God's Delays Are Not Denials

God's Delays Are Not Denials by Lee Grady
Do you trust God's timing? The path to spiritual maturity requires us to surrender our selfish deadlines.

When Mary and Martha sent news to Jesus that their brother, Lazarus, was about to die, Jesus didn't respond the way his friends expected. He actually snubbed their request. The Bible says when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, "He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was" (John 11:6, NASB).

For Mary and Martha, those were two very long days.

Doubts tormented them. What kind of friend was Jesus, anyway? Why did He ignore their urgent plea? Why didn't He drop everything and rush to their aid? Mary was especially frustrated and distraught about Jesus' seemingly insensitive delay.

When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany—four days after Lazarus died—a shroud of gloom covered the village. Everybody was in mourning. Mary was overwhelmed by grief and disappointment. Her faith was as cold as Lazarus' corpse.

Mary didn't even want to talk to Jesus. This woman who was known as a passionate disciple of the Lord stayed in the house when her sister went outside to ask Jesus why He took so long (see v. 20). We don't know exactly what Mary was doing in the house. Most likely she was sulking, maybe even struggling with feelings of anger toward Jesus because He didn't come when she called.

You may relate to Mary. Many of us get stuck in this same place of disillusionment. We get upset and confused when God doesn't work according to our timetable.

Perhaps you have been asking Jesus to intervene in your crisis. You may need Him to rescue a wayward child, heal your body, provide for a financial need, restore a broken relationship or salvage a dream that is on its deathbed. It may seem that Jesus missed His golden opportunity—or that He was so busy meeting the needs of others that He just dropped you from His priority list.

Like Mary of Bethany, you may feel that Jesus waited too long. It's over. Your problem is now so serious, and your dream so lifeless, that Jesus cannot help you.

When we face these frustrating delays, we automatically assume that He is denying us, neglecting us or rejecting us. So we throw a childish pity party. We go in our rooms, close our doors, shut out the pain and stay as far away from Jesus as possible.

We find it too difficult to pray when we are in a faith crisis. The enemy of our souls tells us that Jesus doesn't care, that our prayers are meaningless and that there is no reward for believing in Him. Some of us, if we have melancholy tendencies, also beat ourselves up with the familiar "I guess I just don't have enough faith" line.

Thankfully Mary did not stay in her self-made prison of depression. The Bible says that when Jesus came to her house and got close enough to Lazarus' tomb to smell the stench, Mary ran to him and knelt at His feet—the place where she began her journey of discipleship (see Luke 10:39). After all the moping, she set aside the blame games and returned to the only place where life's struggles make sense.

She knelt in His presence, not to ask Him why He let Lazarus die but simply to gain strength from being with Him.

She decided to grow up. She left behind the whining immaturity that demands Jesus must act a certain way. She put her trust in Him afresh, letting go of selfish expectations. When she surrendered her life to Him that day, she was saying that she would follow Him not only in the good times but also on the darkest days when she couldn't see His love through the clouds of death, suffering and pain.

There, at Jesus' feet, Mary caught a glimpse of Jesus like she'd never seen Him before. He wept for His friend Lazarus, and then He commanded his lifeless body to come out of the tomb. Mary would have missed the miracle if she had stayed in seclusion. She needed to see with her own eyes that God's delays are not denials—and that Jesus' timing is perfect even when it seems He has forgotten us.

Do you feel as if Jesus has ignored your request? Does it seem as if your message to Him was intercepted? Have you been sinking into discouragement because your dream has died—and Jesus doesn't care?

Run back to Him and take your place at His feet. True disciples know that life operates on God's schedule, not ours. Press through your doubts, surrender your deadlines, renounce your impatience and renew your trust in the Lord, who is the sovereign Lord over your circumstances.

WILDERNESS JOURNEY

-by David Wilkerson.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian, pictured the Christian
like someone trying to cross a sea of floating pieces of ice. The
Christian cannot rest anywhere while crossing, except in his faith
that God will see him through. He cannot stand anywhere too long,
otherwise he sinks. After taking a step, he must watch out for the
next. Beneath him is the abyss and before him is uncertainty - but
always ahead is the Lord - firm and sure! He doesn't see the land
yet, but it is there - a promise in his heart. So the Christian traveler
keeps his eyes fixed upon his final place!

I prefer to think of life as a wilderness journey - like that of the
children of Israel. And King Jehoshaphat's battle, along with all
the children of Judah, is also our battle (see 2 Chronicles 20).
Sure, it's a wilderness; yes, there are snakes, dry water holes,
valleys of tears, enemy armies, hot sands, drought, impassable
mountains. But when the children of the Lord stood still to see
his salvation, he spread a table in that wilderness, rained manna
from above, destroyed enemy armies by his power alone, brought
water out of rocks, took poison out of the snakebites, led them
by pillar and cloud, gave them milk and honey, and brought them
into the Promised Land with a high and mighty hand. And God
warned them to tell every following generation: "Not by might, nor
by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6).

Stop looking in the wrong direction for help. Get alone with Jesus
in a secret place; tell him all about your confusion. Tell him you
have no other place to go. Tell him you trust him alone to see you
through. You will be tempted to take matters into your own hand.
You will want to figure things out on your own. You will wonder if
God is working at all - there is nothing to lose. Peter summed it
all up: "To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).

"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for
I am God, and there is none else" (Isaiah 45:22).

"Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my
salvation: my God will hear me" (Micah 7:7).

-SOURCE:
http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/devotions/2010/wilderness-journey

TUHAN DIMANAKAH KAU?

TUHAN DIMANAKAH KAU?
Kasihanilah aku, TUHAN, sebab aku merana; sembuhkanlah aku, TUHAN, sebab tulang-tulangku gemetar, dan jiwakupun sangat terkejut; tetapi Engkau, TUHAN, berapa lama lagi? (Mazmur 6:3-4)
Tetapi Engkau, TUHAN, janganlah jauh; ya kekuatanku, segeralah menolong aku! (Mazmur 22:20)
Janganlah menyembunyikan wajahMu terhadapku, janganlah menolak hambaMu ini dengan murka; Engkaulah pertolonganku, janganlah membuang aku dan janganlah meninggalkan aku, ya Allah penyelamatku! (Mazmur 27:9)

Aku merasa gentar dan takut. Belum selesai aku memperjuangkan kestabilan ekonomi keluarga dan pelayanan selama tiga tahun ini, kami harus pula menampung anggota keluarga yang mengalami musibah di tempat kami memasuki tahun 2010 ini. Kala semua belum beres, kini kontrakan rumah kami pun habis dan dalam waktu seminggu ini kami diminta untuk meninggalkan kontrakan rumah kami. Haruskah kami menjadi gelandangan di kota Bandung? Kadang dalam kesendirianku, aku merasa ditinggalkan. Kusadar saat kita punya kedudukan dan harta, banyak orang di sekitar kita tetapi saat kita memulai suatu yang baru, sedikit sahabat di tempat yang baru dan nama kita belum dikenal maka terkesan orang kurang peduli. Ketakutan meliputi pikiran dan hatiku. Berdoa…berpuasa….berseru dengan segenap hati…memberi & berbagi apa yang kami miliki dalam kekurangan…tapi keuangan kami belum pulih juga….bahkan kini kami terancam menjadi homeless alias gelandangan. Mengapa kami harus melalui ini semua…??? Tuhan dimanakah Engkau??? Bukankah KAU BAPA YANG BAIK, mengapa KAU izinkan hal ini terjadi atas hidup keluarga kami seolah kami sudah melakukan dosa yang tak terampuni, ketika kami berbagi cerita dan beban dengan saudara seiman lainnya…nampak semua menutup telinga dan memalingkan wajah mereka….ketika kami berpaling kepadaMU pun rasanya KAU diam saja tak bergeming. Darimanakah pertolongan kami??? Waktu berjalan terus jangankan untuk membayar kontrakan rumah, untuk makan sehari-hari dan bahkan pelayanan pun tiada. Akankah kami mati kelaparan sebagai gelandangan di kota Bandung??? Inikah akhir kehidupan kami?? Inikah rencana Tuhan atas hidup kami di kota Bandung?? KEMATIAN DALAM KELAPARAN & KEMISKINAN??????
AKU TAHU BAHWA RENCANA TUHAN ITU MASA DEPAN YANG CERAH DAN BUKAN RANCANGAN KECELAKAAN….tetapi yang tiga tahun ini kami rasakan seolah kami ini penjahat yang layak ditindas…rasanya sia-sia kami setia pada visi dan panggilan Tuhan. Bila melihat kehidupan orang yang hidup dalam dosa dan berkelimpahan harta…menyia-nyiakan hidup dalam dosa dan kesia-siaan….aku merasa iri hati terhadap mereka. Kami memiliki visi tetapi tidak memiliki harta untuk mengerjakannya. Kami sudah mencoba berbagi beban visi ini selama tiga tahun tapi tak seorangpun meresponi secara positif….seolah apa yang kami kerjakan ini sia-sia. Kami menjadi bahan olokan orang dunia dan bahkan saudara seiman…yang lebih suka menjadi penonton….ingin melihat “bagaimana cara Tuhan menolong kami”….bukan dukungan tetapi kata-kata negatif terlontar dari mulut saudara-saudara seiman….hingga aku pun mulai bertanya-tanya…benarkah Tuhan itu ada dan memanggil kami? AKU TAHU BAHWA TUHAN ITU ADA…..tapi kami merasa seolah Tuhan tak ada dan kami tak memiliki masa depan. Aku tahu pandanganku ini salah tetapi itulah yang kurasakan sekarang…..aku hanya berupaya transparan saja di hadapan Tuhan maupun sesama. Tuhan mengingatkanku akan keluhan bani Asaf dalam Mazmur 73…..tetapi tetap itu tak menghiburku sebab sudah tiga tahun berlalu dan “terobosan” itu tak kunjung terlihat…..Begitu banyak nubuatan positif dan ayat firman Tuhan yang menjadi rhema dalam hidup kami disampaikan oleh rekan-rekan pelayan Tuhan lainnya tetapi…..kapan dan dimana penggenapannya?? Seolah semuanya hanyalah hiburan selama beberapa menit dan lalu kami harus menghadapi kenyataan yang pahit.
Sampai berapa lama KAU berdiam diri ya Tuhan??? Dimanakah janji pembelaanMU bagi kami para hambaMU bahkan anak-anakMu ini?
Pikiran gila kadang melintas dalam pikiranku….19 tahun sudah aku melayani dan hidup dalam Tuhan….tapi tiba-tiba pikiran untuk meninggalkan Tuhan terlintas….keputusasaan memenuhi pikiranku..rasa frustasi menyesakkan dadaku…….aku merasa sia-sia semua perjuangan dan pengorbananku ini. AKAL SEHATKU MENGATAKAN SEMUA INI TIADA SIA-SIA…TIDAK ADA YANG SIA-SIA DI DALAM TUHAN. Tetapi di sisi lain kala melihat kenyataan hidup saat ini……..hatiku getir….pahit…melihat anak-anakku tidak bisa minum susu….anak-anakku tak dapat mendapatkan pendidikan yang optimal….aku merasa sebagai pecundang…..AKAL SEHATKU MENGATAKAN BAHWA AKU LEBIH DARIPADA PEMENANG……benarkah??? TUHAN BILA ENGKAU NYATA….DIMANAKAH ENGKAU SAAT INI? Sampai berapa lama lagi kami harus hidup di bawah garis kemiskinan dan hinaan orang? Apakah tidak sebaiknya aku melupakan Tuhan saja, sebab aku merasa Tuhan sudah melupakan kami sekeluarga? Peperangan timbul dalam batinku….kutahu kebenaran tapi kenyataan seolah bertentangan dengan kebenaran dan janji Tuhan. Sampai berapa lama kami dapat mempertahankan iman kami padaMu, Kristus? Bila kami harus melalui tahun-tahun yang kelam ini……sampai kapan???
Entahlah sampai kapan kudapat bertahan…tiap kali semangatku bangkit dan melihat jiwa-jiwa baru mulai berdatangan saat itu pula…kami tidak memiliki dana untuk mengunjungi mereka….jangankan membantu….mengunjungi saja…tak mampu hingga akhirnya apa yang telah kami bangun kehilangan momentum kembali…..Komunitas baru terbentuk lalu kami tak sanggup untuk sekedar berkumpul untuk ibadah dengan mereka….hingga akhirnya kelompok saudara seiman yang lain mengambil alih atau yang terburuk…mereka kembali pada kehidupan mereka yang lama. Seolah semuanya menjadi sia-sia.
Usaha dengan membuat proposal, meminta bantuan dengan share perjuangan kami pada saudara seiman lainnya sampai berupaya membuka usaha sudah dilakukan namun tidak ada satu pun yang berjalan dengan baik dan dapat mendukung sisi finansial kami….semuanya nampak sia-sia….aku merasa sudah berada di ujung tanduk untuk menyerah saja…aku merasa sudah tak kuat lagi…..
Sampai aku pada suatu kepasrahan…….”SANGAT SUSAH HATIKU, BIARLAH KIRANYA KITA JATUH KE DALAM TANGAN TUHAN, SEBAB BESAR KASIH SAYANGNYA; TETAPI JANGANLAH AKU JATUH KE DALAM TANGAN MANUSIA.” (2 Samuel 24:14)
Doaku,”Tuhan ampunilah hambaMu ini yang kurang percaya…tambahkan iman hambaMu ini. Mampukan hamba untuk terus maju dan mengalahkan setiap keraguan yang menyerang pikiran ini. Aku gentar…aku takut…BAPA….melalui lembah kekelaman dan gunung terjal dihadapan kami. Kami sadar tidak sanggup lagi berjalan dengan kekuatan kami…tolong Dave, Novie, Philip dan little George untuk melalui ini semua dengan iman yang berkobar padaMU. Hingga bila kami harus melalui skenario kehidupan yang terburuk sekalipun….kami tetap dipenuhi ucapan syukur…dan tetap dapat melihat kebaikan Tuhan. Hidup atau mati kami ada dalam tanganMU TUHAN….kami berserah sepenuhnya padaMU saja….lakukanlah yang KAU lihat itu baik bagi kami….AMIEN.

