local Daily Devotions

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Hebraic Thought


"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follows his precepts have good understanding" (Psalms 111:10).

Education is a high priority in any society that wants to advance. Education should be sought after by every believer in Jesus Christ in order to better understand God's ways. However, education that is not mixed with faith and obedience will result in programmatic religion.

In the early Hebraic church, wisdom was gained by obedience. Hebrews learned that wisdom was gained by knowing and doing the will of God and that it often did not line up with logic. However, as the church became impacted by the Greek culture through the influence of scholars like Socrates and Aristotle, knowledge-based systems became more influential in the way education was taught and applied. Greeks believed that the way to gain knowledge was based on reason and analysis.

When Joshua walked around the city of Jericho seven times blowing his trumpets, he was exhibiting a Hebraic model of decision-making - pure obedience. Logic and reason played no part in this decision. When Elisha instructed the army general to go wash in a lake in order to be healed of leprosy, it confronted his intellect. This was Hebraic thought rooted in obedience.

The Church has moved into a more knowledge-based and programmatic system of operation over the centuries, rather than obedience-based methods that are motivated by a heart fully devoted to following God. We've replaced obedience with reason, logic, and slick marketing for attractive programs to entice people into our churches.

Ultimately, God desires us to take the Hebraic approach when making decisions. He wants us to make decisions based on our heart's desire to follow Him.

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Faithfulness in Our Calling


"He went out to meet Asa and said to him, 'Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.'" - 2 Chronicles 15:2

Asa was the king of Judah from 912-872 B.C. He reigned for 41 years and was known as a good king who served the Lord with great zeal. He reformed many things. He broke down idol worship to foreign gods; he put away male prostitutes and even removed his own mother from being queen because she worshiped an idol. The Scriptures say that as long as he sought the Lord, the Lord prospered his reign.

However, Asa was not totally faithful in his calling. There came a time in his life when he made a decision to no longer trust in the God of Israel. He lost his confidence in God as his deliverer. The prophet Hanani came to Asa to inform him that God's blessing was no longer on his life because of an ungodly alliance he had made.

Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war (2 Chronicles 16:8-9).

There are no guarantees that if we began well we will finish well. The life of Asa tells us this. It is only through God's grace that we can be faithful to our calling. Each of us is capable of falling away from God. Pray that God will keep you faithful to the purposes He has for your life. He strengthens those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.

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There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven –
A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

A time to search and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; a time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-9 (NASB)

[04ctd]

From Pain to Destiny


"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-5).

God often allows pain to ignite destiny in our lives. Without motivation, many of us would never fulfill the purposes for which God created us. Oftentimes a measured assault invades our life and creates a depth of pain that all we know to do is press into God with all our being.

At first, our motivation is to alleviate the pain. After a season of extreme emotional and sometimes physical pain, a second phase begins. This phase moves us to discover a new and deeper relationship with God. We begin to discover things about ourselves and about God that we never would have discovered without this motivation. Gradually, our heart changes our motivation from pain to loving obedience because there is a transition of the heart that takes place. No longer do we seek God for deliverance from the pain; we seek God because He is God. We seek His face and not His hand.

When we move to the second phase we often find ourselves moving into a new destiny and calling for our lives because God often separates us from the old life in this process. No doubt Joseph and Peter felt the pain of their individual crises. However, later they could realize God's purposes in their crisis. Like Joseph, we are able to say, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."

Today let God move you from the place of pain to the place of destiny. Let God show you the secret things He has reserved for you as a result of the crisis you may find yourself in.

[04ctd]

this is a repeat, but that is Okay, because i think we all feel this way about cars/trucks/boats. we all WANT it so bad, we can't hear God telling us to wait/stop/listen because God has something better:

Whenever we want something strongly, it is a dangerous place because we no longer look at the matter objectively with a willingness to change our viewpoint. We have to approach a matter as being "dead" to the issue in order to fully see God's perspective.


i think this is important too, to have a friend who is close enough & blunt enough, to see what you WANT and to tell you what you NEED:
be in an accountable relationship with your spouse and close associates who know you well,

a friend was telling of an acquaintance who left his wife to go chasing after a younger woman, and he lost two multi-million dollar businesses, and the respect of everyone who knew him.

he focused on what he WANTED instead of what he NEEDED,


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Moving Ahead of God


"The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her" (Gen 16:2).

