Pastor Goforth

Get Up and GO

February 19th, 2014

In Matthew 26 Jesus has been in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before the crucifixion. He has asked the disciples to pray with him and they keep falling asleep. Three times they fall asleep. He wakes them the third time and in verse 46 he says “Rise, let us go!”(NIV84) I like the KJV translation on it “Rise, let us Be Going!”

“Rise”. An emphatic command in the imperative finite tense. Jesus was saying “right now, this minute, GET UP”. Have you been there? You’ve failed, or you’ve fallen, maybe you got tripped, perhaps you were just tired, but there you sit.

It was 1980, Dayton, Ohio area, and I’m playing High School Soccer. That was when the “injustice” happened. I was advancing the ball, when a defender kneed me in the thigh. Oh the pain as that boney knee hit me in the soft tissue of my thigh. I went down, I was hurt, but the greater “injustice” was that it was a penalty, and the referee didn’t blow the whistle. The ball was taken away, the play advanced quickly to the other end of the field and I’m laying on the ground. My leg is hurting, my pride is hurting, my sense of justice is hurting, and I’m laying there while the game goes away from me. Over the crowd at the game, I hear a familiar voice, it was the voice of my father, Pastor James Goforth Sr. Yes surely he is hollering at the ref, supporting my cause. Then my ears hear what he is saying. He is calling out in an imperative finite tense, “Jim, Get up, you’re not hurt!” Wait, WHAT?!? Well, what was I going to do, plead, or play? I got up, grimaced, and in a few steps I was back in play. “RISE”

Rise … Isaiah 60:1 says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you”(NIV84) We need to get up because we have a light to shine, a job to do, and because the Lord himself RISES for us and in us. Psalm 68:1 “May God arise, may his enemies be scattered may his foes flee before you”(NIV84) – When we rise with Christ IN us … he is lifted up and we know that when he is lifted up he promised to “draw all men to myself”.

Rise Child of God – he is your Father – obey him

Rise Soldier in God’s army – we are in a battle

Rise Missionary on a Great Commission – there is a message to be delivered

Rise Ambassador – there is Reconciliation to be brought to an estranged world

“Rise, Let us ..” I can’t always get up alone, but if you will get up with me, I can get there. Grab my arm, I will grab yours, Let US. Let Us – WE are a Collective.

We are a Body – the finger doesn’t rise and go alone, it must have the body, Let Us

We are the House of God – a window doesn’t stand alone, it needs the walls, the walls need the foundation and other walls, the roof needs the walls and foundation, let US

We are the sheep of his pasture. Sheep operate in a flock, they are a collective animal. You seldom see a sheep alone and if you do they are usually in trouble, Let US

Let Us

“Be Going” … oh we can BE a lot of things can’t we? Jesus could have said “Rise, let us be GONE”, or “Let us Be Afraid”, “Let us Be Complaining”, “let us be selfish”, … but he did not … he said “rise, let us be GOING”.

We have been given a Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 “Therefore Go and Make Disciples” … the translated word for “Go” more literally can be translated “AS you Go”. Go isn’t an option. Go is imperative, finite … “RIGHT now … you Go” … and so then “AS you RIGHT NOW GO … make disciples”.

Why was Jesus so emphatic about the GOING? Did you see the end of Matthew 46:26 “Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” There was urgency. Judas was on his way into the garden with solders to arrest Jesus and he was going to be tried and sentenced to die on a cross for our sin. Rise, Be Going because our enemy is at our heels. Rise and be going because we have an urgent job. Rise because our enemy isn’t sitting around, he is not lazy He is GOING, so rise and go! Jesus wasn’t saying “rise and go, let’s get out of here”. No he was saying “rise and let’s face our fate”. He didn’t run FROM Judas, he walked INTO the face of the enemy because it was FOR This that he came. We must RISE and Go, proclaim the message because 1) our enemy is proclaiming his false news 2) we have the good news, and 3) this is what we are here for. You WILL BE my WITNESSES (Acts 1:8)

Come on Christian –

Get up, you aren’t hurt, you aren’t unequipped, you aren’t uneducated, you aren’t alone, GET UP and get in the game

Rise, Let us Be Going!
Lift Your Eyes

February 12th, 2014

Walk with me through Isaiah 40:21-27

Isaiah 40:21 says “do you not know, have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded”

Stick with me for a minute, I’m getting somewhere … this isn’t a discussion on the creation … but I wonder if when Adam was, Oh say 50 or 60 in his “days on the earth” if when he told the creation story, did people say “wait a minute, you are 50? You look about 75 or 80”. Did they say, “if you were born on the 6th day of creation, the world has to be older than you are saying cause YOU LOOK older than that.

Well the easy answer is that Adam was created full grown, in his prime, perhaps 25 or 30 in appearance. Now, I don’t think Adam got that question, because they had been told from the beginning. They knew.

