Online Journals

Rhema:

Mark 4:
26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Inspect:

This a great parable on how God designed witnessing to happen. We break it down by roles:

- Man: Scatters seed on the ground – as Jesus explained the previous parable, the seed represents the truth of God and scattering means to tell others about it.
- God: Where man now goes about his daily business, sleeping and rising, it is God that makes the seed to grow. It is God who takes the seed and gradually turns it into a plant, and then into a plant that yields the harvest.
- Man: When the grain ripens, we then take the sickle and bring in the harvest. Our job is then to go out and gather the harvest and bring it in.

As always we men mess this whole process up by trying to do it our way. Let’s flip this around and see what happens.

- Man: we think it’s somebody else’s job to scatter the seed. We blame God for not spreading the good news around. The result is nobody winds up sharing the gospel. God knows that we are the ones with the credibility and influence among those that we have a relationship with, so He assigned the job of spreading the Word to us.
- God: He’s the one who takes the seed and nurtures it and makes it grow in a life. God through the Holy Spirit will take the seed and cause it to spread and increase its impact over the life that it is planted in. Man can’t do that. We cannot change someone’s belief or behavior, they are the one who must do it. We need to go about our business, and pray that God does His think and causes the seed to grow and to eventually bear fruit.
- Man: if we think that is God’s job to harvest, then nobody winds up harvesting. God gives us the responsibility for harvesting because He equips us to be the best suited to take the harvest and grow it into a disciple. Through the example of our lives, we can show the new believer how to grow in the Lord. So this is our job.

Commit:

I need to do my job and allow God to do His. I need to spread the Word. I need to tell His story. I must then pray that God does His part to grow that seed into the harvest. I must not be frustrated or anxious in trying to make the harvest happen, this is between that person and God at that point. Finally I must harvest. If I don’t do it, the harvest may be ruined. So I must do my part.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, your plan is so simple and yet so wise, you are amazing. Please send me your Holy Spirit to help me to do my part. Help to sow your seed. Help me not to embellish or even package, just sow your seed. Help me to not over-analyze. You threw your seed everywhere not worrying ahead of time about where the seed is going to land. Your promised to make that seed grow, and your promises never ever fail. Finally help me to be a harvester. Lead to the grain who is ripe and help me to bring that believer into the house. Give me the boldness and the wisdom to accomplish this.

In the name of the one who is the Lord of the Harvest, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Mark 1: 35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Inspect:

This describes Jesus. We see that Jesus woke up long before sunrise. He then left the others, went to a lonely place and there he prayed.

I think Jesus spent time praying with others, but here we see that He spent time alone in prayer to the Father.

I think Jesus was showing us that although prayer for others is good, prayer by ourselves is important as well. When we are alone with the Lord, it is just one on one. The only one the Lord will listen to is and the only one we listen to is Him. We don’t have to worry about how we appear with others and with the Heavenly Father, there is no fooling, so we don’t even want to think about impressing the Lord.

One on one, this is the reason why God sacrificed His Son. So that we can have a one on one relationship. Jesus didn’t die for a group of people, He died for each one of us.

Commit:

I must spend time one one on one with the Father, just as Jesus did. It is the least I can do for the sacrifice of His life for me. Sin separated me from God, but Jesus’ death rebuilt the bridge, why won’t I walk across it.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your love for me. For reminding me that it is me as an individual that Your Son died for. I pray that you send your Holy Spirit to give me the desire, the discipline and delight to do as your Son did, have solitary prayer with you.

In the name of the one who died so that I can have solitary prayer with the Father, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 27: 21 But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. 22 And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.

Inspect:

Our God is a God of second chances. Here we see that the ship that Paul sailed on went forward, even though Paul had warned them not to. God knew that they would run up against a storm and so warned them through Paul that they should not go on. But they did, and yes, they ran into the storm as the Lord knew they would. And they would have died if God didn’t give them a second chance.

God now sent them encouragement through Paul. The Lord promised that if they obeyed, their lives would be spared. The ship would be lost, but their lives would be spared. This time the crew listened. They did as Paul asked, and though the ship was completely destroyed, every life was saved.

God knows that we are disobedient and though we don’t deserve it, He gives us multiple chances. He wants to save us and not destroy us. When we are disobedient, we should not give up thinking we’ve messed up and there’s no hope left. God will always provide us with a way back.

