Under the Mighty Hand of God

1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: ⁷ Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

We are told to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.  Under that hand is a place of protection.  If we choose to walk in pride, we rise above that place of protection and put ourselves in a place of danger from enemy onslaught. In that place of protection under His mighty hand we can cast our cares upon him and be at rest.

 
When we humble ourselves under that mighty hand, we also put ourselves in a place under the potter’s hand where that mighty, yet gentle, hand will form us into a vessel of honor for his kingdom.  We can choose to refuse or we can choose to humbly submit to that mighty, gentle, forming hand.  A vessel formed by that hand can then be exalted to a place of honor and usefulness in the kingdom

THE REST OF THE STORY

Paul Harvey often used the phrase “the rest of the story” to introduce some missing part of a story that would bring clarity to things. 

When Elisha’s servant saw the vast army surrounding them, what he saw in the natural was very real, just not the whole story.  So Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his servant to see the rest of the story (picture). (2 Kings 6:13-20)  We need to ask God to open our eyes to see the rest of the story/picture, part of the story/picture that we are unable to see.  We need our eyes opened to that unseen realm.

So what is really going on around us?    Perhaps we should ask God to open our eyes to the “rest of the story.”   As we do perhaps we will see Jesus in a new way or have greater understanding of a scripture.  Or perhaps we will see the angels of God at work.  Or maybe we would see angels waiting to work but not yet released because we have not called out to God.

Proverbs 20:12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.

I personally am asking God to open my eyes to the rest of the story, by personalizing this  prayer,  which Paul prayed for  the Ephesians.

Ephesians 1:15-20 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, ¹⁶ Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; ¹⁷ That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: ¹⁸ The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

RELATIONSHIP AND REVELATION

John is often referred to as John the Beloved.  In the Gospel of John, he often refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”  John had a close relationship with the Lord Jesus.  He was one of the three that Jesus chose to be with Him on certain occasions.

(Mark 5:37-Little girl raised from the dead; Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:2 Mount of Transfiguration; Mark 14:33-Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus went aside to pray)  John was leaning upon Jesus at the Last Supper.  John was at the cross with Mary, the mother of Jesus and Jesus gave to John the responsibility of taking care of His mother.

John13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

John 21:7  Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord.
John 21:20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
John 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

Daniel was also called greatly beloved by the angel of God.  

Daniel 10:11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.

Daniel 10:19 And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.

Both of these men were given great revelation, especially concerning the end times.  It is important to have a very close love relationship with the Lord Jesus in order to be entrusted with great revelation.  I believe in these last days God desires to have a close relationship with His people.  I believe He also desires to bring revelation to His people and open to us the mysteries of the kingdom for this hour. 

Provision

We have just passed through a holiday season that, for most people is about “more stuff.”  I believe we are headed into a time in this country during which getting more “stuff” is going to take a back seat to being able to find food to eat and possibly shelter and clothes.  When I say clothes I do not mean another pair of shoes to add to the collection or the latest greatest “in style.” 

I believe God’s Word is true and we are going to need to stand on it in the days ahead. It will be a time during which it will be especially important to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  Then we can be assured that all these things will be added.  That is food, clothing, etc. the necessities of life.  It will be a time during which we will definitely need to just take one day at a time. 

Matthew 6:33-34 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. ³⁴ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

1 Timothy 6:6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. ⁸ And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

 I believe we will see miracles like the multiplying of the loaves and fishes.  (Matthew 14:  17-21 & 15:32-39) Or like finding a coin in the mouth of a fish to pay the taxes.  (Matthew 17:27) Or like the woman with who used the last of the meal and oil to prepare a cake for the prophet and from that day forward there always enough food until the day of the drought was over.  (1 Kings 17:8-16)

 Those who do know there God shall be strong and do exploits. Daniel 11:32

OUT OF AFFLICTION

Jesus told us that in this world we would have tribulation.  But we are to be of good cheer because He had overcome the world.  (John 16:33)  As Christians we are not promised a life without difficulties.  Psalm 34:19 states, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.”  We can be assured of God delivering us out from the difficulties, but not to keep us from entering into difficulties. 

We see in the situation recorded in Daniel 3, in which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the furnace they were not in there alone. There was a fourth person in there with them.  They came forth from that fire that had killed the men who threw them in, without even the smell of smoke upon them.  They were not alone, nor will we be left alone in our time of affliction.  (Hebrews 13:5)

Isaiah 43:2-3a When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. ³ For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour:

MAIN DISH OR SIDE DISH?

Jesus desires to be the main dish of our life, not just a side dish.  Too often we partake of Him as a side dish and think we are doing well.  Sometimes we think that we are doing good because at least we are partaking of Him, unlike many others around us, even those within the body.  But those who compare themselves with others are not wise.  We must measure ourselves with the plumbline of God’s Word, with the plumbline of the commands and expectations of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Especially during this holiday season with all the hustle and bustle it is so easy to not keep the main thing the main thing and push Jesus aside until we get to the other side of this season.  Although there are seasons in God putting Jesus aside and making Him a side dish even for a season is not a good thing. 

Is Jesus your main dish or a side dish, as you go through this season? 

Revelation 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Mark 12:29-30 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: ³⁰ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

WHAT ARE YOU EATING?

We have all heard the phrase “you are what you eat.”  If we eat a healthy diet we will be healthy and if not, we won’t. This applies both in the natural and the spiritual.

Sometimes I have thought it was not fair that certain people could eat as much as they want and not gain weight.  Or that some people can eat a very unhealthy diet and yet not seem to suffer the consequences.  Yet it seems that if I even look at something sweet I gain weight. Or if I am not careful about my diet I soon suffer the consequence of increased pain or an acidy stomach. No matter what it seems like now, there are consequences, if not immediately, there are long term consequences in relation to what we take in.

