Taming The Tongue - James 3:1-12

Yesterday I wrote about Absalom's betrayal of his father King David and how he sat at the city gates looking out for those seeking council with the king. It was at these moments that Absalom planted seeds of betrayal and doubt of the king in his listeners.

As I pondered and prayed this morning, the Holy Spirit spoke to me about James chapter three and how we are to tame our tongues. That from the tongue comes both life and death and from our tongues we can speak both blessings and curses.

As we examine the scriptures in James, we notice there should be no difference in how we are to speak to any person. In fact scripture tells us there is equality in God. All men are equal in God's eyes! And yes though we might hold different positions of power and influence, our tongues are called to speak life.

At one of our School of the Spirit meetings last week, one of the ladies whilst praying for her family heard from the Holy Spirit to begin to proclaim life over one of her daughters and without realises what was happening began to do just that. A few hours later she received a phone call from a doctor explaining that her daughter was gravely ill and could possibly die. Immediately this lady proclaimed to the doctor that she would not die but surely live from Psalm 118:17. After getting off the phone she began making her way to the hospital, the whole way she proclaimed this verse over her daughter and upon arriving at the hospital was told by the doctors that she had recovered and would be fine.

What an amazing testimony from this lady of both how the tongue has ability to build up, especially when we obey the voice of the Holy Spirit, and breath new life and hope where all has been lost.

I am just as guilty as the next person, as I explained in my previous blog, how  easy it is to speak negative and defamatory words upon others. To fall into the pit of speaking curses, which are usually out of our own hurt and pain, upon others. Yet it is the opposite that God calls each of us to as followers of Christ.

At a time as needy as ours, when there seems to be so much hatred being spoken about one another, imagine the impact we as believers may have in building up each other, especially those within the church, as a witness to all those around us.

I challenge you today to do just that, to speak life and hope and liberty to those you know who especially need to hear it today and see the change it can bring to peoples lives.

God Bless

Absalom's Betrayal - 2 Samuel

After reading of King David's incredible honour towards his predecessor King Saul, it is almost shameful to see how King David was betrayed by his own flesh and blood. Yet anyone who has been in leadership for any length of time knows how this feels.

There are always two sides to the story and there is no doubt in my mind Absalom felt justified in his actions in seeking revenge for his sister after she was raped by her half brother. No doubt Absalom knew the laws relating to this crime and felt his father, King David, should have done what was right. Yet when we look at David's response to his son Amnon and the shameful act of raping his half sister Tamar, we see David do what most probably all of us would do and try to maintain the status quo for the sake of the family.

It is at this moment that I believe Absalom felt betrayed by his father King David and it was at this point Absalom takes things into his own hands. As time tells, Absalom's act of vengeance upon his half brother began the down fall and eventually death to him and his household, but not before he was able to reach havoc on the King.



Absalom's betrayal of King David at the City Gates

Absalom's betrayal and undermining of his father's name I find very interesting at this point. When we look at 2 Samuel 15 and how Absalom would position himself at the city gates and show compassion to those who came to seek the King's council. Claiming "if he were judge in Israel" and though these words sound so innocent they in effect were undermining the judgement  and therefore authority of the king.


How easy it is when our leaders seem to disappoint that we speak words which undermine their authority, I know how easy it is to question a leaders authority as I have done this myself. By chance in Australia right now this has been done to our prime minister who has as a result been replaced by Malcolm Turnbull. Whilst this new prime minister might make a great leader, in my opinion how he came to this position will forever mark him and his authority.

In light of Psalm 75:7 and 1Peter 5:6-7 we see it is God who judges and it is God who promotes in His time! Yet so many of us, like Absalom, take things into our hands by some selfish act & try to promote themselves. I have been guilty of this and I am only by the grace of God am here today to see how wrong this is.

As discussed in my previous blog, it is our honour for God's anointed leaders and trust in our heavenly Father who knows the beginning from the end that allows us to see the increase and God's hand upon our lives. And whilst there is great injustice in the world and I believe it is our responsibility to be a voice against injustice we must also honour those whom God has appointed and believe that God also has an answer.

Let us always judge ourselves less we be judged and pray for those in authority that God is graciously at work in their lives as much as He is in ours.

Honour & Respect - 1Samuel 26:9-10

I have been reading the books of Samuel in recent days and am amazed by the incredible honour and respect that David (King) had for his predecessor King Saul. On at least two occasions, one when Saul was sleeping in the same cave as David and two when Saul was sleeping around the camp fire with his soldiers encircling him, David had opportunity to take the life of the King but decided to spare it.

