IN THE BEGINNING

Monday Night...

I'm thinking...

This is my thought as I behold Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning..."

I discovered that everything ever created and everything that does exist or did exist all have a beginning and an end; all things but God, because He is not created.  He is God the Creator.  For all skeptics, God has always been.  He is the beginning and end of all things.  For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities, all things were created and exist through Him, in Him and for Him.  He exist before all things, and in Him all things consist (Colossians 2:16-17). 

For all historians, skeptics and unbelievers, as Christians, the Bible is more then a history book.  It is a life source and an eternal, yet tangible resource that points to God as Creator of the universe (Genesis 1, Romans 1).  We do not have to question if He is God and if God exist.  Just believe He exist and that He is eternal.  (Romans 10:9-15.)

If we attempt to destroy the Bible or remove the God of the Bible from our world, our homes, our schools, our government, financial and educational institutions, we as all ancient nations and people will remove the very essence of why and how we have come to exist and eventually we will self-destruct.  As humans, exercising our humanistic views, and as a result of our   unbelief that the Bible is the absolute truth leading to God [written by Mankind inspired by God], we have humanized and minimized the deity of God to a human spectrum.  However, although many fail to believe in this truth that supersedes theory, philosophy and dogmas derived from hypothesis, facts and archeological finds that are based on psychological guess passed down by highly respected intellectuals and scholars throughout the centuries, the Bible is the heart of God revealed to mankind.  And it does us no justice by humanizing or minimizing what can only be spiritually decoded by the Holy Spirit the Spirit of God (1Corinthians 1-2).

God created our beginning and our end.  He knows our days; each are numbered.  Let me stop and ask you a question, "How are you spending your days, knowing now they are numbered???   Our lives are as grass in an open field.  We're here today and gone tomorrow, and yet, God is mindful of us.

The writer of Psalm captures the thoughts of God toward Mankind saying, "When I view and consider YOUR heavens, the work of YOUR fingers, the moon and the stars, which YOU have ordained and established, what is man that YOU are mindful of him, and the son of earthborn man that YOU care for him?  Yet YOU have made him but a little lower than God and heavenly beings, and have crowned him with glory and honor.  You made him have dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet (Psalm 8:3-6)."

God has given our beginning a name:  Purpose.  He has also given our end a name: Destiny.  In the beginning, God charged us to walk in our creative purpose to the end of our destiny.  For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome (Jeremiah 29:11-Amplified Version).

The counter to evil is live (life).  The counter of live (life) is evil.  Satan counters the plans of God to live with evil, leading to death.  The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23).  Satan comes to steal, to kill and to destroy, but Jesus has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly, overflowing in every area of our lives.

God has included details that fit your life and your story.  There is nothing about any of us that is hidden from God.  He knows us better than we know ourselves.  And the great thing about being in God's hands is, what He doesn't like He changes.  We are daily being put on the Potters wheel (Jeremiah 18:1-4) to be fashioned to fit our pre-ordained purpose and destiny in Christ.

You see, all created things serve an absolute purpose.  God did not make a mistake when He created you.  You and everything about you serves a purpose.  The good, the bad and the ugly is serving God's purpose of making you better, stronger, wiser and more distinguished from all others, fit to serve with a pure heart.  Moreover, from the beginning to the end of your life, God is with you. 

In the beginning consist of a Creator that creates something or someone for a specified purpose.  Creation is the vision and invention of the Creator's imagination and vision.  It includes, imagery, sound, movement, progression, creativity, production and re-procreation.

The end consist of an established outcome and overview of events from the beginning to the end.  Nothing in your life takes God by surprise or catches Him off guard.  As a matter of fact the Bible vows that after you have suffered a while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His own eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen and settle you (1Peter 5:10--Amplified Version).


Called to a Good Life

Wednesday morning, while I was watching Fixer Upper with my daughter, I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, "Rashea, your beginning and end is good!  I was so elated to receive this good news!!!  He even gave me biblical Scriptures to secure what He shared with me.  (Genesis 1:26, 31; John 3:16-18; Romans 5:9-21, 8:1-30; 1Corinthians 15:22-54; 2Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 1-2; Revelation 21:1-7.)