Have you ever felt that you were supposed to receive something from God but it just hasn't materialized? You wait and wait until finally you decide that maybe God wants you to help out the situation. This is exactly what happened in the case of Abraham and Sarah.

God had promised them a son, but as years passed by they were still without a child. They took their eyes off the One who had made the promise and decided to take matters into their own hands. So, Abraham lay with Sarah's maidservant, Hagar, and she bore a son, Ishmael (see Genesis 16). The son of promise, Isaac, came later through Sarah, just like God had promised. However, the modern day conflict between the Arabs and Israelis is the fruit of this act of disobedience that occurred centuries ago.

I recall a time when I launched a business enterprise only to fall on my face. It had all the hallmarks of a Godly venture, but I was premature and guilty of presumption instead of faith. The resulting financial losses are lasting reminders of a decision that was based on a horizontal choice instead of a vertical dependence that required patience until God said, "Go."

The way to avoid making "Ishmael" decisions is to seek God fully on the matter in prayer, be in an accountable relationship with your spouse and close associates who know you well, and gain agreement through two or more people. The Bible says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"(Jeremiah 17:9).

Whenever we want something strongly, it is a dangerous place because we no longer look at the matter objectively with a willingness to change our viewpoint. We have to approach a matter as being "dead" to the issue in order to fully see God's perspective.

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When Planting Yields No Fruit


"You have planted much, but have harvested little...." - Haggai 1:6

Have you ever worked and worked only to yield very little from your efforts? Such was the case for the workplace believers during the time of the prophet Haggai. Finally, God spoke through the prophet Haggai to inform the people why their efforts were not yielding any fruit. There was a specific reason this was happening.

"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of My house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands" (Haggai 1:9-11).

God had finally had enough. His priorities were not His people's priorities. So, He withheld in order to get their attention. Zerubbabel was governor of Judah at the time. He was a godly man who sought to do God's will. He listened as the prophet gave these words; then he responded.

Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord (Haggai 1:12).

Sometimes God has to stir up the spirit of one man to initiate needed change. Zerubbabel was that man. Scriptures say, "The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel" (Haggai 1:14). God is stirring up the spirit of a remnant of workplace believers throughout the world today. They are seeing what breaks God's heart, and they're responding. Has God placed the spirit of Zerubbabel in you? Are you one who will make a difference for the Kingdom, or are you concerned about building bigger and better barns? The Lord is calling forth His people in these last days to make a difference. Ask Him what He wants to do through you.

[04ctd]

The Response of Faith


..."Everything is all right".... 2 Kings 4:26

The prophet Elisha often would travel through the town of Shunem, and in that town was a well-to-do couple who extended hospitality to him. At first, they simply offered Elisha a meal when he came through town. Then, seeing that Elisha needed a place to stay and study, they built a room for him above their house so that each time he came through town, he had a place to stay. He was so appreciative of their kindness that one day he asked the wife what he could do for her. His servant Gehazi later informed Elisha that the woman was barren and her husband was old. ÔÇ£ÔÇÿAbout this time next year,' Elisha said, 'you will hold a son in your arms' " (2 Kings 4:16). A year later the son arrived.

One day the father was working in the field, and the son became ill and died. The woman ran to meet Elisha to inform him. When Elisha asked what was wrong, she did not panic and react in fear. Her response to Elisha seemed almost unnatural. "Everything is all right," she said. Elisha went to the boy and raised him from the dead. It was a glorious miracle. (See 2 Kings 4.)

Faith looks at situations through God's eyes, not the eyes of our limited understanding. This woman did not panic, for she knew something more than the current circumstance. Faith does not panic, but realizes that what looks like devastating circumstances may be God's plan to bring glory to Himself by demonstrating His power. When Jesus appeared on the water to the disciples in the middle of the night, they exclaimed, "It's a ghost!" (see Mt. 14:26)

First appearances can bring great fear upon us even to the point of paralyzing us. Find the Lord in your circumstance today. Exercise your faith today and trust Him for His outcome in the situation.