But you know we get “older and smarter” and we think we know better than what we have been told from the beginning. They say the “rocks” appear to be billions of years old that light from space is billions of years out there, or MAYBE, could it be that they were created full grown, just like Adam?

Doesn’t the Artist’s painting look like it has always been here? But it didn’t, it had a moment of creation, the act of painting when finished is full grown.

v22 “He (God) sits enthroned above the circle of the earth … people are like grasshoppers, He stretches out the heavens like a canopy”

God is STILL on the his throne, regardless if we get too smart to obey him or even believe in him. The artist still created the art even if we decide someone else did it or if we believe it was a miraculous self starting “evolved”piece of art.

v23 “he brings princes to naught … rulers … to nothing”

God is still ruler regardless of the occupant of the earthly kingdoms, regardless of the latest potentate, God is Prior and more Powerful and the Portent of all things.

v25 “to whom will you compare me or who is my equal?”

I know no other like our God … There is none like him

SO, Said all of that to say this:

v26 “Lift your eyes and look to the Heavens.”

Oh it is easy to be myopic. To look at my life or world affairs and think, “this is out of hand”. “Who created this?” “Is God really in charge?” Yet Romans 13 teaches that God ordains all authority and yet I look through my little lenses and wonder “How can this be?”
Lift your eyes, look up, look to the heavens. Don’t focus just on what is in front of you. The Sun “came up” this morning, we say, the moon “rose”. Yet even that is myopic because the greater truth is that they don’t “come up” nor “go down” but the Sun is a fixed object in the heavens and we move around it, spinning dizzily creating day and night. The moon’s gravity pulls on our oceans and waves rise and fall

Look up … “who created all this?” – If those are fixed objects, then outside of our universe is a God who is himself FIXED, He is on the throne of the universe and will not be moved. He is the Unmovable Mover, He is the Uncaused Caused, the Uncreated Creator of all things.
The One who brings out the stars and calls them by name, He is there, Look up. v26b “because of power, not one of them is missing”

Lift your eyes, look to the heavens. When you look at the heavens He created you will look to Heaven for your Creator and Sustainer.

v27 “Why do you complain … (saying) ‘my way is hidden from the Lord, my cause is disregarded by my God.’”

Oh child, you are not hidden from Him, He sees you, he knows how many hairs are on your head. He knows when one sparrow falls and you are worth far more than many sparrows (Luke 12:7)

Lift your eyes

He will not disregard you … Oh He has great regard for you. He so regarded you that he gave His son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)

The flower fades, the grass withers, the mountains crumble, but we can have eternal life. YES He regards you. “this is how we know what love IS, Jesus laid down his life for us”(1 John 3:16)

Sometimes our “cause” may not be right or just, it may not follow God’s plans but He has not forgotten you nor forsaken you, because He said “I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you”(Hebrews 13:5) That verse is in a double and triple negative which in the original language doesn’t turn it into a positive it further strengthens as he is saying I will “not never”, “no not never” leave or forsake you.

Lift your eyes, Look to the heavens.

God is foxed on the throne, so don’t let your limited view, your incomplete understanding, your jaded knowledge cause you to doubt a fixed God who is Sovereign and Enthroned on High with no equal.

Lift your eyes and say “yes Lord I will continue to look up and trust you”
Worrying in Rockdale Texas

January 27th, 2014

It’s Great to Be Alive and in Rockdale Texas!

I was a Junior in High School, went to first of August football “two-a-days”. When we came back after lunch for our second practice, we found out that our brand new coach, after only one practice, had resigned and left town to deal with a family issue. Wait what? One practice and the coach was gone. Our newly elevated former assistant, now head coach, looked at a bunch of confused boys, wondering about the future, and he said something I’ve never forgotten, he said “boys it’s great to be alive and in Rockdale, Texas.” It was a great moment, as he sought to put our fears at ease and told us to focus on the important things, and focus on the future. He was telling us that life was worth focusing on and to let go of the things we couldn’t do anything about, that what was important was NOW.

Worry – do you love it, hate it, feed on it, secretly need it? It’s a terrible thing, worry. Sometimes we think that somehow, if we worry, in a twisted way, we think we can control or hold on to situations that are out of our control.

Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:25 “do not worry about your life”. Does that mean “live a life of apathy? No, not at all, that is counter to the overall weight of scripture. So, this is something deeper. Jesus defines “life” as it’s being assumed as “what you will eat, or what you will wear” … We are talking here about out of balance wants and obsessing over needs. The word “worry” is the Greek word, “merimnao” = “to be anxious”. He is saying, do not have anxiety over things that aren’t really life, like what you will eat or wear.

Paul uses the same word and thoughts when he says in Philippians 4:6 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer with thanksgiving, present your requests to God …”. The governor for anxiety is a thankful heart and a worshipful, trusting, spirit that gives my concerns to God and allows him to bring about my best. So then, I can truly with Philippians 4:4 “rejoice in the Lord always”.

