By Every Word

It Is Good

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Oct 072010

Genesis 1:1-2
1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
KJV

Genesis 1:9-12
9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
KJV

In these few short verses we see the beginning of creation by God. We see God’s intentions for the earth and His creation. But something that I notice that is comforting to my spirit… when God starts a work in something He doesn’t quit until “it is good”. His desire is to conform us to the image of His son, Jesus. Anything the Lord has under His responsibility, He takes care of it and nurtures it, until “it is good”.

But if we resist, if we reject, if we disobey- then we’re not His, and we’re like the mulberry tree that didn’t bear fruit… and we all know what He said to the mulberry tree- “Be withered away.”

-For The Kingdom!

Order Gives Fulfillment

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Sep 202010

Alright, so here is a very well known scripture- but one we must remind our self of constantly.

1 Corinthians 14:40
Let all things be done decently and in order.
KJV

How many successful businesses do you know of that are in complete disorder when it comes to their bookkeeping, inventory, staffing, tax filing or other important areas. I’m not talking about “John’s Peaches” on the side of some random road. I’m talking about a proven business that has went through the ups and downs of the market and has sustained profitable results through these trying times. Probably zero or very few… and of the few they are most likely borderline bankrupt. It just doesn’t happen.

One of the greatest feelings in life is going to work or your place of business and fulfilling a needed duty for which you receive compensation in the form of green paper. That little green paper is earned for providing a service or skill that benefited others. When at work most of us enjoy that feeling of doing something important while earning those monetary notes- But there is also something we may not realize or be constantly aware of while doing our jobs that is a reward in and of itself, and that is the order of our environment. We often don’t give much thought at work about where to find a pen, pad of paper, find a proper place to work on a laptop, or other trivial necessity. We need a pen, it’s in the desk- need a pad of paper, on the left side of the desk… For some reason it just isn’t as smooth at home all the time. I don’t know how many times I have found myself yelling to my wife in desperation “Where’s a pen!?! I need a pen !?! …oh thanks… Where something to write on?!?”

I cannot always control where things are in the house, as there is usually more than one hand on them in any given day, but something far more important I can control is my time. God is a God of order and we being His creation in His image should realize we need to act in like manner. If we’re His children, why do we think we can go without having order in our life and expect successful results? I mean… He’s GOD! He does everything decently and in order. He does everything in proper time. Even Jesus came “when the time had fully come”.

Just so there is no confusion, I am not talking about scheduling every minute of a service down to the final 2 minute warning with prayer before the buzzer and we all leave and go eat chicken. No, no, no- that’s programming God out of our service and that’s another writing for another day.

But God does expect us to make the best use of our time as His citizens.

Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
KJV

Judging from this scripture, I have so much time on earth while I am in this body. I know I have purpose to fulfill and I need to be about my work and getting things done. I don’t have a “heavenly slot machine” by which I can win life tokens for extra years, I don’t have a pause button for life, and God doesn’t plan on rewinding what has passed just so I can get a do-over for time wasted. So I have to do the best with what I have. But how many times do we come home from our orderly jobs, with our tightly knit agendas that use every ounce of time to its fullest, only to sit down on the couch and think about all the things we need to get done but become tired just thinking about it? Uncompleted tasks, projects, potential ideas keep piling up… but the only thing we succeed at is FAILING TO ACT! Sometimes we try, but we start one thing only to get scatter brained while thinking about the other things we need to do… and we often go to bed thinking “I just can’t get caught up around here.”

Well remember who you are- you were made in His image AND in His likeness. It is not natural for you to be disorderly. You cannot run a company like this, so why do you think you can get positive results in your life without order? I had someone recently tell me “I just can’t find time to read… I’m too busy” The reason we can’t find time to read is the same reason we can’t find time to pray, we don’t make time. We have to appoint times and bring order to our life. Prayer is the most important thing a citizen of the kingdom can do each day… yet it is often neglected… and we wonder where is God and why can I not get anything done. Because your life is out of order.

