Just A Lamb of God

In the song "Lamb of God" by Twila Paris, the last phrase says "til I am just a lamb of God." Some time ago this really struck me as I sang it. I must become a lamb like the Lamb of God.  The bride must become of the same nature as her Bridegroom.  That lamb nature of Christ must become my nature, as well, in order to truly be one.

(dictionary definition of Nature=the basic or inherent features of something, especially when seen as characteristic of it....  synonyms: essence, inherent/basic/essential qualities or features, character, complexion)

I remember when I was in Bible school as we were starting the Book of John, when the teacher got to John 1:29, where John the Baptist spoke of Jesus as the Lamb of God, the teacher started to talk about the lamb nature of Christ.  As he did, the Spirit of God made Himself known in the room and people began to break and weep and that was the end of any teaching by man on that day.  We spent the spent the rest of that class in the presence of the Lord as He spoke to and dealt with us individually.   Obviously walking in the lamb nature of Christ is important.


Here are my notes from that class concerning the lamb nature of Christ:
1) Simple-no plans of His own, no schemes of His own, to only do the will of the Father,  (2 Cor. 11:1-3 simplicity in Christ; Amplified Bible vs. 3 whole hearted, pure, and sincere devotion)
2) Shorn- no resistance, didn't fight back, submitted to the dealings of God
3) Silent-did not try to justify Himself when He was misunderstood
4) Spotless-no bitterness, etc.  only a heart of love




Isaiah 53:7- 8 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Lamb of God
by Twila Paris

Your only Son
No sin to hide
But You have sent Him,
From Your side
To walk upon this guilty sod
And to become the Lamb of God

Your gift of Love
They crucified
They laughed and scorned him as he died
The humble King
They named a fraud
And sacrificed the Lamb of God

Chorus:
Oh Lamb of God, Sweet lamb of God
I love the Holy Lamb of God
Oh wash me in His precious Blood
My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God

I was so lost I should have died
But You have brought me to Your side
To be led by Your staff and rod
And to be called the lamb of God

Chorus
Oh Lamb of God, Sweet lamb of God
I love the Holy Lamb of God
Oh wash me in His precious Blood
'til I am just a lamb of God

Water of Life

Recently I was thinking again about the importance of drinking the refreshing water of life that comes forth from the throne.

God rebuked the people of Judah for forsaking Him who is the fountain of living water and digging for themselves cisterns.  Cisterns are man-made sources of drinking water.  It becomes stagnant and contaminated.  It is like partaking of religious man-made ideas as opposed to partaking of the life force that comes from a vibrant relationship with God. The ever fresh flowing waters of the river that comes from God are far different than the stale stagnant water of a cistern.

We can take what was once fresh living water and put it into a cistern and it gets stale and stagnant. Or we can daily come to and drink from the fresh flowing water of life.

Jeremiah 2:13   For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. 

Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

Psalm 36:7-9   How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. 

Welcome Home

When the prodigal son "came to himself," he realized that the hired servants in his father's house were much better taken care of than he was, at the present time.  So he decided to go home and ask his father to make him a hired servant.  When he got back home, his father met him and embraced him. The son stated that he had sinned against his father and heaven, but he never got to the part about asking to be made a hired servant.  His father clothed him in a robe, put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet.  The ring indicated authority in the father's house.  The shoes on his feet indicated his place in the family. (Servants didn't wear shoes.)  I assume the robe also indicated a place of sonship as well.

Although he thought he only deserved to be made a hired servant, he was reinstated into the family as a son .  Sometimes as Christians when we return and the Father welcomes us back to his house and back to his table of fellowship, we still act like hired servants. Because we feel like we don't deserve to sit at the Father's table we may stay at distance, maybe even living at a distance in the servant's quarters instead of in the Father's house.

The Father's heart desire is for us to dwell with Him in His house and eat with Him at His table.  His call is for us to come and fellowship with Him no matter where we have wondered or how we have previously squandered our inheritance. Father is always looking to welcome us back into His house as His son (daughter).

 Isaiah 1:18-19 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.

