Matthew 10:1, not all disease is a demonic attack

Some people would argue that every disease is a result of a demonic attack.  I would disagree.  I would say that disease (which is a form of death) is a result of sin, and specifically, sin having entered the world through the fall.  That is not to say that every disease is a result of a person’s sin… but sin as much as it is a separation from God.  A separation from God that needs to be bridged through Christ.

In Matthew 10:1 we read, “And when he had called unto [him] his twelve disciples, he gave them power [against] unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” (bold mine)

Getting through the Tolls

Recently we took a day trip to the Statue of Liberty.  It meant paying to park the car in the lot so we could get on the ferry.  After we paid we got a ticket as a receipt.  I put the ticket in my shirt pocket.

When we left we got back on the toll road, got a ticket at the booth, I put it in my shirt pocket and proceeded to the next exit.

All would have been well if I didn’t try to give my parking ticket to the toll booth attendant!

Of course, it was an accident, and a little embarrassing, but it reminded me of something…

Upon this rock…

The Gospel of Matthew is for us all.  However, when it was first written it was clearly written for the Jews.  It’s main goal is to present Jesus as the Messiah of the Jews.  So it is with great care we need to look at the passage that has caused so much division between Christians.

Jesus looks at Peter and says, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Matthew 16:18

What was He saying?  Why did He say it?  And what happened to make Him say it?  The answers to these three questions unlock the verse for us.

Give us this day

I was standing on the balcony of hotel by the beach and I felt led to pray the Lord’s prayer.  As I got to the line “Give us this day our daily bread.”  I felt the Spirit speak to me and say, “Slower.”

So I repeated it only to again hear, “Slower.”

One more time, even slower, and then what I believe the Spirit was trying to tell me it hit me.

This was not only a request for our daily bread (provision)… it was a request to Our Daily Bread (Our Provider).

When I said it again with a pause before “our daily bread” I realized that what I was praying was that the Lord,… Who is the true Bread that comes down from heaven,… Who is Our Daily Bread,… Who is Jehovah Jireh: the Lord Who provides,… give us this day!

When we begin our day praying these words we need to understand that we are requesting that the day be ours.  We are requesting that the Lord give it to us to glorify His name.  We stand on the promise of Jehovah Nissi, who is our Victory, and we do not let the day defeat us… but we show that we are more than conquerors and we take the day as our own… to glorify His name.

The Lord has given you today… what are you going to do with it?

SDG

Pure Religion

In a previous post we went into what religion is and how it is defined.  Now let us take a look at what pure religion is, as defined by the Word of God.

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27

To get an idea of what this verse is saying we need to dissect it a bit.  We need to go over it with the same “fine toothed comb of definition” as we do others.

What does it mean to “Honor?”

Honor and respect are not exact equals.  We have seen what respect is, but what does it mean to honor?  Considering that we are called to honor: The Lord, our fathers and mothers, widows, elders, masters, all men, and (husbands listen up)our wives; we should make sure we understand what it means.

Don't be a parasite

“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:” Johh 15:26

Paraklētos, that is the term used for Comforter. We often describe it as one that comes along side another.  The Holy Spirit comes along side us to comfort us.

But I think that it implies more than that.  I think that in order to see it we look at the opposite: a parasite.

Biblical Inerrancy

This is a tough one.  When we read the Bible and realize that the Word is alive… we often don’t have a hard time saying, “I believe the Bible to be inerrant.”  Which, by the way, is a statement that I wholeheartedly agree with.

However, the opposition would vehemently disagree, citing mistakes and contradictions within the text to discredit, or in their minds discredit the Bible.

So how do we go about delivering a statement on inerrancy that we can back up?  First, I think, we need to look at the commonly held definition and then see what the Bible has to say.  Then we can put out a simple, useful definition of the teaching that will have the opposition needing to read the Bible and put it use before they can say it is not inerrant.

When Jesus seems to be going on without us…

“And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.” Luke 24:28

After His resurrection, Jesus met two disciples on the road Emmaus.   They did not recognize Him at first, but as He walked with them He spoke and it affected them.  When they turned to go in to the village, Jesus “made as though He would have gone further.”  But they asked Him to stay.  One of those disciples’ names was Cleopas.

There are a few things we should take note of in the story.  Who it was that Jesus addressed.  Where it was they were going?  Whey Jesus would have made as though He would continue.

How to establishing citizenship in heaven

There are some who believe that if you are a good person, then you go to heaven… that is if there is one.  I am sure that you have heard at least someone say, “I’m a good person.  If there is a heaven I will be there.  I never killed anyone.” Or something along those lines.

It would seem that they believe that you can prove that you deserve to be a citizen of heaven.  They act as though there is an application process, that you have to have permission from “earth”  (organized religion) to get a visitor’s visa to heaven, and then, once you are there… you do everything you can to demonstrate that you truly should be a citizen.

There is a much easier way though.  And it is the same way many people find themselves being quickly accepted into a new country…

Somewhere along this road I am traveling

Somewhere along this road I am traveling

Somewhere along this road that I’m on

I look to heaven and found my companion

I saw Him seated on His throne

Refrain

 And I am free

I am free

No chain can bind me

No rope hold me down

I am free

I am free

For in His righteousness I have been crowned

Behind me I can see burnt out villages

To be made in the image of God

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:" (Genesis 1:26)  "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)  "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness."  (Psalm 17:15)

We are both made in and change into His image.  If we consider that "glory" can mean "identity" we see that we are changed from our identity to His identity.  So then, what does it mean to be made in the image of God?   Let us look at the statement from different angles.

Not enough registers open

Have you ever gone into a store hoping to leave quickly only to find that of the seemingly four hundred potential check-out lines, only one is open?

Frustrating right?  You immediately start wondering who is running the place.  “What kind of service is this?!” you might ask.  You start to speculate on how “the man” is just trying to make more money, trying to hit profit goals.  At any rate, you definitely don’t feel that your needs were being met. 

Your  needs. 

Not the needs of the guy in the front of the line who is actually wanting to pay, but the register is broken.  Not the needs of the person working the register who has to deal with all of the angry customers.  Your needs.

At that is OK… at least for what I want to talk about today...

What does it mean to “rebuke?”

I am for definitions that do not have a bias; definitions that empower and glorify God and His Word.  So when I look at the term “rebuke” and I see verses like Revelation 3:19 that state, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:” AND verses like Matthew 8:26 where we read, “Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm” I need a definition that suffices for both.

While I have heard it defined “held back” for Matthew 8:26, and can see some application of that definition to Rev 3:19 I still want to put forth the following definition…

I was lost but You have found me

I was lost but You have found me

I was blind but now I see

I couldn’t take a single step

Now You’re chasing after me, as I run through fields of glory

As I lift my hands in praise

As I feel Your love surround me

I will bless Your holy name

You are Holy, You are Holy, You are Holy, You’re my King

You are Holy, You are Holy, You are Holy, and I will sing

But only when I’m breathing

If God forgives, why does He not forget?

When people say “forgive and forget” I am not quite sure that they understand what they are saying.  I know that we are called to forgive, but are we called to forget?  Maybe… sometimes.

I need to have usable definitions for things.  I need to have something I can both sink my teeth into and set my hands to doing.  I am ancy (if that is a word).  Maybe it’s the coffee.  Maybe it’s the Spirit.  Either way, I don’t like definitions that either let me sit without doing, or that get me off the hook.

Let’s take a look at what it means to forgive, and what it means to forget…

Getting fed up? Try getting up fed…

If you are like me, you find yourself getting fed up with things, people, or circumstances pretty regularly.

There’s that person that just seems to always get under your skin.  Maybe it is that thing that so-and-so does that really annoys you.  Maybe it is your job, your boss, your hairline, the bills… whatever.

We just get fed up.  We take in a lot of junk.

The remedy… try getting up fed…

A few things I call Him...

King of kings, Messiah

Anointed

Forever

Jehovah – Jireh (Provider)

We worship You

Jesus, our Savior

Redeemer

Creator

Jehovah – Rophe (Healer)

We worship You

The Glory of the Lord

This is one of those words that I always took for granted.  It sat outside of needing a definition because it seemed to not have one.  It seemed to be self-defined. People would use it, even use it correctly, and I would find myself wondering… “What exactly is ‘glory’?”

How can it be something that God deserves, something that describes God and man, and also something that does something? 

While there are many other words that can be substituted when we read the word glory; words such as brightness, splendor, magnificence… I would like to propose the following as a definition…

R E S P E C T, find out what it means to God

“Then Peter opened [his] mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:” Acts 10:34

“These [things] also [belong] to the wise. [It is] not good to have respect of persons in judgment.” Proverbs 24:23

“For there is no respect of persons with God.” Romans 2:11

“My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons.” James 2:1

“And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning [here] in fear:” 1 Peter 1:17

Looking at the above verses gives us a pretty clear picture that God neither has respect of persons, nor calls us to have respect of persons (I know of the exception, and we’ll mention it, but bear with me).

Yet we call out for others to respect us.  Parents require respect from their children. Bosses from their subordinates.

So what is it?  What is a biblical perspective on “respect?”…

Let me see your ID

Sounds like something a police officer would say when they have stopped a car, or perhaps a person at the liquor store or cigarette stand (do they still have those?).  But seeing as I don’t smoke and rarely find myself in a liquor store BUT have been stopped by the police when driving more than I care to admit… I used the first example.

But our ID is really just a document that confirms that we are who we say we are.  Our identity, however, defines just who that “who” is.

And there are three things that we need to have in order to know who we are, in order to have a secure indemnity.  They are to…

Tuesday… that’s what He said.

Some time ago the Lord told me that He had released me from my job.  Of course, there was time between what He told me would happen and when it would actually happen.  I just hung in there watching it unfold.

Then the notice came out for us to schedule our annual reviews with our boss.  OK.  I did that.  I scheduled my meeting for Monday.  Figured I was one of the first to respond and could get it done in a timely fashion.

My boss accepted the invite (it is all done electronically these days) and it seemed we were all set.

Then we had a 24 hour prayer meeting at our home.  10PM Friday until 10PM Saturday.  It was during that prayer meeting that the Lord said, “Tuesday.”

Sunday, the first day of the week

Sunday I was in the car on the way to church services when the Lord spoke to me. This is what He said.

“If today ends your week, you just lost six days.  If it begins your week, you just gained six.”

To put it in context, I had been thanking Him for the week.  “Thank You Lord for this week and all that You have provided,” was the prayer on my heart.

So His word to me meant more to me than just getting my calendar right.  It meant that if what I was doing was thanking Him for the past week I was missing the point.  In the kingdom of God, thanksgiving opens the gates.  When we come to Sunday services as the first thing we do to start the week and we thank Him for all that He has provided then we are actually thanking Him for the days to come.

We are presently responding to what is to come (hope!).

We thank Him for what He will do.

We praise Him for what He has done.

SDG

Engine running, car in drive.

I was sitting in a fire lane waiting for my wife to come out of the store.  I was right by a sign that said, “No Stopping or Standing.”

Of course, there I was in my car wondering (not really) if I were included in this signs audience.  I quickly surmised that, in fact, I was not in violation of the signs directive because I (1) had not stopped the engine, and (2) had the car in drive.

My foot was on the brake, which was keeping me from actually driving, but I had not put the car in “park.”

I concluded that “parking” required that the car both be in “park” and the engine stopped; that “standing” meant that the car was in “park”, but the engine was on; and that “stopping” referred to the engine.

My defense, where the judge to be called…

Charity suffereth long,

I love the King James Version of the Bible.  It is so descriptive.  Many versions translate 1 Corinthians 13:4 as “Love is patient.”  How nice.  Very pleasant picture.  Someone is taking a little longer to come to the car… be patient.  A little long in the tongue on a story… be patient.

But I get a much more vibrant picture when I realizeth (haha) that love suffers. 

Christ took stripes on the back… that was love suffering. 

He took nails through the wrists… that was love suffering.

A thorny crown… yep, you guessed it.  Suffereth.

Looooooong.

Love hangs in there when everything tells you that you have put in enough time.

So when the Lord asked me, “Why don’t you loving me,” I immediately knew that I wasn’t being patient with Him.

It was then that I realized that when we lack “patience”, when we fail to “suffer long”, when we think that we have put in or put up with enough… we cease to love the Lord.

Hope!

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

I understand the whole “things not seen.”  I don’t have a problem with that.  But I wanted a greater understanding of what hope was.  More than just a feeling or an expectation, I wanted to understand my part in it.  I wanted to know what I was supposed to do since the faith that we have is not a dead faith, but a faith that is alive.

What does it mean to hope, to have hoped, and to be hoping?...

Rest in the Lord

“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him:” Psalm 37:7

By my own confession I need more rest.  But what am I really confessing when I say this?  What is rest and how can I do it in the LORD?  I used to think that rest had just to do with sleep or sitting down.  You know the feeling… getting under the covers after a long day… putting your feet up and you head back on the sofa.  Catching a few Z’s.