King David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant to his place and decided to have it brought on a cart, which was not the way God had told them to transport it. When the ark began to fall, Uzza tried to stop it and touched the ark and he died. After a few months of leaving the ark at Obededom’s, David acted differently in his approach to this task…

1 Chronicles 15: 12-13
12) And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.
13) For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.
KJV

Sometimes God will allow affliction to come on you, because it’s the only way to get His stubborn children in line with His plan. So prayer is a daily necessity in bringing complete satisfactory order to our day. Notice I did not say just “order” but “satisfactory order”. That’s because you may get results because of a well structured plan, but you’ll be missing a key component to your personal satisfaction and any results can only be sustained temporarily with a “no prayer agenda”. And yes, you need to assign times for prayer. I love God with all my heart and have seen great and mighty things, but I have yet to have the Holy Spirit in the form of a cloud pick me up out of my bed, float me out of my room to a solitary place, wake me up gently and say “Please pray…” I have times He gets my attention but the majority of the time it is a discipline… and one we definitely need to work on.

So make time be what you want it to be, grab a hold of it and bring order to it. Assign tasks to your morning and evening and you will see great rewarding results and feel accomplished at the end of the day. I am convinced that the primary reason for this feeling of accomplishment is because you are in right standing with the kingdom and in the King’s favor when you dominate your life. (Genesis 1:26). You’re acting just like your Daddy… in Heaven.

Start today, get a pad of paper and assign what you will do each day. It doesn’t have to be perfect- AND don’t just “think” what you want to do because that’s why we’re doing this exercise in the first place. Your mental agenda has a way of rescheduling indefinitely. So WRITE IT DOWN, and you can adjust as needed after a few days. An example would be…

6:00AM: Wake up / Pray
6:30AM: Get Ready
7:00AM: Leave for Work – School – Etc
–Blah–Blah–Blah–
6:00PM Arrive Home – Relax
6:30PM: Cook
7:00PM: Exercise – Shower
8:00PM: Read Book
8:30PM: Study Bible
9:00PM: Free Time

This is just an example and time durations for certain things will vary but- TRY IT! Write it down, commit to it, and follow through for 21 days so it becomes a habit. If you don’t like it, you can always go back to procrastinating- it will welcome you with slothful arms.

But kingdom citizens are not lazy, they ACT, and their diligence brings reward.

For The Kingdom!

Bill Wylie

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Sep 142010

In memory of Bill Wylie of Upstate South Carolina. He was a good friend and he will surely be missed.

-September 11th 2010

Purpose of Prayer – Lesson 2

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Sep 062010

Continuing with the study on the purpose of prayer, we dive into scripture that will bring understanding to God’s purpose for mankind for communication through prayer. This lesson will help you to begin understanding, why should we pray?

Credibility

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Aug 312010

Genesis 22:12
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
KJV

I find this verse to be something of high interest to me. God knows all things, can do all things and is all things. Sometimes we wonder or ask…

“Why will God not use me in this area?”

“Why will God not talk to me like He did to the prophets of old?”

The enemy loves for us to feel alone or deserted when we ponder these questions to ourselves. But always remind yourself of who you are to God. God knows what He has called us to do and the purpose He has created each one of us for, before the foundation of the world. He knows you. He knows His thoughts toward you and what He is going to do through you. We get excited about this and think…

“Yes Lord! I’m ready! Put it on me!”

What we don’t want to hear though is about all the stuff in between the “now” and the “then” that we are going to have to go through to be prepared for what He called us to do. We confuse this “preparation time” as being abandoned by God sometimes.

See, God loved us as much as possible before the beginning even was. But He has to develop our intimacy with Him. We develop our intimacy, and ultimately our credibility, with God through spending time with Him in prayer, reading the word and studying the word (yes there is a difference), fasting (do you do this?), worship, actions, mentality, words…

How is your credibility with God? God will never give someone more then they can manage. He will never give you something just because you ask for it- but only what you can handle. It’s time to take assessment of your standing with Him.

[Scenario]
You have 3 maxed out credit cards, drive a car way outside of your pay scale, rent an apartment you cannot afford, eat out everyday and night, buy unnecessary amounts of clothing (I know it hurts), live beyond your means… and you’re asking God to bless you financially? A bank will not even give you a loan, which they love to do, and you think God will?

I hate to break it to you, but it’s not going to happen. If God blessed you without you changing your ways He would be violating His word; And God never violates His word. I will point again to the parable of the talents. They were all given a certain number of talents, according to their ability. Two did wisely, but one mismanaged. When the owner returned He took away even the 1 talent the servant had, called him wicked and cast him out. Did you hear that?!? He called him “wicked”! Mismanagement is wicked!

