God's protection on the Anniversary of 9/11?

Here in Gainesville, Florida we are faced with a dilemma. A local pastor has generated news and anger from all over the world by declaring a "Burn a Quran Day"on the anniversary of 9/11 this coming Saturday. He has received death threats, and our city has received terror threats, not to mention the threats of retaliation from Muslims all over the world. The University of Florida is having a football game that day and many in our city are concerned about the risk of attending that game. My daughter works at a restaurant within minutes of the stadium and is required to work that day or lose her job. I have been concerned about her safety and on this Sept. 8 morning as I sought the Lord about it, I believe He gave me a verse to confirm that she will be safe, as will those attending the game. I am writing this in openness and humility because it is what I believe to be a prophetic word and I may be wrong. Although I have been concerned, I do sense a peace when I normally tend to panic and take the "fear" route. I did encourage her to pray and be sure of her decision to go to work that day. The verse I believe God directed me to is from Jonah 4:11. This is the story of the prophet Jonah whom God had asked to go to a wicked city called Nineveh and preach repentance to them with mercy and grace. Jonah did not want to go and deliver that message because Jonah believed that God should judge them. But God made it clear to him that He is merciful and gracious and that they must be given a chance to turn to Him. (You can read the story for yourself.) In this verse God said, "...should I not spare Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons not yet old enough to know their right hand from their left...". I believe God has spoken to me that He will spare us from destruction, and that it is because of His mercy. I truly believe that God has a plan for Gainesville, and it is not to be blown off the map. It is for salvation. The people of Nineveh heard the word of grace and mercy, they repented, and came to God (Jonah 3). We Christians have the commission to preach repentance, but we must also realize how much God loves the world and desires that none should perish but that all would come to know Him (John 3:16). I am praying for God's mercy to flood this city and that the people would hear the Gospel, preached in love. I pray for an awakening to the Truth in Gainesville. I pray for His people to be faithful and take up the Great Commission, preaching repentance to those that Jesus died for and love them into His kingdom!

We must follow Daniel's protocol!

In my last post I wrote about my dream and the Lord's interpretation of it. Dreams are sometimes from eating strange food before bed or from thoughts we've had recently. But they can also be messages from God and there are many examples of this in the Bible. This post is about the interpretation of a dream King Nebuchadnezzar desparately wanted to know>Daniel 2:1-49. "A rare and weighty thing indeed the king requires!" was the response of the king's enchanters and magicians when they were asked for the interpretation of it. The King had even forgotten the dream, but it troubled him so that he demanded they tell him what the dream was or they would be executed! Their response was, "...no one but the gods can reveal this to the king and their dwelling is not with flesh." This angered the king and he called for the execution of all his "wise"men. Daniel and his companions were in that group. Daniel asked the executioner why the decree was so urgent. He explained the matter to Daniel and the Lord gave Daniel wisdom and knowledge in regards to their dilemma. Not only did God reveal to Daniel the dream, He gave him the interpretation. In verses 17-23 we see Daniel seeking God for help, praising God for wisdom, for knowledge, and for revealing the deep and secret things. As a result, Daniel and his godly friends were delivered from execution, made wealthy, and became governors of the land. God was given glory and honor by the King and throughout the whole kingdom. This is God's way. Instead of being self-absorbed and defeated in a quandry, we need to believe that God has an amazing plan for our good! In Jeremiah 29:11-14 God's heart for His loved ones is revealed. He says that He has thoughts and plans for us that include hope and goodwill. He says in this passage that as we search for Him with all of our heart as a vital necessity, we THEN will find Him and He will deliver us! In these days of financial uncertainty and with ungodliness all around, we must follow Daniel's protocol. We will THEN see God as our KING, DELIVERER, PROVIDER, and LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER!

