Most Recent Blog Posts

Now you may be thinking, “Are you talking about blind-faith”? The answer to that question is a resounding NO! As Christians, our faith is not in religion, but in a relationship with Jesus. There is a difference between blindly believing and believing in someone you know. That, in essence, the difference between religion and relationship, in religion you know about Jesus; in a relationship you get to know Jesus on a personal level. It’s easy to have faith in someone who has already demonstrated love for you. Jesus demonstrated His love by giving His life for yours, granting you eternal life, and empowering you to overcoming sin. The key to it all is Faith.

There is no better definition of faith than that found in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. The things hoped for in this statement are the things that God has promised in the Bible. You have a right to hope for what has been promised. The evidence of things not seen simply means that God is at work in the spiritual realm to bring to reality what you cannot see, yet. Remember we are called to “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). That is why trying to intellectually reach God won’t work.

As Christians Faith is the only key to pleasing God because Hebrews 11:6 states, “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”. If you will please God by faith He will bless you abundantly!

Our faith must be in Jesus and His calling and direction for our lives. As we follow Him we become more like Him. Obviously, our faith begins with the assurance that we are saved or born-again. Then it follows that we must have faith in His plan for our life. As I’ve said in the past, “faith is impossible unless the will of God is known” therefore as God speaks to us through His Holy Spirit we must, by faith, obey even when it doesn’t make sense to do so. We must Just Do It!

Romans 12:3 says that we have all been given a measure or portion of faith. You might believe that your faith is too little, listen to what Jesus said to His apostles when they complained of having too little faith, “And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:5-6). The mustard seed is one of the smallest of seeds and yet like the mustard seed the smallest amount of faith will be able to release miracles in your life, as you obey the Lord.

Of course, the difficulty with faith is that you must learn to put your trust in someone else, Jesus, when all your life you have trusted in yourself, other people, your job, the government or your possessions. The problem is very much like the young person applying for a job and being told that they don’t have experience. Well, how are they to get experience unless they are given the job and do it?  How can your faith grow if you trust in everything else but the Lord? The only way that spiritual faith can grow is to begin to put your trust in God and see Him come through in the small things. God’s faithfulness then becomes a springboard for greater steps of faith. In other words, start with “baby steps”. Keep in mind, whatever believe you hear from God must not contradict his word, the Bible!

Finally, if you want things to change in your life… do something different! Release your faith in Him!

JUST DO IT!

DO IT FOR JESUS!

Christians often use the phrase, of God that he “opens or closes doors”. When God opens a door it usually means an opportunity to fulfill His plan, whereas when He closes a door it means that the path you are thinking of is not part of His plan, or He is not in that plan. In either case, opening and closing doors are for the fulfillment of His plans for you.

It is important to distinguish between a co-incidence and a God-incidence. A coincidence is random and can be beneficial or harmful. It is strictly by chance. A God-incidence is, as the name, implies a circumstance God has orchestrated. It is a God “set-up”! Remember, as Romans 8:28 states, “all things work out for good to those who love Him and are called to his purpose.

A good scriptural illustration of this is found in Acts 16. The Apostle Paul along with Silas and Timothy were sharing the Gospel in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey)/ They also visited the churches that had been established, during Paul’s first missionary journey. The Bible then says that at some point they were forbidden (the door was closed) by the Holy Spirit to continue preaching the word in Asia or Turkey. Then “tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them”, the door was closed to continue.

It was in Troas that a vision appeared to Paul in the night. The vision was of a man from Macedonia (modern-day Greece) who stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Now after he had seen the vision, they immediately made their way to Macedonia. You see Paul’s conclusion was that the Lord was calling them to preach the gospel in Macedonia or Greece.

What is so significant about this event is that Paul established 7 important churches in Macedonia or Greece. These are the very same 7 churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

God’s plan was that the Apostle Paul was to establish these churches in Macedonia! Paul could have resisted the closed door but then he would not have accomplished God’s best! In God, nothing happens by accident.