On both these occasions David says to "touch not God's anointed" showing the shear honour he felt for the person whom God had chosen as King even though he had fallen from grace. This is a real lesson for all those in ministry today.

David had already been anointed as the coming King of Israel by Samuel, he had known how because of sin, Saul had been rejected by the Lord, yet David in his wisdom chooses to honour and respect the man God had anointed. I believe it is because of this respect that God honours David by vowing to forever have a King on David's throne.

Yes, I know what you are thinking, the King to eternally sit on David's throne is none other than the King of Glory himself, our Lord Jesus! And yes, when you have the foresight as the great I Am has it is easy to promise such things. But David himself was a type of the Messiah and therefore foreshadowed things to come. Yet it was still "a man after my own heart" as the Lord described David, that the Lord was honouring because of the respect he held for those in office.

This then begs a question for us today, how far should we go in honouring men and women of God that have gone before us? I recently heard a fellow speak on the "Y" generation and how they wish to pull down all the structures and organisations that their parents and grandparents before them have created. Whilst it is easy to see this as a negative thing, which I think most of us who have children in the Y generation do, I choose to see the creative and ownership aspects of this.

I believe the Y generation have these desires as they themselves wish to do good things like their parents and grandparents before them. Whilst we who are in transition would simply prefer they carry on doing what we did, I believe they wish to do even greater things than what we ever did. Which sounds similar to the expectations Christ had for us. See John 14:12

But David reveals in 1Samuel 26:9-10 8Then Abishai said to David, "Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand; now therefore, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time." 9But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD'S anointed and be without guilt?" 10David also said, "As the LORD lives, surely the LORD will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and perish.…

Though David knew of his own future was established by the Lord he also knew that Saul's downfall would also come from the Lord's hand. David was able to honour Saul because he was secure in his own relationship with the Lord. Whether we are the Y generation or the previous ones it is imperative we understand who we are in Christ! When we understand who we are in Christ then man can do us no harm and it gives us the liberty to be a blessing to those around us, as was David in honouring Saul.

1 Samuel 10:6 - The anointing

Often when we think about the anointing we see it in turn speaks of a symbolic act that is to represent our choosing of a servant for a specific role. Yet when we read 1 Samuel 10 we soon realise even when we anoint servants in the natural there is also a spiritual change that takes place in the person.

When we read the story of Saul's anointing in it's entirety we soon learn that Saul himself shied away from the ceremony when Samuel called the tribes of Israel to Mizpah to select and anoint him as King. When they went to anoint Saul he was nowhere to be found and Samuel had to enquire of the Lord if there was another who was to be anointed in his stead. The Lord later revealing that Saul was hiding...

Though Saul stood a head taller than his rivals on the inside he was just as insecure and timid as the next person. Yet when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him scripture says that he was into a different person. It was this different man that went on to prophecy with the other prophets having those that knew him asked whether he too was a prophet. Again in his defeat of the Philistines it was a different Saul that was at work in his early days as King.

And yet even though we see this change was temporal, when he operated in the anointing it was obvious that God was with him and gave him great success in defeating the enemy. In the same way, we can operate out of the anointing at times and other times out of our flesh or weakness. Yet it is obvious with Saul and should therefore be obvious with all that when we operate out of our own strength rather than the strength of the Spirit then there is no guarantee of success.

Indeed it was Saul sin, namely initiating the burnt offering himself rather than through the prophet that we see Saul's weakness and sin at work. It was following his times of weakness that he failed to achieve the things that he was initially anointed to do.

We in the same way, when in the weakness of our sin neglect to be obedient and therefore miss out on the success of operating in the power of the Spirit as we should.

 

The Book of Ruth - Our Spiritual Inheritance

Recently I read the book of Ruth and afterwards started to ponder what it was in this story that meant the most to me. Whilst everyone will have their own revelation, this is mine and therefore part of the journey I am on with the Lord.

At first glance we can see the book a little like the story of Job, who after losing everything cherished to him has everything restored in double and this famous quote "the latter part of Job's life was greater than the former". It is also true to say that Naomi lost everything or at least was willing to lose everything including the only two people that might sustain her in her latter days. Yet as we see, one of those whom she was willing to let go of became a great blessing by staying with her in her darkest hour.

