The Power of Community

Judges 5:6-7

In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the main ways were deserted, because travelers kept to the side roads. Villages were deserted, they were deserted in Israel, until I, Deborah, I arose, a mother in Israel.

Shamgar was the third judge of Israel, and Deborah was the fourth. During the days of Shamgar, people kept to themselves. The main travel ways and villages were deserted, which indicates a lack of community and fellowship among the people. Beware! If the devil can get you isolated or withdrawn, he can take dominion over you trough attack!

One of the devil’s first strikes against a godly community is to destroy the fellowship. We’ve seen this in churches, families, and friendships. There is power when God’s people are in unity because they can help carry one another’s burdens and lift each other up in times of need. They can encourage each other and edify one another. Together, they can accomplish great things for the kingdom of God. Alone and isolated, they are ineffective and weak. 

Deborah united Israel. She encouraged the men into battle and even went with them herself.  One commentary I found suggested that Deborah actually assembled an army in Ephraim while Barak marched up Mt. Tabor. This sent Sisera into confusion because he now had two threats against him. Deborah helped the men of Israel gain the courage to fight.  They needed to work together because they had a common enemy. 

Sometimes, having a common enemy is the very thing that can unite a group. Despite our differences and our personal preferences, we are all on the same side and fighting for the same cause. Realizing this can keep our focus on the true priority and overlooking petty differences that cause strife. 

Our country is greatly divided today, and multiple threats to our national security lurk all around us. Yet, there is power when God’s people are in unity, and we need to operate in that power to be victorious. Find a strong, supportive community of believers who will encourage and edify you, and be someone who will help build up and not tear down. Construction is better than criticism, and love covers a multitude of offenses. Don’t let the devil have your community. Nourish it, care for it, and fight for it. It is God’s gift to protect you from personal invasion. 

Have a blessed day! 

Romans 15:13

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Where God is working, you will find joy, peace, faith, hope, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul prayed God would fill the church in Rome with all joy and peace in believing because from these things come hope. His desire was to see the believers there so full of hope that it overflowed from their lives into the lives of those around them. Unless God fill our lives, nothing good will overflow from them.

Satan obviously tries to fill our lives with his fruit, too. We’ve all seen people who doubt, worry, and give up hope for anything good. In fact, we’ve probably all been there at some point. When the Devil fills our hearts with these contagious, negative emotions, they spill out of our lives and into the lives of those around us. Before long, we find people running from us because they don’t want to be affected by negative emotions. We are all attracted to those who make us feel alive and excited, and God desires to fill our hearts with good things so others will be drawn to us and to the Christ that lives inside of us.

Hope is contagious, too. The Holy Spirit works through hope to accomplish God’s purpose in our lives. God is a God of hope, and His hope does not disappoint. Hope begins with joy and peace in believing. When you decide to believe God is going to do the good thing He placed in your heart, joy and peace begin to dwell with you. From your joy and peace, hope begins to rise. When the Holy Spirit sees that hope coming forth from inside you and spilling over to the person next to you, His power grabs hold of it and starts doing something new in your life – reproducing!

We are all contagious with something. Determine today to be contagious with hope from the joy and peace of believing God. Don’t contaminate; rejuvenate, instead! If you are going to overflow with something, make sure it is hope. Allow God to fill you, and what comes out will multiply and bless others, too.

Have a blessed day!

Isaiah 62:6

Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen on your walls; they will never be silent, day or night. You, who remind the LORD, no rest for you!

The watchmen were men stationed in towers around the city to watch for danger and alert the city of incoming danger. The Old Testament often refers to prophets as watchmen. They had the ability to see what was happening in the spirit and were called to intercession and to proclaim God’s word to the people.

When interceding on behalf of God’s people, the prophets would often remind God that the people of Israel were His people and cry out on their behalf. We see this in both Abraham and Moses. Abraham interceded for Lot, and Moses interceded for the Israelites who came out of captivity in the wilderness. God had appointed watchmen – prophets – to intercede for Israel and to remind Him she was His nation. These men would have no rest because of the impending judgment against Israel.