God is amazing!!! Fixer Upper is a t.v. series about a couple who goes in and re-constructs the infrastructure of homes and turns run down shacks into dream homes. Wow!!! So, is that what God is doing with us, making all things new?

Despite the obstacles we all face on a day to day basis, life is good!  We were called to enjoy our lives God's way.  Why God's way and not our own?  Let's understand something about God.  God is not a dictator, but He is God.  He is Abba Father, and He is King.  God brings us up to who He is as a person as we yield to Him.  Coming up to the standard God has set enables us to fully respect, embrace and enjoy who God is in our lives and enjoy who we become because we are in Him and He's in us.  Furthermore, God's ways keeps us from self- absorption and self-destruction.

You might say, "Well, if life is so good then why is life so bad?  Why am I facing all this trouble?"  The Bible tells us that, "In the world we would have adversity, because we have an adversary the devil that plots all kinds of downfalls and snares for us.  However, Jesus encourages us to be of good cheer!  In Him we have perfect peace and confidence.  We serve a God that has overcome the world and has deprived it of its power to harm us (John 16:33--paraphrased)."

As we remain in Christ, His peace secures us and covers our minds and hearts, even our steps.  We can step assured God has us and has already predestined the next steps into our future.  The Bible says that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord (Psalm 37:23).  Therefore trust in the Lord and commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages] (Isaiah 26:4).


It Is Finished

I've been pondering this thought for a few days now.  It was my original thought which sparked this whole study on "In the Beginning" and "the End".   Okay.  Now, if your pain has a beginning, then surely, I said, surely it has an end.

Go with me now to Mark 6:45-51, 53.  This passage speaks of a historical event where after feeding 5,000+ people with a miracle of a meal that Jesus, without notice, commands His disciples to get in the boat and sail to the other side of the sea to Bethsaida.  So they get in the boat and set sail, while Jesus sends the multitudes on their way and heads to the mountain alone to pray [to the Father].  Now, by evening, the boat was out in the middle of the sea [lake].  At the fourth watch of the night, between the hours of 3am-6am, Jesus sees the perplexity of the disciples as they attempted to row against the wind preventing them.  He comes to them walking on the sea [as one walking on solid ground].  Jesus appeared to pass them by, but when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost.  Freight with fear and uncertainty, they cry out in terror, wailing, as they set their gaze on Him.  Without hesitation, Jesus spoke to them and said, "Be of good cheer!  It is I Am!  Stop being governed and overtaken by your fears and anxiety.  Then, Jesus went up into the boat with them, and the wind ceased (sank to rest as if exhausted by its own beating).  And they were astonished exceedingly [beyond measure].

So, what can we learn from the disciples account with trouble and the God that delivers us from trouble. 

1. All trouble has a beginning point and an end.
2. Trouble poses to be a threat to our assignment.
3. Trouble is an opportunist, taking advantage of us when it appears Jesus is at a distance.
4. Time is a factor.
5. Jesus is never too busy praying to see us in our perplexity. 
6. Jesus is coming to assist us.
7. Jesus will calm our fears and encourage our hearts.
8. Trouble will cease.
9. We will be amazed at the outcome.

My God, is that Good News?  Yes, Indeed!  Life gets better by and by.


KINGDOM BUILDING UNITED
(Promoting the Good News of Jesus Christ around the Globe)

THE CONTOUR SHIFT

Tuesday Night...

While I was preparing for bed for the night, I was standing at the bathroom sink and I heard the word contour.  Now, I have heard this term before, but I wasn't sure what it meant.  Taking a few minutes to look it up in the dictionary (that's right the Big Blue Dictionary).   Contour--the outline of a figure, mass, land, etc.;  delineate which is to trace the form or outline of; to draw; to describe; to depict in words; to paint; to portray; to form a likeness of by drawing; painting; sculpting; description; picture; representation; sketching; portrait.

...Sleep...

Well, it's Wednesday night and I am still chewing and meditating on the word contour.  I like it!  It sounds French.  Lol.

So what is God saying? 

God is changing our contour; our outline; the lines bounding our limits; the listing or presenting of the main points in our story; the sketching of our lives. God is doing some internal work within us.  Can't you feel the shift?  You can't explain what's happening but you are sure something is happening that will put you in the way of your next and destiny. 

