Luke 22:19-20

And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant, established by My blood; it is shed for you.”

This was the last meal Jesus had with His disciples before He died, and it was their Passover celebration. They gathered there that night to remember how God had led Israel out of bondage in Egypt and into the Promised Land of Canaan. During the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, God gave Israel the law through Moses. The people were to follow it completely and bring sacrifices to the temple each year to atone for their sins. At this meal, however, Jesus introduced a new covenant – one established by His blood, which was shed for us.

Passover required a perfect lamb as a sacrifice. Jesus was the perfect lamb and final sacrifice needed for our sins. The new covenant He described was a covenant of grace that allowed us access to the Father – depicted by the veil that was ripped in two in the temple upon His death.

When we read the account of the Last Supper, we see can easily see how Jesus died for the world. He instructed His disciples to do this in remembrance of Him. When we take communion individually, it represents the fact that He died for us personally. Knowledge recognizes that Jesus died for the whole world; faith understands He died for me. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. We must take the necessary step of faith and recognize that His sacrifice was made for us, personally and individually, before the covenant of grace is applied. Jesus wasn’t just a universal sacrifice – He was my sacrifice! He took my sins upon the cross! Unless I make this personal, I will never walk in the covenant of grace.

Many people in this world don’t recognize their need for a Savior, but most recognize a definite void. They need this covenant of grace applied personally. Even in the church we find those who do not fully recognize that Jesus died for their sins. If they did, they would not reject the covenant of grace by allowing sin to have dominion over them. His death was not a blanket approval for sin. We come to know Jesus personally when we accept and acknowledge this covenant of grace for which He gave His very life. You do not go to heaven because you know who Jesus is. You go to heaven because He knows who you are. Grace will change you. Have you been changed?

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 38:9

Lord, my every desire is known to You; my sighing is not hidden from You.

While it is true that God knows every hidden thought, deep emotion, ugly detail, and secret desire of our lives, He still expects us to pray about those things. In fact, He does nothing except in response to prayer. David was a man who poured his heart out to God in prayer. Here, he acknowledges the fact that God knew everything not just because He was God and knew all things but because David had not kept those things to himself. He had taken every desire to God in prayer.

When we pray and release a matter to God, He goes to work on our behalf. We may not see the answer right away, but God is still at work in the midst of things, expecting us to trust Him. Many times I’ve known what needed to happen in a situation and have been unable to do it myself. After surrendering the matter fully to God, I’ve later seen that very thing take place. God often works internally within the hearts of men before we see anything externally. Only He can do that internal work. We must allow the Holy Spirit to work where He is anointed to work and we are not.

Pour every desire and concern of your heart out to God today. You may know exactly what needs to happen, but God may need to work in someone else’s heart before it can happen. Trust Him to take care of the matter in His timing, and just cool your jets until He does. Sometimes the urgency we feel is simply a call to prayer, so pray about everything. Trust more in your prayers than in your actions. God hears you; He’s just waiting for you to trust Him.

Have a blessed day!

Job 13:20-21

Only grant these two things to me, God, so that I will not have to hide from Your presence: remove Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me.

In the midst of Job’s difficulty, he knew he needed the presence of God. Somehow, this was his survival. In God’s presence, Job had a friend he could trust. God, alone, could answer his questions, and he needed that close communication.

Job simply asked for God to remove His hand from him. Here, Job is referring to God’s hand of wrath. God, however, was not subjecting Job to His wrath. He was testing him so that what He placed in Job would come forth. God used Job to prove a point to the Devil by allowing the Devil to attack him. God would openly reward Job for the damage the Devil brought. To Job, however, it felt as if God were punishing him.

We must never confuse the Devil’s attacks for God’s punishment. Should we stray, God lovingly draws us back to Him through conviction by the work of the Holy Spirit. He never condemns us or corrects without cause. The Devil’s intent is to attack you undeservingly and to make you think it is God. He seeks to turn your loyalty away from God so you will lose faith and prove to be lacking in substance. He will always seek to tear down what God has built and equipped, but God will continue to reveal His glory through us.