Commit:

I must not give up. I must look for the way back. God’s love for me will always provide a way back through obedience to Him.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me so much. Your patience is so amazing. Please help me to not give up when I screw up. I ask for your Holy Spirit to show me the way back to you.

In the name of the one who paved the way back to the Father with His blood, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 26: 28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

Inspect:

Paul was taken several times to governmental authorities to defend himself. The amazing thing with Paul’s defense is that he simply told His story and God’s story. Paul would tell of his past, of how he used to persecute the Jews, how God encountered him and how his life has changed. Paul would then tell God’s story, about how Jesus came to live a life of example and a death of redemption.

We see how here how these two stories were used by the Holy Spirit to really impact the audience, in this case King Agrippa.

I think the great lesson for me here was Paul was an extremely well educated scholar and a persuasive orator, but in this case, Paul just told two stories. He told His conversion story and he told the story of Jesus. That was it. The Holy Spirit can take our truth and God’s truth and use it to impact people’s lives. I believe that the Holy Spirit will not use lies, half-truths, exaggerations to impact people. It can only be the truth of our lives and truth about the Lord that can take a life and change it.

Commit:

I must trust the Holy Spirit to use the truth of my life and the truth about the Lord to change lives. I must not be tempted to embellish or exaggerate my story because I feel that it won’t have enough of an impact. There is nothing more impactful than truth, it is truth that will set us free. It is lies that will ultimately destroy.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how to change lives. Please help me to resist temptation to exaggerate and embellish. Please remind me through your Holy Spirit that you gave me my life as truth to be combined with the truth of your Son to transform lives.

In the name of the one who’s story has transformed my story to transform the story of others, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 22: 10 So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’

Inspect:

This scripture records Paul defending himself in front of a mob that was trying to kill him. So Paul was relaying what happened during his conversion.

After the great light blinded him, and he heard the Lord’s voice, Paul became very submissive. Here was the terrorist of the early church, someone who hunted down, arrested and imprisoned people for their obedience to Christ, now showed his submissiveness. The Lord instructed Paul to continue into Damascus and wait until further instructions would be given to him.

The rhema for me here was here was a Paul a driven, zealous type A personality was told by the Lord to wait. I think this would have driven the old Paul nuts. God didn’t reveal the whole plan all at once. Paul was told that he would need to go to Jerusalem and wait until further instructions would be given to him. What an encounter for Paul. He was blind, helpless and he needed to just chill-out and wait for further directions.

I believe that as Paul was humbled, God would then reveal the plans He had in store for Paul.

I believe that this would be the same for all of us, God cannot use us until we are humbled.

Commit:

I must be humble before the Lord. I must be demanding of the plans He has for me. I must know that the Lord will reveal His plans for me, when He deems is the best time, and He will give them to me at the pace of His choosing. I must trust that the Lord knows exactly what the best for me is; when and how much.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you that you know exactly what is best for me. And I know that you will give me your plans at your time and at your pace. I know you know my limits better than I do. Please send me your Holy Spirit to humble my heart, so that you can make full use of me.

In the name of the one who knows me the best and will use me for the best, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 20: 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God[i] which He purchased with His own blood.

Inspect:

Paul is explaining to that that he was discipling. He didn’t hold anything back from them. Paul gave them the complete message. I believe this included not only the positive promises of blessings through the grace and through our obedience. I believe Paul also included messages of judgment, of the consequences when we choose to disobey His will. God needs us to understand both sides. Evidently, I believe we human beings need to be motivated by both good and bad. Positive motivation such as blessings and rewards will propel and encourage us to do the right thing. However, we have heard many a testimony that has revealed that positive motivation has NOT been successful in motivating people to resist doing bad things. I believe it takes fear to prevent us human beings from doing evil things.

Good begets good.

Fear prevents evil.

So Paul had to present the complete message. The positive that God is merciful and will reward our obedience. This will move us toward doing good. The negative is that God will judge our us when we disobey Him. He must, He cannot reward good and NOT punish bad. God is true and just.

It then falls to us. God has paid the price of sin and has redeemed our sins. He then enlists us to provide leadership, teaching and protection for the team. We have to apply the whole of the teaching to ourselves and those that He asked us to care for.

