Spirit Prayer

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)

When will we lay aside the childish doctrine that the believer in Christ is stranded here on earth while God is millions of miles away, sitting aloof upon His throne and granting crumbs in answer to prayers for loaves of bread? When will we take Jesus at His word that the Spirit of God is with us and in us? When will we believe His promise that we will do what He has been doing, and greater things, because He has gone to the Father’s side and has sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us? Those who are conformed to the image of Christ must live in the revelation and realization that through His Spirit God dwells within us to accomplish His work in this earth, carrying on the very ministry that Jesus Christ performed as He walked the hills and valleys of Israel.

As we learn to rely on the power, insight, knowledge and instruction of the Holy Spirit of God within each of us we will find that it is a much wiser and better way to live. We will find that one word from God can change a life; one idea from God can change a nation. The key to successful Christian living is facing the fact that our physical eyes can only see one part of the complete picture, and allowing the eternal eyes of God to give us the information we need to make a good decision. It is absolutely true that God works on a “need-to-know” basis, and many things of the Kingdom we do not need to know right now, but He will give us all information that we do need to minister and pray successfully in our time. This information is given to us through the Spirit of God; the Spirit knows the heart and mind of God and He knows our hearts as well.

As we pray, we must learn to pray in concert with the Holy Spirit. We must allow Him to bring to mind those for whom we should pray. We must allow Him to show us how to pray and what petitions to bring to the Father in the name of Jesus. It is possible that we may not have the words to express these petitions, and so we must allow the Holy Spirit to give word and voice to our petitions. We may find ourselves praying in the Spirit with groans that words cannot express (Romans 8:26). This is entirely scriptural. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:18 that we should “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” We must learn to rely on the Holy Spirit to enable our prayers. As we do, we will become confident that our prayers will be answered because we know that the Spirit prays in unity with the will of the Father. The exercise of praying in the Spirit stimulates our minds and spirits to also come into line with God’s will, which is when we begin to manifest His image in our lives. We find that we listen less and less to the wisdom of man, and much more to the wisdom of God, because we find that God’s wisdom is real. Man’s wisdom is at best superficial and certainly artificial in comparison to the wisdom of God. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15-16:

The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

We indeed have been given the mind of Christ through the person of the Holy Spirit. Let us spend our time studying and training in the truth of God, and much less time in the doctrines of the world system. We will find ourselves rapidly conforming to the image of Christ as we soak in His will and His ways.

The Time is Now!

It appears that we are indeed in the times prophesied throughout the Scriptures. As the "powers that be" strain toward the formation of a one-world government, as a country we find that we stand on very thin economic and political ice. One day soon we will likely awaken to the news that our democratic experiment has failed, that we are in national bankruptcy and our "custodians" of the Constitution are ready to try another form of government. As students of democracy, we will cry out that they cannot scuttle our system of government without our consent; they will simply say by their actions, "Just watch us!"

Not since the days of the Tower of Babel has the world's society been closer to being united. We have English as language of business, and we have computers that will automatically translate into many languages. We have the Internet, allowing people on opposite sides of the earth to converse face-to-face in real time. We have a World Bank dealing in one currency. We have a world court with designs of imposing world law. We have the United Nations General Assembly wishing to redistribute the wealth created by the innovators and give it to those who are not. We have Islamic nations desiring to impose Shariah Law on every nation. Islamic extremists wish to move the earth toward conflagration, and thus ushering in their Twelfth Imam. A worldwide financial collapse will signal formation of a worldwide government. By definition, a worldwide government will naturally oppose anything which is of God, namely Judaism and Christianity, taking on the nature of antichrist. The tenets of the United Nations will be diametrically opposite to the principles and doctrines of the Kingdom of God.

The time is now, my friends, to place our reliance and hope in the One who is greater than the United States Government, and certainly greater than the United Nations of the World. As the world's politicians feather their own nests, caring not for the common people, we find that there is another who does indeed care for us. As the earth's upheaval begins, let us put our weight, our very lives in the hands of the God who calls everything and everyone to account. It is He who holds our future--not the earth's governments.

Jesus said one day, "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 10:27-30 NIV)

The True Sons of God

"The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." (Romans 8:19 NIV)

The true sons of the living God will no longer shrink in fear when commanded to stop preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:18-20).

The true sons of of the living God will preach the gospel to their oppressors, knowing that it could well cost them their very lives (Acts 6:8-7:60).

The true sons of the living God will pray and sing glorious hymns of praise to God while sitting in prison, without embarrassment or dismay, knowing there are people there who need to be rescued from the kingdom of darkness (Acts 16:25-36).