Jesus continues in Matthew 6:25 “… is not life more important than food and clothes?” The Lord clothes the flowers, he feeds the birds and he says in verse 30 “if that is how God clothes the grass which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith.?” Oh Hallelujah! We have a “much more” God! We have an “exceedingly abundant God”. So, verse 31 says “so do not worry … for the pagans run after all these things“. A life of anxiety is a pagan lifestyle. It is indicative of one who worships idols. Why do the pagans worry? They worry because their god sits on a shelf. They worship inanimate, man-made objects. But we serve, we worship, The Living True God.

Anxiety be gone

Worry be banished

Security, Trust, and Love reign over me.

Verse 25 begins “Therefore”. You know what that means right? It means we need to look before and see what it is there for. So, what was the point that brought Jesus to this teaching? Verse 24 says we have divided hearts. Jesus says we can’t serve two masters. We can’t serve God and Money. You know for a Spiritual book, the Bible sure talks a lot about money. Why is that? It is because our hearts are often divided by inordinate pleasures. We are taught by scripture to give tithes and offerings, yes to fund ministry, but that’s only a byproduct. It is to help us with our treasure principles.

Verse 19 says “do not store up treasures on earth” Oh aren’t our houses full of things we treasured inordinately? Yes. Dust is piled up on the things we thought we needed. Perhaps there are things God would have given us if we had asked or would have instructed that we did not need and we could have invested those funds in treasures in heaven instead.

Verse 20 says “store up treasures in heaven”. Verse 21 says “where your treasure is there your heart will be also”. When my treasures are IN order, then i don’t worry and anxiety is out the window.

Therefore, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?

Is it NOT? Say it with me … “YES”
Alone With God … What Do you Do?

January 13th, 2014

What do you do when you are alone with God?

Mark 4:10 says “When he was alone, the twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables”

What do YOU do when you are alone with God? The first assumption is that we GET ALONE with God. Alone time with God must be part of my daily routine. Psalm 62:1 says “My soul finds rest in God alone.” Now, I know this is not correct exegesis … and I don’t believe in misusing text, but if we move the words around there is a truth there too … “Alone with God, my soul finds rest.” There is great truth there. So, from the habit of time alone with God, what will I do? What will i make of the great privilege I have to be alone with God?

Certainly rest is a good thing when we are alone with God, rest in him. Be still and know him as God. In stillness we find rest.

What else comes in our alone time with God? Repentance is always appropriate when we are alone with God. Isaiah saw The Lord, alone with him, in a time of great loss in Isaiah 6. He saw the Lord, in charge, expansive, awesome, and Holy. Then he saw himself as he was, a man of unclean lips living among people with the same problems.

Alone with God, then Isaiah was cleansed and forgiven as an angel took coals from the fire and cleansed him.

Then alone with God, he heard the call of God, “who will I send, who will go for us?” Isaiah’s response? “Choose me Lord.” Alone with God, we have a chance to hear his heart, see his view and passion for the world and then we will want to join him.

So, here in Mark 4, Jesus had just told the parable of the Sower and the Seed. When they got alone with him, they asked for revelation . Jesus was speaking in parables and while his message may have been clear, it was somewhat hidden from those who didn’t care to know more. I believe that is still true. There is still a mystery and a hidden quality to the proclamation of “thus saith the Lord.” When God’s messenger delivers God’s message to me, I still need to come before the Lord, alone, and ask him, “Lord what was in there for me?” “Lord what is the meaning and the application?”

Jesus told them basically that the secrets of the Kingdom are for those who desire to enter and live in the the Kingdom, those who desire to live according to the Kingdom. But to those who choose to stay on the outside, in disbelief and disobedience, it is just stories.

Mark 4:11 NIV84 “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables”

So, some of the greatest truth and revelation comes when I take the God given message and go before the Lord and say “Jesus, what is this?” “Holy Spirit, reveal truth to me.” Remember that Jesus said that the work of the Holy Spirit is to lead us into all truth” to “remind us of everything he has said” to take from Jesus and “Make known to you”.

So, it must be our habit, when we hear a message to take notes, or otherwise preserve the message and then go before the Lord and say “teach me, reveal to me” and then let the Holy Spirit do his job and reveal truth and application to our lives. Then enter in to the truth. Live as Kingdom citizens, eager to obey, longing to adjust to His truth, His ways, and then the words of the message are not just stories but Life and Truth.