Commit:

I must first understand the whole counsel of God, both positive and negative. Then I must live it. Then I must help others to live it.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for knowing us so well, that it takes positive and negative motivations. Please send us me your Holy Spirit to give me fear to avoid sinning and to do good. Help me to counsel others as well. I need your help to change my behavior and the behavior of others.

In the name of the one who will judge me with true justice and the one who will bless with grace and mercy, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 15: 19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality,[d]from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

Inspect:

When non-Jews or Gentiles first came to the Lord, the Jews didn’t know quite how to handle them. The Jews had lived for generations having rules and regulations which would help them to know how to please the Lord. I believe some of the Jews were well intended, and perhaps others not well intended tried to impose these laws on the Gentiles. However, we see here that this was not God’s will. God’s intent was for our heart to be transformed by faith through God’s grace. These laws were meant to help us to please the Lord and not make it so difficult to comply with that we would give up. Here we’re reminded that God wants us to draw close to Him, and the laws are meant to help us to know how to please Him.

So it was boiled down to not dealing with things associated with idol worship, which God knows will tempt us to back to worshipping them and way from God.

It was to abstain from sexual immorality which results in disease and destruction of families.

It was to refrain from eating things improperly prepared which would lead to health problems and cause us to miss the importance of blood as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice for us.

That’s it.

God wants us and He wants us badly. So we must want others badly as well. We ought not to make it hard for others to know Christ, we ought to make it easy.

Commit:

I must watch myself carefully. I must help God to draw people to Himself and not push people away. I must help people to please the Lord and not make it tough for them.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for reminding me how much you love us, all of us. Please help me to help others to draw close to you, to please you. Please help me not to make it hard on people, discouraging them, and frustrating them. Help me with your Holy Spirit to be a positive influence on them, rather than a negative nag.

In the name of the one who died so that I might come to the Father, and will help me to bring others, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 12: 21 So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. 22 And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.

Inspect:

Ok if we ever needed an example of how God feels about pride this is it! Herod was silent when people started calling him a god instead of a man. He just soaked it up and accepted all the adulation, instead of giving credit to the true source of his power, God.

Why does God deal so severely with pride? I believe it is because pride is so deadly. When we have pride we deceive ourselves in thinking that we are in control, that we are the masters of our destiny, that we can provide all of our needs. God loves us so much that He only wants the very best for us. So what is the very best for us? God is the very best for us. He will never fail us. He knows exactly what the best for us is. He can do whatever it takes. If we let Him. Pride prevents us from letting Him.

Commit:

I need to guard against pride. When people try to credit me, I need to deflect to the true reason for success, the Lord! I must know that God is the true source.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for reminding me how You hate pride. Please help me to remember that you are my source. There is nothing, nobody else, especially not me. Please send your Holy Spirit to change my heart.

In the name of the one who had no pride and will help me to take away mine, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 10: 1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.

Inspect:

The relationship between Cornelius and Peter was an important one. It was through their meeting that the Lord showed Peter and the rest of the world that the gospel and the Holy Spirit was meant for the non-Jews as well as the Jews. We see the kind of man used to bring this about. It was Cornelius an officer of the Roman army. However, not an ordinary Roman Army Officer, here was a man that was described as a man that feared God. He also had influence on his household, leading them all to fear the Lord as well. Cornelius was also a giver, demonstrated by his generosity to the needs around him. Finally last but not least, Cornelius prayed always.

This was the kind of man that God used to show the world that salvation was not just for the Jews but for the Gentiles as well. This was the kind of man that God filled with the Holy Spirit to show that the Holy Spirit was for the Gentiles as well.

Commit:

I want to be like Cornelius. He was a marketplace minister who not only had the right relationship with God and had great spiritual discipline, but also had influence and mercy. I must add to my relationship with the Lord, influence. And influence is gained by service. I must show mercy, meeting the needs of others, by using the blessings that God has given me.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for giving me the example of Cornelius. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I can have a heart like him. I want to fear you. I want to have influence on those around me to fear you. I want to show mercy to those around me. I want to pray constantly.

In the name of the one who will change my heart, to fear the Lord, to influence those around me, to show mercy and pray constantly, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 8: 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the[a] city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.