Today, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. He is our watchman who reminds the LORD that we are His. God, however, still gives the gift of prophecy through the Holy Spirit. These people can often see things that are happening in the spirit realm and are called to pray and proclaim God’s word. If you find yourself seeing things that don’t seem right, pray. These are usually things that you can’t change anyway, so take the matter directly to the Father. If you see things happening in our country right now that bother you, dare to stand in the gap and intercede for God’s intervention. While it may seem like a small thing to do, spiritual warfare is fought through prayer. Remind God that we were founded on biblical principles, and we are His nation, even if unbelievers deny it. Just as there was no rest for the watchmen of Israel, there is no rest for those of us today who see the evil at work. Pray without ceasing.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 90:16-17

Let Your work be seen by Your servants, and Your splendor by their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish for us the work of our hands – establish the work of our hands!

This Psalm is believed to have been written by Moses as a prayer to God. He wanted to see the glory of God displayed among His people and for God’s favor to shine through them. This is the same Moses who desired to see God’s glory for himself, and God hid him in the cleft of the rock while He passed by so Moses would witness the glory from God’s back. Moses did not see God’s face, for he would have died. He could not see what God was about to do, but he did see what God did as a result. 

God doesn’t usually show us what He is doing in our lives as He is working. More often than not, we see where God has been at work, unbeknownst to us all the time. He lets us see the back side of His glory, rather than the front. We may not know what God is doing right now, but we can often see where He has been. Moses’s cry here is for God to show Israel where He has been at work by revealing His glory and favor to His people. They had, indeed, seen hardships, abuse, discouragement, disappointment, and failure. Moses asked for the favor of God to be on them and to establish them in the work of their hands. Without the favor of God, a promised land was meaningless. They could not establish it on their own. 

Establish means to erect, to set up, to stand. Moses saw all their physical labor failing without the favor of God. If God established the work of their hands, however, it could not fail. Moses asked God to display His glory through the work of their hands and to let His favor be evident in their lives. He did not trust their own ability; he trusted the God who promised them a new land – one flowing with milk and honey. With God’s favor and His glory at work in their lives, a promised land would bring purpose, prosperity, and heritage.

We must be careful not to let our desire have priority over God’s glory. We must desire His work in our lives more than we desire what He promised. If God does not work through us, our labor is in vain, and it can be difficult to maintain or sustain anything we create on our own. If God establishes the work, however, it will surely stand. To gain a desire without God’s glory is like trying to buy a quality diamond ring from a dollar store. While it may be easy and cheap, everyone knows it is fake! God’s glory revealed is worth far more than costly diamonds, and no one can deny its authenticity.

May God’s favor be upon us individually and as a ministry.  May we see His work and His splendor displayed in our lives. May He establish the work of our hands, and may we see where He has been at work all along. Most importantly, may we shine like fine diamonds from the radiance of His glory and not our own.

Have a blessed day!

Luke 16:16

The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is strongly urged to enter it.

The Law and the Prophets proclaimed a right standing with God by adhering to rules and regulations. The Law clearly described what God sees as holy, and the Prophets warned people and nations to turn to God by regarding the Law, which required sacrifices for the atoning of sin.

John the Baptist preached repentance from sin. We are to turn from our sin to a God who loves us and who longs for a right standing with us through His Son. Jesus became the only sacrifice needed for our sin, and through Him we have a relationship with the Father in which we are His adopted sons and daughters. This gospel is one of forgiveness of sin by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Everyone is strongly urged to enter the kingdom of God through repentance because it is the only way to enter. You will never be “good” enough to enter. Your works, actions, or good deeds will never be enough to atone for your sin. You cannot gain credit through your actions or your service. You must repent and turn to Christ. We often see this as a salvation message, but it applies to everything in our lives. If we have sin in our lives, the only way to overcome and live free from its bondage is to repent and surrender it to Christ. When we do, that area of our lives becomes redeemed, and we will begin to walk in the blessing of God’s kingdom.

As Christians, we may still have areas of our lives where sin has a stronghold. You can be a Christian and still have addictions, debt, troubled relationships, and other areas of instability. The only way to gain victory in those areas is to repent and surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Don’t try to hold on to sins that are preventing you from living the abundant life Christ came to offer. God wants you to be whole, and the only way to gain complete victory in your life is to become wholly His. Repent, surrender, and enter into the abundance of grace the kingdom of God provides you. There is no greater news than this!

Have a blessed day!

Mark 13:30

Note this: some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.