What will you do when you are alone with God? Will you bring words of a message in and let God speak to you? Don’t go in empty handed.
He Built An Altar

January 6th, 2014

Worship is meeting God. Worship is experiencing God. It is hearing, seeing, doing, being in his presence
Worship is acting on what God has revealed. In Genesis 12:1-3 God appears to Abram and reveals his plan and gives a clear command to Go, “to the place I will show you.”
What an amazing opportunity for God to be our guide, when he says “Go … and I will show”. We don’t have to think, don’t have to make plans, just GO. Listen, when God is revealing and God has the “car packed” we need to respond with a “YES!”
In verse 4 it says “So Abram left.” That’s such a little statement, but how often does God reveal and instruct and we just stay where we are? But not Abram, no he left and God took him on a tour. God began to lead him through Canaan. There’s an interesting editorial statement as verse six reminds “at that time, the Canaanites were still in the land.”
Child of God, let God be the guide. I can imagine God taking Abram through Canaan and pointing out the future saying “on your right are Canaanites but your offspring will live there”. And, “on your left are Canaanites worshipping idols, but your children’s children will worship me and I will be their God and they will be my people, the sheep of my pasture.”
Listen, if God has given you a promise or a vision, then ask him for a mental image of the future. Don’t see only what is, but what will be. Follow with “Ok Lord, now how do we get there?”
So, in verse seven, Abram, on his tour with God, stopped and worshipped The Lord for his promises. Believing the promises will make us worship. So when God reveals, 1) Believe 2) Worship and 3) GO
Verse eight says From there he went on. From where? He went on from the Promise, from the place of worship, and from the place of belief and surrender. Abram went on.
Don’t stay there talking about it, GO ON
Then he pitched his tent, interestingly “Bethel and Ai”. Now Bethel wasn’t actually called “Bethel” until Genesis 28:19 when Jacob slept there and had a dream and realized that God was everywhere. He named it “Bethel” which meant “the house of God”. The name before was “Luz” which meant “Bend”. And Ai represents “the world”. It was the place of Israel’s Terrible defeat after disobedience in the victory over Jericho. The place of Bend or waiver, became the “house of God.” And there between the house of God and the World, there he worshipped …
I’ve brought us all this way to talk about Worship for a minute
What we call “worship” today has become very subjective and self-serving. We talk about “I want” or “they didn’t” or “they should have”. We think of worship often as something that we attend or join in after someone else has done all of the work. But notice three things very quickly and then I want you to take this before The Lord and make it personal. I want you to ask God what he wants you to do with it.
1) He Built An Altar –
The word means “build up or fortify Before you came to worship yesterday, what did you do to “build up”? What did you “fortify”? Did you do anything to prepare or did you just show up and hope for the best? Did you build a foundation for worship? “Worship” has become something we attend, something we watch, less than something we build. If we like the style, if we like the feel, then we participate, if not, then we don’t. We have lost something haven’t we? King David once wanted to offer a sacrifice on a specific hill. He asked the owner of the land if he could buy the hill to offer a sacrifice. The owner graciously offered to give it to him. But David devoutly said “I will not offer anything who costs me nothing.” We need to build a place to worship. Fortify a place of worship. Before you can worship, expect a struggle. Prepare for an attack. satan doesn’t want you to worship, so he’s coming after you. Dig in, build up, and prepare your heart. Give yourself a foundation on which to worship. How? Reflect on God’s work in your life. Have some “warm up worship”. Use scripture, prayer, confession, build an altar …
2) He built an altar to The Lord –
Who is worship for, you or The Lord? If you find yourself saying “But I want …” or “but I like …” Check yourself. This is not about you. It is TO THE LORD. What is the direction of your worship? Certainly confession and petition are focused on what we need but it is still To The Lord. We come to him for mercy and find grace, even then it’s still about him. Make it all about him. Worship must be God-Focused and God-Fueled, then it burns hot and is holy.
He built and Altar To The Lord and
3) Called Upon the Name of The Lord –
When worship is prepared and focused on The Lord, then we can rightly call to Him.
But we aren’t simply calling and begging. We aren’t crying to an “impotent potentate” we are calling not on our goodness, we are calling out, we are worshipping according “To His Name”
It is HIS position that matters. He is Lord of Heaven and Earth, Creator of all, Sustainer, Healer, Banner, Commander, Redeemer, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and so much more. So we come to worship him because of HIS Authority.
He is the one, He is the reason we can come to Him
We come in submission to his will, in subordination to his authority.
We come by His Name.
Lord, I am nothing, you are everything
Lord, I am come before you, bent toward you, in my greatest success or greatest failure, you are God and I worship you!

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Don’t you Know Me?

December 17th, 2013

Well, I’m posting more this week than normal, but with the Holidays I might be too busy to post more in the days to come

In John 14:8 the disciple Philip asks Jesus “Lord show us the Father and that will be enough for us”

Jesus responds by saying “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen The Father. How can you say, ‘show us the Father?’”

“Don’t you know me?” – If we don’t know him, whose fault is it? Is He hiding? Is he Cryptic? Certainly He is beyond our understanding but not beyond our knowing.

