How God Creates a Man or Woman He Can Use (Part 6) Vows Made Are Vows Kept

08 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by eisakouo in How God Creates a Man or Woman He Can Use

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anointing, bush pilot, christianity, Coca Cola bottle, commitment, defilement, God's gifts and calling are irrevocable, God's promises will stand, J I Packer, Kalahari Desert, Luke 1:15-17, nazarite vow, Nazarite vows, promises, road signs, Samson, Samuel, saying yes to the Lord, stumble, the evil thing, The Gods Must Be Crazy, the things you don't know abut, vows

When we say “yes” to the Lord’s calling and command, sometimes the Lord requires we keep a vow or promise. This can be for a short season of time or for the rest of our lives. John the Baptist was required by the Lord to keep a series of vows or promises called a Nazarite Vow. The vows are also mentioned in Numbers 6.

15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:15-17

Many have been required to make and keep the Nazarite Vows… even Christians. Only the Lord can call someone to be a Nazarite from birth. This was John the Baptist’s calling. The same was true for Samson and Samuel.

The Lord may ask or require many different things from us in certain seasons of our life. This is especially true in the areas of prayer, study, preaching, teaching, witnessing, etc. The Lord is not trying to be difficult or overbearing. He knows what we all know… defilement is a very important issue for the man and woman God desires to use. While God’s calling is irrevocable, the anointing which empowers that gift/calling is not. When we defile ourselves, we limit God’s work. If we allow sin to go unchecked, it will not only destroy us personally, but will bring harm to the work of the Lord.

Making vows and promises will not prevent any of us from defiling ourselves. Samson is a great example. He loved many women and it became his downfall. Vows, promises, and convictions do help us to maintain focus and be reminded of our committment to God.

There was an old movie called “The Gods Must Be Crazy.” This movie was about as stupid as stupid can get, but it had a point. It was about a bush tribe that lived in the Kalahari Desert. They had no earthly possessions to speak of and had never seen or heard from anyone outside their community. They were happy, content, and self-sufficient. Life rolled on in their little village, just as it had for hundreds of years.

One day a bush plane flew overhead (which they mistook for a god’s tummy rumbling) and the pilot threw an empty Coca Cola bottle out of the aircraft. It landed in the middle of the village.

Immediately, the bush people thought this must be a gift from the gods. They had never seen anything like the bottle. Sure enough, they found good uses for it. They discovered it could make music, it could effectively help them grind grain, and it pulverized pulp. But this new “possession” brought other things too … envy, anger, covetousness, and violence. They learned to hurt each other by using the bottle. They soon named the bottle “The Evil Thing.” The Evil Thing threatened to destroy their whole way of life. The movie ends with the tribal leader going on a journey to the ends of the earth to get rid of the bottle.

Does all this sound crazy? How could something so ambiguous as a coke bottle practically destroy a whole tribe’s existence? Many times it is not the things you know about and are ready to face which cause you to stumble. It is the things you don’t know about which catch you unaware that cause you the most difficulties in life. In fact, some trials and tribulations will never make sense to any of us. Making vows and keeping promises keeps us grounded in our commitments to God. They are constant reminders and never allow us stray too far off God’s path for our life. Can you imagine never cutting your hair or beard your whole life. Each day you wake up and look in mirror and do not recognize yourself. Allow your convictions to be the road signs and guard rails which keep you moving forward on the path of life.
Blessings,
Pastor

The Wilderness Experience (Part 2) – The “Wild” Experience

19 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Our Journey Into The Promised Land

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Abraham, anointing, appointing, Deuteronomy 10:16, faith, fighting God's process, Hebrews 5:8, Joseph, learned obedience, polar opposite promises, wild, wilderness

You can’t spell “wilderness” without using the word “wild“. All God’s children tarry in the wilderness for some period of time after salvation or deliverance from Egypt. But if your wilderness journey tarries longer than you expected, it is because you need it! Your journey might take some wild, unexpected turns.

As tough as Egypt is to escape, the wilderness experience is tougher still. In fact, it is the most difficult of all experiences in the believer’s life. The reason is because the wilderness experience is God’s process. I know many, including myself, who have spent most of the journey fighting the process. I have done my share of blaming the devil when I should have been discerning God’s handiwork and humbly submitting to the process.

As I said yesterday, in the wilderness either one of two events happen… 1) We come to the end of ourselves and enter into rest, or 2) We physically die in the process without inheriting the promises!

If you want your wilderness experience to end, then die to the fleshly desires and submit to God’s process. Remember, God is seeking to conform you to the image of His Son, Jesus. You are not enduring or experiencing anything that Jesus Himself didn’t endure. I am always encouraged by the words from Hebrews 5:8 , ” Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” If Jesus learned obedience, then we all will have to learn obedience through suffering in the wilderness. There are no short cuts!

– Understanding Polar Opposite Promises –

The children of Israel entered the Wilderness Experience because they chose the Lord’s Promise and Exit. If you have chosen the promises of Scripture and the path of the Lord, then you too are on the same road through the wilderness to receive the fullness of God’s promises.

After God’s children passed through the Red Sea (which was a type of baptism in Christ) and renewed their intention to believe God’s Promise to receive a “land flowing with milk and honey”, they entered into the Wilderness Experience.

Remember, this was supposed to be a “land of milk and honey”. Yet just three days into following God and God’s man Moses, what they actually received were the “Bitter Waters of Mirah.” (Exodus 15:23) Why did this happen? Why were there so many problems on the road to “milk and honey“?

– Wilderness Experience Principle –

Between the place where we actually receive the promise of God and the Promised Land (the fulfillment of the promise), there is usually going to be a “Bewildering Experience” that is the exact opposite of what we have been promised. This is usually when our “rose-colored glasses” get smacked off our face. Many have dropped the promises of God because they couldn’t continue believing God beyond a few difficulties and hardships. They became bitter like Mirah because God did not move in their life as they expected. The question is: Will you experience bitter situations along the road to the Promised Land? Yes you will!

You can apply this principle to every promise of God you have received, regardless of what it relates to in your life. The promise may involve gifts, ministries, personal promises for yourself, promises for others, spiritual issues, and even physical issues. No matter how grand, how spiritual or important your promise may be, expect more than one dead-end that appears to be the death of that very promise.

This barren place requires you to develop new faith and trust to move forward. You do not have to stay in these barren places a long time. But the place of barrenness will require some time in order that we might discover what is in your heart. It is at these places the Lord circumcises our hearts from all fleshly desires. (Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6)

There is always a difference between the time when God’s “anoints” us; until the time when he “appoints” us. God anoints, speaks, and promises first. There is often a space of time before He appoints, answers or fulfills that very word/promise. It is between the “anointing and appointing” that God works in us to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus.

Abraham endured years of “conforming” before he actually received the promise of a son. It was during this time he received bad advice and produced an Ishmael. It was also during this time he conquered kings in order to rescue Lot and tithed to the order of Melchizedek.

Joseph received a dream at a young age that one day even his father, mother, and brothers would bow and pay homage to him. It was during this time he was rejected, enslaved, imprisoned, and forgotten. Landing in jail would definitely suck the wind out of your promises! But he soon learned what men meant for evil, God meant for good. He ultimately saved his family, thus preserving Israel as a nation.

This Bible is full of examples of ordinary people receiving promises from God and then being plunged into dry, wilderness experiences where those same promises appear far away.

How about you? Are you holding on to a promise of God today? Have you been befuddled by circumstances that declare your promises are dead? Don’t believe circumstances, believe the living, breathing word of God to you.

I will be sharing some of the deeper purposes of the wilderness wandering tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor