Christmas Present

24 Monday Dec 2012

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a young nun, Abraham, bedpan, children of the burning heart, Christmas future, Christmas past, Christmas present, David, Elijah, fresh word from heaven, I am, I wish I had your faith, melancholy, my generation, Noah, Tozer Quote, what God is doing right now

A lot of folks get a little melancholy around Christmas time. Thinking about Christmas’ past makes them get a little whimsical. Nothing wrong with this as long as you don’t stay in that place.

Christmas always reminds me that a new year is coming. It is a fresh opportunity to start new… to get a fresh word from heaven… to get new revelation and relevant marching orders for the new year. I don’t want to be stuck in Christmas past. I want to live in Christmas present with hope in Christmas future.

Don’t get me wrong… I believe we should learn from the past. But when you hear believers constantly chirping about the past…”what God did” or “how the Lord used to move” …. It is easy to get stuck worshiping, talking, and focusing upon what God did yesteryear. We must remind ourselves that our God is the great “I Am“!

I don’t want to only read about Noah, I want to be Noah in my generation.
I don’t want to only study about Abraham, I want to be a “Father of Faith” to my generation.
I don’t want to simply admire Kind David, I want to be a “Warrior of Worship” to my generation.
I don’t want to just marvel the prophet Elijah, I want to walk in that same power in my generation.

When we get stuck in the past, we only examine “What God did.” We lose focus on “what God is doing right now.” I love hearing stories about evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and saints of old. They inspire me. But, what about today…isn’t God doing anything fresh and relevant now?

Yes! He is for those willing to get their head and spirit out of Christmas past. The hardcore faith of Noah, Abraham, and others is still available to each and every believer willing to seek the Lord for a fresh revelation. Stop saying, “I wish I had so-and-so’s faith.” Allow the Lord to speak into your “now”. The Lord will speak and move if you are looking for Him in your present.

All this reminds me of the young nun who was on a much desired mission assignment to the Apache Indians. She was so excited that she drove past the last gas station without noticing she needed gas. She ran out of gas just a mile down the road and had to walk back to the station. The attendant told her he would like to help her, but he had no container to hold the gasoline.

Sympathetic to her plight, he agreed to search through an old shed in the back for something that might suffice. The only container which would hold fuel was an old bedpan. Not to be detained any longer, the grateful nun told him the bedpan would work just fine. She carried the gasoline back to her car, taking care not to drop an ounce. When she got to her car, she carefully poured the contents of the bedpan into the tank.

A truck driver pulled alongside and noticed the care given as the nun was emptying the container into the tank. He rolled down his window and yelled to her, “I wish I had your faith, Sister!”

See, you don’t need someone else’s faith. I believe the Lord has a fresh word for you today. This word will change your life and those around you. Maybe you will be the one we all will be telling stories about next Christmas. Lets all strive to be “children of the burning heart.”

Blessings,

Pastor

The Altar of Ministry

29 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by eisakouo in Abraham: Life of Faith

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call of God, David, Elton Trueblood, family, family devotions, family prayer, friends, Genesis 13:17-18, keeping boundaries, losing our blessings, performing, relationships, ruin ministry, separate from Lot

Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.” ¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD. Genesis 13:17-18

Abraham built an altar at the site where King David would begin to reign and extend the Kingdom of Israel to its uttermost borders. Abraham walked the entire length and breadth of his inheritance. Finally, at the Hebron altar, Abraham sought the Lord and laid claimed to his inheritance for future generations.

Before anyone can build the altar of ministry, the other two altars of dedication and worship must already be established.

Imagine this for a moment. A man whispered to me in private, “Hey, if you call on me in church I would be honored to pray publicly.” I say, “Great, I’ll call on you sometime.” A few moments later this man’s wife approached me and said, “I really wish you wouldn’t call on him to pray in church. He can do it and has prayed very eloquent prayers before….its just, well uh, I know he never has a quiet time and rarely prays to God alone. He believes in it; he just doesn’t do it. Also, I have begged and begged him to have family devotions and family prayer times with the children and myself but he never does. In fact, he usually calls on the kids to pray during meal time. It would bother me to hear him pray at church when I know he never prays alone or with his family.”

The point is none of us can have an effective ministry unless we have established in our lives the altar of dedication and worship. If you seek to minister before building these types of altars then you will simply be performing. I know you will agree with me that we have had enough of this in church.

Notice what was going on in Abraham’s life just before he built this altar of ministry. God allowed him to separate himself from Lot. (see Genesis 13:6-14)

In order for God to use us for ministry we must separate ourselves from all the “Lots” in our lives. “Lots” are merely the people we have in our lives that will potentially ruin any ministry God develops. What God allows in our earlier walk with Him has to be excluded as we advance spiritually. It is only when we completely separate ourselves that the altar of ministry can be built.

We commonly call this process “keeping boundaries” here at our house. Sometimes in order for you move on with God, certain relationships or friendships have to go. They may even be family members! It is not that these relationships are bad or sinful. They simply keep you from becoming all God called you to be. It is about where God is taking YOU, not them. God will always let you know the boundaries you need to keep and maintain. It is your choice whether or not you are obedient with these boundaries.

Abraham had to separate from Lot before he could fully enter into his promised land and claim the inheritance God had for him. God speaks about boundaries all the time and He has been speaking to you about the boundaries you need to make and keep. He has been doing this for years.

Remember Abraham’s initial call to leave his home, his land, and his family. Yet, when he left, who did he take with him? Lot, his dead brother’s son. Yes, I am sure Lot needed someone to look after him. Yes, I am sure Abraham was the one responsible for him. God allowed Lot to journey with Abraham for a season.

But Abraham’s original call did not include Lot. In fact, the call excluded Lot. As Abraham was entering into the full measure of his blessing there had to be a separation and boundaries had to be kept.

Why? Because if you and I do not keep well maintained boundaries, we will ultimately lose God’s blessings. Notice, Abraham was already dividing up the Promised Land with Lot. This was not what God originally desired.

When we finally kneel at the altar of ministry, we come alone. It is not about anyone else. It is not about being nice and generous to family and friends. Lot was not walking the same spiritual road as Abraham and Sarah. Lot didn’t keep boundaries and frequently compromised. He and his wife ultimately lived in a whole society full of all types of perversions. For the sake of Abraham, if God had not dragged Lot out of the city, he and his family would have been destroyed.

Are you ready to move forward in your call to effective ministry. I don’t know any pursuer of God who has not had to forsake certain relationships in order to maintain spiritual purity. What are your boundaries? Allow the Lord to speak to these issues today.

Blessings,

Pastor