The Refining Fire

Life may not break us, but life will require much bending and adjusting to fit a mode or a certain model that entails being put into the fire of affliction and refined and sculpted to be used by God.  The writer of Psalm 66:10-12, Amplified Version, said, "For YOU, O God, have proved us; YOU have tried us as silver is tried, refined, and purified. YOU brought us into the net (prison fortress, the dungeon); YOU laid a heavy burden upon our loins {most sensitive areas}. YOU caused men to ride over our heads {leaders of our nation and families} [when we were prostrate; in a humble state of surrender and helplessness]; we went through the fire {purification and refinement} and through the water {trouble, trial}, but YOU brought us into a wealthy, broad moist place [to abundance and refreshment and the open air]-- emphasis mine as lead by the Holy Spirit."

Everyone God ever used for His purposes has gone through the fire.  Refinement in the fire involves stress, stretching, pressure, force, bending and bowing.  Humility is a requirement.  Refinement also involves a cooling process. Those who work with medal and iron works are familiar with this process, but so is God.  Just as a medal/iron worker cannot use cold medal and iron untouched by fire, neither can God utilize a person who is cold, stubborn and unwilling to go through the fire.

When we encounter the fire that bends, adjust and reconstructs us into a prototype of Christ, there's a creating of new formulas {mindsets, behavioral patterns, methodologies, arrangements, balances, etc.} that manage and maintain the cooling process which is the prototype of Christ we are becoming daily.

Sketchy Character

God will not give us anything too soon.  Legal rights to the promise doesn't mean we will possess the blessing when we deem it's time (Genesis 25:29-34).  Jacob a supplanter at birth, a schemer, trickster, swindler by trade did not possess the character or personhood to manage what was legally his. He had to go through the fire of refining. Moreover, because his character and personhood did not compliment the blessing, his inheritance was withheld from him for a period of time.  (Reference Scriptures:  Genesis 25:21-34, chapts. 27-28, 30:29-43; chapt. 31, 32:21-32, Hosea12:2-4 --Amplified Version).

I want to deal with something I found quite intriguing in Scripture.  Genesis 25:27-28 says,  "...Jacob [supplanter] grew up to be a plain and quiet man, dwelling in tents.  Obviously, Jacob suffered from rejection from his father who loved and preferred Esau because he ate of his game (his skills and talents were profitable).

Rejection from his father and the drive for first from birth drove Jacob to become someone he was never meant to be. Not being first son, not measuring up to his brother's talents and his father's expectations drove him to sin.  Jacob was just a plain and quiet man, who dwelt in tents {he minded his own business; a loner; a home body}.  Have you ever had anyone note you as just; they saw no value in who you were?  Jacob wanted to be first son and schemed to swindle his eldest twin brother out of his birthright.  Have you ever coveted what someone else had that you schemed to get it (a job, money, promotion, man or woman, a climb up the ladder)?

Rebekah adored Jacob, seeing value in who he was, but unfortunately, sometimes a mother's love cannot fulfill the inner voids of being rejected by one's own father.
Wow!  Come on Holy Spirit.  Hi-Five moment.

So, why did Jacob, a grown man by now, go along with his mother Rebekah's scheme to take possession of the blessing of promise in Genesis 27?  Rebekah loving Jacob, saw the agony of Jacob being rejected by Isaac his father, day after day.  And being the loving mother she was, she attempted to cure her sons longing of wanting to be loved and accepted by his father by leaning on her own character flaws which was a generational curse.  Remember, her brother Laban was also a trickster, schemer and swindler.

The movies show her as a scandalous woman, but that wasn't the case. Rebekah did what many mom's do in desparation for their child or children.  She took matters into her own hands and attempted to fix the contention and rejection brewing in the family.  She felt that maybe if his father blessed him that he would finally feel loved and accepted by his father.

Well, he did have the right to be blessed since he possessed the birthright.  Right? Our rights don't give us the right to force ourselves on other's.

Mother's it is so important that we are going to God on behalf of our children and waiting for his instructions and direction concerning our children.  We should never coach our children into sin.  Amen.