In closing, it is important to note that while God may open or close a door He will not force you to go through the open door or prevent you from opening a closed door. A very important truth about God is that He has given you Free Will! Faith requires free will, love requires free will, obedience requires free will. We always have a choice! Recall Joshua’s words in Joshua 24:15b, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”As Joshua made a decision to trust God, I encourage you to do the same. Learn to hear God’s voice through the scriptures, the Holy Spirit, through the circumstances of life, and allow the peace of God rule (or be the umpire) in your hearts, Colossians 3:15a.

The second issue is that we often take the model of a prophet from the Old Testament. God always wants communication with His people, the covenant of the Old Testament was with the Jews. God choose certain individuals to be His voice among His people. It is clear that the prophets of old did not have the Holy Spirit living in them, but the Holy Spirit of God was “upon” or “on” them. People of the Old Testament went to Prophets and Priest to hear from God.

Another important point is that Old Testament Prophets were primarily used by God to give direction to the rulers or kings of the Old Covenant.

Prophecy and Prophets were very important to Israel. The evidence of their importance is in the fact that 17 of the Old Testament books (Major and Minor Prophets) were inspired and written by Prophets. The primary function of these prophets was to warn the people of Israel to the consequences of walking away from Him and worshipping other gods.

As New Covenant believers we don’t see the same emphasis on prophets as in the Old Testament. This can be understood by the fact that as believers in Jesus Christ His Holy Spirit lives in us, not simply upon or on us. God has chosen to speak to us directly about His plans. I am not saying that prophecy is unimportant today, but it has a different function and that is primarily to confirm what God has already said. I need to be careful here, I am not saying that New Testament prophecy is only personal prophecy, God can and does use the prophetic gift to speak to the Church in general.

The New Testament makes it clear that prophecy is a spiritual gift and part of God’s plan to communicate with us: Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 Corinthians 14:1, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Peter 1:19.

In practical terms we can see that prophecy has three parts, revelation, interpretation and application.
1. Revelation– This is the actual impartation from the Holy Spirit, it may be audible, visual, in dreams or visions. In other words, God speaks.
2. Interpretation – Since the Revelation is often symbolic, it requires interpretation. In other words what does it mean?
3. Application – What do you do with the interpretation? This is often the most difficult part because there may be more than one way to interpret and therefore apply.

Genesis 37 gives us an example of having a correct revelation and a correct interpretation of a prophetic dream by Joseph. Joseph’s brothers interpreted his dreams accurately, but they came up with their own application… they got rid of him!

We see another example in Acts 21, a prophet by the name of Agabus meets with the Apostle Paul. In very dramatic fashion he takes Paul’s belt and ties his own hands and feet. And says, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”

Now when the friends of Paul heard this prophetic word they pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem”. Wrong application!

Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” So, when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”

What is critical to understanding this event is to see that Paul already had a word from the Lord in the previous chapter. Chapter 20 starting at 22, “And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

As you can see, when the prophet Agabus spoke, Paul knew it was of the Lord. That is why he didn’t let the cries of his friends dissuade him from his mission.

When you receive personal prophecy it should not be something that the Lord hasn’t already spoken to you about. Prophecy should be the confirmation of what you know God has said.

Then in verse 12
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

Verse 14
But the natural man (not born-again) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

And finally, in verse 16
For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Now recently we have been talking about how God speaks to us. In Post 8 we introduced the idea of the Illumination of scripture. In Post 9 we talked about the power of “recalled” scriptures as discussed Logos and Rhema Words.

There is a third way in which Jesus reveals, through His Holy Spirit, His truths to us and it is called Personal revelation. Personal revelation is when you have a sudden insight into a truth that you could not have figured out yourself. It is not intellectual understanding, but it is an “ah-ha” moment when you see the truth and have been set free from lies or untruths that have kept you blinded or in bondage. Jesus said to those who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” John 8:31.

