showing us in Judges, and God is not obligated to protect us when we are in disobedience to Him. If we learn anything from this book it is; WE MUST TAKE GOD SERIOUSLY ABOUT THE ENEMY. Jesus came to save us from our sins, not to let us slip back into them. We need to realize that there are no trivial sins, and even a tiny toe over the line in the sand that God has drawn is disobedience and the ultimate end is to pull us further and further into sin and idolatry. As we make these minuscule movements toward disobedience, one day we will look back in shock and ask ourselves, what happened? Sometimes people in that position blame God, but the ultimate blame is in man not listening and obeying God.

Praying your day is blessed!

Heather

Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

Pastor Don feels that a Bible study is not only about a person teaching but about teaching the attendees how to do their own Bible studies. We used our concordances in the back of our Bibles to try and figure out what the root, branch and stem from Jesse is. Some of us knew, but for those who didn't we did the research. As people found references they called them out so we could draw a conclusion.

Jesse was David's father, and this passage is talking about the branch.

John 15 speaks about the branch, the roots, and gives us the revelation of how we function in the vine.

Zechariah 6:12-13 Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the LORD; yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’

Isaiah 4:2 In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped.

John 15:2-6 (Jesus speaking)  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

Jeremiah 23:5-6  Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

Jeremiah 33:14-16  ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: ‘In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’

Zechariah 3:8 Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.

Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

God's plan is eternal, the spreading of the Gospel of the Messiah. God has a plan and a place for you.

Revelation 5:5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

Where does fruit hang out?  On the branch. Jesus is the primary branch from which we swing.

Isaiah 4:2 In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped.

It is a continuum, God brings fruit and we are the fruit. God is the one who determines the fruit, not our will. God establishes us and puts out good food. God is strong and we are weak.

Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

Coming from the root of Jesse - David was from the root of Jesse. Abraham was the spiritual root.  Both Abraham and Jesse had the fear and admonition of the Lord. Jesse's son, David, fought battles for Israel. David was strong in the Lord.

We need to look at the beginning of Abraham's ministry.  Ur of the Chaldees was the birthplace of Abraham. He came out of a place that we know as Afghanistan. It was not desolate at the time of Abraham, it would have been much like our Hudson Valley, with trees, beautiful foliage, mountains. Ur was the oldest developed civilization. There would have been terraced gardens, fountains, and wonderful art. It was the cradle of civilization. God came to Abraham and told him to pull up his stuff, leave this beautiful place and go someplace, a place God would show him. But God didn't tell Abraham where He was taking him.

Pastor Don mentioned that when someone says, "Siberia" we think of it only as a desolate wasteland, but in some places it is a beautiful, a place where Asians go to visit. We get warped cultural pictures. Most of us think of Ur as a backwards and desolate place.

Abraham was leaving a beautiful place with all of his stuff and being sent to a murderous place. His wife, Sarai was also full of faith to go with him. This place that Abraham was going had no law, no police, no organizations, it was for all practical purposes wilderness. But Abraham believed God and went.

Chapter 9 and 10 of Isaiah is directed to Israel and is a picture of Israel. It is a twofold revelation, not just for Israel in 700 BC, but as a spiritual picture of what will happen to Israel. It shows us that what happened to Israel will happen again. Israel is on a roller coaster ride, for they are a stiff-necked people. They hear God's blessings, then they go away from God, suffer consequences, repent, and then come back to God.

We too let our lives become like roller coaster rides, where we have problem places until we come to our senses. When we are aware of those in our family that are unsaved it is very painful for us, for we want them to get fixed.

The promise of God is that the fatness will destroy the yoke. Often you have to leave one place to get to a higher place, and then readjust to that higher place of existence.

NEXT LEVEL - NEW DEVIL

But the devil only has his same old tricks to try out on us in our new level. He wants to convince us to let go and give up. To see to it that you don't get back into the boat. But there are no new tricks up his sleeve. He will try to depress you, discourage you, and give problems about betrayal. Anything that served, in the past, to pull you down, he will try them again.

But JESUS, THE KING OF KINGS, LORD OF LORDS IS GOING WITH US!!!

We can be on that roller coaster and lift our hands and enjoy the ride. The main thing to do is to not get out of the car. If you get out of the car the devil can isolate you and cause havoc in your life, but if you stay in the car with Christ and with the fellowship, the ride will take you to new levels.

When the devil is trying to slap you around, pull out your Bible and tell him, "I'll read to you what God says."

Have a blessed day,

Heather

Pastor Don continues to speak about the anointing and how it can lift off burdens, this is an important topic, and well worth repeating because we all have strongholds and burdens that need lifting off.

Isaiah 10:27 It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

The yoke was used to hold the ox and control it's movements. The oxen could not look left or right when the yoke was on their shoulders, they also couldn't look up or down. They could only look in the direction the ox driver pointed them.

Is our life led by circumstances? The devil gets us to focus on our circumstances and the patterns that we have accepted in our lives are like the yokes on the ox. These yokes are emotional triggers, habitual triggers and baggage that we carry from our past into our present. There are situations that we have experienced as a child that affect our lives.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

When we are born again old things have passed away, but many of us still hold on to those old things. It can take us a few years before we get over our stuff, and old patterns are still there in the flesh, patterns that need to be changed and will be changed if we practice our faith.

We want to be more like Christ and then the circumstances and yokes that bind us will be removed.

Pastor Don mentioned that other gods do not do what God can do to remove burdens off of people. He pointed out that if allah was greater than God, how come most of the people in the Arab countries struggle to survive when there is so much oil in the region, where is the help for those people?

If we tell the truth we would honestly say that there is a yoke in our lives that we cannot seem to take off. The devil makes us think that everything is from us, so that we stay in bondage. Pastor Don said, "It's no yoke (joke)."

The anointing oil can help us to remove the bondage. The yoke is carried around the neck, and if the oil is applied it will cause the neck to swell and break or destroy the yoke.

Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

It is fatness that destroys the yoke. Sit under the Word and the read the Word. It is not just the spoken Word, but when the Spirit and the Word come together that fatness occurs. God feeds us and we get fat, and that fatness is what the anointing oil is talking about. The Word isn't just to make us feel good, but it is to improve our lives. The Word, the water of the Word, the Living Water is what brings the anointing.

John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

1 Peter 1:23  having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever

Ephesians 5:26  that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,

The Bible is its own dictionary, so we are washed by the Water of the Word. Water is a symbol for the Word and God's anointing flows like water.

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Faith comes by hearing. When we speak the Word we hear rivers of living water. We can drink in the water and the power of the Word and get fat on the Word, so that it becomes our lifestyle.

Pastor Don tells us to take in the Water of the Word, listen to it, memorize it, hide it in our hearts, don't wait for our lives to blow up, begin now to put the Word into our lives so that when troubles come the Word comes out.

If the ox gets fatter, he will destroy the yoke. We can make a mistake, but if we are fat on the Word and take a detour, it won't take us long to get back to God's best for our lives. Where the Church has made a mistake today is getting away from the literal Word of God. If we give out the Word of God, the devil's yokes break off.  We don't have to struggle against addiction, fears, strongholds. Just fill yourself with the Word and the strongholds are crowded out of our lives.

Pastor Don often gives the example of a glass of dirty water. To get the water clean, pour clean water in and cause the water in the glass to overflow, enough clean water into the glass and the dirty water will be washed out to the point that you can drink the clean water in the glass. As we put the Word of God in our life, our lifestyles will change.

The power of the Pure Water of the Word washes out the dirt. The Word of God goes in and sin and garbage flows out. Let the light shine and the darkness will flee. The yokes of life are broken.

A day will come when reason and truth will enter and your sin will lose it's power. Just fall in love with Jesus and your desire will be to not disappoint Him with sin.

Isaiah 10:28-29 He has come to Aiath, he has passed Migron; at Michmash he has attended to his equipment.  They have gone along the ridge, they have taken up lodging at Geba. Ramah is afraid, Gibeah of Saul has fled.