Like Jacob, sometimes, wanting and longing for love and acceptance drives us to become something and someone we never intended to be, and in Rebekah's case encourage things that should never happen in a family. Rebekah's scheme to possess the father's blessing as first son would finally earn Jacob the right to be loved, blessed, accepted and invited into his father's presence.  But a what cost?

The clock was ticking.  Isaac, his elderly father was old and knew he would be laid to rest one day soon.  It was now or never. So, Jacob growing desperate consented to deception.

Rebekah prepared the stew, while Jacob dressed himself in deception. He felt like Esau, smelled like Esau, but he did not sound like Esau.  Deception earned him the blessing.

However, deception provoked his brothers fury, making Jacob a fugitive.  It was many years before Jacob made peace with his brother Esau.  Mental Note:  Any plan involving deception always involves running from those we've deceived.  It's best just to give what we feel is unfair to God and let Him give us what is ours, His way and in His timing.

One Encounter with God

However one encounter with God changed EVERYTHING!  Jacob went from Jacob [supplanter, swindler, trickster and schemer to Israel [contender of God]. He got tired of running from Jacob and everything that followed his name.  One night Jacob encountered the God of Bethel.

Jacob encountered God's grace and power to change.  His drive to become someone and something different drove him to contend with God.  I love the fact that God can utilize our past as a drive to become a better person, possessing His character.  I am going to say it a different way, God can utilize the worst parts of our story to shape and establish the best of our story.

Jacob's contour changed, and he possessed a limp that validated the contour shift.  When God changes our contour, our walk and how we walk should convey that.  Amen.  When people see us, they should know by the way we walk (our lifestyle) that we've encountered the God Man, Jesus Christ.

Jacob was forever Israel [a contender of God].  He wrestled until day break for his blessing.  The same desperation he possessed to be seen by his father in deception, drove Jacob to come clean and confess his sins before his God.  God in one encounter took away Jacob's name, pain and shame and gave him a new name that locked him into his destiny (Genesis 32:27-28). 

Isn't that Good News?  Great news, indeed! 

One last question:  So what more does God want to do in you, through you and for you?


KINGDOM BUILDING UNITED
(Promoting the Good News of Jesus Christ around the globe)

PRESSURE

Did you know that pressure is a part of process?  Every seed (individual like plants) experiences pressure right before the blooming stage of photosynthesis.  ...Jesus answered them {the disciples} saying {in response to the Greeks seeking to see Him}, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remain alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain (John 12:23-24)."  Do you know that your hour has come to be planted into the earth and that the planting will require pressure?  However, don't despise the pressure, because pressure is a sign that it's time to bloom and blossom.


Christ the Humble and Exalted Christ

While on earth, Jesus made for Himself no reputation.  He did not go around boasting in who He is.  The Gospel of John records Jesus always pointing to the Father, even in His demonstration of servanthood and the demonstration of the kingdom in signs, wonders and miracles.  Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father {in heaven} (Philippians 2:5-11).

Daily practice of humility (true humility in our hearts and minds) help to relieve the affects of pressure when processing through the dark stage of being buried to die, to the light stage which consist of blooming and blossoming above ground, yet deeply rooted in the ground underneath the soil.

Side Note:  Did you know that like seeds buried underneath the ground that the water (the Holy Spirit) and the sun (the Son, Jesus Christ)  can still reach you in your darkness and grow and develop you into what God the Father pre-destined you to be?  Oh my God!  That is powerful information.  Death and burial of a seed is necessary in order to grow and mature the life species of the thing planted in the soil.

Now as Christians, we die to sin and to our degenerate life before Christ, only to rise to new life in Christ and through Christ, so that we may live for the purpose of glorifying God the Father in life and in death, to resurrect in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior (Romans 6; 1Corinthians 15:35-58). Seed is sown into the ground, and the grounds soil supports the proper development of the seed while it receives the proper and proportioned water, sun and time (the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the fulfillment of the pre-ordained moment and conditions) to grow and develop into what it, he or she was purposed to be.  Photosynthesis consist of the development of a seed planted into the ground of a garden or field which we are who are in Christ (Genesis 1:26-31, 2:7-25).  God took out of Himself a seed (Genesis 1:26, 2:7) and created and covered him; male and female; them in earth and fashioned them out of earth to bear His image (prototype; form; a body type able to commune and communicate with Him in understanding) and His likeness (His nature, personality, attributes, characteristics, likes and dislikes, His standard for living a proactive and productive life--holiness {holistic, lacking in nothing; healthy and whole, perfect and without flaw}).  Moreover, God gave them a commandment to be fruitful and to multiply.  By command we have seed within ourselves to be highly productive and produce more of ourselves in the earth, but what are we producing, and are we being productive? Who's image and likeness are we producing and multiplying on the earth?

