SCRIPTURE…WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?

Across our society today, there are people on all sides that debate the validity, accuracy and inerrancy of the Scriptures. Even the most learned of our Biblical scholars fuss and fight over translations and interpretations that will not and cannot be solved until Jesus comes again…so where does that leave
us in relationship to God's Holy word?

The tortured, yet tireless apostle Paul had this to say to his young protégé, Timothy, in his second letter to him. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 reads, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof,  for correction and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be competent, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

There are several things that we should notice in this scripture. First, the Word of God is His exhale. It is what He breathes out so that we may breathe it into our lives and be forever changed. Just as we cannot live without breathing in oxygen, the competent, committed Christian cannot go a day without breathing in the Holy Word of God….it is vital to our DNA as a Christian. The lack of God's word in our lives will lead to a slow and deathly asphyxiation of who we are as a believer and will make us totally and completely vulnerable to the lies of the Deceiver.

Secondly, there are the other attributes of God's word that Paul shares with young Timothy…the ever-present need for us to be fed and taught the attributes of God so that we may become more like Jesus. There is the need for reproof or rebuke…to be called "on the carpet" for the sin that separates us from a loving Savior and to be admonished to repent and restore that relationship with a righteous and holy God.

There is the loving hand of God at work to correct us and to remake us through ingesting His word…it truly becomes His word that nourishes our soul and makes us hunger to be more like Him as He lovingly corrects us and our interactions with those that He has placed in our path. We are to point others to Jesus, but that becomes increasingly difficult to do when all anyone can see in our lives are the mistakes we make and they cannot tell us from the rest of the "loonies" that run around proclaiming to know the "truth."

And then, perhaps the most important aspect of God's word is its use as a training manual in righteousness…something that is totally foreign to us as His creations. We were born into sin and that's where we would die, except for God's grace and mercy displayed in the sacrifice of His Son for our sins. In Christ, we are declared "RIGHTEOUS" but that is just the first step in claiming our inheritance as children of the King. If we are to live as His children, we must immerse ourselves in His Word and be in constant training to run our race as believers. Our study of God's Word will equip us as God's messenger to be competent and ready to do every good work that He sets before us… and each good work propels us toward our Heavenly home and our eternal reward.

Running the Race…Ingesting His Word,

WPQ

BROKEN and BLESSED!

If you stop one hundred strangers on the street today and ask them to describe the state of our world in one word; the word probably uttered the majority of the time would be ….BROKEN!

Yes, when we look in every direction, we see that truly mankind has made a complete and utter mess of our world…it is broken and out of sorts with our Creator's original design and purpose; however, there is hope in the midst of our dysfunctional situation and that is to be BROKEN BEFORE OUR MAKER AND ALLOW HIM TO REBUILD US AS HE SEE FITS.

There is a current TV commercial that illustrates my thought. It deals with a little boy that is out with his Dad and sister and he is putting his remote controlled race car through it paces when the back wheels fall off. He is heart broken and ask his Dad if he can fix it? With a quick look at his Subaru, Dad says yes and climbs behind the steering wheel. With the broken car on the seat, he goes in whichever direction his son turns the controls and the son exclaims, "I going to have to break more toys!"

If we look closely at this situation, it is where many of us find ourselves in life…we have the controls and are steering our life in all directions, when something, someone or some circumstance breaks us and our spirit…and our first response is to ask if our Heavenly Father can fix us?

He takes the controls from our hands, puts us behind the wheel and then guides us to steer as He directs. We just have to stay focused on the path that He has put before us and remain committed to follow where ever He leads.

You see, brokenness in and of itself is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a vital part of the fabric of our lives. The ground must be broken to plant the seed in order to reap the harvest. The clouds must be broken so that the rain will fall and water the crops. The very seed itself must be broken and die to itself so that new life may be born and a harvest of good may be produced.

And you dear Christian brother or sister, you too must be broken if you are to serve your Heavenly Father and allow Jesus to live in and through you. God's greatest desire is that we follow Him in all that we do and He is prepared to do whatever is necessary to make us fit for service in His kingdom…even if that means we must be broken.

King David, a man that had to experience extreme brokenness to regain his relationship with God, said it best; "The sacrifices to God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart--these, O God, you will not despise." Psalm 51:17 

Where do you stand today in this broken world…in service to your King or still holding on to your wants and desires? Give Jesus your broken and contrite heart today and make this world a better place because you are here in His name, under His power and working by His authority….be broken today; it's the first step on the path to BLESSING.

Broken and Pour Out ….Seeking to Serve,

WPQ

Poem of the day….

If for the Father you want to live

There are some things that you must do…

Give you heart, a broken gift

So Christ can live through you.

A contrite heart He will love.

A broken spirit He will mend.

He is your Loving Father and

Your everlasting Friend.