[04ctd]

Making Decisions by Hearing God


"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways" (Isaiah 55:8-9).

God speaks to his children in many varied ways. God has said that His ways are not our ways. If left to our reasoning, we will fail to fully walk in the full counsel of God, which leads to poor decisions.

Thus, our goal is to avoid being deceived and to develop a listening ear that hears the voice of God with confidence. Our goal is to have such intimacy with God that we can walk in the full blessing of our decisions and to be assured they are not based on our own reasoning alone. This does not mean that we do not use the intellectual and logical skills that He has equipped us with.

A.W. Tozer said that the man or woman who is wholly and joyously surrendered to Christ can't make a wrong choice - any choice will be the right one. J. Oswald Sanders explains his method of receiving guidance from God for decisions; "I try to gather all the information and all the facts that are involved in a decision, and then weigh them up and pray over them in the Lord's presence, and trust the Holy Spirit to sway my mind in the direction of God's will. And God generally guides by presenting reasons to my mind for acting in a certain way."

The apostle Paul said, "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose (Philippians 2:13). God has equipped us with everything we need to make good decisions. Hearing His voice is the first step toward making right choices in life.

Do you have a decision to make? Submit that decision to the Lord, ask God for clarity. Ask Him to make the desires of your heart the same desires that He has for you in this matter. Await His perfect timing on the matter. Then you can be assured of making the right decisions.

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The Art of Waiting


"By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them...." Exodus 13:21

How are you at waiting on God? How do you determine if God is giving you the green light to move forward? Many workplace believers make the mistake of adding up all the pluses and then concluding that God has given them the green light. Several factors go into making a decision from the Lord.
It is important to do three things before you make a decision on a matter.

First, you should gather facts. Fact gathering allows you to determine all the realities of a given situation. However, this does not ultimately drive your decision, but it can put a stop to it. For instance, if you were planning to build a shopping center and you knew the only way to lease the space was to rent to a porn shop; your decision would be made. God would not lead you to enter into unrighteous ventures.

Second, is the Holy Spirit guiding you in your decision? "If the Lord delights in a man's way, He makes his steps firm" (Psalm 37:23). George Mueller cites that the steps are also "by the Lord." God puts hedges around us, but many times we bull our way through the hedges under the guise of tenacity and perseverance. This too is unrighteousness. One wise workplace believer stated that the greatest success one can have in business is to know when it is time to pull the plug rather than keep forcing a situation. Not all businesses last forever.

Third, has your decision been confirmed? God has placed others around us to be used as instruments in our lives to confirm decisions and keep us from the deceit of our own heart. "Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses" (2 Corinthian 13:1b). This is God's way of keeping us within the hedge of His protection.

"Write your plans in pencil and give God the eraser."

[04ctd]

how many of you guys read your Bible everyday? i know i have been falling behind on that. i try to do better, but i am usually exhausted & late.
why or why not?


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Setting the Boundary in Advance


“Even the wind and the waves obey Him.” (Mark 4:31)

The same applies to our personal lives before God. The Scriptures teach us some personal minimums: do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, do not take the Lord's name in vain, and so forth.

The issue is not one of knowing those verses, the issue is deciding in advance, before the situation arises that we are going to obey them. If we wait until we are in the middle of an emotion-charged situation to decide what our response is going to be, we may very well make the wrong decision.

The key is to make the decision to obey what the Lord has laid out in advance. When we read the scripture "do not commit adultery," we make the decision that we are NOT going to place ourselves in a situation where we would be tempted to commit adultery. And, if we are tempted, we will turn and run away, as Joseph did.

To be very crisp about our personal minimums, we have to start with an internal decision of whether God is trustworthy. Does He really love me? As I look at Jesus Christ hanging on the cross because of my sin, do I really believe He loves me? Is that sufficient proof from God of His love for me? If so, then I can trust that His commandments to me are for my good.

We need to continually study the Scriptures to know the mind of Christ, to see what God’s commands and injunctions are for us. Then, through prayer, we build the structure of our life around the things God would have us do. We must let the Holy Spirit to help us carry out those decisions.