The true sons of the living God will confront those who deal in darkness, knowing that they are deceived by Satan and that they need deliverance as much as the sons once did (Acts 19:17-20).

The true sons of the living God will stand up to the authorities with respect and without fear, knowing that God’s living truth is greater than all the principalities and powers that the enemy can muster (Acts 22).

And the true sons of the living God, no matter the situation, will boldly and without hindrance preach the kingdom of God and teach about the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:31). This is the image of Christ into which we must desire to be formed!

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

God's Retirement Plan

In the previous post, we considered the eternal gold standard. Let's take a look at our western view of retirement savings and God's will in all of this. I will confess that a plump savings will give anyone, including myself, a sense of satisfaction and well-being. I will also confess that a sense of desperation will sieze the same person as he or she watches the balance of an IRA or 401-K crumble and disappear as the economy stumbles or fails. Never have I understood better than now the description that James used as he warned the rich man of the coming moth and rust that corrupt and steal the seemingly sure savings of the rich man's life (James 5:1-5).

We are now in the day of which Jesus spoke as he told of the man who kept building barns to store his wealth:

And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:16-21 NIV)

The problem with great savings is the flaw of human nature that says, "I have great wealth, so I will not worry about tomorrow!" or "My faith and well-being lie in the abundance of my bank account!" This pride is insidious enough; the despair that follows the corruption of this bank account will be overwhelming as we find that our faith has NOT been in the provision and wisdom of God, but in our own abilities and resourcefulness.

I have found during these last couple of years that our retirement accounts are merely false hope and misdirected objects of our faith. They may disappear in the blink of an eye. They may be confiscated by a totalitarian regime. We may find that inflation, like the moth, has eaten away the stores that we thought to be safe and secure. Or, we may find that God Himself will one day demand our life, and we will suddenly realize that our faith has been in only the temporal and corruptible, and not in the eternal and incorruptible.

With all of this in mind, let us seek a place where we are dependent on the provision of God every day, as the Israelites, who needed the daily allotment of manna for physical sustenance. With our faith in Him who supplies our every need, we will find ourselves keeping in-step with Him every moment of every day, knowing that our needs will be met directly or indirectly from and through our God, and not through our own efforts or the "largesse" of a nanny government. Are we not much more valuable than the birds of the air? God feeds and clothes them. Will He not much more feed and clothe us, who are made in His image? As Jesus so succinctly said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

"Retirement" is not a biblical concept. Neither are luxury and comfort. Let us "retire" from the worldly view of self-sufficiency, or of dependency on the government's coffers. Let us renew our desire for the Most High God and His Kingdom and His righteousness. As we do, we will find much more than a bulging IRA could ever provide! We will find the bottomless and unending provision of a loving Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

The Eternal Gold Standard

As I listen to the radio and watch TV, I can't help but notice the sharp increase in the promotion of gold as the last sure investment in times of uncertainty. On one hand, buying of gold coins, gold bullion, and gold mutual funds is strongly recommended, even though the price of gold has never been higher. For the person just now getting into gold, the downside is far greater than the upside. On the other hand, jewelry companies and gold-buyers are scrounging the dresser drawers of the desperate and the pockets of the unemployed for every last ounce of old gold rings, earrings and tie tacks. What they pay these desperate people for their tiny bit of gold is obviously low enough to assure them rich profit when they themselves take it to resell to a legitimate gold-buyer. I am being told to buy and sell gold every way I turn. What shall I do?

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
the man who gains understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold. (Proverbs 3:13-14 NIV)

This was written by the man who, when presented with the opportunity to ask anything of the LORD, asked for wisdom. This exhortation gets to the heart of our dilemma. When called on to buy or sell gold, our best financial counseling lies in the Book of Proverbs. Wisdom and understanding of the heavenly kind are our best investment. They are more profitable than silver and they yield better than gold. King Soloman had so much silver that he had to throw it away, and yet he thought his best investment was in heavenly wisdom!

Wisdom is supreme;
therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have,
get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7 NIV)

Soloman again extols heavenly wisdom as the supreme investment and godly understanding as the ageless and incorruptable substance worth more than any earthly material. In our day, heavenly wisdom is in great shortage, and godly understanding is seldom found. We are governed by a ruling class that covets gold and silver and shuns wisdom and understanding. The intellectual dishonesty of our leaders is breathtaking. King Soloman knew that only with the wisdom of God could he lead his people responsibly and successfully.

My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within you.
Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart. (Proverbs 7:1-3 NIV)

Finally, Soloman exhorts us to not only find wisdom and understanding found in God's words, but to actually store up those words within us. We are to write the commands of God and His words of wisdom on our hearts. We are to memorize and recite the eternal words of knowledge and wisdom, and to literally soak our minds and hearts in God's thoughts and desires, not our own. The man, woman, boy or girl who does this carries in his or her mind the very wisdom and understanding of God of the Universe.

In a day when gold is held in highest esteem and the words of the Bible are trodden under foot, we must set our minds and hearts on Heaven, where the words of the LORD are held in highest esteem and the saints walk on streets paved with the gold that we once held as the last sure investment.

Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom!!!

Race Is Not The Issue!

In our ostensibly "post-racial" era, there exists a racial tension I have not seen since the 1960's. How can this be? As one who grew up in the South, and having seen the days of segregation and still retaining the painful memories thereof, I look around and wonder where this racial strife is coming from. As a country, we have made progress that one could only dream of in 1968. Why are we suddenly thrust back 40-50 years into a time when the cities were tinderboxes, simply waiting for the spark that would send them into flame.

I see two conditions that bring us to this moment of strife:

First, we have become a country led by human desires and ambitions, and not a country under God and His purposes. For the last century, there has been an insidious undercurrent slowly eroding the spiritual resolve that was present at the founding of America. Almost fifty years ago we were shocked when we were suddenly forbidden the right to pray in our classrooms; now we are complacent as the perverse lifestyles of Ancient Rome are promoted in the same classrooms. We flippantly ask God to bless America, while filling our homes with putrid refuse dumped abundantly through our televisions and computers into our living rooms and lives. We thus leave our communities exposed to the infiltration of hatred and discord by our selfish and near-sighted lifestyles, experiencing everything but the blessings of God.

Second, by wandering away from the good and the right way of godliness, we have left our country and our families open to the attack of the enemy of our souls. The prince of darkness sows seeds that come from his own stock: hatred, discord, and jealousy. Cries of "racism" abound, simply because of the difference of a person's color. Can we not see that this is not inspired by God, but by His adversary? God is the One who unites; Satan is the divider. Thus, if we are finding our country in the throes of divisiveness and discontent, then we must first examine and determine the distance that we have put between ourselves and God of the Universe.

Hell has declared open season on the hearts and minds of Americans; will we acquiesce, or will we rebel against the forces of evil that would steal our very heritage. Revolution is definitely called for: not in the flesh, but in the spirit. We must turn from the wicked ways of darkness, and turn back to the Kingdom of Light which consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth(Ephesians 5:9).

If we will in fact turn to the God who created us, then, and only then, will we find the unity that man has dreamed of since eternity began. Only in the Kingdom of God will racism, hatred, and discord be vanquished and forever put away. Apostle Paul wrote so eloquently of a people who are clothed, not with worldly fashion, but with the very person of Jesus Christ. As each person looks on another, he does not see race, color, gender or background, but simply a child of God clad in the robe of righteousness bought and paid for at the cross of Christ.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus(Galatians 3:26-28 NIV).

May God Bless America as we find our way back to the cross and to the Savior who died and now lives forevermore.

Change for the Better!

I cannot help but notice these days a restlessness that I have not seen in any of the 6 decades that I have been allowed to live on this earth. People are fearful of what they see happening in the USA; they are aware that the government is taking more and more control of their lives and they really are not comfortable with this “change.” What is more, we see that the dollars that we earned years ago and stashed away for retirement are not worth what they were when we placed them into savings those many years ago. As a result, people are angry at their leaders, at those around them and even at themselves for allowing all of this to happen.

The truth is this: Jesus has not promised us a firm and thriving economy, but He has promised that He would provide for those who would seek first God, His Kingdom, and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). As for peace, Scripture points us again to God. Hebrews 4:9 (NIV) says, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.” This rest is a state of ceasing to strive against God and of learning to rest in Him. Jesus told the masses that if the weary and heavy-laden would come to Him, then He would give them rest (Matthew 11:28).

As I look at the online news services I see anything but rest. I see a world full of people who are trying to make their own way in spite of God, not in concert with Him. I see a human race that fears that God will take away what they have, and that He will not give them what their selfish hearts desire. So, as a result, they are busy making their “living” while not really living--at least not the way that God designed them to. His design is for each of us to spend our waking moments talking with Him, to find out what He has in store for us each day, and then to walk step-by-step in His graces as He leads and prepares the way. It may sound very different to your ears, but I assure you that this is the most restful life that a person could possibly live. Why? Because God designed us to live in His rest, and His rest is only found as we seek Him first in all that we do. This, my friends, is “change” for the better!

Blessings on you as you seek Him this week!