Luke 15:17-24 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry

Walk With God

God takes pleasure in us in each stage of our growth.  Too often I think of the great big perfect God expecting absolute perfection.  But there is a process that is necessary to get closer to that perfection. God is ok with the process.  Actually He is the One who set things up that way.

God goes through the process with us.  Or at least He wants to. We can only truly become all that He created us to be by learning to walk with Him and let Him be our guide through the process.

Adam and Eve walked with God and tended the garden God gave to them.  They were in process as was the garden they were to tend.  I believe as they walked with God they grew in the knowledge of God each day up until the time of the fall. They experienced God in ways we cannot even imagine at this point.  There are dimensions they experienced that were lost when they sinned.  But I believe we can recapture at least some of them as we learn to walk with God and live in the Spirit realm, getting more and more free from our earthly sinful nature.

Enoch walked with God until he no longer walked in this earth realm.  Adam would still have been alive when Enoch was born.  Perhaps Enoch learned from Adam what it was like to walk with God in the way that he had in the garden, and stepped into that.  What prevents us in this day from walking with God in that way as well???

Ephesians 2:10 ESV  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 

Hebrews 11:5-6 ESV By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

No Record Of Wrongs

1 Corinthians 13:4-5  NIV Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Recently God reminded me that love keeps no record of wrongs.  We are to keep no record of the wrongs that people have committed against us.  And God keeps no record of the wrongs we have committed against Him.  Once we have repented our sins are put as far from us as the east is from the west. They are cast into the depths of the sea.

Psalm 103:11-12 KJV For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 

Micah 7:18-19 KJV Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 

As I was remembering a past sin and taking it before the Lord once again, He reminded me that He keeps no record of wrongs. And He told me that I should not keep a record of those wrongs either. I was to let the past forgiven sins stay under the blood and let the past stay in the past.  I needed to stay current with Him.

When the enemy tries to bring up the past we can point to the blood of Jesus and go on.  The accuser loves to continue to remind of the past and sometimes our memory banks bring it up too. We need to use the blood of Jesus like an eraser.

Let Go Of The Old

A little over a year ago, as a person prayed for me, he saw a wind blowing across my yard.  That wind was blowing some things out of my yard and blowing some other things into my yard.  Things were being rearranged. It was indicating some coming changes, even in the people I would be associated with.  He said, "It is all good. It is a fresh season."

A few months ago I was about to throw out a pair of shoes that had holes in them.  God told me to also take a particular shirt out of my closet and throw it away.  The shirt was old and faded.  It looked so bad that I would seldom wear it outside the house. But it was so comfortable and familiar that I liked wearing it.  I believe God was saying it is time to get rid of worn out, familiar, comfortable things to make room for the new that He is bringing into my life.

Sometimes when things are being rearranged we try to continue to hold onto things that need to go, while God is trying to lead us on into the new things He has for us.  In order to stay in step with where God is leading us, we need to let Him rearrange things, remove some things, and add some things.  Some old, comfortable, and familiar things must go to make room for the new.

Isaiah 43:18-19 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 

New Equipment For This Harvest

One night a few months ago as I was praying while trying to get to sleep, I began to see old rusty and broken down farm equipment headed into a field.  Off to the side I saw a massive field of grain.  I heard the Lord say, "You need new and updated equipment to bring in this harvest.  Yesterday's anointing and methods cannot be relied on.  You need fresh revelation, a fresh anointing and strategy of the Lord to bring in the coming harvest.  It won't be like the past, but in some ways it will seem similar to the untrained.  You must submit to the training of the Lord to be ready for this harvest. Today is the day of preparation.  It cannot be church as usual.  I am coming in power and glory, a glory that has not been seen before, in a measure that hasn't been experienced before.  Much of what is being called glory is not My glory.  It is a demonstration of anointing and power, but not glory."

I believe this is a word for the body of Christ to press in to receive the necessary training and equipping from the Lord to bring in the harvest 

To be honest I tried to leave out the last couple of sentences, but felt like I needed to put them in.  So I put it out there for you to judge.  

Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 

Amos 9;13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed;

Nothing Can Separate From God's Love

Romans 8:38-39  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Nothing can separate us from God's love, not even sin.  Sin will bring a separation in the relationship, but doesn't change God's love.  God is and always will be love.

God always loved Israel, even when they were in sin.  Judgment had to come upon them, not because of lack of love, but because of love.  God's judgment on sin and love are not opposed to one another.  Just like when a parent disciplines a child it is because he/she loves the child.

I believe our perceptions concerning this get distorted when we get disciplined or punished out of anger or frustration. Or when we receive inappropriate discipline because of the mood of the parent. God never has a bad day.  So we never have to walk around "on egg shells" hoping not to upset Him.
The following two commonly known scriptures from Jeremiah are found in the midst of God telling Israel of the coming judgment upon them for their sin. Within these we see God's continued love and care for them in spite of their disobedience and the need for judgment/discipline.

Jeremiah 29:11-14  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 

Jeremiah 31: 3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

In the following verses Jeremiah is remembering that God is indeed a loving and merciful God, even as he grieves over the condition of Israel/Jerusalem as a result of the judgment.

Lamentations 3:21-24 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

Unmingled With Evil

Romans 16:19 ...but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

In the Greek, the word "simple" in the above scripture means innocent or unmixed.  It could also mean not mingled.  When I became aware of these possible meanings for this word, it caused me to think a little differently about this scripture.

In our culture it can be difficult to be unmixed with what is evil.  It can be difficult to not get the things of this world mingled into our everyday lives.  The ways of the evil one are all around us, especially in the media, which we are bombarded with.  Because of what is before us on a regular basis it is often difficult to be innocent, unmixed or unmingled concerning evil.  Sometimes this stuff gets on us without us even being aware of it.

I asked God how do we keep this from happening to us.

1) Avoid the media and situations that can defile as much as possible.

2) Be filled with and attentive to the Holy Spirit.  As a result, when your soul is being assaulted with evil you will be very aware of it.  You will be vexed even as Lot was over the lawless deeds he saw and heard (2 Peter 2:7-8 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) )

3) Cleansing daily.  Daily come before God and ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse you of all the defilement of the day.  Just like in Jesus day they washed their feet because the dust of the road they were traveling on got on their feet.  We need to regularly have the dust/defilement of the day washed off of our souls.

Let The Children Come

Mark 10:13-15 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

Jesus still desires for the children to come unto Him and He desires to see them trained up in the ways of God.  The children need to be led into a relationship with God, taught to hear the voice of God, and to minster in the gifts.

In Tommy Welchel's book about the Azusa Street Revival he shares stories that were related to him by people who were there as part of that revival as children and teenagers.  God used the children and teenagers to minister as part of what He was doing at that time.  I praise God that the adults at Azusa Street did not push the children aside as the disciples tried to in Jesus' day. ("They Told Me Their Stories" by Tommy Welchel)

I believe in the coming outpouring/harvest God desires to mightily use children/teens/young people once again.

Recently I was in a service at a church where the children were encouraged to prophesy and pray.  It was great to see children, as young as 5 years old, prophesy, read or quote scripture God had inspired them to share, and to pray for people.  This all happened as part of an evening service in which the . adults doing the same.  It was wonderful to see this in action.

I believe God is saying, "Watch what I will do.  Allow the children to come unto me and see what I will do in and through them."

Quite a few years ago I heard someone say that other religions, especially the Muslims, train their children, while the Christian church in this country entertains their children.  God is desirous of seeing the children trained up in the homes and within the churches to be vessels through which He can manifest His glory.

There is a wonderful book titled "Visions Beyond the Veil", by H.A, Baker, missionary to China. (the grandfather of Roland Baker of Iris Ministries in Mozambique) The book is about the heavenly experiences that children in a Chinese orphanage had and how God ministered through them as a result.

God is no respecter of age. May we all become more childlike in our relationship with our God.  May we all do our part in allowing the children to come to Him and making room for them to be trained and grow in the things of God.