We need the fence of deciding in advance to obey His commandments. The structure of personal minimums before God is key to our relationship with Him and the effectiveness of our lives here on earth

[04ctd]

Resurrected Faith


"Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son" (Gen 22:10).

There are times in our lives when God brings a test to see if we are ready to put to death the very thing that God promised we would have. Such was the case in the life of Abraham with Isaac. Isaac was the promised son. Yet, God said to raise the knife to sacrifice him in obedience to God.

When God brings such a test into our lives we usually have a choice. Neither choice is attractive. One choice will often salvage some aspect of the vision. The other choice will totally kill the vision from our perspective. However, that is the faith decision. That is the only decision from God's perspective.

If we choose the faith decision that kills the vision - we will witness the resurrection of the vision supernaturally by God. Our own faith will be launched into a whole new dimension. He will raise us up in order to speak through our lives in that experience. God often brings that person into a very public ministry.

However, if we choose the lesser decision, we will reside in a lesser walk with God. God will accept the decision but there will be consequences to our faith journey. He cannot trust us with a bigger vision because He sees our obedience is moveable based on our perceived consequences.

If we choose the lesser decision then God will often orchestrate other events in our lives that are designed to develop our faith to a level that will allow us to make the right decision the next time.

Do you have resurrection faith that will trust God to raise your situation from the dead?

[04ctd]

Knowing the Risk and Reward

"David asked the men standing near him, 'What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?'" (1 Samuel 17:26).

Every entrepreneur must determine the risk and reward before entering a venture. This is not the only consideration. We must determine if God is leading us after we consider all factors. We also must consider if the timing is right to proceed.

David was a young shepherd when he was bringing food to his older brothers in the army. He had already killed a lion and a bear during his days as a shepherd. David understood the risk/reward principle. When he heard about Goliath and that no one was willing to fight him he was angry.

However, he didn't just respond out of pure emotion. He asked a very important question. "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?" He got the answer he was hoping for: "The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father's family from taxes in Israel." (1 Samuel 17:25).

Do you see the reward? He gets financial wealth, a wife, and no longer has to pay taxes! What more motivation does a young Jewish boy need? Does this take away from the spiritual significance of the story, absolutely not?

The religious spirit always tries to make the business side of faith evil. Money and profit is not evil. It is the love of money and the pride of life that gets man into trouble. David understood the proper balance of these co-existing to accomplish God's purposes. To avoid getting into trouble simply ask this question of yourself: "What is the true motive of my heart?" If it does not have the spiritual element balanced with the business element, you may be in trouble.

Ask God four questions before you proceed in any venture:

1) Is the Holy Spirit leading me?
2) Is this the time to be involved?
3) Is the risk and reward worth it?
4) Do I have what is necessary to be successful in the venture with God's help?

After you've asked these questions go about your task with all your heart.

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to help him maintain a humble, godly perspective
to help him maintain a humble, godly perspective
to help him maintain a humble, godly perspective

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Seeing Thorns as Blessings

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of satan, to torment me" (2 Corinthians 12:7).

Have you ever had something in your life you wish was not there? If God gave you one wish, perhaps it would be to change that one thing. Perhaps it is the source of pain or challenge in your life. You seek God continually for relief from it, but He seems strangely silent.

Paul also experienced an ongoing burden that he called a "thorn in [his] flesh." Bible scholars have speculated as to what this thorn might have been, but no one knows for sure. We do know that it was so hurtful to Paul that he asked God on three different occasions to remove it from his life:
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of satan, to
torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corithians12:7-10).

Paul had a great calling on his life. The revelations and faith experiences that God gave him would have been too much for any man's humility. So God, in order to insure His investment in Paul's life, allowed this man a thorn in his flesh to help him maintain a humble, godly perspective.

Perhaps God has given you such a thorn designed to allow you to place greater trust and reliance upon Him. Ask God to reveal to you the blessing of the thorn He has placed in your life.

The bloom of a rose is beautiful, but the thorn of a rose produces only pain. Thorns hurt us yet they humble us. That is the blessing of thorns.

[04ctd]

JudahÔÇÖs Integrity Test


"I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl" (Job 31:1).
In Genesis 38, we read how Judah, one of Joseph's brothers, allowed his purity - and the staff that represented his stature and position in the community - to be taken from him.