What On Earth Is God Doing?

What On Earth Is God Doing? by David Orton
"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
Luke 12:32
The global financial system totters. Whole nations declare bankruptcy. Panic strikes the world markets. Political leaders meet late into the night searching for answers that don't exist. Militant Islam invades through immigration and population growth. Secularism dominates the public square. And the church pursues cultural appeasement.

The nations are dismayed and men's hearts fail them for fear.

Where is God, and what on earth is he doing? Are there no answers for the nations? Does not God have a plan?

In the face of the economic and societal upheaval of the last one hundred years the Spirit of God cries out that he is the omnipotent One, the creator of the heavens and the earth, and the sustainer of all that is. The 20th century outpouring of the Holy Spirit is testimony to the fact that God is powerfully at work in the earth. On the one hand we have seen an increase of the kingdom in powerful outpourings and revivals, but on the other an increase of world wars, economic dislocation, societal turmoil, and natural disasters.

More going on than meets the eye

Even so, how do we understand these contradictions? Are we being flushed down the toilet as some defeatist end-time theories would have us believe? Or is something more going on than meets the eye?

Paul, facing off with the wisdom of man, declares that,

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" 1 Cor 2:9

Human wisdom, fed by the five senses and natural reasoning, cannot see the things that God has destined for the heirs of salvation. But fortunately they are revealed to us by the Spirit (see v10). And so, something more than meets the eye is occurring.

