BUZZARDS ON THE CHURCH

When I took my son to school, I could not help but notice 7 or 8 turkey buzzards staking out their territory along the roadside. What is dead? I asked. It must be something really big. When I returned home some 20 minutes later, they were still there. Also, across the street, several of them had lined the frame of a building. What a sight! I noticed that a man had pulled his car to the side, gotten out, and positioned himself to take a picture of this sight. I still could not see what had died.

Two hours later, I ran an errand, and although my destination did not take me past the site of the buzzards, I could still see from the end of the road that they were still there, not only lining the frame of the building, but scattered about the roof. Then it dawned on me — “buzzards on the church”! That building was a church!

I wonder if in the spiritual — if we could see — would we notice dark, brooding forces over our buildings, waiting to see what has died or is about to die in our congregations? Whose flesh are they waiting to devour? What territory are they staking out? Are they calling in their friends? They see us dying in envy — full of pride and idolatry and self-righteousness  . . . so they stake out their claim! Photographers stop by gazing at the spectacle of our spiritual deaths and we pose for the camera, very much dead inside.

I just declare life over every congregation today that calls upon the name of Jesus/Yeshua! I pray for the swift exit flight of every spiritual buzzard as they see us rise to life and declare the works of the Lord! When we rise to life, they MUST flee! Let them hear us say…

  • “I rid myself of all evil, all lying, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all evil speech” (1 Peter 2:1)
  • “I put away all idols and I am the righteousness of God in Messiah!” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
PRAYER: Father, thank you that you have not called us to death . . . but to LIFE! We shake off the dead things and every adversarial minion that has staked a claim to our lives! They have no right here . . . not where there is life!  Help us to live that abundant life that you have for us today and always! L’Chaim! To Life in Messiah! Amen! 

THE GRACE TO GIVE OUT GRACE

by ABAZGRL at Weiss Ministries

There is this song (can’t remember the name of the artist is or the name of the song), but there is a line in the song that goes like this:

“The thing I find most amazing than amazing grace is the chance to give it out!”

I absolutely loved it! Grace is unmerited favor, kindness that we do not deserve and never could earn, even in all our good works combined in a lifetime! We get this amazing grace because we are children of God.
Then God gives us even more amazing grace. He gives us the opportunity to give that grace to others. He gives us an opportunity to act like Him! AMAZING!
That’s what Yeshua wanted his disciples to know when he commissioned the 70 and then the 12 and gave them power over every demonic spirit. He wanted them to share the freedom that comes with that amazing grace to those who would receive. In essence he says to them, “You all have been blessed with amazing grace; now give it out! Be like Me! I give you the grace to give grace!”
Sometimes we get so frustrated with life’s journey:

  • the lady at the cash register who asked for your ID but not the man in front of you . . . don’t take offense. GIVE OUT AMAZING GRACE.
  • That person who takes the parking spot that you have been waiting for — GIVE OUT AMAZING GRACE.
  • That person who narrowly cuts you off in traffic–GIVE OUT AMAZING GRACE.
  • That boss who keeps slighting you . . . GIVE IT OUT!

The scenarios can go on and on . . . but the important part of this message is that you have THE GRACE TO GIVE OUT GRACE. I challenge you today to give out grace today. PS — the line that follows the above line in the song is : “maybe that’s what love is all about.”

Father, thank you for your amazing grace. I sit here and write this blog because of your grace. It is grace that I want to extend to others. We don’t even have to ask you for the grace to give out grace because we already have the grace to do it. Help us to appropriate that gift of grace today. We don’t have to muster it up! We don’t have to conjure it up! We don’t have to force it to happen. Help us to just walk in it, Father. And thank you for the ones that you will bring in our paths that we can extend grace to. In Yeshua’s Name. Amen.

CHALLENGE: Write back and share with us who you extended grace to this week and how.

MY SISTER HELPED ME TO FIND THE SONG AND THE VIDEO–Yay! HERE IT IS — “I’M NOT WHO I WAS” by Brandon Heath

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An Excerpt from My Upcoming Book GOD STILL USES VESSELS

Ever asked God to see His Glory? Consider this . . .

“Show me your glory,” Moses pleads to the Omnipotent God. And God obliges.

I will cause all of my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. … But you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. … When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen. (Exodus 33:19, 20, 22,23)

And Moses saw it – the glory of God, pure energy swirling in a fathomless abyss. The ineffable sounds emanating from his being were unlike anything he had heard; even the backside of God was too incredible to imagine. God called it his “goodness” and with His “goodness” came His Name!  Wow!

And I pleaded to God, “Show me your glory.”  Which one of God’s lovers has not requested the same? And I heard him say, ever so indelibly, “I want to see my glory in you! Then the world will see my glory, and you will reflect it!”

God has a much greater plan for his glory than we do. It would have been wonderful to have seen what Moses saw, but whom would it bless other than me?  What kind of glory could anyone have gotten from that experience that was for my eyes alone?

When we seek to see his glory, we seek it in the wrong places. We must seek to see it in each other, since that is the reason we were created.

When Isaiah (Isaiah 6) sees the glory of God bursting the seams of the heavenly tabernacle, it was the chorus of angels who declared in verse 3, “The whole earth is full of his glory.” Even the seraphs knew that as they beheld the impressive weightiness of God eternally, God had so sprinkled that same glory in every aspect of the earth – the sky, the trees, the animals, the mighty oceans, and yes, man. As our eyes are turned heavenward for a glimpse of his glory, the angels redirect our attention back to earth, lest we become consumed with a spectacle (seeing) and not with the indwelling (being).

According to John Piper, “God’s righteous passion and delight is to display and uphold his infinitely valuable glory.”  And in his great humility, he desires that we be the vessels to showcase his glory.