WPQ@August 2014

THE FOLDED NAPKIN

During my Sunday school classes’ study of the Great Characters of the Bible, we dove deeply into the beloved disciple John and came across his sprint to the tomb. We saw that He looked in and saw the grave clothes, but did not enter. Then, Simon Peter arrived, entered and saw the grave clothes lying there, but the napkin that covered our Savior’s face was not with the grave clothes; rather, it was neatly folded and resting in a place by itself. The natural question was,

Why did Jesus fold the napkin?

Read on be blessed....

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Is that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes! In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to-do with the Master and Servant.... and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly with everything in exactly the right place so the Master would be pleased; then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating. The servant would dare not touch the table until he was sure that the master was finished. Then, if the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, clean his beard and then, he would wad up the napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded-up or unfolded napkin meant, “I’M DONE!”


But, if the master got up from the table, folded his napkin and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because..........

The folded napkin meant....I’M COMING BACK!!!!!


Praise God in Heaven…..He’s Coming Back to redeem His Own.

I trust that today this little story holds great significance for you because you know Jesus as your personal Savior. He promised each of us in John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

Even in His resurrection moment, He confirmed by the folded napkin His promise that HE IS COMING BACK...and I, for one, can’t wait!

Clinging to OUR HOPE in Christ Jesus,
WPQ


THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

For all who call on Jesus’ name
We believe this simple fact.
He has gone to prepare a place,
But soon, HE’S COMING BACK!

The Discipline of Prayer

If you've ever set an important goal with the determination to achieve it, you know, right up front, that there will be a certain amount of discipline required to attain your dream. Whether running a marathon, making an A on your algebra test or climbing Mount Everest, you will need to devote time, energy and be disciplined to each task along the way toward achieving your goal.

The same holds true in our Christian walk. Whether it's becoming more like Jesus, memorizing scripture or praying to our Heavenly Father; they each require discipline.

And Jesus himself was the model of this kind of discipline as scripture reports in Luke 6, verse 12 that says, "In these days he went out to the mountains to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God."  Or Luke 9:16a that reads, "And taking the five loaves and two fishes, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them." And let us not forget one of my favorites from Luke 11:1, "Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of the disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray."

Jesus was the model of discipline when it came to prayer. He had a time; he always had a place and he always prayed as long as it took to connect with His Father. He prayed in the morning when he would leave his disciples and go into the mountains; he prayed over his meals and when he was serving as the host of five thousand; and He always prayed before He released the healing powers of heaven.

He was disciplined in his prayer time and devoted to the process of leaving the cares of this world behind so that He could commune with the Father. Even in His darkest hour, we find Christ praying with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:36,39,44 that reads, "Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to them, Sit here, while I go over there and pray."(verse36) "And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as your will."(verse 39).....and when his disciples failed him as they slept, scripture tells us, "So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again."(verse 44)

Throughout the life of our Lord and Savior, he alone is our ultimate model when we look to someone that understood the discipline of prayer. He marked out a specific time each day to talk with God and He used every other moment to be ready to call on the Father to meet the needs of that moment. But more than the discipline required to begin a prayer life is the discipline to remain constant in our praise, petition and the promise that God answers our prayers. (Romans 12:12)

But then, that's a totally different topic that we'll tackle tomorrow.....

Praying for the discipline to be the man of prayer God has called me to be,

WPQ

WHO IS YOUR MASTER?

Our world is rocking and reeling and coming at us from all sides. No matter where one might turn these days, something or someone is vying for your eyes, your ears and your pocketbook. So as believers we have one of two choices....succumb to the pressures of this world or trust in the one who saves us and call him...MASTER.

Scripture tells us from the lips of Jesus that NO ONE...ABSOLUTELY, NO ONE CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS; but I am continually amazed that even in my own life, I try to pull off the impossible.

What do I mean?  Well, as I read in scripture this morning in 2 Peter 2:19a-21, Peter cautions us about becoming enslaved to the wrong master...." for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them."

What has enslaved you? Is it your job....your family...your kids and all their activities...too much time in front of a TV or computer screen....the list can be and often is endless. It all comes back to a few simple rules....

What you talk about, you think about;

What you think about, you do;

What you do becomes your heart throb;

What your heart beats for becomes your Master.....

Peter warns us to stay focused on Jesus ...for through the knowledge of Him we have

been set free from the corruption of this world; but if we still 'dip our toe in the water of worldly things," we will once again find ourselves enslaved to our former Master and in worse shape than if we had never come to know Jesus at all.

So, what has enslaved you today...and how are you going to deal with it? You can try to overcome it on your own or you can give it over to Jesus who is the OVERCOME and the PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH. He is waiting to be reinstated as the Lord and Master of your Life but He will never force himself upon the throne....

If you must be a slave to something or someone(and I believe we all must), why not make it Jesus....for He cares for you with an EVERLASTING LOVE.

ENSLAVED TO THE ONE TRUE MASTER....FOREVER,

WPQ

Bad Apple or a Pinch of Leaven...You Make the Call?

We left off in our last publication with 10 of the spies stirring up the Israelites with the tales of the giants that inhabited the land of Canaan…let’s continue in Numbers 14.