We know Jeremiah 29:11 “‘I know that plans i have for you, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” But knowing that ABOUT God … i.e. his goodness and his GODness should cause us to want to KNOW him and so to SEEK him. So verse 12 there in Jeremiah continues …

12 THEN you will call upon me … come … pray to me 13 you WILL seek me and FIND me WHEN you seek me with all of your heart 14 I will be FOUND by you

So, if we don’t know him whose fault is it? I wonder today if any of us are dealing with something and are saying “God why would you do this?” OR “God, don’t you know that I need …”

And I believe God says “<fill in your name> well, don’t you know ME?”

Translation: “You should know me better than that”

Further translation: “You are believing a LIE. You are listening to someone else besides me”

So, where is the ANSWER?

Jesus said in John 14 “anyone who has SEEN me …” Isaiah 45:22 – “Turn to me … for I am God … there is no other”

So, where are you looking? It’s hard to see Jesus when you are staring at the Problem. It is hard to hear Jesus when you are listening to everyone else. It’s hard to be Intimate with Christ when we don’t get alone with him.

So Hebrews 12 tells us to “Fix your eyes on Jesus” – “Fix”= intention, purpose, commitment, dedication, effort”

Keep looking away from other things and keep looking to Jesus

Don’t look back, that’s regret

Don’t look Around, that’s fear

Don’t look down, that’s Discouragement

Look UP! “And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of HIS glory and grace”
Praying on your Spiritual Armor

December 17th, 2013

I am not one who uses written prayers very often. But I wrote this many years ago as a tool to help me and others to focus on putting on the armor of God
Perhaps you would use this in response to my previous blog to help you “put on the armor or God” in your morning prayers.
This isn’t a substitute for your own prayer but a jumping off point a starter prayer. I hope it is a help and a blessing. Maybe you could print it out and put it on the fridge or on your mirror or in your Bible

DAILY ARMOR PRAYER

Dear Lord,
To the best of my ability with the power of God’s Spirit within me, I intend to enthrone Christ as Lord in my life this day.
Lord I take on the MIND OF CHRIST, as commanded in Philippians 2:5, that is to be an obedient servant seeking only to please God.
I take on the BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, may I be faithful in heart, motives, and emotions.
I take on the BELT OF TRUTH, may your integrity within me keep everything else in my life in place.
I take on the SHOES OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE, may the message of Christ be the force that carries me through the day.
Lord when attacked today by the evil one, I will hold up the SHIELD OF FAITH, knowing that you have already won the victory for every battle that I will fight today.
Finally Lord, I give you free reign to use the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, in my life today. I understand that it is powerful, to cut and to heal. I promise to practice and become familiar with it so that you may use it effectively in my life.
Thank you Lord, for loving me enough, to always equip me for the task of being your soldier, your sheep, and your sheltered child. I love you because you loved me first. Now, by the power and the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, God Almighty, I pray. Amen.

Be strong in The Lord in his mighty power

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Put On the Armor

December 16th, 2013

If the struggle you face today, in your mind has a human face and a name, then we are missing the most important understanding in the battle. Eph 6 tells us that we wrestle NOT against flesh and blood.

But let me take a step back. verse 10 says “Be STRONG in The Lord in his mighty power” “strong” is the word endynamous. It is a verb in the present passive tense. It is also in the imperative tense. It is an instruction of importance to BE STRONG. But to BE passively strong in God’s power, we must PUT ON the elements that make Him who HE is.

“Put on” = clothe, dress oneself. Because we struggle NOT against flesh and blood, then we can’t put up our struggle in a fleshly way. We do not wage war as the world does. So we must Be strong not fight FOR strength or power. The devil it says is “scheming” methodeias … it’s plural he comes at us with many schemes. “Therefore” v13 says “put on the full armor of God” – How often do we leave part of God’s armor in the closet? It’s ALL ineffective without the other pieces

Without the Breastplate, our vital organs are unprotected. Without the Belt, fastened the breastplate bangs up and down and we can’t run to the battle. Without Shoes, we have no firm stance and we might as well be wearing socks on a freshly waxed floor. Without our Shield, we are bare-handed against flaming arrows. Without a Sword, we have no weapon. Without a Helmet, our head, mind, are defenseless and our decision making is under attack.

But we are to put on the FULL armor of God.

Put on, The Breastplate of Righteousness. Then our heart is protected for life and strength. Then we have intestinal fortitude to stand strong. OUR righteousness is filthy rags and our heart is deceitful above all else so we must put on the Righteousness of GOD.

Put on the Belt of Truth. How often do we fight the wrong battle, for the wrong reasons? It is because TRUTH isn’t secured in our life. Put on, take up, TRUTH

Put On The Shoes of The Gospel. When we are firmly rooted in His word, His Gospel of Good News, we can plant our feet here and lace up our shoes each morning.

Take up the Shield of Faith. We must believe that Christ has gained every victory for us at the Cross, believing that He leads us in Triumph, knowing his promises and standing in faith behind them. Then satan’s arrows are deflected and extinguished.

Take the Sword of the Spirit. It is our only weapon, the Word of God, which we fight under the direction of the Holy Spirit as he directs when and where to use it. Know it, use it, for His Kingdom and Glory.