The same is true of our spiritual man.  Daniel and his friends chose not to partake of the foods of the Babylonians that were offered to them.  They chose not to defile themselves with those foods. (Daniel 1:8-20)   The result was that they were ten times wiser than the others.  John the Baptist was in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey, certainly not the normal diet of the day. (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6) Although this refers to their natural diet, I believe it is an indication of their spiritual diet as well. 

Ezekiel and John were both admonished to eat the book. (Ezekiel 2:8-3:3; Revelation 10:8-11) I believe God is saying the same thing to us today, “eat the book.”  That is, do not just read the book (Bible) but take it in. Meditate upon it. Let it become part of you.  As it was for both Ezekiel and John it will certainly cause a certain amount of discomfort at times, but the long term affects will be glorious. 

Jesus told his disciples to eat His flesh and drink His blood.  This caused a great many to walk away from Him. (John 6:51-69)  Jesus is asking us today to partake of Him as well.  It may be offensive, but as Peter stated only Jesus has the Words of Life.  We partake regularly of the bread (His body) and the wine (His blood).  As we do we are remembering His death and ultimately His resurrection.  We are partaking of Him who is life.  In Jesus is life.  The life is in the blood.  Jesus is the bread of life.  Partaking of Jesus consistently will have a glorious result in that day when we stand before Him. 

So I ask, What are you eating?

 

WORDS OF LIFE

Yesterday as I was reading through a portion of Acts and this verse stood out to me.  Acts 5:20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

Many people were being healed and many people were being saved.  The apostles had been put in prison by the religious leaders because they were jealous of what the apostles were doing.  During the night the angel of the Lord came and freed the apostles from prison and told them to go into the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.  They were to preach life eternal through Jesus Christ to the people stuck in the dead religion of that day.  The very religious leaders whom Jesus called whited sepulchres (Matthew 23:27) were at it again..  These that looked good on the outside and yet were dead on the inside are the very ones who crucifed the Prince of life. (Acts 3:15) These same spiritually dead people were trying to stop the ones who now had the Holy Spirit of the Prince of life living within them.  Gamaliel was a wise man when he counseled these spiritually dead ones to let the apostles go for if this was truly of God they would not be able to stop it and they would find themselves fighting against God Himself.  There is no way to stop the Prince of life.

I don’t want to be a whited sepulchre.  I want to be one preaching the words of life.  Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me.  In Jesus is life and that life is the light of men. 

Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

Acts 3:15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

We Must Stand

I believe we are in a time in this country when we as Christians are going to have to make some tough choices and we are going to have to band together like never before. Our battle is not with human beings, but with spiritual forces.  The body of Christ is going to have to truly become the body of Christ. We need to pray for one another, that we may boldly stand for Truth clothed in the full armor of God and having done all to stand.  We must stand together.

Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; ¹⁵ And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: ¹⁸ Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 Daniel stood firm for God in the midst of a spiritually dark nation.  No matter what happened he stood firm in his relationship with God. As a young lad, when he was first taken to Babylon and was beginning his training there he refused to defile himself. (Daniel 1:8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.)  This set the tone for his many decades of leadership within the spiritually dark nation of Babylon, even after Babylon had been taken over by the Medes and Persians.  During those years God caused him to have favor and spoke a clear word through him to the leaders. 

Daniel always remained humble and dependant on God, realizing where his help came from.  When the decree was signed that would mean his death if he prayed to his God, he went and prayed to his God like he always did.  Even in the face of death while headed to the lion’s den, Daniel’s trust remained in his God.  (Daniel chapter 6, espec. vs. 10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. )  In Daniel 6:3 we are told that “an excellent spirit was in him.”  And I pray that the same could be said of me and you in the days ahead.

WHERE ARE WE?

...from bondage to spiritual faith;
from spiritual faith to great courage;
from courage to liberty;
from liberty to abundance;
from abundance to complacency;
from complacency to apathy;
from apathy to dependency;
from dependence back again into bondage.
Life Cycle of Nations by Alexander Tyler, 1750 
 

After studying the history of many nations and noticing the life cycle that nations went through Alexander Tyler, laid out the cycle noted above. We can see where our natin has been.  But we can also see where our nation is now.  Unfortunately, I believe the USA  has moved from apathy into dependency and are on the edge of bondage.  Actually in some ways we have already headed into bondage.  The bondage into which Israel was taken was God’s judgment, out of which they cried out to God and were restored to spiritual faith.  We see this cycle over and over in the Bible, especially in the book of Judges.  I believe, from what I see in the scriptures, that God’s judgment is redemptive.  God’s judgment is for the purpose of turning hearts back to Him.

The United States has for several decades been telling God we do not want Him involved in our lives.  As a nation in a lot of ways we have turned our backs on God.  We have allowed prayer and Bible reading to be removed from our schools. The occult is being embraced more and more. Just look at the movies, TV shows, and books that are popular. We have allowed the killing of millions of unborn babies within their mother’s wombs. Across the country the homosexual lifestyle is embraced, even within churches and by our president. For these things alone we deserve judgment as a nation

You may say, but we are in the end times and these things are supposed to be happening.  That may be true, but I don’t buy that as an excuse to not stand as Christians.  I don’t believe just because we are in the end times that the church is supposed to just give up ground to the enemy and just wait to get out of here. This is a time to stand firm and fight.  This is a time to allow God to work in and through our lives as never before. I, like many others, am looking for an end time harvest that we have not yet seen, and then the end will come.