Job also asked God not to let His terror frighten him. Job did not want to live in fear of God’s presence; he realized his need to be close to God during tribulation. We do not have to live in fear of God’s wrath when bad things happen. He has not made us for wrath, and He longs for us to draw close to Him. God will always draw us to Himself, rather than push us away. He welcomes us into His presence, where we find healing, comfort, and the strength to continue one more day.

Stop wondering why God is punishing you. He is not. If you are a Christian, God has already placed your punishment upon Christ. God is drawing you to Himself so you might encounter the power of His presence. Stop blaming God for your difficulty, and begin to praise Him for His promises. If He has allowed the Devil to attack, you can be assured He will reward you openly by revealing His glory in you. You are a child of the King of Kings, and He loves you with an unfailing love. Come before His throne of grace with full confidence, and bask in His presence. Everything you need awaits you there.

Have a blessed day!

Joel. 2:23

Children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the LORD your God, because He gives you the autumn rain for your vindication. He sends showers for you, both autumn and spring rain as before.

The children of Israel made the grave mistake of adding Baal worship to their religious practices. Yahweh had revealed Himself to them as a powerful and protective God as He led them out of slavery and into the Promised Land. While they still worshipped Him as their main God in times of crises, they just decided to add a lesser god to their worship – a god of prosperity and fertility.

When the Israelites entered Canaan, they had come from a dry, desert place, where many tended sheep. In Canaan, they found lush, green farms and bountiful harvests. They mistakenly attributed the wealth of this new land to the Canaanite god, Baal. The Canaanites believed Baal provided rain for their crops and fertility for children, thereby, blessing them with prosperity. Instead of destroying these lesser gods and fully establishing the worship of Yahweh, they slowly incorporated the pagan religious practices of Baal into their culture.

While the Israelites did not abandon their worship of Yahweh, they added Baal to their worship, as if Yahweh were not enough. They saw Yahweh as the God of power who had protected them and delivered them from slavery into this new Promised Land. They definitely wanted Him there in times of crises. This new god, however, provided wealth and provisions that would not require the everyday trust in Yahweh as Provider. They chose to compromise and try to worship both.

We’ve all seen people who claim to be Christian, yet they turn to God only in times of crises. When times are good, they neglect God for “other things.” They seek to honor or “worship” those things that benefit them on a daily basis. Should a tragedy or a storm occur, however, they run to God for protection and/or rescue.

God wants us to worship Him from an undivided heart. He is jealous for us, and He instructs us here to rejoice and be glad in Him because He is the one who gives us the rain we need for real prosperity. Christ came so we could have life and have it more abundantly so that we would bear the fruit of the Spirit. He is the One who truly provides, and our attempts to compromise will only leave us spiritually weak and ineffective. Just as we can count on Him to protect us and deliver us from evil, we can also trust Him to provide for our daily needs. Anything that eliminates or diminishes our trust in God is merely a lesser god we are serving.

Determine today to worship God only. There is no need to depend upon anyone else or anything else. If God is not in it, you really don’t want it! He is all powerful, and any real blessing you receive comes from Him. Rejoice today that you can run to Him in the hard times and depend upon Him daily for your every need. He is all powerful, all providing, and all you will ever need. He is the God of more than enough!

Have a blessed day!

Haggai 2:19

Is there still seed left in the granary? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet produced. But from this day on I will bless you.

Haggai was sent as a prophet to Judah after they were recovered from exile. They had been busy trying to rebuild their lives, but they had not taken time to rebuild the temple – God’s house. Their efforts at rebuilding had produced minimal returns because their worship was minimal. They were a people defiled, and God had not accepted their worship. Their hearts were not devoted to worship nearly as much as they were devoted to building homes and families for themselves.

3 John: 2

Dear friend, I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

What is the condition of your soul today? Do you feel dry and empty, or are you vibrant and flourishing? Are you just surviving or thriving?  God’s blessings flow from a soul that is prospering, and a soul prospers from true worship. Are we really committing ourselves to worship Christ, or are we merely going through the motions and hoping for a breakthrough? We must come to realize that God is our source for everything, and we are now His temple. Now is the time to stop trying to build a life for ourselves after loss and start to truly worship the God who brought us through every hardship we’ve faced and is now with us at our current point of struggle.