Without a revelation of God and his kingdom our hearts will fear when he shakes the nations. This is why Paul prayed that the Ephesians, surrounded by an occult and pagan world, would receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Through seeing the ascended Christ by the Spirit, and apprehending his fullness, as his body, they would rule over principalities and powers.i He had declared to them "the whole plan of God",ii causing the entire region of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) to hear the word in a two-year period.iii Whatever this whole plan was, clearly the modern church has lost it. Instead we have been fed a 'part', a truncated gospel, focusing either on personal salvation and holiness, or the baptism and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The whole plan of God

Prophetically speaking, the church has celebrated the feasts of Passover and Pentecost. In some measure, justification by faith and holiness (Passover) were restored as truths during the 16th to 19th centuries and the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) in the 20th century, but the spiritual realities of the Feast of Tabernacles are yet to be celebrated. With her decline and Constantinian fall the church lost her grasp on the whole plan of God. However, this is now being progressively restored, as the wisdom writer so aptly declared, "The path of the just is like a shining light, shining brighter and brighter until the full day" (Prov 4:18). Over the last five hundred years God has been increasingly restoring light and truth to his people, setting them free from their Babylonian captivity.

And so, what is the whole plan of God? The feasts of Passover and Pentecost, we understand and experience in some measure, but what is the significance of the feast of Tabernacles? Much can be unpacked from the typology of the feasts.iv Nevertheless, we will resist this temptation and focus on only several salient points. Passover was initially celebrated in Egypt on the eve of Israel's deliverance, Pentecost in the wilderness at Sinai, but Tabernacles was first celebrated in the Land as a celebration of realized destiny and a remembrance of the wilderness journey. As the feast of the Promised Land, celebrating Israel's final realization of the covenant promises, Tabernacles foreshadows the church finally entering the fullness of the kingdom on earth, despite her lengthy wilderness wanderings. Like Israel, the church has delayed its entrance into the fullness of the Land despite its celebration of Passover and Pentecost.

Even though she has enjoyed the recovery of both feasts over the last several centuries, she still languishes in the wilderness through unbelief. She too has come to her Kadesh-Barnea.v With her nose up against the store window, looking into a land of milk and honey, of God's kingdom coming to earth in miraculous power, she has pulled back in unbelief. Rather than occupying the land as a holy nation of king-priests and filling the whole earth with his glory she has been seduced by "doctrines of devils", gullibly believing every defeatist and escapist end-time teaching, conveniently relieving her of the kingdom mandate to disciple nations.vi On seeing the giants of the land, the principalities and powers that rule cities and nations, she has found solace in escapist 'rapture' theories that wisp the church out of the world, rather than occupying until he comes.vii

The gospel of the kingdom of God

We have lost the gospel of the kingdom of God.viii The gospel of personal salvation we understand, the message of the Holy Spirit's ministry, we value; but the message of the kingdom, as proclaimed by Christ and his apostles is all but forgotten. This was the 'whole plan of God' that Paul proclaimed to the Ephesians:

8And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

9But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

10And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Acts 19:8-10

So, what is the gospel of the kingdom of God? It is the good news of a new creation - a new order of God's government - one of righteousness and justice, bringing peace to all peoples and nations.ix For many, it is a shock that this has already begun in the person of God's Son. Through becoming man, living his sinless life, learning obedience through suffering, and finally through his death, resurrection and ascension to the Father, the kingdom has come definitively to this planet. With God becoming man, a permanent shift of cosmic proportions has occurred.x Restored to the image of God, man has been reinstated to the rulership of the universexi, and the new creation has begun.xii

Consequently, we do not look to the second coming (nor to a future kingdom age), to achieve what God has already accomplished in the first coming. The kingdom of God came definitively in Christ when he rose from the grave as the firstfruits of all those who believe.xiii Ascending, as the son of man,xiv to the right hand of the Father he now rules the universe. From this position, he pours forth the promised Holy Spirit, imparting his perfected humanityxv and sonshipxvi to his body, and progressively extending his rule through itxvii until all his enemies are subdued under his feet.xviii Christ is, therefore, in heaven seated at the right hand of the Father until every enemy is defeated.xix He will not return until this occurs. Every pretender to the throne, every idol, and false ideology - every rebellious human system will fall before Jesus returns. God is shaking the heavens and the earth until only the unshakeable remains - the everlasting kingdom of God.xx And when he does return only one enemy will remain - the last enemy, death. And this will be conquered through the final resurrection.xxi The gospel of the kingdom of God is the good news that the universe is now being renovated - that the creator-redeemer God has invaded time and history, exorcising every demonic force, infusing the world with his glorious presence.

End-time scenarios

Therefore, any end-time scenario, which robs the body of Christ of its mandate to exemplify and extend Christ's victory in the world must, at least, be seriously questioned, if not viewed as a diabolical lie. Likewise, any view that relegates the gospel to personal faith only, castrating its power to transform creation must be rejected. Every sphere of human endeavour and creativity, including nature itself, is transfigured by Christ becoming man. Christ will be satisfied with the reward of his suffering,xxii returning not only for a bride without blemish (xxiii) but also a planet leavened and liberated by the kingdom.(xxiv)The kingdom has come definitively through God in Christ, is coming progressively through the obedience of faith, and will come consumatively at the second coming.