Inspect:

I think why this scripture popped out at me was it was who Phillip was. You do hear of people working miracles in the Bible as described here i.e. folks casting out unclean spirits, healing the sick and preaching the word in such a way that masses of people are responding to it. The realization or rhema to me was who it was done by. These miracles were not done by an apostle, but rather by a business man. A man selected with others for their organizational and operational abilities. But these men were also selected by one other quality, they were known to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

I think it was through the working of the Holy Spirit that many responded to the preaching, that the possessed were freed and that sick were healed. But I am reminded that the Holy Spirit can only work through submitted vessels. And Phillip was one of these submitted vessels. It doesn’t take special qualifications to become a submitted vessel. The only thing it takes is a trust in the Lord, to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. Then it takes obedience to speak and do as the Holy Spirit leads, what then follows is salvation, freedom and healing.

Commit:

I want to be like a Phillip. I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and obedient to the Holy Spirit. I want to speak the words to bring others to the Lord to be saved. I want to work signs and wonders so that others may know the power and love of the Lord.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank for you for showing me how even I can be used to build your kingdom. Please help me to be filled with your Holy Spirit as never before. Please help me to obedient to the Holy Spirit as never before. I want to save, free and heal so that I can make disciples. Please help me, I cannot do this alone, and I want to do this.

In the name of the one who will use me and equip me to build His kingdom, by building disciples, Jesus!

Amen

Rhema:

Acts 6: 1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists,[a] because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. 2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. 3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; 4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, 6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.
7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Inspect:

This is an amazing passage of scripture. We see at the end of this passage that the church began to increase, in fact the word “multiplied” is used. I do not think that it is a coincidence that the multiplication is reported here. In the start of the passage we also see the word “multiplying.” This multiplying like almost any kind of growth brings change, and change brings challenges. The challenge here was that there was a perception of prejudice, that different groups were being treated unequally.

I think it is so interesting of what the solution that the Holy Spirit reveals to the disciples. The Holy Spirit inspires the disciples to appoint men from the marketplace. Why I find this interesting, is that I think it points to an operational problem because if it was a spiritual problem, the disciples would resolve it through prayer and ministry of the word. I believe it was an operational problem, one that would be solved by skills given by the Holy Spirit, but not skills of prayer and ministry especially, but skills of logistics, leadership and communications. It was through these men who were selected by their reputation, by their submission to the Holy Spirit and their demonstrated wisdom which resolved the operational problems and allowed the church to multiply greatly.

Some are gifted to focus on prayer and preaching, while others are gifted to operations. I believe both groups should be filled with the Holy Spirit, demonstrate a good reputation and have great wisdom. I believe that both groups were necessary for the church to grow through multiplication.

Commit:

Right now I think I want to be a Stephen and a Phillip. Like these two, I want to have a good reputation, be filled with the Holy Spirit and have supernatural wisdom. Like these men I want to be used to remove operational impediments that keep a church from multiplying. And like these two, I want to work signs and wonders, save people and make disciples as well.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how the church begins to multiply. Please use me. Place me where your gifting will do the most good. Place me where you want to grow me.

In the name of the one who fills me with the Holy Spirit and will plant me where I will bear the most fruit for the kingdom, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Malachi 3: 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the LORD of hosts,

“ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 “ And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
Says the LORD of hosts;
12 And all nations will call you blessed,

Inspect:

This is the promise of God. In fact is a challenge from our God that when we bring our tithes and offerings to Him, He will bless us.

- He will give us so much blessing that we will not have room for it. God will bless us way beyond our expectations.

- He will rebuke the devourer. The Lord will protect us from those things that would ruin, diminish or steal our blessings. I believe this means accidents, thieves, mistakes will be eliminated, because the Lord who is the ultimate authority in the universe will protect those things from happening.

- Nor the vine fail to bear fruit. The Lord will ensure that our efforts will yield positive benefits. Our work will not be wasted.

- And the nations will call you blessed. We will be so blessed that everyone will recognized that we are supernaturally blessed.

This is the promise of God. If we do our part which is to bring our tithes and offerings, the Lord will do so much more than us. He will bless the rest. He will protect the rest. He will insure our efforts are not wasted. Our blessings will be so much that everyone around us will recognize it, which give us a chance to bring credit to God!

Commit:

I must do my best to give God the first. I must trust the Lord that He will fulfill His promise. He would take care of me. If I obey Him, there is no way that God will let me down, it would not only violate a promise, which is impossible, but it would bring dishonor to God from those watching. This is just not possible.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for such an awesome promise. Your promises are always this way. You do the heavy lifting, I just need to do a small part. But help me, I need your Holy Spirit to transform my heart to be like you a giver. Let your Holy Spirit remind me of your promise and love.

In the name of the one who will bless me more than I can bless Him, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Malachi 1: 6 “ A son honors his father,
And a servant his master.
If then I am the Father,
Where is My honor?
And if I am a Master,
Where is My reverence?
Says the LORD of hosts
To you priests who despise My name.
Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’
7 “ You offer defiled food on My altar,
But say,

‘ In what way have we defiled You?’
By saying,

‘ The table of the LORD is contemptible.’
8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice,
Is it not evil?
And when you offer the lame and sick,
Is it not evil?
Offer it then to your governor!
Would he be pleased with you?
Would he accept you favorably?”
Says the LORD of hosts.
9 “ But now entreat God’s favor,
That He may be gracious to us.
While this is being done by your hands,

Inspect:

This is a long passage, because I could not determine which key verse to pull out.

The core of the rhema for me was that we give honor to everyone else, but not to the Lord. The challenge from the Word is that if we give honor to our fathers and to those in authority, then isn’t the Lord at least as deserving?

The scold here is that we would give the Lord second-rate offerings described in the context of animal sacrifices in those days. The instructions for offering, was that only animals without defects were to be offered to the Lord. However, here we see that animals that had defective eyes, defective legs and defective health were offered to the Lord. How insulting, that if we wouldn’t offer these quality of gifts to the a high-ranking official like a governor, why would we offer it to the Lord?

The Lord gave us His best, not just in the excellence of creation, but His very best, His only Son Jesus. We cannot and should not give God our less than best, when He has give us His best.

God deserves the best of our time, the best of treasure and the best of our talents.

Commit:

I must give the Lord my best. I must not think that my employer, my family should get the first and the best, it is the Lord that should get it. And if I give Him the first and the best, the Lord honors the promise of the tithe. If we give our first and best, then He will bless the rest.

Commit:

Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for the promise of the tithe. You have give me your first and best, that is your son Jesus Christ. Through Him, I can have the rest, the rest of all eternity to live abundantly. Please help me to give you my first and my best. Help me to be unselfish. Please have your Holy Spirit transform my heart to be like yours. I know that you will bless the rest way above my expectations. But don’t let that be my reason to give.

In the name of the one who was given as the first and the best by the Heavenly Father, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 3: 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

Inspect:

Peter and John healed the lame man who begging at the Temple Gate. Here we see what Peter said to the man. The man asked for silver and gold, which the two disciples did not have. We cannot give but we do not have. What Peter had in him, and what the lame man needed, was faith. The lame man did not have faith, did not have the truth that Jesus wanted to and could heal him. Peter knew this. Peter knew that the Lord loved this man, knew that Jesus wanted to heal him and make him whole, knew that Jesus could make him whole. This is what Peter had and the lame man did not. So Peter gave that to him, reached out and by faith, pulled him up because Peter knew and his knowledge gave him faith, and through his faith, he brought healing.

That is our mission to use our knowledge, our faith to bless those who don’t know, who don’t have faith to appropriate the blessing of God on their own.

Commit:

I must understand that this is my mission. I must have knowledge, revelational knowledge of the Lord. With knowledge, I can have faith. With faith I can bless others and lead them to get knowledge. Then their faith can grow and be saved.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank for showing me my mission. I ask that you help me to constantly increase my knowledge, so my faith may become more bold. Give me opportunities to bless others. Help me to save others.

In the name of the one who will help me to help others receive the blessings of the Father, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 2: 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Inspect:

This was Peter’s first sermon preached on the day of Pentecost. The results of this Holy Spirit driven sermon, were amazing with over 3, 000 people saved that day. We see here that the Holy Spirit caused the words of Peter to cut to their hearts, affecting those who heard profoundly. As a result they desperately came forward and asked what they needed to do.