But the Lord has recently convicting me of many of my previously held definitions.  Specifically, He has been turning every passive definition into an active definition. Either something that I do, or something that I have… since having is a continual thing.

When I have to change the way I think (repent) about something I take it to prayer and see what the Lord would have me think.

And what He told me about rest is that it is…

Are you having a good day?

Before you answer that question… I want to challenge you to come up with the definition for “good.” 

To often we define good from that first person perspective…

How it effects me.  How it makes me feel.  If I like it.  If I think that it is good.

Sometimes we include the second person perspective…

“As long it doesn’t hurt anyone.” If most people think that it is good, or that there is nothing wrong with it.

But even with these statements, we haven’t defined “good.”

But what if “good” is defined as…

In the name of a prophet

“He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold [water] only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”  Matt 10:40-42

This is one of those tricky passages.  I remember sitting in a church years ago and hearing someone preach on this scripture.  I turned to my wife and said, “He’s got it all wrong.  He’s using it to elevate himself.”

Why?...

 …Because we need to always interpret and preach on scripture to elevate Jesus Christ. 

This man was positioning himself as a prophet and therefore he wanted the people to receive him in order to receive their reward.

But the word of God does not teach that.  It teaches that you get what you can from who you receive. 

The Lord starts by saying that those that receive us receive Him.  Since all scripture is prophetic, that is it is the Word of the Lord, it is good for three things; edification, exhortation, and comfort.

We need to find all three… and rightly divide the word.

When I read verse 41 I do not see a command to receive a prophet in the name of a prophet – that is on his own credentials – but rather an exhortation not to receive anyone based on who they are (which lines up with other scripture) but based on Who He is, which lines up with verse 40. 

What can a prophet give me on his own?  Nothing?  He needs the Lord to even speak.  If I receive through the prophet in the name of Jesus,,, it is on the Lord’s credentials.

I have to take this for myself as well.  I never want anyone to receive me because of me… but because of the Lord.  He alone has the credentials.

The last verse, verse 42, gives us a hint also because it changes things.  It says whosoever gives a cup of cold water to a child, only in the name of a disciple that he doesn’t lose his reward.

You see, we must receive from the Lord.

But giving… even on behalf of (in the name of) someone who knows Jesus… does something.

Verse 42 takes the focus off of us again.  It says that when you give say, “so and so wants you to have this…” even if it is yours, or came from you own pocket.  It is not a lie, for someone who knows the Lord would surely want to give… but if they are unable and you give in their name/on behalf of/in place of them...

Well… you know.

Receive only that which comes from the Lord.

Give all that you can without taking credit.

See the reward our Father is able to give.

SDG

Get your slicker on…

Have you ever heard that song “Singing in the Rain?”

What a glorious feeling…

When I first read the term “latter rain” in the Word of God I immediately thought of this song.  Wouldn’t it be great to sing in the latter rain?  In the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

Who wouldn’t want to be caught in that storm?

But recently a gentleman by the name of Tim Traver (a very accomplished musician) opened my eyes to something even more amazing about the power of our song…

Did you get your orders yet?

“And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem: and [then] they waited on their office according to their order.” 1 Chron 6:32 bold mine

We looked at this verse yesterday and spoke about the first ministry being that of singing.  We talked about how singing gets us where we need to be so we can get to where He wants us.

The second bold phrase should convict us regarding how we strive so hard to get to a certain rank or position within the body of Christ…

“and [then] they waited

… kept pace with… not sat still… remember, they were singing… they were meeting a need.  Continue to find a need and meet a need… one by one… regardless as to whether or not you have “received a call” or figured out where you think you fit in the Body.  Keep singing… keep ministering… keep meeting needs.

…on their office…

God has something for all of us.  When you read office think work, labor, or responsibility.  The “office of Bishop” has specific requirements… but their office had only one requirement…

according to their order.”

You see… this is not about rank or position… this order has to do with a request, like when you order a meal.  

You CAN ask the Lord to put you in a very specific place, doing a very specific thing… that’s your order, your request. 

Others might not agree with me, but I am looking at the word of God here and it tells me that I can say, “Lord, can I do such and such?”

It will come.  I will have to wait.  And while I wait…

I need to keep ministering… keep meeting needs… keep singing!

Do re me fa so la ti do

SDG