Our Christology, (xxv) therefore, must inform our eschatology.(xxvi) Our revelation of Christ, as the incarnate Son of God (i.e. God in a human body in this world), and as the Son of Man (i.e. Man perfected in this world) determines our understanding of end-things. As the God-Man, he is the full stop, the climax of history, and the fullness of the Father in a time-space world.xxvii This is the promised kingdom age. The old heavens and earth, the old covenant age has passed and the new has come - the new Jerusalem has arrived in the person of the Son.xxviii This will 'fuss' with many eschatological sacred cows - with escapist rapture theories, millennial schemes, and not to mention the role of Israel, the church, and the kingdom. Any deferment of the kingdom to another age, or abrogation of it to an old covenant ethnic identity is dismantled.xxix Christ and his body, the new Israel, in which there is neither Jew nor Greek,xxx is the climax of history - the fulfilment of the Edenic promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head,xxxi and thus also, of all the covenants and promises through the fathers.xxxii

Father's purpose

God's government in his Son was conceived in the heart of the Father before time began.xxxiii This has implications in how we approach God and our mission in the world.xxiv If God's purpose begins in the Fall of man, man and his dysfunction is the centre point. The purpose of the gospel is then man's rescue and recovery, resulting in an image of God as saviour and healer, in modern parlance, a therapist. This is surely the case in the contemporary western church. Our half-baked theology has hopped into bed with the west's cult of psychology and produced a monster - a church system geared to the therapy of self. With God portrayed as a 'Dr Feelgood' the shelves of Christian bookstores groan with titles promoting a life of maximised living - of emotional, relational, financial and sexual health. However, if God's purpose begins in himself, the centre and circumference is found in him, in relationship rather than recovery. Paradoxically, when he is in the centre recovery occurs, for God is revealed as the 'Father of compassion and God of all comfort' (2 Cor 1:3-4). As a Father his purpose is discovered in the desire for mature sons.xxxv While, in compassion, he provides for our every need during our infancy, he is focussed on bringing us to maturity, so as to share in the family business.xxxvi

Recovery from the dysfunction of sin is necessary in this maturation process. He will not leave his sons in an eternal state of infancy.xxxvii And yet, this is where we want to remain, cooing and burbling in the playpen of personal salvation with our charismatic toys, but refusing the Father's call toward spiritual adulthood. This then is the gospel of the kingdom of God - a call to mature sonship, so as to share with the Father in the governance of the universe. This is why it is 'the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom' (Lk 12:32). God the Father has purposed to rule the universe through mature sons.

Father's DNA

Jesus is, therefore, the firstborn among many brothers.xxxviii The Father and God of us all has purposed to bring all his sons to glory, not just the firstborn. We all have the Father's DNA.xxxix As Peter declares, we 'have been made participators in the divine nature' (2 Pet 1:4). With the Father's supernatural genes planted within us, family likeness is inevitable.xl As some have said about my own kids, "The apple sure doesn't fall far from the tree!" In fact, the power of genetic continuity is downright scary. More often than I care to admit, I hear an eerie echo of my parents or even grandparents in my words or behaviour.

And so, in this climax of history, God the Father will have a corporate Son in whom he delights. Having reached the full stature of Christ, as a fellow-heir with him, it will inherit the Father''s business. Having received the keys of the kingdom, a redeemed humanity will exercise dominion over the earth.

Therefore, there is no room for fear - the Father will give us the kingdom.

iEph 1:17-23

iiActs 20:27

iiiActs 19:10

ivAn OT type is a prophetic symbol foreshadowing a spiritual reality fulfilled in Christ and his church. OT Israel and her various institutions, as types (priesthood, sacrifice, tabernacle, temple, & feasts), all have their fulfilment in the spiritual realities of the new covenant (see 1 Cor 10:6, 11; Heb 8:2; 9:23, 24). All Israel were to gather in Jerusalem, three times a year, to celebrate the feasts of Passover (including Unleavened Bread), Pentecost (or Weeks), and Tabernacles. See Lev 23 for an outline of the Feasts. It is a common failure to so miss the symbolic and therefore spiritual significance of the feasts that keeping the natural and literal is mistakenly pursued. The principle is "first the natural, then the spiritual".

vKadesh-Barnea was where Israel refused to go into the Promised Land because of unbelief (Num 32:8ff; Deu 1:19-38; Jsh 14:6-12).
viGen 1:26; Mat 28:18-20
viiLuk 19:13
viiiMat 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Lk 9:2, 60; 16:16; Acts 1:3; 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31
ixIsa 2:1-4; 9:1-7; Lk 2:11-14; 4:17-19; Rom 14:17; Rev 11:15; Psa 110; Psa 2
xRom 5:12-20; 8:18-22
xiPsa 8:4-6; Gen 1:26; Heb 2:5-8; 1 Cor 6:2-3; 15:27; Rom 8:17-21
xii2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15; Isa 65:17; 66:22; Rev 21:1-5
xiii1 Cor 15:20-23; Col 1:18;
xivDan 7:13-14; Mat 12:40; 16:28; 17:9; 19:28; 25:31-33; 26:24; Rev 1:13; 14:14
xv2 Pet 1:3-4; Heb 2:10-11; 5:8-9; Rom 8:1-4; Col 1:1-5;
xviRom 8:15-16; Gal 4:6
xviiEph 3:10; 1:18-23; Mat 28:18-20; Isa 9:7; Pro 4:18; Eph 4:13
xviiiSee Psalms 2 and 110 as the two most quoted Psalms in the New Testament. They show Christ the Son ascending to the right hand of the Father and ruling until every enemy has been subdued.

For Psalm 2, see Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; 9:7; Luke 3:22; 9:35; John 1:49; Acts 4:25-26; 13:33; Phil. 2:12; Heb. 1:2,5; 5:5; Rev. 2:26-27; 11:18; 12:5; 19:15, 19.