Then put on the Helmet of Salvation. Having the mind of Christ, committed to Him, standing in his Salvation and having his attitude of Selfless Service.

Then fully outfitted, we can pray effectively in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers. Don’t get this out of order. Many things we pray for would be taken care of if we would but PUT ON the Armor of God. I think sometimes, when we pray, God points to our closet and says “THERE IT IS.” Put it ON. Perhaps we pray and we look over to the closet and there is still one piece or all is still hanging there.

Romans 13:11 and following says “understanding the time … wake up … 12 put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light … 14 … clothe yourselves with The Lord Jesus Christ.”

Did you notice that our Armor isn’t a thing, it is JESUS.

His Righteousness is our Breastplate

He is TRUTH, our Belt

His News is the Gospel Shoes we wear

Faith in HIS work at the cross is our Shield

His Word is our Sword

His Salvation is our Helmet

Put On Jesus Christ, Then you find, Passively, that you ARE Strong in His Mighty Power
I Will Bless

November 19th, 2013

Genesis 22:15-19 God says, specifically Jesus, The Angel Of the Lord, says “I have sworn by myself, I will bless you … through your offspring all nations”

Have you prayed the prayer “Lord bless me”? Maybe you didn’t word it that way, but perhaps you have said, “Lord I want to be appreciated, accepted, strengthened, loved, praised”. This word is the Hebrew word Ba-rek. In its simplest form, it means to kneel. The picture then is of a subject kneeling before a Sovereign. A more complete definition of it’s usage is “to fill with strength, praised, adored”

“God bless me, Lord have people appreciate me, recognize me, love me, praise me.” Well if that’s what you want, if you want the praise and approval of people, God might give you that. but when you have that, you have it and there is no more. But I would rather seek The Lord’s Blessing. His praise, strength, adoration is what i seek.

But notice that God told Abraham, “I WILL Bless You”. There are two noticeable aspects of that sentence grammatically and practically.

1) “I Will” means there IS a certainty of it. Not, “I might” but I WILL. The promises of God are certain, they are sure, they are done, so Yes, I can be sure that GOD will bless me … but

2) “I will” means a future event. Oh certainly, He HAS blessed us and is blessing us. But there is a FUTURE to the blessing. Praise the Lord, the best is yet to come. The greatest filling, greatest blessing, greatest praise WILL come when we see him face to face and he says “well done child … enter in.”

So then, let me expand on this with Three Quick Things I see here in this promise to Abraham of Blessing

1) God’s blessing alone is ENOUGH – We serve, follow, obey, not for the praise and glory of men but for an audience of ONE. If no one else praise me, then the pleasure of God is Enough. If they know HIS name and HE knows my name, then that is ENOUGH for ME, yes Enough, more than enough.

2) God’s promised Blessing to Abraham was more about others than about him. Remember the greatest part of the blessing was that “through your offspring all nations will be blessed” because of Abraham’s obedience and availability. It was about God being obeyed and others being blessed. The greatest blessing is to know that God will bless others through us. To know that God would praise, love, adore, fill with strength other through me is a great blessing in and of itself. So there is a “to do list” for the servant of God: a) praise b) love c) fill with strength d) for God’s glory e) as we obey his commands. And in THAT we are praised, loved, and filled with strength

3) God’s blessing was more of a Legacy than a present experience. Surely every breath from God was a blessing for Abraham. And God blessed him with many things, like a beautiful wife, so beautiful that as an Older Women men were still trying to steal her from Abraham. Abraham was blessed with success and prosperity though he lived his life mostly nomadic in tents. But the Big Promised blessing, Abraham spent his whole life looking TOWARD it, hoping in its fulfillment. His son wasn’t born until he was 100. But the presence of Isacc wasn’t even the fullness of the promised blessing. The promised blessing was a legacy. It would come after he died as Israel became a nation, became a light to the Gentiles, and became the birthplace for the Savior of the world. Our greatest blessings are a legacy, a promised inheritance. My joy is knowing that my physical and spiritual sons will advance the gospel and enlarge the Kingdom beyond my reach. The blessing of God is long term. Oh I like physically healthy days, but those days are just foreshadow of joy divine when I have a body like that of Christ’s resurrected body, no tears, no pain. The blessings of a powerful worship experience with brothers and sisters is but a foretaste of glory divine standing before the throne with every race, tribe, and tongue as we proclaim and praise our worthy lamb slain for our sins. My salvation is a blessing but just a down payment on an eternal blessing of light and life eternal, removed from the penalty, power, and presence of sin.

Bless Me Lord!

Bless me with you and that’s enough for me, today and for eternity, you are all I need!