Anything God gives us, He expects us to add value to it. I pray the Holy Spirit will open your understanding of this. The Lord is the Owner… OF EVERYTHING! From the earth we live in, the shoes we’re wearing to the blood pumping through our body- He owns it all. So if we don’t own it, we can only manage it.

He expects us to add value to what He has given us to manage. If you take your paycheck and blow it every week, you’re not adding value to it, but are consuming it. This is not only things of monetary value, but even your body. If you take in all those fast food restaurants every single day, you are destroying your heart and internal organs. Remember, anything you mismanage you lose…

Assess your life- what are you doing with what God has given you? He will not give you more to mismanage if you have consumed what He entrusted to you in the first place. God will even give the riches unto the wicked if the righteous cannot manage it. (Proverbs 13:22)

Call order to your life. Add value to what God has given you, and you will see God open up more to you. Look again at Abraham and Isaac.

Did God not know? Of course He did. But Abraham had to know. He couldn’t lead with confidence and follow in faith if he had any doubts. He was being developed all the way up the mountain. Can you imagine the war going on in his mind? But his faith was sealed, his relationship with God grew, and his credibility with God was increased.

Where are you?

It’s Your Mentality

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Aug 242010

Proverbs 23:7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
KJV

We must be careful what to call things in life. What we call something determines how we respond to it. When an emergency vehicle comes down the street, we move over in our cars and let them through, why? Because we know there is an emergency, whether a fire or a medical emergency, and they are trying to get to the scene in order to help- so we call those vehicles emergency vehicles. We respond to them because of what we know them as and we move so they can get through. We don’t do this for any other car.

Depending on the person and the need, cotton may be responded to differently. For one person, their mind being on designing, they may make clothing out of it. For another person, their mind being on mechanical work, they may grab it and think “shop towel”.

We must be careful in what we call things in life, because it determines outcome. If the doctor says “You are sick and you’ll be dead in six months.” If we make ready our will, tell everyone goodbye, get comfortable in a place to pass away, and give up fighting all together- then they’ll die. Their mind has determined this is the end. But if that person fires up and says “I shall not die!” and they start making future plans, pray unto God claiming His word for healing, exercising, and believing this is not the end- then they have activated their faith and they will live! They have chose to believe God’s word more than the doctor’s report.

Let’s look at Jesus and what He did. Lazarus was sick unto death, they said, and they sent word to Jesus. Jesus’ reply, “This sickness is not unto death.” Then Lazarus died and they sent word to Jesus. Jesus responds, “He is not dead, but asleep.” See if He called it death then that’s the end, but if he’s only asleep then all you have to do is wake him up. The disciples didn’t understand and so He told them “Lazarus is dead.” But He did this to teach us something. What we call a thing determines how we respond to it. So you know the rest of the story. Another time Jesus did the same thing with a young girl. He goes into the house and says “She’s not dead but only sleeping, child arise.” THIS IS POWERFUL!

Our mentality has to change about our situations. Another good example is in the beginning when God created the earth. The bible says the earth was dark and without form. You don’t see God say “Man, it’s so dark…” He just spoke what He desired of the situation, “Let there be light.”

As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. So when your boss or co-workers come against you at work, your normal reaction may be “Oh no, trouble!” But stop this cycle there! Remind yourself of who you are! Say this and claim it…

I am not from this place, but was placed in this place for a purpose! My Father in heaven sent me to do a work and has called me according to His purpose. No weapon formed against me can prosper. I was made in the image of my Creator and given power and dominion over the earth in His like manner over all creation. I am never alone and He always hears me, because I am His child and a citizen of His kingdom. The kingdom is in me and is never desolate of ideas, never bankrupt, never breached. I overcome every obstacle put before me, because my God can never let me be destroyed, for His namesake. Nothing is trouble unto me, but rather and opportunity. Every trial is an opportunity for my increase. Every battle has been allowed by God for my growth and my strengthening in Him. I will not fear for I trust in my deliverer, my shield, my buckler, the LORD! He is the Owner over all the earth! I will praise His name in the midst of any circumstance because through Him, I am guaranteed to win!

Now believe that and walk in it!

For The Kingdom!

I’m Doing Great…

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Aug 122010

I went into a restroom today and ran into a young guy who had a walking stick with him. He was completely blind. He had some hearing devices attached to his ears which were fairly large in size. I know technology has made huge advances in hearing equipment and the sizes of them have become incredibly small. My own grandfather is deaf without his, and even his is not noticeable unless looking directly into his ear canal. So I was aware that this guy’s hearing was severely impaired.