For Psalm 110, see Matt. 22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 14:62; 16:19; Luke 20:42-43; 22:69; John 12:34; Acts 2:34-35; Rom. 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 13; 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:3, 17, 21; 8:1; 10:12-13; 12:2.

xixActs 3:21; Psa 110
xxHeb 12:25-27; Dan 2:44; 7:13-14
xxi1 Ths 4:13-18; 1 Cor 15:20-26
xxiiIsa 53:11-12
xxiiiEph 5:27
xxivMat 13:33; Rom 8:18-25
xxvDoctrine of Christ and his work
xxviDoctrine of final things
xxviiHeb 1:1-3; Eph 1:10
xxviiiRev 21:1-3
xxixRom 2:28; 4:10-13; 9:6-8; Gal 6:15; Rev 2:9; Jn 1:47; 8:37-39
xxxRom 10:12; Gal 3:28; Col 3:11; Eph 2:11-22
xxxiGen 3:15
xxxiiEph 2:12; 3:6; Rom 11:17; 15:8-12; Gal 3:16; Heb 1:1-3
xxxiiiEph 1:4-12 ; 3:8-11; Rom 8:29; 1 Pet 1:19-20; Jn 3:35; 16:28; 17:5; 1 Cor 8:6; Heb 1:1-14
xxxivSee chapter 3, 'Snakes in the Temple: Unmasking Idolatry in Today's Church' by David Orton (Sovereign World: Tonbridge Wells, 2003)
xxxvHeb 1:1-14; 2:10; 2 Cor 6:18; 2 Sam 7:14. Please note that the reference to "sons" in scripture is gender neutral, it includes both sexes.
xxxviLk 2:49; Gal 4:1-7
xxxviiHeb 12:5-12; 2:10; Eph 4:13-14
xxxviiiRom 8:29; Col 1:15, 18; Heb 1:6; 2:10-12; Rev 1:5
xxxixJn 1:12-13; 1 Pet 1:3, 23; 1 Jn 3:9; 5:4, 18
xl2 Pet 1:3-9; Rom 8:29

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Copyright David Orton 2010
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THE 15 "IFs"

THE 15 "IFs"

-author unknown.


If you never felt pain, Then how would you know that I am a Healer?

If you never had to pray, How would you know that I am a Deliverer?

If you never had a trial, How could you call yourself an overcomer?

If you never felt sadness, How would you know that I am a Comforter?

If you never made a mistake, How would you know that I am a forgiver?

If you knew all, How would you know that I will answer your questions?

If you never were in trouble, How would you know that I will come to
your rescue?

If you never were broken, Then how would you know that I can make you
whole?

If you never had a problem,How would you know that I can solve them?

If you never had any suffering, Then how would you know what I went
through?

If you never went through the fire, Then how would you become pure?

If I gave you all things, How would you appreciate them?

If I never corrected you, How would you know that I love you?

If you had all power, Then how would you learn to depend on me?

If your life was perfect, Then what would you need me for?

-Love, Jesus.

An Easter Communion Meditation

An Easter Communion Meditation
By Burt L. Burleson

A thud is a final sounding sound,” isn’t it. That heavy sound the earth makes when something too heavy for topsoil comes down hard? You know the sound… don’t you? It’s what you’d hear if you were out on a spring day building a new flowerbed with heavy, solid, old railroad ties… If you and some army lifted one up on its end and then pushed it over… you’d hear it. “Thud” the sound of weight meeting dirt and dirt
saying “ouch.”

It’s that noise you hear in Jurassic Park when T Rex takes a step… It’s the sound a huge pecan limb makes when it’s cut and falls from 15 feet up. It’s more than a “thud.”
It’s the sound you hear when Roman soldiers count to three in Latin, heave and strain, and, with some leverage, roll a big stone over a tomb’s entrance. It’s as final a sound that ever meets an ear. If you were standing there to hear, you’d say, “Oh… well that’s that.”

On that original Good Friday that’s the way the day ended for Mary and a few
others. They were standing at some distance but that “thud” made it’s way to their ears
and they heard it and they felt the weight of it in their hearts and they said, “That’s it…
that’s the end.” “Thud” … it’s the word we use when weight meets the earth and the earth gives
way some. You know the sound… it’s fallen on your ears and it’s fallen in your life.
Something gives way. It falls. It’s final. There is no moving this thing that comes to rest so solidly in your life and you know it. At least once you’re honest you know it.

A loss falls into your life, some unwanted change lands.
She says “I’m leaving” … “thud.”
The doctor says “it’s cancer” … “thud.”
The boss says, “it’s not working out” … “thud.”
Doubt lands with force on your faith.
Questions fall upon once firmly held answers… “thud.”
You realize some limit. You’ve tried hard but you can’t fix what this is… not strong enough… smart enough… talented enough… way too human for what has landed in your life… “thud.”

Something beyond you has been rolled across your dreams. A huge stone blocks
you from what was life for you and to you. And you say, “Well, that’s that.” Whatever
it is that makes that kind of “thud” in your life is beyond removing. Like woman making
their way to a tomb to grieve you’re thinking, “There’s no moving this.”