There is an old hymn by Fredrick Brook: My Goal is God Himself

My Goal is God himself, not joy nor peace

nor even blessing, but himself, my God;

‘Tis His to lead me there – not mine, but His

At ANY COST, dear Lord, by ANY ROAD

2

So Faith bounds forward to its goal in God

and love can trust her Lord to lead her there

upheld by him, my soul is following hard

Till God hat full fulfilled my deepest prayer

3

No matter if the way be sometimes dark

no matter though the cost at times great

He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark

The way that leads to him must needs be strait

4

One thing I know, i cannot say Him nay

One thing i do, i press towards my Lord

My God my glory here, from day to day

And in the glory there, my great reward
The 10 On Prayer

November 16th, 2013

The 10 on Prayer

Men’s Breakfast Bible Study

Faith Baptist Church November 16, 2013

Prayer Is … Prayer does …

I’ve always loved the nature of Abraham’s relationship with God. The Lord appears to him in Genesis 18 and I love what he says, it would be a great way for us to begin a prayer session, v3 says “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by”.

But then down in verse, God is heading down to destroy Sodom for its wickedness and he says “shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” … I LOVE and am in continual desire for this kind of relationship with God. I want the lines of communication open. I want to know and sense God’s presence so that if he did something around me, I would know it, unless he hid it from me?

So, some simple thoughts on prayer, on fellowshipping with God, like a countdown to Liftoff …

First

10. Prayer Is Communication with God –

I know this states the obvious but we make prayer into something we can’t figure out what to do. But do we know how to Communicate don’t we?

What our prayer involves in the nature and person of God should help us determine HOW to Pray and to Whom we address.

If your world has fallen apart, if you need recreation, restoration, restoring of order, Address God as Creator God … “Creator, Create in me” …, “Creator, maker of everything, designer of the world, sustainer of all things, Jesus Christ please …”

If you need strength, direction, inheritance, family business, address the Father. If you are hurting, crawl into his lap “Abba, Daddy, Father, hold me close”

If you need to understand scripture, to remember the words of Christ, strength in prayer, knowledge in how to pray, pray to the Holy Spirit our Intercessor, our Guide, “Spirit, Intercessor, Teacher, Guide me Holy Spirit”

Communicate with God … when you start the day off, instead of “Lord it’s morning”, why not “Good Morning Lord”, Talk to him as you would talk to the one who has all you need, who knows the answer, who meets our needs … Communicate … it is simple as “hello”, “simple as Lord do you see this, do you hear me, I’m struggling …”

Communication is TWO way … God spoke to Moses like a man speaks with a Friend

God revealed to Abraham his plans around him … so, we have to ask, listen, tarry.

Hebrews 4:16 – Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Countdown, 10 …

09. Prayer is Worship –

We tend to separate out so much of our life.

This is Worship, this is preaching, this is Bible Study, this is Prayer, This is Obedience … Can I say that it is ALL Worship …

When we pray, we are worshipping God by saying “You are God, and I am not” – “You are Able to meet my needs” – “I Love you and You Love Me” – “You have the answers I seek” that is all worship

Psalm 86:8-12 “Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours, all the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever”

That is beautiful worship in prayer from David. See how he began with worship, then spoke of his desire for the world to come to Christ, because he is great and there is none like him. Then he asked God to Teach him how to live, a promise to live according to him, and give me a single hearted desire to live that way and I will give you the praise and glory. That is a comprehensive prayer of worship4

Countdown, 10 … 09 …

08. Prayer Relieves My Fears …

When I realize God is on the throne, He is aware, He loves me, He is able, He makes me able, He shows me how … Prayer confesses those things

Psalm 27:3 Though and army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me even then will I be confident. One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock”

Communicating with God in worship, relieves my fears

Countdown 10 … 09 …08 …

07. Prayer Is Instruction from my Sovereign and Savior –

God has a plan, God is doing something … If you think that God is not at work in your office, on your block, in your home, in your like … you need to hear from him

Jesus said John 5:17 “My father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too am working” … God is busy … HE IS at work … do we stop long enough to hear from him, to know what he is doing. Do you receive instruction from him for the purpose of joining him?

Jesus told the Father John 17:4 “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do”

“God reveal to me your plans and I will complete them”… “you are my Sovereign and my Savior and worthy of my grateful obedience”

Countdown 10 … 09 … 08 … 07 …

06. Prayer is an Exercise in Trust

1 Tim 1:5 says Jesus is the mediator between God and Man. But put that verse in context. It is in the middle bookend instructions on prayer.