Yes, I am commissioned to stir us to think today by asking questions that will challenge us all.  No one is exempt.  I have to ask and be asked tough questions by the Holy Spirit and others, in order to respond properly to pressure, circumstances and situations.  When was the last time you asked yourself some hard questions and answered those questions with truth (God's truth about you)?

Look!  God wants us to grow both vertically upright and horizontally; extending out in size, depth, height and width.  God wants our roots to be dimensional and strong, maintaining the proper and prescribed balance in every are of our lives and walk with God.  Get rooted and stay rooted.

Pressure

Pressure--a pressing or being pressed; compression; squeezing; a condition of distress; oppression; affliction; intense physical, mental and emotional strain or stress; to press (act on with steady force or weight; to push steadily against; to squeeze; to push weight on; to push one of some kind to its or their limit to reach a different level, dimension or capacity of function and form; to force; compel; constrain; to urge or solicit earnestly or persistently; to entreat; to lay stress on; to distress; to urge on; to drive on; to crowd).

So a certain level or capacity of weight or measure of distress and force is put on us in order for us to grow, breakthrough and complete one level of photosynthesis onto the next level, ultimately producing a harvest.  If seeds never feel crowded (cramped; boxed in; suffocated) and distressed, they would never desire or feel the need to breakthrough and branch out into new depths and areas of the soil.  So tell yourself, "God is growing me."  It's true.  He is! 

The compression applied (through prayer, fasting, obedience to the Holy Spirit and  the Word of God) relieves the pressure we feel by conflict, crisis and circumstances we face in life.  Pressure also shows our need to be readily coached to victory both mentally and verbally.  Coaching pulls to the forefront our need to reflect, to trust, to be honest with God, ourselves and others.  Coaching also requires a greater level of brain-storming, dialogue, decision coupled with the proper response and above all change which produces growth and proper development.

Seed + Water + Sun = Photosynthesis 
Through the process of photosynthesis we are growing deeper roots and growing stronger in our faith, biblical convictions and Christian lifestyle.  We are sons and daughters through adoption by God the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior (Ephesians 1).  However, the pressure, compression and process of regeneration enables us to put off the old man of sin, renew our minds and put on the Lord Jesus Christ made in true righteousness and holiness.

Yes! God is concerned about how we handle pressure and the affects pressure has on us.  So God does and will allow specific types of pressure to come up against us to work out of us sinful and destructive habits, behaviors and mindsets that hinder our growth and productivity in Christ.  The Bible exhorts us to {purposefully} grow up {mature; become skilled; be upright} in all things into Him who is the Head--Christ (Ephesians 4:15). Yes, we have to grow up.  No parent entrusts any infant with the keys to the house or their car.  So, if we want access to privilege, then we have to grow up!  Amen.

Pressure expands our ability to persevere through our distress and increases our potency to impact the people, places and things around us.  So, what pressures have enabled you to grow?  How have you grown and in what areas have you grown?  Are you struggling or wrestling with the answer?  The key to getting through the wrestling and struggle of what God requires is being willing to say yes, and with His grace, do and fulfill what is required of us.


Rain Cycles

There is a saying, "April showers bring May flowers."  I have witnessed this to be true throughout my lifetime.  Every April, annually, it rains in the month of April and those April cycles of rain produce the beauty of radiant plants and flowers we behold scattered throughout the earth.  So what causes the array of beauty painted on the Earth's canvas annually?  Pressure.

Meteorologists would agree that atmospheric pressure is the cause of precipitation (rain).   When a low pressure system or a depression (caused by rising warm air) develops over a region, the ascending warm air cools.  When it reaches saturation point, the cooled air forms clouds, often followed by precipitation.  Reference:  Precipitation Wikipedia and Reference.com. 