In Mark’s gospel, the women who woke that first Easter and went to anoint Jesus’ body, asked what we all ask at some point, “Who will roll this stone away?” You have to get there… we all do… to that place where we are honest with ourselves and we finally say, “I can’t… is there anyone who can?” “Thud” is the sound made at sundown on Friday. At sunrise, come Sunday, there is another sound. It’s a raucous, rolling noise, a quaking Matthew wrote. Easter’s sound is so far beyond heavy rock falling upon garden soil… that’s nothing. Easter’s sound is the sound the universe makes when two things are occupying the same space and something has to give. And something did. The world made an adjustment. Two things were in opposition and the universe wasn’t big enough for the both of them. Sin and righteousness… brokenness and wholeness. There was a strain beneath the surface. Despair against meaning. Hate and love rubbing each other the wrong way. And humanity was due a grand correction.

The question lingered in the morning air as it has lingered through history and
through your life. “Who will roll this away?” And God said, “I will.” And down in the center of all reality… where all things begin and end… In that realm of Alpha and Omega where all things hold together and dissonance resolves… that’s where this quake begin.

A prayer for help, “How can this be moved?” reach God’s heart… those prayers always do. And there was a divine response… an adjustment from that world. It happened in that vertical reality, which is the real reality show… all this is shadow land in comparison. That real, that vertical… shook and the ground heaved… and the stone rolled back and the garden path, it contagioned… and the trees, they danced… and the woman walking to the tomb bounced. A hole was ripped in this horizontal realm and an angel slipped through… plopped down on top of that so called immoveable stone and dusting off glowing hands, chuckled at the absurdity of Life in a tomb.

And then this messenger gave them the good news. “He isn’t here. He is risen.” And there was an invitation, “Come and see.” And a commission, “Go tell…” and they left, Matthew says, “afraid yet filled with joy.”

And I say to you this Easter morning… what a perfect response. What a perfect way to live. Having seen the power of God and discovered the depth of life… to make a new journey … filled with a sense of awe and joy. This holy fear the women were filled with… it’s what a body does and what a
soul does when it finally sees the immensity of things. If the world is seen to be amazing and sacred… If the Source of all Being slips through and moves the stone in your lifetrembling is right on.

What else can you feel when you finally see how small your world is in the grand scheme of things and how beautiful Life is. What else is a body to feel. It’s an awe that leaves you speechless. Or at best mouthing the words, “O… my… God.”

That’s they way they leave the tomb… filled with awe… AND… filled with joy. What else is a sould to feel when it sees how big and beautiful the world is. Awe and joy… that’s God for you… A feeling that leaves you silent but wanting to dance all at the same time. It’s not cowering but flying that God is after… It’s all that Easter can lead to.

There is good news for you today. Just like there was for those ladies that wonderful morning. You… you are not to be defined by the stones in your life that go “thud.” That is never the last sound your ears will hear. Your life is not determined by what seems so firmly fixed. There is a greater reality…

There is One who hears your prayers about the immoveable. Easter is the final result and revelation… in this world and in your life. God moved the stone. Let this good news send you on a new journey… one filled with reverent joy. That’s your destiny… it’s our identity as God’s people. Take that in today… to the deepest part of who you are. Internalize this good news made known in Christ and remembered… put back together… re-membered in this meal we share.

It is the Eucharist… which is a word that is all about reverent joy. We give thanks by partaking in this meal. We express our faith by partaking in this meal. We take in the good news… deep into our heart… by partaking in this mea. We remember. We believe.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection. He who believes in me will never die.” There is finally no thud that can separate you from the love of God in Christ. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

This is the body of Christ, broken that you might be whole. This is the cup of our salvation… poured out that the world might live. Take all of it and be filled.

Overwhelmed - by Circumstances

Overwhelmed - by Circumstances
By Victoria Boyson www.boyson.org

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing—James 1:2-4 NLT

The story of Cinderella is a poignant one, because many of the key elements in the story can be found in the lives of people God has raised up for His glory and purpose.

Note to all men reading this: Now, before all you gentlemen quit reading because I've mentioned Cinderella, please stick with me and I'll show you a Cinderella-type man in Scripture.

Cinderella was a girl whose mother had died when she was young, but was dearly loved by her wealthy father; she lived well and was favored and loved by him. Truly, her life was blessed and she had everything she needed, but her father didn't think so. He married again to give her a mother and family. But shortly after he remarried, he died.

Her father, I'm sure, had no way of knowing how he would devastate his daughter's life by the decision he made to take a new wife. Suddenly, at her father's death, her life was tragically altered. She not only lost her father, her home and her position in her family, she was also stripped of her own personal identity.

She, herself, had not changed. But, through the actions of her step family, she, who'd once been a loved and favored daughter, now became a servant. She was no longer loved and honored, but rejected and abused—a continual outcast in her own home.

It's one thing to be robbed and cast out, but to have to stay and serve those who robbed you is quite another. To sit and have to watch them enjoying or even mistreating things you once cherished would be extremely difficult. And the longing to feel a part of the family, yet never having that longing fulfilled is like experiencing a continual wounding with no time to heal. It would force you to try anything to get them to love you. Yet, the more you would try, the more they would despise you.

According to some versions of this classic tale, Cinderella attempted to go to a royal ball at the palace with her step-mom and sisters in an old dress of her mother's. Her sisters, being spurred on by their mother, tore her dress to pieces, leaving her in rags. They literally and emotionally stripped her of all she knew and was in life; they left her nothing. She was stunned, emotionally numb, alone and devastated by their actions.