Jesus is the ONLY reason that I can ask God ANYTHING,

read vv1-8 “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – 2 for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 this is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men – the testimony given in its proper time 7 and for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle – I am telling the truth, I and not lying, and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles 8 I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing”

Prayer is trust on display. When we know who Jesus is and what he has done for us we can come to him with every kind of prayer – determine to trust

Ps 56:3 when I am afraid, I will trust in you

Ps 91:2 I will say of the Lord ‘he is my refuge and fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”

Lord I Believe … I trust you

Countdown 10 … 09 … 08 … 07 … 06 …

05. A Means to Which God Changes Me …

We think that prayer is about changing God, getting God to do our stuff …

As if HE is the branches while we are the vine … we command and he does … we need and he provides … apart from us he is still God … but apart from HIM we can do NOTHING

Yes FAITH is a critical aspect in prayer. And we must believe and not doubt. But sometimes the reason we doubt, is because the thing we are praying for is not in the Lord’s plan. We can believe all we want but God is trying to change our plans so that we come in line with what HE is doing. If I’m “at the table” with the Lord and telling him my heart’s desire, but he is saying “But Jim, I have a different plan, I have a plan that will transform you into the image of Christ and will bring me glory and advance the kingdom”… At that point, I need to HEAR my Sovereign Savior and CHANGE to his plans.

On the flipside, if my nature is to be weak, and doubt, but God is telling me clearly to press in and press on … BELIEVE … CHANGE

Prayer receives instruction from God … So prayer is me saying “God, shape me mold me, direct me, inform me, change ME

Countdown 10 … 09 … 08 … 07 … 06 … 05 …

04. Prayer IS the Battleground,

it doesn’t prepare us FOR the battle ground. It is where the battle is fought and often won or lost.

Let me take a little liberty and remind you that in our spiritual armor the belt is truth, but the belt included the skirt that held it up which went down to the knees … Prayer is where we discern the TRUTH of our circumstance … Prayer is where we defeat strongholds and pretenses set up against us

2 Cor 10:4-6 the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 and we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, one your obedience is complete

The battle is in the mind and heart through prayer, deciding to fight for obedience

Take CAPTIVE every thought. When a thought enters that is contrary to the Lord, that thought is a temptation to turn away from the Lord … if we dwell on it, play it out, it becomes sin in our heart and eventually sin in our actions … Take CAPTIVE every thought and make it obedient … Philippians 4:4-9 is a great companion passage. Rejoice, always … don’t be anxious … prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God … whatever is true … noble … right … pure … lovely … admirable … excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things … put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you.

Take captive every thought … Prayer is the battleground

Jesus succeeded on the cross because he had already died in the Garden

Countdown 10 … 09 … 08 … 07 … 06 … 05 … 04 …

03. Prayer is a Lifeline –

We all get down, we get we get over the cliff hanging on by a thread … who’s your thread? Are you hanging on to the scarlet thread? The Cross of Jesus gives us hope …

Ps 63:4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalm 28:2 hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place

Reach Out, Cry Out, Look Up … “Lord pull me up, set me right, set my break, sooth my wound”

The Lord is my shepherd, I have all I need

Countdown 10 … 09 … 08 … 07 … 06 … 05 … 04 … 03 …

02. Prayer Is a Means to Grace Being Alive in My Life –

When I fail to pray … I miss the active grace of God all around me

Every good and perfect gift is from above … we don’t deserve any of it so that makes everything grace …

When I don’t pray I miss the grace that is active around me. I don’t realize what God is doing for me and for others. I don’t come in line with what God is doing. I am not aware of his active grace. I am not aware and actively living gratefully in the Grace around me

When we pray and seek his answers for life, the grace around us then

Pro 1:8-9 listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck

Gal 6:18 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers amen

1 Peter 1:13 prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed

Countdown 10 … 09 … 08 … 07 … 06 … 05 … 04 … 03 … 02 …

01. Prayer is an Opportunity to Touch ETERNITY From my place in TIME

I have wanted to change the world, my whole life. Maybe that’s you. But sometimes I get so myopically focused on my moment in time and don’t realize that I have an opportunity to get off the Launchpad. I fail to realize that prayer is an opportunity to break out of the gravity of my situation and blast off into the realms of the Heavenly, the Eternal

Psalm 144:3-7 O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? 4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow 5 part your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. 6 Send forth lightning and scatter the enemies; shoot your arrows and rout them. 7 Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners

Psalm 6:9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.

Prayer is my change to touch the one who is IN Eternity. “Lord … Part the Heavens and Come down …”

Get out of the realm of the now and then and when, and into the realm of completed. Jesus Christ is out of time and he sees my situation completed. God sees us as known, called, justified, glorified. When we pray we break out of the possibilities and into the realm of what God knows is done and we can live according to faith which is the substance of the things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. When I touch eternity I give God the chance to tell me how to act how to live, to be what He wants me to be.

Daniel 10:12 Do not be afraid, Daniel, Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your god, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 but the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. I have come to explain to you what will happen …

When Daniel prayed something happened in Eternity but it wasn’t until later that it came into Time and Daniel experienced it. Fear not, wonder not if God heard … He IS at work

Communicate – commonly and continually

Worship

Fears Gone

Instructions from Sovereign

Exercising Trust

God changing me

Fighting the battle on our knees

Holding on to our lifeline

Laying Hold of Grace

Touching Eternity

We CAN …