So how does this apply to our lives?  The rise or elevation to our next level has formed clouds over our lives and will release the rain necessary to grow us to our next level of purpose and destiny.  The pressure that we feel is imperative for the release of fresh water to lunge or push us with force, from the water pressure coming down from the sky and out of the ground, into our next assignment.  So, do not despise the atmospheric pressure around you, above you and under you that is setting the atmosphere for the rain to fall and surface to the soil to grow you.


Responding to Pressure

Job, in the Bible was under extreme pressure and in excruciating pain.  Job was in a crisis; borderline break down, but Job, under severe pressure and critical pain, never turned his heart away from God.  He did question God, asking why?  However, Job never cursed God in His heart or to His face.

How do you respond to God, let alone life, when you are under extreme pressure and in excruciating pain?  How do you respond to the scrutiny of people when you are accused of sin or doing something wrong, when in your heart you know you did no such thing?  The Bible reveals Job attempted to defend himself and plead his case (Job 5-41).  We do that.  Don't we?  Well, I know that I do.

However, Jesus, being fully man, did not (Isaiah 53; Matthew 26:57-63; Mark 14:53-61; Luke 23:6-12; John 19:5-16).  The Bible says when asked questions, Jesus kept silent and answered nothing, unless prompt by truth that established His Preeminence and purpose (John 18:37:38).  Let this, too, be our goal going forward.  Amen.

I find it very interesting why the Bible records Jesus not answering His accusers and murderers questions.  Luke 22:66-71, 23:1-2 records Jesus saying, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go."  Their hearts were hardened and by no means could they hear or receive the truth without criticizing Jesus or condemning Him to death.  However, Jesus receiving strength from an angel of God sent to Him, while in the Garden of Gethsemane, withstood and endured their unbelief, mockery, treason, threats, persecution and willingly, after all this, laid His life down for all.

Wow!!! Let's applaud and esteem the MAN, Jesus who while under pressure responded to pressure with compression (embodied in strength, love, forgiveness, peace and self-control).  Lord, help us all.  Pressure is good, because pressure makes way for godly compression to be applied to our situation.  That's why it is so important that we spend time with God and allow the Holy Spirit and God's Word to give us the strength and intensity we need to press into pressure God's way so that we can experience victory in every area of our lives over demonic pressure and warfare.

We have a mighty weapon against pressure and it's called compression.  Whatever pressure you are feeling, rub it out with the Word of God and obedience to the Holy Spirit.  And in every area of your life you will be like a tree planted by the rivers of {living} water that brings forth{good} fruit in its {appointed; pre-ordained} season, whose leaf shall not wither and whatever you do will prosper (Psalm 1:3).  Isn't that Good News, love one?  Yes.  Good News indeed!!!

P.S. If you don't have a relationship with Jesus, I encourage you right now, today, to give Him your absolute life.  Invite Him to come into your heart and clease you of any sins committed and to fill your heart with the Holy Spirit and His Word.  He wants a relationship with you.  He is so...real and personal.  I know because I, myself have encountered the MAN, JESUS, who is absolutely amazing!!!  When you invite Jesus into your heart, you are justified by His sacrifice for us on the cross and the regeneration process begins immediately where you are made a new person!!!
Also, get into a great, Bible believing and teaching church.

KINGDOM BUILDING UNITED
(Promoting the Good News of Jesus Christ around the globe)

DELIVERED FROM DISTRESS

March 8, 2017

About 11:30 p.m., last night, I was preparing to go to bed, and I heard the Holy Spirit say to me two words, "Distress and detox, with three days of fasting couple with prayer.  He also said that He was delivering me from distress and distressful situations and that a three day fast was necessary."  "Was necessary" instead of "is necessary," because God is catching me up to His timing of "it's already done."

The meaning of distress is extreme pain; anguish of body or mind; great unhappiness or dissatisfaction; anything that distresses; affliction; a condition of affliction or wretchedness; danger; calamity; oppression; compulsion; to afflict greatly; distract; to pull asunder; to harass; to make miserable; unhappy; anxious; to trouble.

synonyms- suffering, pain, agony, misery, misfortune, adversity, pain, grieve, afflict. harass, trouble, perplex

....Sleep....