Is there still seed left in the granary? What do you have left? While you may feel you have wasted years, God is able to bless what you give Him now and make the rest of your life productive. God has already accepted your sacrifice because Christ has paid that price for you. Give Him your true worship and surrender yourself completely to Him. From this day forward, God will bless you! You are not in this battle alone because God is with you. He can’t bless what you don’t give Him, so give your whole heart to Him in worship. It is not about you; it is about Jesus and what He has already done for you. Rejoice in Him today, and allow God to prosper your soul. Commit yourself to true worship, and watch God spill out blessings to you from this day forward!

Have a blessed day!

Isaiah 54:17

“No weapon formed against you will succeed, and you will refute any accusation raised against you in court. This is the heritage of the LORD’s servants, and their righteousness is from Me.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

God knows the desires and intents of our hearts, and He cares for those who are His. He is the ultimate authority, and nothing is hidden from His sight. While we don’t have all the answers to our situations, He knows the beginning from the end. Nothing that comes against us to try to destroy the work He has put in us will prosper. He will use the very weapon formed against us to destroy the works of the Devil and to protect what He has established.

God is at work in us through His Holy Spirit to transform us into the image of Christ. He will train any work of our flesh to adhere to His precepts. The Devil is always watching for us to slip somewhere, and he then tries to accuse us before God. He will entice us through temptation and accuse us if we succumb. That is just how he operates. Our righteousness, however, is not found in ourselves; it is from Christ. Anything we do that may cause us to slip or fall is covered by the blood of Christ. God enables us to get back up and carry on. This is our heritage – our inheritance – in Christ.

Don’t let guilt or condemnation hold you hostage. Your righteousness is in Christ, and God will not allow any weapon formed against you to prosper. The work of the Holy Spirit in us is not to condemn us but to transform us from the old nature to the new. This is God’s declaration over you, and He will work to perform it. Keep calm, and carry on. God is on your side!

Have a blessed day!

Isaiah 62:10

Go out, go out through the gates; prepare a way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones! Raise a banner for the peoples.

This verse is a call to worship. The prophets (watchmen) not only prayed for the people but also encouraged them to worship. We were created for worship, and we will worship something. Proper worship comes when we clear away the stones and clutter that prevent us from spending time in praise and adoration of God. Here we find an instruction to prepare the way and to direct the people to proper worship. Otherwise, their attention may be wrongly focused, and God would not be glorified in their lives.

What are the obstacles to true worship in your life? Have roads to glorifying God been closed? Are there any stones in the way that prevent you from fully honoring God in your life? Have you just lost direction somehow? Begin to pray and worship God where you are. Spend time with Him daily in prayer and praise, and watch to see where He leads you. While praise in our private life is important, corporate worship is also important to being spiritually whole. 

Serving God is also an act of worship. We must, however, be careful that our acts of service to do not overwhelm our adoration or praise. Spending time with Him is more important than doing things for Him. Enjoying time in His presence is the beginning of worship and should never be taken for granted or pushed aside. From His presence flow the answers we need in life and the peace to face whatever lies ahead. Seek His presence today, and praise Him for who He is. This is true worship.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 85:1-3

LORD, You showed favor to Your land; You restored Jacob’s prosperity. You took away Your people’s guilt; You covered all their sin.  Selah. You withdrew all Your fury; You turned from Your burning anger.

While God may become angry with our sin, He loves us with great compassion. Notice the Selah, or pause, in the middle of this praise. Israel had felt the fury and burning anger of God at one point due to her sin, but she later felt the favor of a loving Father as He restored prosperity and removed the guilt left by sin.

The remainder of this Psalm is a cry for God to forgive and restore once again. The sons of Korah wrote this Psalm in recognition of a forgiving and restoring God. They fully realized Israel’s sinful condition but placed their hope in a God who is faithful to those who cry out to Him.

When we endure difficult times from the result of sin, we may feel as if we are being punished. We are broken as we feel the guilt from the situation and believe we deserve our fate.  If we, however, see the sin in our lives and realize the full extent of our guilt, we become wide open for God’s grace to flow to us if we will only submit the matter to Him. What we truly need at that point is a restoring work, and the only way to find it is to turn to God. Jesus has already paid the price for our sin, and nothing we can do on our own will cover it or correct it.

