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Five themes for encouragement and inspiration
The Priority of His Presence - The Discipleship Process - The Divine Purpose - The Heavenly Perspective - Growing Personally
These five themes are Jim’s ministry emphasis, the focus of his study and the passion of his heart!
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The Priority of His Presence- Understanding why every thing must begin with Him
Worship is the gyroscope of the soul. Worship is a sign of right order in the universe. When men and women worship God they begin to find out what they are born for and the benefits that God plans for them. Worship is all about God, but it benefits us.
Worship lifts a man out of obscurity. Of course, God knows every person and loves them, but people don’t really appear on His “radar” until they begin to worship Him. Worship will lift a man to his place in history. Gideon worshipped God and discovered he was a mighty man of valor. Moses was unknown till he bowed at the flaming shrub and Isaiah was just the son of a rich man until he saw the Lord high and lifted up. When people worship, they become what they were intended to be.
Worshipping Jesus is the only way to get the best from our life and our day. When Jesus was visiting His friends in Bethany, Martha was busy in the kitchen but Mary sat at His feet. When Martha later complained to Jesus that Mary wasn’t helping her, Jesus said that Mary had chosen the best part. On an average day, there are tasks to complete and people to relate to, but they can never become the best they could be, till we have done the best part of the whole day, which is to worship Him. Without the best part of the day in place, all other parts are ill-placed and unaligned. We may have a wrong perspective, or life’s priorities may become distorted like Martha’s. She believed that love was best shown by industry, not intimacy even in inactivity.
Being “unproductive” is not a virtue in the world or even in the kingdom of God but imperative in the very presence of Jesus. Our importance and what we can do for Him, is zero compared with what He can do for us as we worship.
Friend, to become the person, the father or friend, we were intended to be, and even to have the day God intended, choose to be a worshipper.
The Philistines stood opposite Israel, with a valley between them. Goliath their champion came out big, burly and covered in bronze armour. He defied Israel and no one was prepared to face him but David (1 Sa 17:3-7). Young David went down into the valley alone, but he never felt alone. He drew near to the Philistine, his sling in his hand and faced the fight all by himself.
Sometimes we don’t have an army behind us. There are times when it seems that no one is with us, not even friends, and we have to stand by ourselves. There are some giants we must face alone. The devil doesn't attack us in the church meeting, but on Thursday evening or on the day when our weakness and our inabilities seem to be magnified. It is nice when people stand with you but there will come a time when you have to encourage yourself in the Lord.
Years later David and his men were away from home when the Amalekites attacked their families and took them all captive. His men were angry and spoke of stoning David. “But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God”. (1 Samuel 30:6) David recalled God’s purpose, God’s promises and His presence, and he got stronger. He never felt alone, and he wasn't!
This was the last test before his coronation. God knew that David was not ready to be the king if he needed people’s agreement or support, before he could do the right thing.
Friend, If we can’t stand alone with God in the battle, there will be a time when we won’t stand at all. In a world that mocks everything and everyone that is godly, we must stand together and stand alone if necessary.
The Discipleship Process- How Father creates the image of His Son within us
As Lot looked down upon the lush plains near Sodom, it seemed to him that the rivers were like beads of diamonds laid upon green velvet. To him, it seemed like the “garden of the LORD and like the land of Egypt”. (Genesis 13:10). The garden of the Lord and the land of Egypt looked the same to Lot. Egypt and the garden of the Lord were both green and lush, but God dwelt in only one. His heart immediately went there, followed by his feet. Soon Lot moved his tent as far as Sodom.
Lot was a believer. He could be us! Lot enjoyed great privilege as the nephew of Abraham, the friend of God. He lived with grace and faith, but he remained greedy and short-sited. Lot’s relationship with God was enough for him to change countries but not enough to change his heart. Abraham’s home was in the “unseen city” but Lot was more at home in things he could see. Lot was distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked but not distressed enough to leave with his family. (2 Peter 2:7). He was vexed but still hooked, still powerless with insufficient relationship with God, to be able to discern the difference between darkness and light, Egypt and Eden.
Lot, needed the crowd to tell him he was doing fine. “You enjoy the same life as us; you are one of us.” Lot knew he belonged there. Lead him out into the desert and he wouldn’t know who he was. Yet Abraham in the wilderness would face the wind and look into the face of his Father and friend.
Every believer sees heaven to some degree, but some don't see it enough to change their love or tolerance for the world. The world seems like home. He was more familiar with “King of the hill,” than the King of Kings. The life of Beyoncé was more compelling than the life beyond. What defines a man is not his shoes, his haircut or the size of his TV but the size of his vision. What can he see? Does he look at his bank account, his 10-year plan, his FB likes, or is he gazing into heaven? Can he see what can’t be seen? Lot, had no vision for the invisible.
