Get Ready!

I don’t know where you are at today, but I sense a timely cry in the spirit: Get Ready! God is about to visit. The Lord whom you seek is about to come into His temple (Malachi 3:1-2). But are you ready? Are you prepared to accommodate the next move of God in your life, family, and Church? Showers of blessings are about to be released on you. Are you ready?

24-Hour turn-round: 2 Kings 7: 1-20 tells of a wonderful 24-hour turn-around that the world had ever known. One day, Israel was so starved that women were killing their own babies for food. Yet, the next day, God sent in so much abundance that a bag of rice was selling for 10 cents, for instance. By this time tomorrow, God would have intervened marvelously in your case. Get ready!

Not By Power: Before you wonder how this could be, remember that God used lepers to bring about this 24-hour miracle. They were destitute, diseased and homeless, but God used them anyway. All they had to do was STEP OUT in faith (verses 3-8). God made the Syrians to hear the sound of a mighty army coming against them. God will magnify your strength! God will cause your adversaries to hear the sound of multitude of angels marching against them, and they will flee on their own accord.

Get Ready: Isaiah 54:1-3 tells us exactly how:

Enlarge the place of your tent: Enlarge the size of your dreams. Broaden your vision Increase your expectations. God wants to do more. You have outgrown ‘where’ you are no (2 Kings 6:1-2). Step out of the doubt and worry and limitation mode. Step right into the wide horizons of God’s love and grace.

Stretch your curtains: Stretch yourself to do more and become more. Take risk – intelligent risk – but risk any way. Those lepers took a risk, but it paid off at the end. Task yourself to become all that God is calling you to be. Sometimes, you may have to step out of your comfort zone in order to move to the next level.

Spare Not: For sure, it may not be easy, but don’t accept any excuses. Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Keep at it. Give it your best shot. Go all the way. Don’t stop trying. Don’t spare any effort to succeed, to become all that you are called to be.

Lengthen your cords: Take it even further. Go beyond the limit. Yes, that means you must excel. To ‘excel’ means to go beyond the limit; to do more than is required; to anticipate the needs before they arise and meet them. It was this habit of excellence that distinguished Daniel in Babylon. Excellence will make you outstanding.

Strengthen your stakes: Dig deep. Grow roots. Cover the basics. Don’t take anything for granted. Be sure you understand the principles. You have to grow your roots deep in God!

Faith is the substance

Text: Hebrews 10: 35- 39, Hebrews 11:1-2

Faith is the substance: Brother Paul starts to encourage us not to give up on what we have believed. Reminds us that we are no quitters- we don’t give up hope. We believe to the end. Then, through the Holy Spirit, he pauses to remind us again: faith is the substance. It’s ok to go to church, be kind or even be prayerful, but faith is the substance, the ground on which all else must be built. Hebrews 11: 2 tells us that it is only because of faith that the patriarchs obtained a good report. Faith is the solid ground we are called to stand on. Hebrews 12: 6, 2 Corinthians 4:13-16; Corinthians 5: 7; Romans 4: 16-24. Our accomplishments, degrees, bank account etc certainly have their place in the scheme of things, but are no solid ground on which to anchor our lives. The most recent economic shake-up is a vivid reminder that our trust has to be in God alone who gives us richly all things to enjoy ( 1 Timothy 6: 17-19).

Only Believe: Mark 5: 21-24, 35-43: tells us of a man for whom it seemed all hope was gone. He had believed, trusted and followed the Lord, but it seemed that things got worse. But before he could give in to the defeat, Jesus gave him this important injunction: “fear not, only believe”. Only believe. Go on believing. Keep believing. Yes, it takes both faith and patience to inherit the promise. Heb 6: 11-20, Hebrews 12:1-2, Psalm 27: 12-14, Psalm 37:7-9. God is calling us to be, and keep believing.

The Grandstand of Witnesses

Text: Hebrews 12: 1-3

Introduction: Apostle Paul invokes a sports imagery in order to encourage the Hebrew Christians (and by extension, all of us) to continue faithfully in the faith. Here is his point in a nutshell: we are in a race (verse 1; 1 Corinthians 9: 23-27), and there are folks in the grandstand who are not only cheering us on, and but are also proof that we can make it to the end successfully (Hebrews 11: 1-40). Why? Because they too ran the same race (even without the benefit of so many extra gadgets that we have today) and made it to the end. They are an encouragement and a challenge to us!

We are no quitters: This message that Paul was giving started with a simple injunction in Hebrews 10:32-39: “We are not quitters. Instead, we are those that believe to the end no matter the challenges on the way.” We are encouraged to persevere to the end, holding on to the confidence of our faith. We dare not cast away our confidence because in just a little while, God will come with great rewards in His hands. God is a rewarder, and He will definitely reward those who seek Him diligently (Hebrews 11: 6). This was the reason Paul began to list ordinary men and women who persevered to the end, kept their faith and glorified God in their time ( Hebrews 11: 1-40). The Spirit’s point is simple: if these everyday folks could make it, so can we!

So, get on with it: Enough of complaining and murmuring – get on with living the life God has called you to live. Let us lay aside the weights or the sin that so easily trips us up. There is a ‘race set before you’ – start running it. And don’t just run it sluggishly, give it your best shot, totally depending on the grace of God. (Hebrews 12:1-3). Will you be satisfied at the end of the journey that you gave it your all? (2 Timothy 4: 6-8).

The Temple and the Ark of God

Text: 2 Chronicles 5: 1-14

The Temple without the Ark is nothing: Solomon had just finished building the temple. And what a magnificent temple it was. But what is the use of a magnificent temple without the ark of God’s covenant? It is for this reason that Solomon summoned all the elders to bring in the ark of God (verse 2). In the same way, the Bible makes it clear that we are God’s temple (2 Corinthians 6: 16-18 ). But what use is our ‘temple’ to God if His ark is not granted a permanent dwelling place in our heart.

The Ark represents His presence and Covenant: What is the big deal with the ark? For Israel, the ark meant the very presence of God and His presence. The ark represents God’s covenant with Israel as a people, and assures them of His abiding presence. When the ark is present, Israel goes out with confidence against their enemies (1 Samuel 4:1-22; and 1 Samuel 5:1-12). When we become God’s children, He gives us the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit becomes to us in reality what the ark represented for Israel – proof of God’s presence and covenant (Ephesians 1: 11-14). Oh, the Holy Spirit in us makes all the difference.

Bringing the Ark Into the Temple: There are three important steps we notice that the priests took in order to bring in the ark of God into the temple…

Consecration: Verse 11 tells us that all the priests had consecrated themselves. This means they had taken time to surrender all to the Lord, and to abstain from evil (2 Corinthians 6: 16-18).

The ark was placed in its proper place: They made sure to place the ark in its proper location- under the wings of the Cherubim. It could have been anywhere else, but under the Cherubim is where God has chosen (verses 7-10). The Holy Spirit lives in the heart of all believers, but only those who give Him His proper place in their lives see His manifested presence.

They offered sacrifices to the Lord: Verses 4-6 tells us that the priests offered sacrificed so many sheep that could not be counted. Sacrifice may stand for appropriating the work of Christ deeply and totally for ourselves (Ephesians 1: 7; Colossians 1:12-20; Colossians 2:13-19; Colossians 3:3-4). It may also imply the act of generous giving to the work of God, or giving to meet the needs of others – in love (2 Corinthians 9: 6-15).

The praise of His Grace: Verses 12-14 tells us that the priests began to praise the Lord God and his wonderful work of grace. They sang to the Lord and worshipped. They worshipped until the weight of his glorious presence filled the whole temple. May our temple be filled with worship and the very weight of his glory!

I feel like singing this old hymn about God's faithfulness. Sing along if you like...

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside

The Spirit of War

Introduction: The Holy Spirit of God is a gentle, wonderful Spirit. In fact, He is often typified in Scripture as a dove – a picture of gentle grace. He is a healer, a teacher and a comforter to all of God’s people. But He can also be a fierce warrior, a devouring lion against God’s adversaries. Today, we shall examine how the Holy Spirit can fight both for us, and through us.

Spiritual Conflict: Spiritual warfare is real. 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 establishes the fact that we wage a certain kind of warfare as Christians – “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does” (vs. 3). Nevertheless, we wage war. Our weapons of war are different from the world’s weapon of war; still, we are often called to wage a kind of war against spiritual adversaries. As if to erase any doubts, Ephesians 6: 10- 18 confirms the kind of spiritual forces that we fight against, and encourages us to equip ourselves so “that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Holy Spirit, Our Spiritual Warrior: Ephesians 6: 10-16 can be intimidating – how can I fight against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”? After all, I am only human? It’s normal to have that kind of unspoken concern in your heart as you think of spiritual warfare; that is, until you get to verse 17 and 18: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…” Notice it talked about the sword of the Spirit. Yeah, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of War. He is the One that rises up to fight in us and for us. We only have to place the sword in His hand, and take cover (in righteousness, faith, salvation etc). Isaiah 59: 15-20 confirms this principle that the Holy Spirit fights our battles if we let Him.

Bible Examples: Scripture is filled with examples of men and women who were merely human, weak and defeated – until the Holy Spirit decided to ‘fight’ in and through them. Othniel (Judges 3:7-11), Gideon (Judges 6: 33-35), and Peter (Acts 4:5-22). The Holy Spirit can stir up a dormant soul to do great exploits for God.

What about it? The point is that there are times in your life that you will have to face up to the devil and his cohorts. There are times when we inevitably have to stand up against the wiles of the devil, and wage war against the works of darkness. But don’t you fear, the Holy Spirit will stir you up in the spirit, and fighting through you and other loved ones, will accomplish great victory for you. You have the Spirit of God on your side (Romans 8:26-31).