A classic illustration of personal revelation in the Bible is when Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ the Messiah in Matthew 16:13-19 

Jesus asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So, they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asked a pointed question, “But who do you say that I am?”

No one knows for sure, but I am sure there was a pause as each of the disciples tried to formulate an answer. Then Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The importance of that phrase cannot be overestimated, the word Christ is the Greek for the Jewish word Messiah, in English it would be Savior! More astounding was that Peter recognized Jesus as God in the flesh or incarnate.

Then Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven”. Peter had a personal revelation! He didn’t figure it out using logic, he simply knew the truth! The deity of Christ is a truth known only by divine revelation.

Another case of personal revelation concerns “Doubting Thomas” found in John 20:24-29.

The first time the risen Jesus appeared to the Disciples, the disciple Thomas was absent. Later the disciples said to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord.” Thomas replies, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Thomas demanded proof before he would believe.

After eight days the disciples were together again, and while Thomas was with them Jesus appeared in the midst, and said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing and Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

In the simple statement, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas understood through personal revelation the deity of Christ.

Now I will agree that seeing the Risen Jesus would help us with our faith in Him, but listen to what verse says, 29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Personal revelation is when God through the Holy Spirit gives you the grace to believe (or have faith) in His Truth.

My prayer for you is that you would receive the personal revelation that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

The Bible or Scriptures if often referred to as the “Word”. The word “word” can have several meanings in the New Testament. It can stand for the Living Word- Jesus. John 1:1-2, 14 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”. In this sense the scripture is clearly equating Jesus with the word, the living Word!

Then, of course, the word “word” can also stand for the scriptures themselves as in the “Word of God”! When the word “word” is used to stand for the Bible, you need to know that there are actually two words that are translated from the original Greek of the New Testament as “word”; and they are Logos and Rhema. Both of these Greek words are translated as word in English. A really simple, and I mean simple, definition of the two words are; Logos is the written word and Rhema is the spoken word.

We are promised, by Jesus, that the Helper- the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and bring to remembrance all the things Jesus has taught and said (John 14:26). The following verse in Romans 10:17 states that, “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”. The word in this verse is the Greek Rhema. Also, in Matthew 4:4 Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (Rhema) that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” So, as you can see Rhema is spoken, whereas Logos is written.

When you read the Bible, you are reading the Logos Word. When you are in a situation that requires an answer, solution, encouragement or decision… and then you recall a scripture that provides direction, that is a Rhema Word! The Holy Spirit is speaking to you through the recalled scriptures.

Obviously the more of the Word you put in to your mind and spirit the more the Holy Spirit can draw on in everyday life. Hence, the importance of spending time in the bible every day. Now I know that there are times when we read, and we are bored or distracted and can’t remember what we read ten minutes later… your mind may be a thousand miles away. Nevertheless, your spirit is absorbing the spiritual food found in the Word! Your spirit never tires, gets sleepy, bored or distracted! Don’t underestimate the power of the written Word-Logos to come back as a spoken Word-Rhema by the Holy Spirit.

Keep in mind that the Holy Spirit wants to build the character of Christ into your life. A long time ago before I entered into the ministry, I was one of those persons that felt obligated to speak whenever there was a pause or silence in a meeting. The result was that people rarely listened to what I had to say. Then the Holy Spirit would help me “catch my tongue” by recalling a verse I had read in Proverbs 10:19, which states that talking too much leads to foolishness, but a person who is silent is viewed as wise. So, I decided to trust the Rhema word and began to listen more and speak less and over time, as the scripture promised, I found that people would wait for my input and most of all value it. The Rhema word works! If you trust the word!

As you continue to spend time in the Bible you will find the Holy Spirit applying His Rhema Word to you in more and more situations in everyday life. As it says in 2 Peter 1:3, He has given us everything we need for life and godliness.

God Bless you as you allow the Rhema Word of God to speak to you.