But here's where her story takes a surprising turn. At the moment she'd reached her lowest point, she met her fairy godmother, who begins at once to transform Cinderella's world. The fairy godmother came to her in her moment of despair and showed her love, which is what Cinderella needed the most.

"Cinderella Man"

If you remember the story of Joseph in Genesis 37 and Genesis 39-45, he was a most beloved and favored son of his father, Jacob. His mother died giving birth to his younger brother, but he still had the love of his father, and oh how Jacob loved him. He gave Joseph many privileges and gifts his brothers did not get. Most importantly, he gave Joseph his love (Genesis 37:3). This created heated jealousy in his brothers toward him; they hated him for it, so much so they planned to murder him (Genesis 37:20). Through a twist of fate, instead of murdering him, they sold him as a slave—perhaps a fate worse than death (Genesis 37:21-28).

Joseph spent 13 years as a slave—as someone's property and a prisoner. He was accused of being a degenerate going after his master's wife, when in reality, the opposite was true (Genesis 39:6-20). His life had been stripped from him physically and emotionally. No longer a most beloved, favored son—now owned and wrongfully imprisoned.

If anyone had the right to become angry and bitter, it was Joseph. The Lord had shown him amazing visions and dreams of all he would do in his future (Genesis 37:5-11), yet his life went in the complete opposite direction for years. It could have seemed to him that God had tricked him or lied to him, but Joseph clung to his faith in God (Genesis 39:2-5 and Genesis 39:21-23).

All that was taken from him and done to him turned out to be the preparation for the fulfillment of his dreams. As he said to his brothers, "Don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives" (Genesis 45:5). He continued, "So it was God who sent me here, not you!" (Genesis 45:8).

Reflecting over the years Joseph had spent in Egypt, instead of blaming his brothers for all he'd endured, he saw their hateful actions as tools in the Lord's hands to prepare him to rescue millions (Genesis 45:6-7). Joseph's life changed dramatically, went from being the favored son of his father to a lowly slave and prisoner, and then suddenly became second in power over the world he lived in (Genesis 45:8).

Cinderella's transformation was as swift and as telling. From beloved daughter - to - slave - to princess who ruled alongside her husband. They were both stripped of all they knew and held dear, but we see in the end that the ill treatment they endured prepared and equipped them for their great destiny.

Why did God allow Joseph to go through such severe testing you may ask? Well, in Scripture we find examples of those raised to greatness without the preparation, only to fall and lose sight of what really mattered.

King Solomon, son of King David, was the richest, wisest man in history (1 Kings 3:11-14). He inherited his father's kingdom, which was great indeed, and God blessed him with even more (1 Kings 3:11-14). However, he did not have the preparation for the throne that his father had. David went from shepherd (1 Samuel 16:11) - to warrior (1 Samuel 18:5-7) - son-in-law to the king (1 Samuel 18:17-27) - escaped fugitive, running for his life (1 Samuel 19-24) - living in caves (1 Samuel 22:1-2) - pretending to be a madman (1 Samuel 21:13) - having his wives taken from him (1 Samuel 30:1-5) - being despised and rejected (1 Samuel 4-8) and then suddenly to be made king of all Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-5).

We see however, in King Solomon's life, that because he didn't have to endure what his father did, he fell away from God later in his life (1 Kings 11:4-6). "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36 NAS). What benefit were Solomon's vast wisdom, riches and fame if it cost him his relationship with God?

Clinging to God's Love

Many of you have been going through a similar stripping process. You are confused and hurt, you may even feel at times abandoned by God. What often hurts the most is the continual betrayal by those who should love you, but don't. It hurts to see the hardness of other's toward you as though you don't matter. At times, you've felt psychologically numb due to the actions of others.

Yet, though you've been stripped, robbed or betrayed you still cling to God, because going through your own personal anguish without Him is even more unthinkable. In the midst of your desperation, you find you still have the one thing that truly matters—you still have God. And, He then, becomes your everything and you feel like the wealthiest person in the world.

Indeed, through all your trials, you are being prepared for your destiny, and it will be great. One day you will look back on this time, like Joseph, and see that God has used it all to prepare you for your future. Knowing your destiny was great, He wanted you to be prepared, so you would not fall when the real test comes: the test of success.

And so He wouldn't lose you in the midst of all the blessings He longs to give you, He needed to make sure your foundation was solidly grounded in Him, that your faith was thoroughly tried.

If you find yourself in similar circumstances, then know: you are truly loved by your heavenly Father, resting in the palm of His hand. Your life belongs to Him and He will see that you are ready for the untold blessings He's kept in readiness for you, anticipating your destiny. You are His beloved and favored child - you belong to Him - His special creation.

Maybe you can see images of your own life in the story of Cinderella, or perhaps Joseph's story is far too familiar to your own. To whatever degree you can relate to him, remember his story changed as he clung to God. Our story, too, takes on a new and rich purpose when we meet with God. He makes all things new, even the painful events of our past. He makes beauty from the ashes of our lives (Isaiah 61:3). So, wherever you are, surrender your ashes to Him and watch Him make something beautiful of your life.

Please pray this with me: Dear Father, I need You. You are all I have, You are everything to me. Comfort me and make something beautiful from my life. I surrender all that I am into Your hands and I ask that You fill me with all of You. Whatever You have for me, I receive with open arms because I know it's from You and I trust You with my life.