As I went to wash my hands I said “How are you?”

His reply “I’m doing great!”

…wow

I couldn’t help but think about the times I had complained in my mind about trivial bothers… Makes me think to myself- “Shut up with your complaining!”

This guy- who cannot see the colors of the sun, the flowers, the bright and dark greens of plants, the blue skies and white clouds, nor hear without all this equipment attached to his ears- yet he can still reply “I’m doing great!” with enthusiasm- what do I have to complain about. How blessed so many of us are that take for granted our senses.

I began to pray “Lord, if I pray for him, will You heal him?” Now I know God’s will is for him to be healed- but sometimes in the moment I can lack the faith to commit. The enemy will plant a thousand “What Ifs”. The Ifs don’t matter, for faith is believing God’s word, laws and promises regardless of circumstances. The evidence of the unseen hope is in God’s word. But before I could finish this thought, he had left.

I will see him again soon. Will those who read this do something for me, right now? Pray for this young man’s eyes and ears to be opened. Pray the Lord will heal him when I see him again and I pray for him… or before then is great too!

How am I? I’m doing great!

The Lord’s Prayer 09

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Aug 102010

Luke 11:4
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
KJV

Now let’s get a couple of things clear first. When you enter into prayer you need to be prepared to enter His courts before you begin your petitions. Remember this scripture…

Psalm 66:18
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
KJV

We don’t need anything to hinder us in our prayers- so we must make sure to take prayer seriously. Now we’re not doing this for show or to be religious by any means. We take this seriously because we are showing the sincerity of our hearts. Roy Porter, a good pastor friend of mine, said something in a message recently that I really liked. He spoke about Abraham building altars everywhere he went to pray. He said prayer should take time and have a commitment made to it.

I started thinking about this. When Abraham got ready to pray, it wasn’t just jump in the car and talk along the way, though I do this sometimes and that’s fine- he had to prepare. It took something from him to pray. It took a commitment. He had to lug rocks into one place and build them up to form an altar. Most of us after all that work would think “Man, I’m tired- time for a glass of tea.” But it was part of the process- to carry rocks into one place, form them into an altar, then to make petition to God. He was showing him he was serious about what he was doing. Now I’m not saying to get out in your yard and start piling rocks together, but at least prepare yourself to be presentable before the Holy God before entering into prayer. We’re His children, but even children have to show respect and honor their fathers. How much more honor is our Father in heaven deserve from His earthly children?

So we love Him by showing Him the honor He deserves in our preparation for prayer. Reminding Him of His word which shows we understand the foundation of His word that we stand on.

‘Lord, you said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me“– so Lord remember thy word “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) So Lord as I prepare myself to enter into your presence prepare me with your forgiveness- so that you can hear me according to your word.’

Now we are showing God we are serious about our requests and petitions and about Who He is. Do you think this sounds too heavy? Unreasonable? Look at the priests of the time during the Ark of the Covenant. They had to tie a rope around the priest’s leg before entering the Vail where the Ark was. If they had sin upon them, they would drop dead. They had bells on the bottom of their robes and if the bells quit ringing, they would yank them out with the rope and ask the next priest if he was ready to go in. Still want to be in ministry? Has this changed today? Well, many of us have prayed, or been singing in service, or trying to worship and God had pulled our rope as soon as we entered the door. We’re clapping, singing, even shouting but no presence of God. Has your rope been pulled? Prepare to enter His presence and don’t take it lightly. God honors those whose heart is sincere and who has shown up to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Wow, I’m going to have to continue on this part tomorrow…

For The Kingdom!

Water, Food, Gold, and Stone

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Aug 062010

Genesis 2
9. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12. And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
KJV

Four things God shows us of being good and of value here. Water, food, gold and stone.

We get these priorities mixed up sometimes. But when there is a lack we quickly adjust back to necessities first. I came across this article today on Yahoo!. Because of a drought, Russia has put a ban on all exports of wheat for four and a half months. Russia is the third largest exporter of wheat in the world. If you have nothing to eat, oil becomes less important. If you have nothing to drink, diamonds become worthless.