Friend, have we seen enough of God to free us from the world or are we moving closer to Sodom?
In the well-known tale, the frog stayed in the pot of water too long and got cooked because the water was heating up imperceptibly. Today we are sitting in a warming ideological pot. And if we can't explain the meaning of woke, critical race theory and social justice, we are cooking in the pot and don’t know it. Woke thinking is endemic and hard to escape. Most politicians, educators and media people, either believe it or feel they must go along with the madness.
The woke say that they are now awokened or “enlightened” perhaps by Critical Race Theory, to the evils of Western institutions. CRT is a theory that looks at how race intersects with social stratification, gender, class and nationalities but seemingly has become a criticism against Christians, Christmas, boys’ and girls’ clubs, the Ten Commandments, and an illogical offence at the Christianized development of the world. Woke people believe that they are oppressed victims of others and are offended at everything that gave them wealth, and education, like capitalism, white people, exploration, and colonization. They are even offended at things that gave them life itself, marriage, heterosexuality and carbon dioxide which is only 0.04% of the atmosphere!
To undo the “evils” of the West’s pioneering history, they want all connections with the past, that give us reason to be proud of our heritage, to be removed. Statues are being taken down or defaced, and books are being removed from libraries. History is being reinterpreted to magnify any abuses committed by the pioneers.
But some people are noticing the temperature rising in the pot. My 10-year-old grandson came home from school and said, “I think they are trying to get us all to hate the colonialists from Britain, but they forget they brought us the Gospel of Jesus.” Exactly, while there have been obvious abuses during modernization, they ignore completely the benefits they inherited, of transport, technology, governance, science, health, and Christian missions. The gospel light brought an end to murder and mayhem among Māori who became believers and delivered untold millions from the spiritual darkness of paganism around the world.
Those who are truly awake, know who the real oppressor is. Satan has colonized the earth and has oppressed all mankind. The good news is that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins on the Cross to free us all including the woke, from the oppression of sin and Satan’s rule over us and is now alive to heal and deliver all that will call upon Him. The same wonderful Jesus that has blessed the whole world spiritually through the Church and materially through the “Christianized West,” continues to save and bless the awakened.
The Divine Purpose - Seeing Fathers purpose to form a bride for his Son and mature offspring for His Kingdom
The families stood huddled around the table to eat their first Passover meal. It was the night they were going to be delivered from Egypt and they were following His instructions. "And you shall eat of it this way, with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in a hurry. It is the Lord's Passover." Ex 12.11
The men were dressed in their work clothes, with their heavy-duty belts into which they would tuck the front of their long garments. In other words, they were to leave Egypt ready to run and ready to work. Passover for them did not mean settling in for a night off or quiet time at home.
They had sandals on in readiness for a long journey or some sort of military campaign. Sandals also showed the acquisition of new property, and they were exchanging their inheritance in the world for their inheritance in the city of God.
They ate with their staff in the other hand. With a staff, they could crush scorpions and snakes, drive off wild dogs and carry weights across their shoulders. They expected obstacles and opposition, but they were ready.
The Passover was eaten in a hurry. They were going to put as much distance between them and Egypt as they could because they knew if they lingered, Egypt would catch up with them.
Today when we come to the Passover sacrifice provided through Jesus Christ, we come ready to walk away from the world and into a new inheritance. We expect opposition but are ready to fight but most of all we eat the Passover with urgency. If we don’t come to the altar to receive Christ in a hurry and ready to forsake sin quickly and gladly, we don’t understand the gospel.
Friend, let’s use every Passover (Easter), to reaffirm our hatred for the bondage the world had over us, and to renew our passion to pursue the “Cloud”, the Promised Land in Christ and the One who saved us.
Gideon looked closely at his men as they laid down their gear by the river. He was looking for those who cupped their hands to drink. Having laid down their natural way of fighting and washed their hands in the river, they had empty and clean hands. God enlists people by their character and their thirst at His River.
Now down to 300 men, God told Gideon to go to the enemy’s camp and listen to what they were saying. While eavesdropping on Midian’s camp, he heard one soldier telling another of his recent nightmare. In the dream, a barley cake hit their tent and wiped out 30000 men. The Midianites knew that this represented Gideon and God’s army. Gideon was encouraged and told his men “Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand." Judges 7:15
The enemy knew God’s people were coming and they were worried! We listen too much to what the enemy is saying to us instead of hearing what they are saying to each other. If we knew what they were saying about the Church, we would fear less and move forward more. The devil knows an outpouring of the Spirit is rolling in. He knows fully who the Church is, so he seeks to keep us from knowing who we are. We can only live the life of the person we think we are. If he can keep us from realizing the strength that even 300 have in corporate prayer, he thinks he’ll be ok.
A man in our Church wore a tee shirt which said, “I am the devil’s worst nightmare” and that certainly should be true. (Let’s not put that tee shirt on while we’re still arguing with our family, not praying or thinking daily about Jesus and His Word) but that is what we are meant to be.
Friend, we are living on a battleship, not the love boat. We have a victory won by Jesus that must be enforced by faith-filled prayer and enjoyed by action - personally and corporately as the church in our city. Then if we listened in on the enemy’s camp, we'd hear that they are worried. Let’s increase their nightmare.
The Heavenly Perspective - The power in being able to see our lives from our loving Fathers point of view
As King David rested in Jerusalem, he reflected upon his difficult life and the goodness of God. He said, “God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect” (2 Samuel 22:33
David didn't say that his way always seemed perfect to him but that God made his way perfect for him. A leader's live is never perfect; it is not a showcase for the easy life but a display of God’s enabling grace. Our way is not easy or perfect, but He makes our way or our life perfect for us. Our wife may not be perfect, but she is perfect for us. Any imperfection she seems to have will help you to grow more like Jesus; as you forgive, and show kindness and patience. We live in a world that is broken and fraught with hardships, but God can make that “difficult way” a perfect way to experience Him more and to enable us to reflect Him more. Even times and events we don’t understand we can trust is perfect for us. Like Joseph, it might just take 17 years or more to see it.
He also said “As for God, His way is perfect. His perfect justice, love and wisdom mean that God can do no wrong, even if we don't understand some things. One thing that even King Solomon couldn’t understand, was “The way of a serpent on a rock (Proverbs 30:18). I don't understand the way of the serpent on the Rock either. I don't know how Satan negotiates with God. I don’t understand how demonic attacks can happen when we’re praying more than ever. I don’t understand how it works between God and Satan really; how God is sovereign, yet the devil’s limited freedom seems to be a little too free at times. But we are not asked to understand all things but to trust at all times, Him who does all things perfectly.
Friend, one thing we do know, is if life doesn't seem perfect or even good right now, we can trust that He is making our way perfect for us. Justice and righteousness are the unshakable foundation of His throne, and we are like Joseph in the prison. It is still perfect. All we lack is a few year’s perspective.
Jesus was born from heaven but lived in Nazareth. He was born royal yet birthed in a manger. It is not where you live that makes you royal, but it is who your Father is. Good things can come out of Nazareth, and from where you live too!
Hebrews 2.10 says that God is “bringing many sons to glory”. That is, He is bringing you and me into His full intention for us! We are not divine but the Person within us, is. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. God so loves the world, that He continues to give sons and daughters.
“Seeing” our sonship should affect the way we live. and until we know it in our hearts, we will live below our dignity and our destiny. Some behaviour is beneath those that are birthed from above. When the prodigal son remembered who he was, it changed the way he lived. His condition was changed only after he remembered his position as a son.
Friend, you have been born into the world and into your city, from above. The sons are back in town! Don’t live beneath your status or your purpose. You are royal, you are secure and you are filled with power to give away. There are people all around you who need you to live as a son and daughter.
God is a good God. He never leaves us he never forsakes us. But sometimes it takes time for us to realize that. When Joseph was thrown into the pit by his brothers, he may have found it difficult to see the hand of God. Then after six years in Pharaoh’s Court, he was falsely accused and thrown into prison. He may have found it difficult to see the faithfulness of God. But after he was elevated to Prime Minister of the land and was then able to provide food for his father and his brothers, he could see the awesome wisdom and faithfulness of God. His ending was so different to the journey, but He had to wait a while. Servant in six years, prime minister in 20! Perhaps the bigger the influence you will have, the bigger the time you need in God’s preparation.
It may only be days, or it might be many years before you realize that God has been completely faithful. But He will be. He can only be Himself; a faithful God. You haven’t seen the end of the story.
Jonah, God has not finished with you yet. You may still feel imprisoned in the belly of the fish you can’t control, but He will get you to the right place in the end.
Jeremiah, you may still be locked up in prison. But one day you will realize that while you were locked “safely” in prison, many others walking free outside in Jerusalem were being killed.
Ruth, it looks like you have lost, your land, your husband, your sister and your future, but you don’t yet have enough perspective. God is arranging the best future for you. A husband, a redeemer, a place, a family and an heir. Give it time.
Friend, if you can’t look back and see that God is faithfully working all things together for your good, keep looking for a while yet.
Growing Personally - On becoming Spiritual people
What a blessing children are and what a miracle birth is. In the weeks following, they will begin to recognize their parent’s faces. They look up and because they are content with the sight of their father’s familiar face, they feel that all is well in their world. A child’s identity is related to their father and mother. Identity is about, who we are, who we are related to and the value we have to them.