What do you make a priority? We must come to understand and appreciate the things God makes priority and realize that our priorities are not always His. What comes first in His kingdom may not be at the top of our list, and what is important in the world today may come last in His kingdom. The best way we can prepare ourselves for God’s kingdom is to put His priorities first in this kingdom.

God has made Jesus the first and foremost priority. If we always put Him first in our thoughts and actions, we have learned the order of God’s kingdom. Before we can even enter His kingdom, we must first have a relationship with Christ. Other blessings flow from our obedience and loyalty to that relationship. If we have placed Him first, everything else will fall into proper place. If we try to take care of other things first, we will find things falling apart.

We find true security by putting Christ first in our lives. Regardless of how much of a fortress we build around ourselves, every earthly thing is subject to earthly corruption, decay, and calamity.

One tornado could blow it all away! Christ, however, is eternal. His love and purpose for us will not change just because earthly misfortune occurs. I’m reminded of the words to an old hymn, “On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”

Put Christ first today and every day. Find your identity and purpose in Him. He is the only sure thing onto which we can hold in this world. Learn to put Him first now, and invest in the kingdom to come.

Have a blessed day!

Joshua 10:13

And the sun stood still and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on its enemies.

Joshua 10 records the strange event when time stood still so Israel would have enough daylight to overcome the Amorites in the land of Canaan. The Amorites were so prominent in Canaan that they were also referred to as Canaanites in general. The Canaanites worshiped the gods of the sun and moon. In this great event, God caused the sun and moon to stand still on Israel’s behalf, proving that He is superior to other gods. 

God wants us to overcome our enemies. Our enemies are anything that hinders our relationship with Him. If it takes our attention away from God, it is our enemy. If it threatens His perfect will for our lives, it is our enemy. If it places itself in priority before Him, it is our enemy. If it tries to take from us what God has rightfully given us, it is our enemy. We must come to recognize a true enemy and know that God will make the sun and moon stand still if needed for us to overcome it. He is greater than any enemy we have, and all we have to do is call upon Him to silence the enemy’s influence in our lives so we can overcome it.

Notice that God did not overcome this enemy for the Israelites. He simply gave them the daylight so they could overcome and conquer. God will give us the daylight we need, but we still need to fight to overcome certain enemies, especially the ones we have invited into our lives. 

Today, pray for the wisdom to recognize true enemies in your life. Then, ask God for daylight to overcome them. You can’t fight in the dark. You need to see in order to attack. Ask Him for the wisdom and vision you need to overcome your enemies, and get on the warpath! God wants your victory even more than you do, and He can make the sun and moon stand still for you if necessary! He is on your side and willing to help you. 

Have a blessed day!

Haggai 2:6-9

For the LORD of Hosts says this: “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the LORD of Hosts. “The silver and gold belong to Me” – the declaration of the LORD of Hosts. “The final glory of this house will be greater than the first,” says the LORD of Hosts. “I will provide peace in this place” – the declaration of the LORD of Hosts.

Haggai prophesied of a day when God will restore the wealth of the nations to His church. He owns all the silver and gold, but many have hoarded it for themselves. He will shake heaven and earth in a manner that will make the nations realize there is a God, and their governments are not Him! They will bring their wealth to honor God. Christ will be the rightful King upon the throne. 

We live in a day when it is dangerous to be a Christian in some parts of the world. Sadly, our own country is beginning to threaten the rights of Christians. After this shaking, however, God promises peace to His church. Before there is wealth in God’s house and before there is peace, there is shaking. 

The shaking comes to set things in proper order. When our foundations and fortresses crumble, we are forced to find refuge. Our priorities change out of necessity. In this shaking, God restores glory to His church. We should not fear this shaking but rest assured that God’s glory will be revealed in Christ, and we are hidden in Him. 

If things seem to be falling apart, realize that God may be shaking things into proper order. Don’t panic.  Praise Him! He is the God of the shaking, and He is the God of the glory to be revealed. Honor Him with all you have, and give your treasure to Him. He will align you with blessing and bring you peace because He has declared it so.

Have a blessed day!

John 21:18

Peter was grieved that He asked him the third time. “Do you love Me?” He said, “Lord You know everything! You know that I love You.”