We see in the bible with the story of Joseph who revealed a dream to Pharaoh about the seven good years and seven bad years. Joseph was put second in command over the entire land because of his plan to provide for the years of lack that would come. During the seven good years the other nations would have no need in parting with any of their riches and treasures. But during the seven bad years, they told Egypt take everything we have, even our land and we will be your slaves just give us food. See, when you’re perishing, gold becomes of no value.

Sometimes we put value in electronics, cars, houses, or as the nations get so involved with sometimes, oil. But God showed us in the garden of Eden the things of value and their order of priority. We have to keep our priorities in order and balance out necessities with wants. You can’t spend your paycheck on shoes when you don’t have food in the house and then come to God wanting a miracle. Sometimes we think miracles are to make-up for what we don’t have because of our waste or mismanagement of resources.

Look at this in closing. In the gospels we read about Jesus telling His disciples to feed the 5000 rather than to send them away. The disciples said all we have is 5 loaves and 2 fish. Jesus took the baskets and raised them up and thanked God for them. They fed every person that was present. Now if He can do this miracle, why worry about keeping account for what was left? I mean why not just carry around 1 loaf and 1 fish and just multiply it when everyone is hungry? But they didn’t, they had to collect all of the baskets of food and had 12 baskets left. We see this in the scriptures. It was showing accountability for their resources. Jesus was teaching us the importance of maximizing the minimum, of giving account for resources. Just because He could turn a few into thousands didn’t mean it was OK to waste- they still had to collect the baskets.

We have to give account for what resources God has given to us. When we’ve done all we can and managed responsibly, then God brings increase into our life. Praise God for the King and His awesome Kingdom!

The Lord’s Prayer 08

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Jul 312010

Luke 11:3
Give us day by day our daily bread.
KJV

Alright I had to do some research on this part for a few days so this one took a little longer to gather everything on.

Bread is such an important thing in Jewish culture. This word can mean so many things- hence why we have used it in modern terminology for many things. Someone comes up to you and says “Throw me some bread man.” What are they talking about? Money! That’s why we also use the term “bread winner” which is the one who brings home most of the money.

But in the Lord’s prayer the word bread is referring to more than just food, dough, or money. It is sustenance. It’s what you need to sustain for that day. So when you pray for “our daily bread” you are praying for everything you need to sustain for that days needs. Everything that you need to suffice for the work the kingdom must do on earth.

In the Jewish culture bread is everything that you need to make bread. To make bread you need soil, water, grain, sun, nutrients, care, yeast, dough, hands, work, spices, heat, time… anything I’m forgetting you cooks out there?

You’re not just praying for bread- but for everything that you need to get the bread. This is an important part of the Lord’s prayer. All this time you thought you were praying for food. Noooo… we don’t even have to pray for food- Jesus taught us that the Father knows what we have need of… We’re praying for everything that day has need of to sustain for that days needs. Lord- give us our daily bread: opportunity, courage, strength, ability, skill, knowledge, wisdom, path, ideas, words, doors, patience, mercy, grace, guidance, necessities, friends, answers, results… for today!

Now once you pray for daily bread… expect it! Expect to receive it! Did you know that if you’re His people- you have a right to it? God made it that way for you! He taught us to pray this way because He wants you to ask Him for it! He was teaching us that it is something that is natural in the kingdom of God! It’s not a miracle to have your needs met! It’s natural in the kingdom of God to have your needs met- you just have to make sure you’re in His kingdom. His kingdom is naturally, supernatural. That’s why it wasn’t a big deal for Jesus to walk on the water, or to multiply the loaves and the fish, or to heal the sick, or to open blinded eyes. Are these miracles?… well yes! Of course they were! But Jesus was trying to show us something more important. That’s why you don’t see Jesus with the disciples afterward saying “Did you see that miracle? Did you see what I did? Wasn’t that awesome?” No, Jesus would calm the entire sea, then turn to the disciples and say “Oh ye of little faith?” He wanted us to look beyond the act and understand the way. He was teaching us that the kingdom of God brings these things… it’s normal in the kingdom.

Where we fight for gold and pearls and precious metals down here… Heaven is built with these things. Can you imagine if our highways were built out of gold? We build our highways with asphalt or cement- because gold is too precious. But in the kingdom, there is so much surplus, they build the streets out of gold! We struggle until we understand Who our Father is and His will for his children. He has surplus… so you know He has your needs. It’s normal in the kingdom to have everything you need… you just have to ask.

Give us Lord our daily bread.

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