March 9, 2017

The Lord Our Rock

This morning I woke up and went to the Bible Gateway App on my phone and do you know what todays Scripture was?  It was Psalm 26:4, "The LORD is my ROCK."  When you are in distress, is JESUS your ROCK or have you made fallible people, places and things your support and source?  I encourage you, as I do myself, to continue to run to the ROCK higher than anything or anyone else.

The Scriptures make a promise to those who are in deep anguish of soul and distress of heart.  It says, "You {God} will keep in perfect {complete, mature} and constant {around the clock} peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed focused on You-- in both inclination and character, because he {or she} trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation] (Psalm 26:3--emphasis mine).  What or who is out to break your focus?  Watch out for assignments from the devil to break your focus and your reliance upon He, Him, Holy Spirit.  Flesh encounters (I call them), distractions sent to get you worked up and in your flesh and out the will of God for your days assignment and your life's purpose for Christ.

When we depend on God, the ROCK of Ages, in our distress and our ways both morally and spiritually please Him, He makes our way smooth and level (Psalm 26:7).  The establishment of peace is mentioned twice in Psalm 26:3 and 12.  So, I grasp from reading this Scripture, that God really does want us to have peace in the midst of distress.  God will vindicate us as we cry out and up to Him.  Did you catch that?  I said out and up, because many of us are crying out (horizontally to people, places and things) but our cries are not reaching God, because we are not crying up (vertically) while crying aloud.

So, life lesson:  Cry out (aloud) and up (pray to God). 

The Lord Our Peace

As we cry aloud and pray to God, He will release peace, His own peace that travels beyond human capacity to articulate, reason or comprehend.  Don't you want that kind of peace?  God releases eternal peace that is not made by human hands but made and nurtured within himself, out of His own heart.  Isn't that good?  My God!!!

You know what?  The closer I walk with God while in distress, I noticed my heart towards circumstances and people who wrong me is changing.  I am moving from a heart that cries out for vindication to a heart posture of bestowing mercy and grace, remembering I, too, am in need of mercy and grace daily.  I can think of two great people who extended mercy and grace in Scripture toward their enemies in the midst of unjust distress:  Jesus (the Lord of glory) and Stephen (who was filled with the glory of God).  They both asked that their enemies wrongs be not accounted to them, and they did this while in distress; Jesus being crucified and Stephen stoned to death (Luke 23:33-34; Acts 7:59-60).

Jesus teaches us to love our enemies and do good to them, being those who are perfect (mature, complete, whole) in God as God is perfect (mature, complete, whole). (Matthew 5:43-48.)  That is easier said then done.  Right?  However, it can be done, as we learn to fully lean and rely on the Holy Spirit, our advocate and helper.

Guess what?  Those who possess the peace of God move in a perfected peace to love those who make their life hard, their skin crawl, their heart and mind race with emotional anguish, and their lips call on the name of "JESUS!"  Come on.  Say His name with me.  JESUS!  His name should roll off our tongues more often than not, because it's at His name that whatever or whoever is perplexing us will answer to.  Amen!

In John 14:27, Jesus, our ROCK, promises to give us His peace.  Jehovah-Shalom (God my Peace).  We have an eternal peace that is beyond this worlds comprehension of peace.  In God's eternal peace we find eternal rest.  We are called to rest in Him while we wait for Him to act, to speak, to create, or bring resolve to our past, our present and our future.

Yahweh (the Lord) promises shalom (eternal peace) to the weary, to the faint-hearted, the broken hearted and those in distress.  He is nearer to us now then when our salvation first began!  Yahweh-Elohim (the Lord our God) shows His divine power and authority to establish and maintain our shalom.  Tell me, who is like Yahweh-Elohim?  No one.

God's Sovereignty in Our Distress

King David reveals the sovereignty of our God in Psalm 34:17-22, saying, "When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their distress and troubles.  The Lord is close to those who are crushed with sorrow for sin and are humbly and thoroughly penitent.  Many evils confront the [consistently] righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.  He who keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.  Evil shall cause the death of the wicked; and they who hate the just and righteous shall be held guilty and shall be condemned.  The Lord redeems the lives of His servant, and none of those who take refuge and trust in Him shall be condemned or held guilty.