Tamar was deprived by Judah of having children in memory of her husband which was the custom of the day if a husband died. Under the law, Judah did a great injustice to his daughter-in-law. Although Tamar lived in Judah's house, Judah withheld his son from her.

So Tamar devised a plan. Hearing that Judah planned to go to the town of Timnah, she disguised herself with a veil and hurried to the village of Enaim. She posed as a Canaanite prostitute and waited for Judah to pass by. Soon, Judah came up, saw a prostitute sitting at the gate, and propositioned her and promised a goat for payment.

Tamar asked for a pledge - the personal seal and the staff in his hand. The staff was the symbol of Judah's position in the community. So Judah gave her the staff and the seal with its cord. He slept with Tamar, and she became pregnant.

Time passed and Judah discovered Tamar was pregnant. He knew that there was only one way this could have happened - she had prostituted herself! Enraged, Judah said, "Bring her out and have her burned to death!"

As the people brought Tamar out to be executed, she cried out, "I am pregnant by the man who owns these!" She held in her hands the seal and staff of Judah. Seeing them, Judah knew he stood convicted. He broke down and confessed, "She is more righteous than I am!"

Sexual sin can take everything away from a man or woman; their reputation, their career, and even their family. No matter how strong we think we are, no one is immune from temptation. Pray that God's grace keeps you pure.

[04ctd]

Gideon's Staff


"With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread" (Judges 6:21).

Gideon was a farmer who threshed wheat for a living using a staff. This was commonly used in his day to beat out fitches and cummin (Isaiah 28:27), but now it was being used for wheat.

He was busy doing his work when an angel of God appeared to him. The angel told him that he was going to be used to deliver the people of Israel from the Midianites who had been ravaging their land and crops for seven years. God was calling Gideon to do a new type of threshing. Instead of threshing wheat, he was being called to thresh the Midianites.

God often calls men and women when they are in the middle of their workplace activities. Like Moses, Gideon received this word from God with reluctance and feelings of insecurity, citing that his family was of no stature to accomplish such a task. Nevertheless, God addressed Gideon as a "mighty warrior" (Judges 6:12).

God often sees us for what we will become, not what we think we are. Once Gideon determines through a series of fleeces that it truly is God speaking to him he does an interesting thing. He prepares an offering to the Lord of meat and bread. Once this offering is prepared, the angel uses the tip of his staff to consume the offering.

Here God uses another symbol of his work to consummate a partnership to accomplish one of God's purposes in the nation of Israel. This time the staff is used to receive the offering presented to the Lord by touching the offering with the tip of his staff. God used the symbol of his work to ignite the fire that consumed the offering.

Be watchful for times when God orchestrates events during the commonplace activity of work. He may be orchestrating something through you for His purposes.


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references:
Isaiah 28 Listen to the Teaching of God

23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my speech.
24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow?
Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
Does he not sow the black cummin
And scatter the cummin,
Plant the wheat in rows,
The barley in the appointed place,
And the spelt in its place?
26 For He instructs him in right judgment,
His God teaches him.
27 For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin;
But the black cummin is beaten out with a stick,
And the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread flour must be ground;
Therefore he does not thresh it forever,
Break it with his cartwheel,
Or crush it with his horsemen.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.

[04ctd]

here's the significance of this lesson, Gideon was a little bitty ole fellow, and he had TO HIDE to thresh his stuff. even his Tribe was the least & smallest.

no matter where you start from...God can hit your nitrous button and make you roll out..hanging the tires & lighting fires..

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Judges 6

Gideon

11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord,[a] if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord,[b] how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

16 And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

17 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.”

And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. 20 The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

21 Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.

22 Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.”

23 Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace.[c] To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage...6&version=NKJV

[04ctd]

Drawing Near to Darkness

The people remained at a "distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was." Exodus 20:21

Like the nation of Israel, we are each called to the mountain of God, but few are willing to pass through the darkness to get there. God wanted to reveal His glory to the children of Israel, but they were afraid to enter into His presence. They only wanted to know about God, rather than know him personally like Moses did. This grieved the heart of God.

