Archives for August 2011

1 Day Before Landfall in Hampton Roads
Of course, today I watched the news reports because now I want to walk circumspectly. Hurricane Irene was a huge juggernaut on the screen–Swirling circles of white, red, and yellow crawling up the East Coast. And she was a Category 3 storm!

These events spoke of what people were expecting:

• My son’s band camp picnic and show demonstration was called off.
• Services at my congregation were cancelled for the weekend.
• Businesses were closing.
• Shelves in supermarkets were almost bare.
• Neighbors were cleaning up their yards making sure that any possible projectile would be stored away.

My family decided to hunker down and batten down the hatches. Then I spoke with others; some going to Charlottesville, some to Petersburg, some to Rocky Mount, NC. It was then that I realized the seriousness of the moment and the impending storm.

PRAYER: Father, bless your people and the entire East Coast! According to meteorologists, we have not been battered like this so massively since Hurricane Gloria. I thank you that we serve a God at whose voice the winds and the waves obey! Bless your people, Father.

Be ministered to by Hillsong as they sing “Still” based upon Psalm 46:

ARVE Error: id and provider shortcodes attributes are mandatory for old shortcodes. It is recommended to switch to new shortcodes that need only url

Why He made you in His image? And then why He put you on this earth?

A THEORY
Scientists say that one day the sun will burn out. I believe them! Their hypothesis directly relates to the answer to each of the questions above.

THE EVIDENCE
When God made the heavens and the earth, they were perfect (Genesis 1:1). I think we can all agree on that! Then evil rose up in Lucifer’s heart; he wanted to be like God (Is. 14: 12-15). This happened long before Adam and Eve were created. So God cast the adversary down from the heavens he corrupted into the earth, which became formless, void, and dark because of his presence (Genesis 1:2). In other words, the adversary brought chaos upon the earth. It, too, was corrupt.

THE PLAN
To redeem that which had been perfect, God devised a plan. I can imagine He said, “I am going to give this earth to humans (Genesis 1:26) [THIS IS WHY HE MADE YOU]. It does not belong to the adversary; I made hell for him and his angels. I will make my humans in my image and my likeness so that they will KNOW . . .
that the earth belongs to them;
that I have given them the authority to take control of it;
that I sanctioned and signed this deed to the entire earth.”
And He wanted us to have the power to subdue and cultivate the earth and to resist the evil that has been cast into it.
[THIS IS WHY HE MADE YOU IN HIS IMAGE]

To assist, God makes a temporary light for humans (Genesis 1: 3-5) — the sun so that we would not be perpetually afraid of the dark.
This was not his original plan, but now it becomes the plan for redemption of the heavens and the earth.

OUR MISSION — Should we choose to accept it.
God says, “Occupy until I come.” Adam is not able to hold out, although he was in the image of God, so God sends the Light of the World to give man greater hope of subduing the earth and his enemy. He redeems us. Our mission is to hold out until the world is redeemed. If we hold out, the earth is ours and iniquity will not rise up a second time [THIS IS WHY HE PUT YOU ON EARTH].

THE PROMISE
One day the sun will burn out because the book of Revelation tells us that at the end of the age, there will be no need of the sun, for the Son of God will light the heavens, the earth, and the entire universe.

PRAYER: Father, you trust us to partner with you in the redemption of the world. Wow! Do we feel special? Yes! Do we feel loved? Indeed! We have missed it, and you have been patient. The world is so topsy-turvy! The reason: we have not been occupying until you come. We didn’t know that we were this important to your whole plan. Thank you for not giving up on us . . . for not destroying us and starting with a whole new batch. We love you. Thank you for giving earth to us! We will hold out and subdue until the Light of the World lights heaven and the whole earth with his glory. Amen!

“The one who sits on the throne says, ‘Behold! I make all things new.’” (Revelation 21:5)

Enjoy “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns!

ARVE Error: id and provider shortcodes attributes are mandatory for old shortcodes. It is recommended to switch to new shortcodes that need only url

You’ve seen at least one of the following movies, I’m sure — “Freaky Friday“! “Big”! “17 Again“! and now “The Change-Up“! In those movies, someone exchanges his/her life for another, whether willingly or unwillingly. Before there were any of these movies, one of the biggest universal change-ups of all times ocurred and we could have missed it — even those of us involved in the change-up may have missed the magnitude of it. Let me cut to the chase:

Yeshua was made like Adam so that we could become like Him. — A CHANGE-UP!

ADAM

• made in the image of God — “God created mankind in his own image” (Gen. 1:27)
• had God’s nature — “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness” (Gen. 1:26)
• created to live forever — “…for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen. 2:17)
• had free will . . . “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;  but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil“ (Gen. 2:16-17)
• in that free will he chose to disobey God rather than embrace him — “She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Gen. 3:6)

YESHUA

• was/is God — “Who, being in very nature, God” (Phil. 2:6)
• made like Adam —  “being made in human likeness” (Phil 2:7)
• as a man he submitted to death — “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death” (Phil. 2:8ab)
• as a man he died — “even death on the cross” (Phil. 2:8c)
• he had free will
• and in that free will He chose to be obedient to His Father

Isn’t it wonderful that when Yeshua came He did not say that he was making us like Adam! He was making us like Himself! The first Adam is not our lot! That’s what I was! That’s not what we are aspiring to. I don’t want to know anything else about the first Adam or to become what he was. I want to manifest the 2nd Adam.
DON’T MISS THE CHANGE-UP. HE DID IT! WHEN WE ACCEPTED YESHUA’S ATONING WORKING IT WAS DONE IN US. Now our job is to live it!