My Dream

I had a dream last night that I believe will paint a picture of what it's like to resist the devil and follow God fearlessly. I was at the bottom of a hill looking up and seeing a couple of people at the top. I won't mention who they were, but they are people that I respect and are strong spiritually. As I approached the hill to go up, I noticed a huge badger, larger than normal, standing between me and the bottom of the hill. I knew that I wanted to go up to the top of the hill, but the badger was quite intimidating. With a strong desire and awareness that I must go to the top, I began my approach. I noticed that the badger didn't move. It looked stunned and didn't notice me. I passed by it and began my ascension. The hill was slippery and difficult, but I continued and made some progress, at which point I looked back to notice that the badger looked dead. It hadn't moved. As a matter of fact, it looked like a statue just sitting there at the bottom of the hill. There didn't seem to be power or life in the badger. At that point I was immediately on top of the hill in the arms of one of the people, feeling secure and safe. I believe the interpretation is as follows: The hill symbolized the challenging path to the will of God. The slippery slope is a picture of the natural difficulty we all encounter when attempting to rise to God's call and will. The badger is symbolic of the evil spirit that is set to daunt us and deflect us into another direction. A definition for badger is to tease or pester someone. This is what the devil attempts to do. But he has no power or ability to stop us, unless we don't move forward because of what appears to be a fearful encounter. The Lord showed me that following God's call is not easy. It's an uphill climb. It's going to be difficult in this world, because the world is naturally resisitant to it. The devil always puts a decoy in front of us. A decoy is a thing used to lure, as into a trap. It's meant to mislead. Isn't this what the devil does? He deceptively works in our life to keep us from pressing on to the high calling of God. None the less, there is a place of safety and security in Christ. It is in the will of God for our life. I want to encourage myself and you to press past difficulty and fear. Go up and find the place of rest and deliverance from what is not real. The Bible says that we are not to fear>(2 Tim. 1:7). The Father has delivered and drawn us out of the control and the dominion of darkness>(Col 1:13). We are to press on, Jesus is calling us upward>(Phil 3:14). Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you>(James 4:7). Don't fling away your fearless confidence...for you have need of patience and endurance so that you may accomplish the will of God>(Heb.10:35-36). I do not cease to give thanks for you who follow Christ...I pray that God would grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation of insight into mysteries and secrets in the deep and intimate knowledge of Him...that you may know and understand what is the immeasureable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe...>(Eph 1:16-19 Amp. version).

The Plumbline

I wrote a blog similar to this one dealing with the subject of hypocrisy this past year. But God has put this subject on my heart again lately. The Lord actually gave me a word on it at church a few Sundays ago. The word went something like this..."The day of hypocrisy and compromise is over." Our claim to Christianity must be a lifestyle of total committment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. These days and times are obviously the latter days Christ spoke of. Difficult times bring out what is in our heart. Our life will become more righteous or more wicked (Rev. 22:11-14). There's a line from an old song that says, "Do they have enough evidence to put you away?", speaking of a Christ-like life. Of course none of us are perfect, but a lifestyle of love, repentance, and godliness proves our authenticity. Jesus said that our light should shine like a city on a hill. Have you ever driven at night in the mountains and coming out of a valley you see the lights of a town in the distance. There's no missing the city lights in the midst of the darkness. Are we lit up in the darkness around us? Do we truly love others? Do we have peace, joy, and hope? What is in our heart comes out eventually for all to see. Therefore, our #1 priority should be that our heart is given over to God. This results in a life that will bless and glorify Him. Our heart's desire should be for Him. If you desire authenticity in your Christianity, then sincerely ask God to do what He needs to do to purify you. Brace yourself and get ready to take up your cross daily. The crucified life is the only true life. St. Francis of Assissi made this profound statement, "What a man is before God, that he is and nothing else." This should be our plumbline. A plumbline is a tool used to measure a precise straight line, a standard of what is on the level, what is right. Our heart condition is the evidence of whether or not we are on the level with Christ. The PLUMBLINE is a willing heart to follow the Lord throughout our whole life, allowing Him to call the shots. It is the awareness that we are in dire need of transformation and we are allowing the Lord to purify us, conforming us into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29-39). My prayer today is for the Lord to be merciful (He is very much so), forgive (as He so wonderfully does), and help us to stay with the PLUMBLINE of His Lordship (He is faithful), enveloped in His love, and enabled by His grace to live for Him all the days and hours of our lives. To Him be the glory, honor, and power for ever and ever.

God Longs for Me

My heart's prayer is "Lord, draw me close to You!". His Word promises that if I draw near to Him, He will draw near to me (James 4:8). I hunger and thirst for more of the Lord's presence in my life. Everyday I desperately crave the awareness of God with me. Besides the fact that we all need the blessing of His protection and provision, we need His love. God wants our love. He longs for us to draw near to Him. Jesus spoke of His desire and longing to draw His children like a mother hen draws her chicks under her wings. The problem is that many of His children tend to refuse His calling to intimacy with Him. As a result, the resistant children are left abandoned, desolate, and destitute of God's help>Matt. 23:37-38. I pray that I won't be so taken with the world and life in general, that I neglect the place of closeness that He has for me. Everyday, I will run to get under the wings of my Father. I don't want to refuse His call. Besides the fact that I need His protection and care, I deeply crave the awareness of Him being close to me. This is the deep longing for satisfaction that all people sense. Nothing in this world will fill that space inside. People all over the world are looking for satisfaction. No relationship, no material possession, and no amount of power will fill that longing that was created for God and God alone. Let's run to Him. Let's rest there under His wings and enjoy the peace, security, and satisfaction found only in that secret place, under His covering, with Him.