Our identity first comes by seeing our father’s approval in his loving face, as we were growing up. The images in our hearts and minds, of his smile, encouragement and love, even when we failed, stamped us with inner security and worth, giving us the strength to live life courageously. This is important as our identity will always express itself. If you are a postman, you do things that postmen do. If you are a policeman, you act like a policeman. And even if you think you are a policeman and you are not really a policeman; you still act like one! If we feel we are worthless we may begin to do worthless things or crave the approval of others to validate ourselves in some way.
As we see God our Father’s face and His love for us in the Word, we develop a new identity that will determine what we do and what we act like. When we know He has declared us to be His holy children, we can more easily live as we want. When we know we are accepted by Him we are more able to live acceptably.
Friend, our Father has revealed Himself to us in Jesus and He wants us to look into the realm of Spirit and see His look of love and approval.
In the garden, Adam became conscious of himself instead of God. His conscience was ignited. Shame became a reality for the first time. “I’ve not done right; I made a mistake there, I messed up. I’m embarrassed by that. Satan awakened the knowledge of good and evil -that was good that was bad. And while we are dealing with the conscience (that was good or bad) we are far from the tree of Life. After the confession of our sin, we have a clear conscience with God and with men.
When we receive Life from Him, we leave Gods presence with joy, direction, confidence, and authority. So Satan tries to keep us from Life in God's presence by bringing an accusation to us whenever we approach Gods presence. His favorite weapon is an accusation
Jesus said “I come that you might have life, but Satan comes only to steal and destroy. To rob, steal and destroy what? Life! Those precious, holy, inspiring moments when God speaks to our spirit. He comes to rob that life!
Maybe this week you have been robbed by condemnation but it won’t be your conscience accusing you any longer - It is only the devil.
Heb 9:14 how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead actions so that we may serve the living God!
Christ has purged our conscience from an evil conscience. We are to be only conscious of God now. Satan seeks to deceive us into thinking we should be still conscious of our past struggles.
Friend our conscience is purged of all the past dead works of the flesh we have done. We are not conscious of ourselves but conscious of Him. We are no longer sin conscious but Son conscious.
God forgives and He forgets. God's forgiveness is full, it's free and it's final.
I will remember sin no more, for I will be merciful regarding their wrong deeds, and I will never again remember their sins." Hebrews 8:12
Satan wants us remembering and feeling bad about the sin which God does not even remember. God is over it. He's moved on- it’s a new day. He only has mercy for you today, no thoughts of yesterday, He does not remember past mistakes and failures. As distant as the east is from the west, that is how far He has removed our sins from us. Psalms 103:12
God has dealt with our sin and our shame. Oftentimes we confess sins and we believe we are forgiven but we still feel some sense of shame. Shame hangs over us like a cloud. Many times we know we are forgiven but we don't feel cleansed. That feeling of failure and unworthiness Satan will seek to exploit. Regrets can be about what you think of your past. But God has made provision for not only our guilt but our shame too. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1Jn 1:9
God only sees our failures as a lesson. A lesson in Love!. When Jonah failed God in his mission to Nineveh, the lesson God wanted him to learn was the lesson of love. When the gourd grew overhead then died, Jonah was miserable for himself, but Gods point was - shouldn’t I have had compassion on these people? Jonah couldn’t be a success until he learned to love like God.
When Peter failed three times, Jesus asked him “do you love me?” three times. The declaration of love was necessary to undo the sense of failure. When Peter was asked to feed the sheep it was to show love. The essence of success is love.
Friend failure is only ever a failure if the lesson of God love for us and others is not learned. Love never fails and love re-stores failure.
Videos
Some anger is caused because our goals and possessions have become idolatrous. Bill Gothard said it is because we haven’t yielded our rights. Think about that. If we get angry because another has wrecked our coat, it's because we never yielded that coat up to God; we saw it as our own and not belonging to God.
When we are angry at a person for not doing what we wanted them to do, its sinful because anger says you believe that this person is in charge of your future and life. Somehow you believe that they are determining what you can be. That their cooperation is key to your life becoming happy and successful. No, your life and fulfillment is not determined by anyone else but you and God. Whose goals in life are you pursuing; whose will do we want to do? |If God gave you the goal, no one can stop it.
And here is the one goal God has for all of us.... to be conformed to the image of Jesus. So traffic jams, screaming kids, etc are all working toward His goals as we need to develop patience and character. That is why the lady Elizabeth young wrote disappointments are his appointments!
Friend, when our goals become more important than His goals, it is an idol and we will tend to become angry!