“That night all the people in the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly said, “If only we had died in Egypt or in this desert! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt? We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Numbers 14: 11-12, 14

Why did the Israelites consider returning to Egypt? Well, for one reason, it was not that far removed from them. Though it had been a time of great suffering, how quickly they had forgotten the hardships that had been their affliction. Their lack of faith and trust in the Lord brought them to the quick conclusion that they would rather return to Egypt than trust the Lord to deliver them as conquerors over the inhabitants of Canaan.

Secondly, it only took a few “bad apples to spoil the entire bunch”….to stir the crowd into such a frenzy that they wanted to stone Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb. The bad report of these leaders blinded the Israelites to the power of their God and wiped their memories of past victories that had been theirs. God had continually cared for them and had already given them his assurance that He would be with them and provide them a homeland that was “flowing with milk and honey.”

As you can imagine, God was NOT PLEASED. He told Moses that He would send a plague that would destroy them; however, once again, that great man of God, Moses, fell on his face before the Lord and begged for mercy….and once again, God forgave the Israelites for their disobedience and lack of faith.

The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs that I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me 10 times (there’s that number of times God forgave) …not one of them will ever see the land I promised on an oath to their forefathers. No one who has ever treated me with contempt will ever see it.” Numbers 14:20-23

So, God granted their grumblings and let them wander in the desert for 40 years… until every one that had complained and wept aloud received their desire…to die in that desert!

And the same holds true for you and me when we gripe, complain and moan about the unfairness of life or the lack of God’s faithfulness. It is in these times that God leaves us to our own designs and allows us to wallow in our own grumblings. He may forgive us, but there will be consequences to our lack of faith and our poor vision of God’s infinite provision.

If we are believers, then we are called to remain steadfast and trust in God to make us the overcomers He has called us to be….for He is faithful, unwavering and unchanging…So, whenever you encounter a rough patch in life, do what I do...just take a moment to think back and you will ALWAYS recall a time of God’s divine intervention and the blessings that followed.

But there’s still a question that remains unanswered …What happened to those “few bad apples’ that sent the Jewish nation into such an uproar?

Numbers 14:36-38 gives us that answer; “So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it; these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. Of the men who went to explore, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.”

So remember, when God places you in a position of leadership, you have one of two choices….you can be a “bad apple that spoils the entire bushel” or you can be “the pinch of leaven that makes the entire loaf rise”….the choice is yours…. and the results of your decision can have earthly, as well as, eternal consequences.

Striving to be an encourager,

WPQ

POOR VISION OR HEAVENLY SIGHT?

My quiet times, recently, have me studying in the Old Testament book of Numbers. Now I have often wondered why this book was named Numbers…. Was it because of the number of times the Israelites tried the Lord’s patience or the number of times He forgave them their transgressions?

There is an answer to that question…but let’s save that for another time.

Today, I want to focus on the return of the spies from their scouting duties in the land of Canaan. If you remember the story in Numbers 13:1-25, Moses hand-picked twelve men to journey into the land of Canaan to scope out this “land promised to the Israelites by the hand of God.” Moses gave them a query of things they were to assess on their mission and told them to bring back a sample of the fruit of the land…after all, it was time for the grape harvest!

 So, off they went to explore the entire region; and, at the end of forty days, with a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes that hung on a pole being carried by two men….they returned. Here’s the rest of the story… “They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account. “We went into the land to which you sent us and it does INDEED flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit. BUT….(Numbers 13:26-27) 

 And that’s where the trouble began…right after the BUT. If they would have just continued to trust in the word of the Lord; in the leadership of his chosen spokesman, Moses; in the promise of a God that had never failed them or abandoned them in their time of distress or need….instead they trusted what they could see…as we continue to read in verse 28, “But the people who live there are powerful and their cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.” 

They continued to lament how it would be impossible to overtake the Amalekites, Jebusites, Amorites and Canaannites who inhabited the land. But one of the explorers, Caleb, stepped forward to silence the people and proclaimed, “We should go up and take possession of this land, for we can certainly do it. But, the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than us.” And that’s the difference …both the naysayers and Caleb saw the same things. Both stood with a large pole of a single cluster of grapes before them….both saw the size of the people living in the land…however; one was using heavenly vision and the others only saw the weakness of themselves as no match for the giants in the land. 

What about you? When God as given you a mission or has set before you a test of faith…how do you see it? Are you empowered by your Heavenly Father to accomplish His will for your life or are you weak and powerless as you face the giants of inadequacies, confusion and despair?

You can’t move the mountain on your own…BUT (there’s that little word again) …NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR OUR GOD….for when He is for us, who can possibly stand against us?

No One …NO WAY….NO HOW!!!!! IT’S ALL A MATTER OF VISION….Seeing before you what God can and will accomplish when you surrender to Him and trust His word….Heavenly Vision ….ask for it by name…..and come back tomorrow for the rest of this heart-breaking story.

 Looking through my faith to catch a glimpse of Him,

 WPQ