I don't know about you, but that is some good news to me!  You need to take a minute and shout because God is fighting for you.  I encourage you to give all your cares [and burdens] to the Lord [Yahweh].  He will care for you and sustain you.  He will never let the righteous be shaken or permit the godly to slip, stumble, fall or be moved (Psalm 55:22--Emphasis mine). 

I really stressed or pushed home this point of reference of Scripture, because we need to really consider and grasp God's love and concern for us.  He really does love us.  Moreover, as David and so many believers in the Bible and throughout history have experienced the sovereignty and protection of Yahweh-Elohim, we, too, will experience continuous victory in our distresses and over those who oppress us without cause. 

I graciously encourage you to trust God.  Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean [all of] yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of Him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.  Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself--it tends only to evildoing.  For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait and hope {confidently} and look {intently and intentionally} for the Lord [in the end] shall inherit the earth.  For yet a little while, and the evildoers will be no more; though you look with care {love and concern} where they used to be, they will not be found.  But the meek [in the end] shall inherit the earth and shall (delight) themselves in the abundance of peace (Psalm 37:7-11).

You see?  There's that peace again.  God's peace is truly a sustainer.  It preserves our days.  We out live our afflictions [in this life and in the life to come].  It is God's good pleasure to give us long life (Psalm 91:16).  ...Those who wait (persevere with patience; don't give up; rest) upon the Lord [who expects, look for and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not get weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired (Isaiah 40:31--emphasis mine).

Well, you might be asking God, "Why now?  Why me?  What did I do to deserve this?"  Well, let's see the Bible's response to our inquiries. 

• James 1:2-4 --Perfecting of one's whole character.
• 1Peter 4:12-14 --You are not alone in this fight.
• Psalm 119:71 --Pain intensifies one's need for God's precepts.

Listen to me.  God is not out to punish us.  I know it can feel like that sometimes.  Okay...a lot.  He is a good Father and knows correction and trials births the perfect and peaceable fruit of righteousness within us (Hebrews 12:11).  I know I can say that I am better, more humble and compassionate, stronger, wiser and more prone to run to God as a result of facing distress.  How about you?

Jesus, our greatest example, showed us how to wholly depend of God when in trying circumstances and situations.  He was so...perplexed in prayer before His trial and crucifixion that the Bible describes His sweat like thick and massive drops of blood pouring down His face.  Now that's distress, y'all.  He loved His friends and asked them to intercede for Him while He went to pray.  Returning from prayer , He found His friends, Peter, James and John, fast asleep.   In that moment, He realized, "The spirit is willing but the flesh (humanity outside of God's strength and power) is frail (Matthew 26:41). " 

His friends were too tired to pray and watch with Him, but the Bible says God never slumbers or sleeps (Psalm 121:4).  In Luke 22:43, we discover that God the Father sent an angel to strengthen Jesus in his moment of distress.  God did not remove the assignment, but strengthened Him to over come His distress and finish well.  God may not remove the tasks, but He will give you the ability to bear it and carry it.  Amen.   

The Release of Deliverance

Let's take a quick look at Acts 16:16-34.  Paul and Silas were in distress, but in their distress they cried out and up to the Lord with prayer, supplication and song.  And the foundations began to shake and the bars made of iron were broken asunder.  What is God breaking up on your behalf? 

God will come through bars of iron and break up systemic structures and foundations to get to you, His beloved.  Not only was Paul and Silas set free but so was the one (the jailer) who was legally authorized to keep them imprisoned to a legal, oppressing system forbidding the proclamation of the gospel and the name of Jesus.  I tell you, there are people assigned to your life that will witness and personally encounter the power of God and His grace as you cry out and up to Him with:

• Prayer
• Supplication
• Song and praise.

I'm telling you, your distress is a setup for massive deliverance from all that oppresses you.  The greater the distress, the greater the deliverance.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Yahweh-Elohim, I speak a great deliverance over you.  So stand still and see Jesus the deliverer come through for you.

Isn't that Good News?  Great deliverance is in the Good News!

KINGDOM BUILDING UNITED
(Promoting the Good News of Jesus Christ around the globe)