The anointing destroys the yoke. When we are attacked by the devil, the enemy, we want to be in a position that he has to figure out what to do with us, because we have put aside what the devil thinks are the important things, and we no longer see those as treasures. Your value system changes when you get the revelation of Christ.

Pastor Don spoke of a person who was visiting our church, sitting in the back, and Pastor went up to him and said, "If you have the courage to walk 37 feet to the front of the church you will meet God." The man ultimately walked to the front of the church and God touched his life. This man was a power lifter, and yet when he walked to the front of the church, God dropped him like a brick.

Another person who came to our church was a drug dealer who had a gold Cadillac and he loved his car. He told Pastor Don that his car wouldn't run when he brought it to the church parking lot. God would not fix the car which was acquired with drug money.

The Lord will bring down all the high places in our lives, all the idols. When we get to Michmash to attend to treasures, we need to identify what are the real treasures and attend to them.  Ramah and Gebeah are high places with idol altars and treasures.

God will destroy the yoke, change the value system, and reconnect us with new value systems. He loves us so much that He is not going to leave us where we are at.

One of our members was very concerned with his dress. One day he gave a pair of leather gloves that were important to him to Pastor Don. Pastor Don held onto and used them from time to time. When we give things that we value to the priest of God, God returns a blessing.

God changes our value system, and when we come to church we find ourselves wanting to dress and do things that are pleasing to God.  Pastor Don told us that he had a wonderful car, a 1987 Grand Marquise car that he loved, but it was beat up and looked in bad shape - the engine was good but the appearance was not. One of the members suggested to Pastor Don that he get a car that better represented God, and he realized the truth of that advice. If you are teaching prosperity and faith, your life needs to look as if you are prospering. The sad thing is that Pastor has gone through several more cars but that Grand Marquise is still running strong for the member he gave it to.

Paul said that he would present himself in a way that would appeal to the Greek, the Jew, and Gentiles, in any way that would get them to come to the Lord. That needs to be our ultimate purpose. We can be all things to all people, but godly things. We don't lower ourselves to do ungodly things to attract people.

Pastor Don said, "Favor ain't fair but I'm glad it's there."

In the process of breaking the yoke, it will take down our high places. We put God's will in place of our desires, and then God is in position to trust and bless us. One of our biggest idols is pride.

We can let pride get in the way of our blessing, or use pride to bargain with God.  "I'll join your church if..." We don't join a church to be served, but to serve. We need to pick places we want to flee from, God will not promote you when you are carrying baggage from your past. He will not put you in a place that will establish other idols in His place.

Sometimes we hear from God in dreams and visions, but God wants to speak to you more than just through dreams and visions. We need a balanced diet of the Word. Some churches are missions churches, others are deliverance churches, some churches have a heart for foreign missions, and it is good that a church has a focus, but it cannot be all that a particular church is about, there needs to be a balanced program that feeds the people the whole Word of God.

Isaiah 10:30-32 Lift up your voice, O daughter of Gallim! Cause it to be heard as far as Laish—O poor Anathoth! Madmenah has fled, the inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge. As yet he will remain at Nob that day; He will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

When the yoke is broken the devil is not happy and he will do everything he can to get you back into bondage. If you are saved, don't think that the devil has lost your address. He's Googled you. There is a disturbance in the realm of the spirit. There will be a series of possibilities and potentials that will be sent to steer you off course. We need to be able to withstand evil in the day of attack.

When lucifer was kicked out of Heaven, 1/3 of the angels chose to go with him. But the angels that went with lucifer are outnumbered 2 to 1. We need to remember this. There are more WITH us than against us. We make mistakes not to fight the devil. Jesus says to go forth and fight.

But we also need to realize that not all the problems we have come from the devil, our flesh and feelings cause us problems as well. We have to grow up.

We continued with Isaiah 11, but I will share that in my next post.

Praying your day is blessed!

Heather