It Was for Freedom

On this day after July 4th, I am meditating on what it means to be free. We truly are free in this country. Free to worship our God, free to conduct business, free to come and go, etc. How blessed we are! But how many of us are free indeed? As blessed as we are in this country, many Christians remain in jail cells of hell. Many are in illogical and irrational slavery. The internal kind, of course. How many Christians are slaves to their sins (Jn 8:33-34)? Many are in spiritual and emotional chains. (Ex. lust, fear, anxiety, bitterness, greed, gluttony, lying, etc.). Jesus said that He came to make us FREE INDEED (Jn 8:36). It was for FREEDOM that Christ came and set us free. It is up to us to avail ourselves of this freedom and live in it (Gal. 5:1). In John 8:31-32, Jesus said that IF we live by His teachings and Word, then we would know the Truth and the Truth would set us free. So, our first plan of action would be to learn God's Word and make every effort to live it. Pleading ignorance isn't good enough. Secondly, we must admit when we are in bondage. We need to confess our faults to someone and have them pray for us (James 54:16). Thirdly, we must take the promises of God in faith (reliance of our entire being on God), line ourselves up with the conditions, and apply them to our life (Rom 4:21). When we do this, God will be there for us! God's Hebrew names reveal these truths. #1. Jehovah Shammah-means "God is there or present"; #2. Jehovah Shalom-"God is peace"; #3. Jehovah Jireh-"God will provide"; #4. Jehovah M'Kiddesh-"I Am the Lord that sanctifies you", to name a few. He's everything we need! After a war, the occupational troops must go and establish the victory. The enemy soldiers will not necessarily accept their defeat. Now that you have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness, demand your freedom in Christ. Take back what the devil stole from you. Established your victory! It's your right and duty! I am in awe at what Jesus has done for us and how worthy He is to receive our victorious lives as an offering of gratitude and praise! Revelation 1:5-6, "...Jesus Christ the Faithful and trustworthy Witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. To Him Who ever loves us and Who has loosed and freed us once for all from our sins by His own blood, and formed us into a Kingdom (royal race), priests to His God and Father-to Him be the glory, and the power, and the majesty, and the dominion thoughout the ages and forever and ever. AMEN"

We Have the Power!

Yes!! We have power through Christ Jesus our Lord> Power to overcome the world. Power over evil and the enemy of our soul. Then I ask'"Why do bad things happen to wonderful Christian people?" First of all, there will be problems in life that we won't understand until we see God, and we can ask Him because we can't know all of the thoughts and intentions of people. You'll see in the Bible that faith in God with corresponding action is KEY. There are alot of answers in the Bible that give us insight on how to live victoriously over all of the negative effects of this world. We won't do an exhaustive study on faith now, so let's look at the scriptural power we have as Christians to release protection and blessings from Heaven. First of all we must understand and believe that Jesus came to give us an abundant life>Jn. 10:10. The greek trans. for abundant life is: having the advantage; in the sense of beyond; super abundant in quanity and superior in quality; exceeding beyond what is needed or superfluous. Since that's established, let's look at what has been provided for us through the atoning work of Jesus' death and resurrection. *healing>Acts 4:7-10, 1 Pet 2:24; *experience wonders and miracles>Acts 6:8; *over flow with hope, joy, and peace>Rom 15:13; *recieve all things that are required for life and godliness>2 Pet. 1:3; *be strengthened>Col 1:11; *get deliverance from the kingdom of darkness>Col 1:13; *get what you ask for in prayer>Mk.11:24; *have ALL of your financial needs met>Phil 4:18-19; *take dominion over the kingdom of darkness>Luke 10:19; *live in protection>Duet. 28:6. These blessings, distributed through wisdom, the power of God, and faith in His word, will come upon us as we align ourself with His will and His way of doing things>Deut. 28. Hebrews 10 and 11 covers faith in God and the power available to us when we have faith. Even in death and difficulty, faith produces evidence of God's goodness and His glory for His people. Our responsibility is to develop a hearing ear for the voice of the Lord, yield to the Holy Spirit's leading through obedience to His voice and knowledge of His word (study wisdom in the Proverbs), and then watch God do wonders and miracles in your life. We must remain faithful and patient to see God's will fulfilled in our life>Heb. 6:12. We will then be able to testify of His faithfulness and goodness>Heb. 10:34-39. The Lord promises that He will bless the righteous (justified)>Ps 5:12. He will never forsake the righteous (those in right standing with Him)>Ps 37:25. He will not forsake those who seek Him>Ps 9:10. *We will overcome the world and we are justified by faith>1 Jn 5:4. God is good. God is love. He cares for us and He wishes that we all expeience His goodness and a loving Father would.