Have you ever failed so miserably you thought God could never use you again? I seem to find myself there repeatedly, and if anything good comes from my ministry, it has to be God doing a work I can’t even see. Peter thought the same thing after denying Christ three times when He was arrested. After the resurrection, Peter went back to his old way of life – fishing – because he thought he was finished in ministry. The problem was, he had no success in going back. Unless God blessed his efforts, he could not do the very thing he’d done all his life. Now that he had experienced Jesus, his former life no longer worked for him. Peter could do nothing but realize his own sin and accept the new life God was revealing to him by grace.

When Peter went fishing after the resurrection, he found himself unable to catch fish until Jesus yelled out from the shore to give him directions on where to cast the net. In an act of obedience, Peter brought in a very large haul of fish. Instead of relishing in his success, he immediately jumped in the water and swam to shore because he realized Who had given him the direction, and he was anxious to get to Jesus. Peter needed something from Jesus at that moment more than he needed the fish. He needed to know he was forgiven and restored back into ministry.

In restoring Peter, Jesus repeatedly asked one question – “Do you love me?” He followed with one directive – “Feed my lambs (sheep).” The question cut through Peter like a knife, and he was grieved when Jesus asked him a third time. He knew he had failed to express his love for Christ just before the crucifixion and had even denied Him. His lack of love was obvious. “Grieved” here means “in distress or to be sad.” The term gives an indication of heaviness. Without doubt, Peter felt remorse as Jesus asked the question repeatedly.

One might wonder why on earth Jesus would choose to trust Peter again. Had he not already done enough damage to the gospel by denying Jesus publicly? Who would listen to him now? Yet, Jesus instructed Peter to feed His sheep. If Peter truly loved Jesus, He would care about the things Jesus cared about – His sheep. Jesus turned Peter’s focus from his own worthiness or merit and redirected him to the real need – caring for sheep (followers).

If we are ever going to become effective in ministry, we must learn to care about the things Jesus cares about – His sheep (followers). Until we do, we will find ourselves denying Jesus and causing more damage than good. Jesus had invested three years of His life into Peter, and He knew from the beginning what Peter would do. Yet, He chose to use Peter to begin His church. With his first sermon, 3,000 people came to know Christ! God does amazing wonders through us when we take our eyes off ourselves – our successes and failures – and begin to care for His sheep because we love them and want them to know Jesus, too. If God chose to use only perfect people, He would be at a total loss to create a church on earth to worship Him. Instead, He uses flawed, self-centered, incapable people like you and me and empowers us through grace to be an extension of grace to this world.

Do you love Jesus? Feed His sheep. You can’t go back to an old way of living with any amount of effectiveness. God knows your shortcomings, your weaknesses, and your acts of outright rebellion. He has chosen to use you anyway, and His grace will lead you into an effectiveness like you’ve never known if you will surrender to His plan and stop trying to get Him to bless yours.

Have a blessed day!

Isaiah 45:18

For this is what the LORD says – God is the Creator of the heavens. He formed the earth and made it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited – “I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

When God created the earth, He made it with a purpose. He did not create it to be empty; He intended to fill it. Anything He creates, He does so with a reason, a plan, and a purpose.

If God has brought you to an empty place, He is not yet finished with you. His plan is to inhabit you. The Hebrew word for “inhabited” here means “to sit down” as in to dwell or remain. It also has the implication of “to marry.” God wants to inhabit every empty place in your life. He is God, and He can fill you like no other!

Many times, we are guilty of trying to fill those empty places with other things or people. We look for something to fill a void in us that God created for Himself. He will be faithful to drive out anything that does not belong there, and you will find yourself empty again until you let Him fill you.

When God inhabits you, you have something to share with others. Without Him, you will drain others by sucking the life out of them. When God breathes life into you, however, you have something that attracts others to you. You have a joy and an exuberance that makes others want to share life with you.

Ezekiel 37 tells the story of a valley of dry bones. God told Ezekiel to prophesy over them, and the bones began to come together, form tendons, and flesh grew around them. While they became full bodies, they did not have life until God breathed in them. When He sent the breath, however, they arose a vast army! God’s breath gives us power to be victorious over anything that has come to defeat us!

Spend some time with God today, and let Him fill you. Let go of any fear, failure, or burden that hinders you from truly experiencing the joy His presence brings. He didn’t create you to leave you empty and alone. He created you to worship Him and to spread His life to others. Nothing is as fulfilling in your life as His presence! He can protect you, direct you, provide for you, encourage you, comfort you, and empower you like no other. He is the LORD, and there is no other!

Have a blessed day!