As a result, the story quickly turns to Ruth and her faithfulness to Naomi in these difficult days. But both of these woman became a blessing to each other as they committed to one another. On one hand without Ruth's dedication to stay with her mother in law it would have been extremely difficult for Naomi to survive in a world were there was no "social security". And on the other hand Ruth as a foreigner would have found it exceptionally hard to be excepted and survive in this harsh climate.

But through their commitment to one another, they in turn became the blessing to each other and brought not only survival but what would appear a great ending to this story. Yet in my eyes this is only the beginning, as this book reveals a deeper truth for all to see.

The story I refer to is the story of the inheritance we have both as seen here in the natural and secondly in the spiritual. As a result of Naomi's natural inheritance, being an Israelite and having a place in which she truly belongs and where the rule of the land was to ensure the survival of widows and the names of their lost husbands. Because of this natural inheritance, Naomi knew it better for her to return to where she belonged and as a result of this longing to be with her fellow Israelites God's hand was at work.

In a similar way, when we find ourselves lost in a foreign place, irrespective of how it looks and how we came to be there, there is always the hope of our spiritual inheritance. Our home is in heaven, the ways of this world and the circumstances of it's ways and culture are all temporal and according to God's word will one day pass away like "chaff". But knowing of the inheritance we have in Christ and our heavenly destination we have the ability to call on "Abba Father" who leads us by His Spirit to our spiritual destination.

In addition, I see Naomi as a helper to Ruth, just as the Holy Spirit or paraclete is a "helper" to you and I as stated in John 14, to lead and guide us on this journey to our spiritual destination. Who is Boaz in this story, well he can only be symbolised by the "bridegroom" himself. Our Lord Jesus who not only prepares the room for us but makes the way possible becoming the very gate to this heavenly realm. Boaz made legal right to have Ruth his wife just as the Lord bought you and I with the price of His blood shed on the cross of Calvary.

As a result of His love for us, we now belong to Him and that he has and owns has becomes ours!

God Bless

Phillipians 3:13 - Press On

Sermon from January 2015 whilst speaking at Telopea Christian Centre near Sydney
Please follow the link....

http://www.telopea.org.au/media.php?pageID=45&

The Book of Judges - Weeds & Enemies

Recently I finished reading through the book of Joshua and how the Lord God gave the promised land into the hands of the Israelites. Yet as we come to the end of this amazing book and how God worked for the people, when arriving at Judges we still find the enemy scattered throughout the land and as we read on discover how Israel must continue to fight to secure their inheritance.

As we read the first few chapters of Judges, we discover that though it was the Israelites who neglected to rout out the enemy that it was fact God who allowed them to be there. And as we see in chapter two, the enemy was there as a reminder to the Israelites of what they needed to do and why they needed to do it.

Below is picture displaying Gideon & his 300 men who rout out the enemy!



Paul the apostles speaks about his "thorn in the flesh" as seen in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, yet God's response to Paul when asked to have this removed was "my grace is sufficient for you". I see in this scripture a parallel to Israel needing to continually fight to rout out the enemy. In this verse God is saying to Paul, my favour is enough for you meaning simply that despite what you are experiencing or feeling about your circumstances, what I have done for you and given you is fully enough so that you may overcome. The Lord also states that in Paul's weakness God is strong!

In the same way, the Israelites need to continually rout out their enemies caused them to remember their need to rely on God and not in their own strength or abilities. Paul's thorn in his flesh and therefore the enemies in the land of Israel reminds God's people to rely on him.

Paul's Thorn in the flesh?


A friend of my recently came by and told me of a book he had been reading about weeds and how important weeds are to the greater environment. When first hearing this I was a little shocked, as for two years after purchasing land in the Blue Mountains where we lived we had spent pulling and eradicating weeds. He explained how weeds keep the native trees and plants in check causing them to grow stronger to defeat the weeds.

See below the type of plant that I removed from our land, 10 tonne in total...considered to be a pest here in the Blue Mountains.


Weeds therefore can be seen as a blessing to the land as it keeps the native flora strong! In the same way, obstacles or hindrances can be a way in which we stay sharp in our faith and not complacent. Which I believe is what James 1:2 says Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

So our heavenly Father as scripture says "knows the beginning from the end" and even when it seems the heavens are as brass, God is at work producing the kind of faith and perseverance we need to be the overcomers he originally made us to be.

God Bless