Response To The News

As I read the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, one thing I find  interesting is the responses to the news about the birth of the King of the Jews, the long-awaited Messiah.

The shepherds received the news from the angel and went with “haste” to find the Messiah. (Luke 2:15-16) My guess is that it wasn’t exactly an easy task with all the people in Bethlehem because of the taxation.  As we know the only place for Joseph and Mary to stay was in a stable.  All other accommodations were full.  But the shepherds searched until they found the baby that the angel told them about. They were told they would find the baby in a manger, but I would guess there were more than a few mangers in stables in Bethlehem.  After they found the baby they shared the good news.  The lowly shepherds were the first to be informed and the first to spread the good news concerning the Messiah being born.  They returned to their sheep “glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.”  (Luke 2:20)

Then there is the Magi that evidently traveled a long distance because they saw the star that indicated to them that this King of the Jews had been born.  (By the way, there were not just three kings/Magi.  We don’t really know how many there were.  And they probably had a large entourage with them. Something about their entrance in to Jerusalem was noticeable enough to get the attention of King Herod and the people of Jerusalem.)  These men had persisted in their search for the King and came bearing precious gifts fit for a King.  Once they found the baby King Jesus, they gave Him gifts and worshiped Him.

King Herod was troubled by the news of a king of the Jews being born.  It was seen by him as a threat to his political position.  He chose to let the Magi do the work of finding for him so he could kill the new born king.  Herod pretended to want to go worship the new born king.  The Magi heeded the warning of the angel of the Lord and did not return to Herod to tell him exactly where the baby was.  But Herod still sought to kill the child that he thought may be a threat to his political position.

King Herod had contacted the religious leaders of the Jews to find out what they knew about where their King was to be born.  They told him what the Scriptures said, but there is no indication that they even had any interest in going to find this King, their long-awaited Messiah. 

I would hope that my response to the news of the birth of King Jesus would be one of immediately going to search Him out and worship Him, as the shepherds did. Or that my response to the indication of the birth of this great King would be one of persistence, traveling whatever distance I needed to in order to find and worship this great King with gifts. 

I would hope my response would not be one of seeking to destroy the King to protect my position  or of lack of interest as seems to be the case with the political and religious leaders of the day. 

(Luke 2:8-20; Matthew 2:1-18)

Love Of God

We serve an awesome God.  His love is so vast I believe it will take all of eternity to begin to plumb the depths of it.  The love of God has substance to it. It has length, and breadth, and depth and height.  It is something we can send our roots down into and have as a foundation in our lives.  It is something that cannot be known with our minds.  It is beyond being known by mental assent.  It can only be known by experience, by experiencing God Himself. God is love. 

It is only as we daily experience the love of God and really allow it to impact the depths of our being, that we can really love others.  All love really originates in God.

We can only truly love others with the measure of the love of God that we have experienced ourselves.  We cannot give away something we do not have.  Love gives.  God so loved that He gave His only begotten son. 

These are a few of my thoughts today about the love of God. 

Ephesians 3:16-21 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; ¹⁷ That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; ¹⁹ And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. ²⁰ Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, ²¹ Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

A PREPARED BRIDE

Revelation 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. ⁸ And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ²⁶ That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Jesus is returning for a prepared bride.  He is coming for a bride that has allowed herself to be cleansed and purified.  Jesus is coming for a bride that is without spot or wrinkle.  The preparation is done by the bride in submission to God. She has made herself or allowed herself to be made ready. The preparation isn't always easy.  To remove spots may take a little scrubbing.  To remove wrinkles generally takes heat and pressure.  But the end result is glorious. 

This bride will be prepared in relationship with God mostly in the secret place.  She will continually grow in intimacy, out of which ministry in the earth will be done in union with Christ to establish His kingdom on the earth.

He said be ye holy for I am holy.  This is not something that the bride can do by works, it comes by surrender, daily surrender and dying to self.

Jesus is looking for a bride of the same heart and substance as Him.  She will be one with whom He can share His heart, one through whom His glory will be manifest, one through whom He can live and move and have His being.  

Called By His Name

2 Chronicles 7:14-16 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. ¹⁵ Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. ¹⁶ For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

Isaiah 4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Some have a desire to be called by the name of God for the benefits that can bring.  But taking on that name comes with responsibilities.

In our culture it has become more common place for the wife to keep her name instead of taking on her husband’s name.  She gets the benefits of the marriage relationship and yet shuns the identity of her husband.  How often do we as Christians want the benefits of being a Christian but shun the true identity?  With that identity comes a taking on of the character that name signifies.  The names of God throughout scripture show us the breadth and depth of His character.  His desire is for that character to be manifested in and through a people that take on His name.

One of the Ten Commandments tells us not to take the Lord's name in vain.  We have made that be about using His name as a swear word.  It goes far beyond that.  Taking on God's name in vain has to do with being called one of His, but not manifesting who He is. 

Love of the Potter

A few days ago, I saw a vision of a potter's wheel with a pot on it being formed by hands.  The scene opened further and I saw that it was Jesus working in the pot. Jesus was the Potter. I sensed such incredible love for the pot emanating from Him as He formed it.

Jesus is working on each one of us. As we submit to His hand to be formed into the vessel of honor He is making us into, He has such incredible love for us. We don't have to be a finished, perfectly formed vessel for Him to love us.  He loves us during each part of the process of being formed by Him.

Sinai Surprise

During a meeting with God, Moses was told to go down and have the people sanctify themselves for the next two days and be ready for the third day.  God was going to come down on the mountain in their sight.  So the people prepared themselves as instructed. On the morning of the third day they experienced a mighty visitation of God

Exodus 19:16-20 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. ¹⁸ And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. ¹⁹ And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. ²⁰ And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. 

What an awesome experience that must have been!  They had never experienced anything like it.  I am sure during their days of preparation they had no idea that this is what they were about to experience.  Just like on the day of Pentecost as the people waited they had no idea what they were about to experience.  They were just waiting for “the promise of the Father.” 

The Israelites were terrified by the experience and pulled back from God, instead of being in awe of the power of this God and pursuing Him.  On the Day of Pentecost there were many that responded to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and to the gospel message preached by Peter. But I would guess there were many that walked away thinking it was just too weird. 

The people pulled back but Moses went up into the top of the mountain.  What was it about Moses that made him able and willing to ascend the mountain, while others were kept back from touching the mountain and pulled back even further at the sight of  it? 

May we be drawn to God and pursue Him as a result of the manifestation of His power and glory.  In the coming days I believe God will be manifesting Himself in awesome ways.  May we not be put off by how He reveals Himself. 

Gideon and the Harvest

God has been talking to me about Gideon protecting the harvest in the wine press. 

Leading up  to the account of Gideon in the book of Judges we see that the enemy was constantly attacking and stealing the harvest. They were vulnerable to attack because they had failed to obey God's word to them.  As the people cried out to God for deliverance, once again, He heard and raised up a leader by the name of Gideon to lead them out of the current situation. (Judges 6)

Gideon was hiding in the wine press in order to protect the harvest that had been brought in.  We often think of Gideon being a coward in hiding, when in reality he was doing whatever was necessary to preserve the harvest from the enemy.  Perhaps his concern for the harvest and willingness to do whatever it took to preserve it was the reason God called him. 

God called Gideon out to take down the false gods in Israel so that the enemy could no longer steal their harvest.  He needed to remove the idols of the false gods.  By removing the idols he was breaking the agreement with the powers of darkness that empowered the enemy to continually attack and steal their fruitfulness and sustenance. 

Then Gideon was used of God to raise up a small army of 300 to deal with the enemy forces.  It was a small army by God's design.  It was an army of men chosen by God.  All those operating in fear were sent home.  And the remaining ones were chosen out from the rest by a simple test.

God said to me "I am raising up an army in your region who are breaking their agreements with darkness and will send the enemy running.  This army will bind the powers of darkness through agreement with Me so there can be a great harvest. The enemy will no longer be able to steal the harvest.  Many will be freed from enemy oppression.  Keep marching forward.  Don't be concerned with the size of the army more will be added.  It is the quality of commitment that is important. " (I don't believe this only applies here.)

Fierce Love

Today I was reminded of this blog post from October 31, 2013 and felt like I should repost it.  So here it is......

Song of Songs 2:4  He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

According to Nelson’s Bible Dictionary “A banner is a flag, ensign, streamer, or emblem attached to the end of a standard. Banners served as rallying points for military, national, or religious purposes……The most common use of banners was for military campaigns. A large signal flag usually was erected on a hill or other high place.”

God is raising up a warrior bride/army. The banner over God’s warrior bride/army is a banner of love.  This warrior bride will have a fierce love for God and for each other.    

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

You may wonder about my choice of the word “fierce.”  That is the word I heard from the Lord.  I looked up the word in the dictionary.   Here are some definitions of “fierce” from Webster’s Dictionary:   “marked by unrestrained zeal or vehemence, furiously active or determined, having or showing a lot of strong emotion : very strong or intense.”

I think that could describe the love that will characterize the bride of Christ in these last days.  It will be necessary to have that kind of love.  That kind of love comes from God.  It is not something we can find within ourselves.  God is love.  His love shines forth to us.  Then through us back to Him and to each other.

Song of Songs 8:6-7 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. ⁷ Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

Moving Into The House Of Greater Glory

The following is part of a word God gave me to share with pastors and leaders in Ghana. It is not just for them. So I am sharing it here.  

"It is indeed My desire to build My house in the nations and the glory of this latter house will be far greater than the former. My best wine has been indeed saved for the last  and is coming forth in this hour"

"The early church followed the Holy Spirit out of the structure of an old religious system of Judaism although it was the foundation of the new. Don't throw out the old, build on it. Don't disregard the previous generation, build on what they have learned.

I am once again calling my people out of an old religious structure. As the early church did, you will find out what the new looks like as you walk into it step by step as you follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is ok to not know what the next step looks like. On the day of Pentecost, they didn't know what they were waiting for until it came. They just knew they were waiting for the promise of the Father. When it did come, the promise of the Father was far beyond anything they could have imagined. Sadly some missed out on the promise because they went home too soon.  They gave up on waiting too soon.  They stopped pressing in too soon. After the initial outpouring they followed the Holy Spirit into what we know today as the early church as recorded in the book of Acts.  

Some of you are called to be pioneers/forerunners in what God is doing in this day in this nation. What the church is moving into in this day and the days ahead is even greater than that of the early church.  The glory of the latter house will be greater than the former. God is building His house in you and through you"

Haggai 2:9 KJVThe glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts. 

Psalm 127:1 KJV Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it

John 2:10 NIV and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”