If things have fallen apart in your life, turn to God. Even if your hardship is your own fault, God desires to restore you and not to punish you. You can feel his fury for a moment, but He gladly and willingly withdraws His anger just so He can cover your sin and make you whole again. Repent and submit your matter to God, then take a moment and pause – Selah.  You cannot pay for your sin any more than what has already been paid, so know that God is now willing to restore you. Rest in His unfailing and faithful compassion toward you.

Have a blessed day! 

Judges 5:13-18

The survivors came down to the nobles; the LORD’s people came down to me with the warriors. These with their roots in Amalek came from Ephraim; Benjamin came with your people after you. The leaders came down from Machir, and those who carry a marshal’s staff came from Zebulun. The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; Issachar was with Barak. They set out at his heels in the valley. There was great searching of heart among the clans of Reuben. Why did you sit among the sheepfold listening to the playing of pipes for the flocks? There was great searching of heart among the clans of Reuben.  Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Dan, why did you linger at the ships? Asher remained at the seashore and stayed in his harbors. Zebulun was a people risking their lives. Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield.

Deborah describes the army she led into battle. Barak took 10,000 men from Naphtali and Zebulun up Mt. Tabor. She rallied troops together in Ephraim and led them into the Valley of Jezreel, where she threatened Sisera’s allies. With Barak’s climbing the mountain and Deborah’s threatening allied territory, the enemy was thrown into confusion over which battle to handle. Sisera turned to pursue Deborah’s army, and Barak’s troops caught him from the rear.

Not everyone wanted to participate in the battle. There was great searching of heart among the tribe of Reuben, who chose to be temporarily entertained. They appear to have been counting the cost of going into battle. While there is some wisdom in this, know that remaining in bondage is never better than moving at God’s command. Gilead remained in their comfort zones, as did Dan and Asher. They chose to remain in their safe places and not to take risks. Zebulun and Naphtali, however, were willing to risk their lives. They’d had enough and were willing to fight for freedom. Somehow, they could smell victory awaiting and decided to take God at His word! Fear and unbelief are often the greatest threats to our success. 

Consider today what is preventing you from achieving success. Perhaps, it is because you’ve never made the first attempt at something. I once went to a grant writing class where I learned the top 10 reasons schools do not get money needed to fund their projects. It is certainly not because the money is not out there! The number one reason grants are not awarded is because the proposal requesting the money is never written! You do not have because you do not ask.

You cannot defeat the enemy in your life if you are not willing to fight him. Playing it safe can be the very thing that keeps you in bondage. The choice is yours. Overcome your insecurities to defeat your enemy, and walk forth in victory in Christ!  He wants your victory even more than you do, and He went to the cross to insure it.   

Have a blessed day!

Matthew 9:26-10:1

When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. Summoning His 12 disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness.

Jesus saw the hurt, lingering pain, and affliction of the crowds. He could see the full effect the ruler of this age – our enemy, the Devil – had upon the masses. There was only one way to bring healing, hope, and wholeness to these hurting people: by empowering His disciples to go into the harvest. While He was the Son of God, He was one individual among the masses on earth. He needed workers who were equipped to go into the world and reap the harvest for His kingdom by eliminating the works of the Devil. He empowered His disciples by giving them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness so the people would come to know Him.

Jesus still gives this same authority to those who are willing to go into the harvest and work. Notice that He didn’t empower His disciples until He sent them out. If you have ever wondered why we don’t see as much deliverance from demons and miraculous healing today, perhaps, it is because too few are willing to labor for the harvest. If we thought we had this kind of power, would we try to flaunt it? Without doubt, some have. Such power, however, is given for a purpose: to bring those who are hurting to Christ. If we are not committed to that purpose, we can’t expect to receive that kind of power.

Where do you see a harvest of souls today? Jesus saw it in the masses in front of Him. You may see them in your neighborhoods, your places of employment, or even in your own family. You don’t have to look very far to see hurting people who need a miraculous touch from God. If you are willing to labor for the harvest, Christ will empower you to reach those who are hurting. You may be someone’s miracle and not know it. Jesus summoned His 12 disciples, and He is summoning us today. He will not send you into your field without power, but you must be willing to go in order to receive it. Enter your field today, and watch to see how God will work through you. You have the power to do whatever He has called you to do, but you won’t see it until you do it. Dare to be one of the few who experience the harvest!

Have a blessed day!