It’s not Freaky! It’s divine!

It’s not Big! It’s gargantuan!

It’s not 17 again! It’s like God again!

We were not put on earth to learn ABOUT God. We were put on earth to MANIFEST God!

PRAYER: Father, we don’t really know what you have called us to. You want us to be great . . . because You’re great! What a great day to be able to say to someone, “You want to know what God looks like — look at me.” We just don’t know how amazing we are!  Help us not only to live what you have called us to but to see it through your eyes! Amen!

Let’s join the Women of Faith as they sing “Trading My Sorrows”:

ARVE Error: id and provider shortcodes attributes are mandatory for old shortcodes. It is recommended to switch to new shortcodes that need only url

Every month your bank sends you a statement, making you aware of how much money you have saved and the interest you have earned. Your investment company does the same with your IRA’s or TSA’s. Depending upon the market and your future plans, you know if you need to increase your deposit. You can sit back and watch your savings grow and then plan your life and future accordingly.

In Matthew 6:20, Yeshua says to “Store up riches for yourselves in heaven” (TEV). I don’t get a monthly statement from heaven letting me know I much I have stored up. God doesn’t even whisper in my ear, “Do some more good works. Your savings are a little lean.” I realized that I don’t know how much treasure I have stored up in heaven, but Yeshua himself says to “store” it up.

• Here’s a question: What if I knew? Would my storage be based upon my greed, my self-centeredness? Probably so! Oh, let me do a few more good works to increase my treasure. But here’s a revelation that just hit me–my love for God is the only thing that matters. It will determine how much treasure I have stored up in heaven! The more I love Him, the more I do the things that are motivated by His love = (equals) the more treasure I have.

I must admit, it would be nice to get a statement from heaven showing a bulging account. But you know exactly what I would do — yes, I’d rest on my laurels.

• Unfortunately, on earth we save and may not get a chance to enjoy our treasures because of an early death. Someone else gets to enjoy it. But in heaven, they are mine and I have a guarantee that I will enjoy them! Can’t beat those dividends!
• Another thing is — I don’t even know what kind of treasure it is. What is it? Maybe the amount of treasure we have should matter but what kind it is should not — heavenly treasure is not even weighed by the same measure as earthly treasure! Yooo Hooo!

Anyway, here’s to doing what Yeshua admonished us to do — storing up treasures for ourselves in heaven!

PRAYER: Father, I’m glad it’s You keeping track of our accounts. I’m glad it’s You motivating our hearts to love You. I’m glad it’s You telling us that what we do on earth in the Name of Your Son will last throughout all eternity — not just last but be treasure for us in heaven. Moth can’t corrupt it! Time can’t destroy it! Decay can’t touch it! I don’t know how much it is or what kind it is — all I know is Your loving, just heart! Thank you for giving me the chance to work for You! Nothing can be the wages I earn with you! Yoo Hooo! Ooops! Amen!

Here’s to all that matters: 

ARVE Error: id and provider shortcodes attributes are mandatory for old shortcodes. It is recommended to switch to new shortcodes that need only url

Related articles

• Where the Heart Is? ~ Part 5 (hisimagenme.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Wisdoms for the week of July 4, 2011 (christianfamilymatters.wordpress.com)

If I am traveling, seldom do I think about enjoying the journey. My sights are set upon the destination — the friends that I will see at the end; the majestic mountains that I will behold; the beaches that will be as blue and  as clear as the sky. The trip there by car will be long and the flight will be bumpy and claustrophobic. Yet, our God calls us to enjoy the trip. How do I know? Well, he gave us an example. After creating each day’s wonders, he sat back, enjoyed it, and said it was good. Was He looking toward the finished work on the 6th day? No doubt. But He was enjoying the journey that would take Him there.

Think about Apostle Paul. Most of his letters were penned while he traveled by boat between various places of ministry or, at best, while he sat in house arrest or in the dungeon of a Roman prison. Could it be that God even allowed the prison stays just so his spirit could be at rest? And look at what came out of those moments of rest! Letters — depths of wisdom, and reveries of love for His God — that we may not have received had Paul not learned to enjoy the journey.

Here is an example of what he writes from being confined within a house with guards around the clock: “Yes, I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance” (Philippians 1:18c-19). He had learned to rejoice in the journey and realized that the journey was just as important as the destination.

What a lesson!

Enjoy your journey today! Smell a flower! Smile at a stranger! Gaze upon the clouds! Breathe in the earth after a rain! Hug a friend, relative, spouse, child a little longer today. And thank God for the journey.

PRAYER: Father, thank you! I guess it goes back to the Scripture that says not to think about tomorrow because tomorrow has enough trouble of its own! So I rejoice in the journey. Every portion of it is an opportunity to see and know You a little more! Yes, I will rejoice. In Yeshua’s Name! Amen!

Enjoy William Murphy and Nicole Binion as they proclaim along their journey, “I Will Rejoice” and be glad.

ARVE Error: id and provider shortcodes attributes are mandatory for old shortcodes. It is recommended to switch to new shortcodes that need only url

Related articles

• Prayer for the Journey (countingmyblessings.typepad.com)
• The Journey is the Destination (blottyp.wordpress.com)