Why wouldn't the people of Israel risk entering the darkness if it meant being in the presence of God? What did the people fear?

Perhaps they had fears like each of us. The fear of the unknown. The fear of what might happen. The fear that God might not like what He sees. Or, perhaps even the greatest fear: the fear of darkness itself and what lies behind that darkness.

Many of us have been satisfied to hear about God from God's messengers. But there is a greater calling for each of you - a calling to enter into His presence. Sometimes entering into His presence means we enter through an unexpected door, a door that appears to have nothing good behind it.

We do not need to fear entering the presence of God even if it means entering through a period of darkness. Above all else we must believe that God is a God of love. If He calls us into darkness in order to enter His presence, then that darkness will become an entry to new levels of relationship with a God who longs for fellowship with you and me.

[04ctd]

Perception Is Not Reality

"The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken." - Job 4:10

In the advertising business they often say that "perception is reality" for the person who views their advertising message. It does not matter whether the audience believes the message to be true, only that they perceive it to be true. Their actions will be the same whether they believe it or only perceive it.

The enemy of our souls is very good at this game. He may bring on us what we perceive to be true when it is a lie. It may appear that there is no way around a situation. He may bring great fear on us. When we buy into his lie, we believe only what we have chosen to perceive to be true. It usually has no basis of truth. Such was the case when Peter looked on the waters during a night boat journey with the other disciples. At first glance, he and the disciples screamed with fear, thinking that what they saw was a ghost. It was actually Jesus.

Satan's name means "accuser." He travels to and fro to accuse the brethren. He brings an impressive front to all he does, yet behind that front is a weak, toothless lion with a destination that has already been prepared in the great abyss. He knows his destination, but he wants to bring as many with him as possible; so he often has a big roar, but little bite.

The next time some event comes into your life that creates fear and trembling, first determine the source. Look past the emotions and evaluate the situation in light of God's Word. Perception is not always reality.

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ONLY HIM


Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee; thy right hand upholdeth me. (Psalm 63:7-8)

It is part of my belief that God wants to get us to a place where we would still be happy if we had only Him! We donÔÇÖt need God and something else. God does give us Himself and lets us have other things, too, but there is that inner loneliness until we reach the place where it is only God that we desire.

Most of us are too social to be lonely. When we feel lonely, we rush to the telephone and call Mrs. Yakkety. So we use up thirty minutes, and the buns are burned in the oven. With many, it is talk, talk, talk, and we rush about looking for social fellowship because we cannot stand being alone.

If you will follow on to know the Lord, there comes a place in your Christian life when Mrs. Yakkety will be a pest instead of being a consolation. She wonÔÇÖt be able to help you at all. There will not be a thing that she can do for you.

It is loneliness for God; you will want God so badly you will be miserable. This means you are getting close, friend. You are near the kingdom, and if you will only keep on, you will meet God. God will take you in and fill you and He will do it in His own blessed and wonderful way.

Lord, bring me to the place of inner loneliness that David knew, so that when all else is stripped away, I might find satisfaction in YouÔÇöonly You. Amen.

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Miraculous Signs


"The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade" (Acts 5:12).

When is the last time you saw a miracle in your workplace? Perhaps you prayed for a co-worker and they were instantly healed. Perhaps you prayed for a co-worker's financial problem and it was resolved. Perhaps you led a co-worker to Christ. Or maybe God gave you an answer to a major problem at work that benefited your organization.

The disciples were working people. They turned the world upside down not because of their knowledge of Jesus, but because of their outflow of the power of Jesus through them to others. And this was done in the public square, where all could see.

Workplace Bible and prayer groups are great, but you must transition to action if you want to change the spiritual climate in an organization. There is a risk - God might actually show up in a powerful way.

A friend taught a lunch-time Bible study in an insurance company for two years. God began to move powerfully in the meetings. People were coming to Christ. Some experienced healing. Word was getting out and non-believers came to check us out.

When is the last time someone saw something happen through your life that could not be explained other than God working in your life? When you begin to see this happen, you will be modeling ministry as Jesus modeled it. You will be bringing the Church to the people, not the people to the church.

Pray that God makes you a vessel of His power, not simply a vessel of words.