I believe this what happens when we allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us. The Holy Spirit will cause the words to cause those that hear, to be so convicted that they are driven to action.

Commit:

I want to be able to impact people as Peter did. I want the Holy Spirit to give me the words and the way to say them to be able to cause people to come to repentance and salvation.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father I thank you for using us to bring others to repentance and salvation. Please send you Holy Spirit to help me to say what you want me to say, how you want me to say it. I want to help bring people to you to repent and be saved. It is not me, it is you.

In the name of the one who sends the Holy Spirit to help me to preach so that others are brought to salvation, Jesus!

Amen

Rhema:

Acts 1:20 ‘ Let[e]another take his office.’[f]

21 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

Inspect:

When Judas committed suicide, the remaining disciples set about to replace him. Here we see what qualifications are. We see that they were looking for men who stayed with them. Men who was with Jesus when He first begun His ministry as marked by John the Baptist’s baptism of the Lord. Men who stayed with the Lord, through His ministry, through His arrest, torture and death. Men who witnessed the resurrected Lord and saw Him returning to heaven.

I think the disciples wanted a man who shared the same experience they did, in order to be an effective. It would be someone who knew how Jesus taught, prayed, healed, studied, counseled, in short how the Master lived. It was someone who suffered with them when the Jesus was crucified. It was someone who rejoiced with them when Jesus rose from the dead. I was someone who shared their hope in seeing Jesus returning to heaven and promising that he would return.

Commit:

I would like to be considered worthy to be selected to be a disciple of Jesus. That means I need to try and understand and experience everything that Jesus did. I must live as He lived. I must be a witness to His resurrection.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me what it takes to be your disciple. Please send me your Holy Spirit so that I can experience your Son as the other disciples did. Bring revelation of His life through the Word, through others. I want to experience the life of your resurrected Son. I want to be worthy of the work of the disciples.

In the name of the one of who’s life I want to live, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Nehemiah 6: 15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.

Inspect:

In 52 days against numerous obstacles like enemy attack, having to raise their own funds, having to both build and defend, they completed the rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem. And here In these verses we see the results of it beyond just the physical portion i.e. the wall is rebuilt. We see that the completion of the wall was a testimony to their enemies around them, that God was with them and it was through God that the wall was rebuilt.

I think the lesson here is that when we are obedient to the Lord and accomplish the assignments He gives us, it becomes a testimony against our enemies and the enemies of the God’s Kingdom. It reveals to them that through God everything can be accomplished. I believe it becomes a testimony to them that they need to stop fighting against the Lord, and instead be with Him. The lesson is that God will give us assignments that are seemingly impossible to do. The reconstruction of the wall was a very difficult undertaking, with many many obstacles. They had to raise up funds. They had to raise up volunteers. They had to defend themselves as they were building with weapons in one hand and construction tools in another. They had to battle discouragement and wanting to give up. In the end, as they kept on going on, God supplied all their needs, defended them against their enemies and encouraged them, the wall was finished. And the enemy saw that with God, we can accomplish anything.

Commit:

I must obey the Lord no matter what the obstacles. I must realize that the completion of the assignment brings not only the accomplishment of the goals, but sends the message out to all, especially the enemies of the Lord, that there are no obstacles that could and would prevent God’s people from doing what He assigns us to do.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how you work through us. Please help me to trust that every assignment you give me will be accomplished, not because of my strengths and abilities, but because of you. You are the one who supplies all of my needs, will defend me against all attacks, and will strengthen me when I am weakening.

In the name of the one who will provide, who will protect and who will promote me, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Nehemiah 4: 21 So we labored in the work, and half of the men[a] held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. 22 At the same time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day.” 23 So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.

Inspect:

We can see the dedication and sense of urgency of the men who were rebuilding the wall. Half the men were defending the others with spears in their hands. The other half were handling the construction task, and even they were armed, having a weapon always within reach. We also see that they stayed on the job site. I think it is because they didn’t want to risk having their work destroyed by the enemy if they left it. They were always ready, the only time they took off their clothes was when they washed it, which spoke of the preparedness and dedication.

Commit:

I must have this same dedication and vigilance in whatever I do. Yes, this applies to ministry tasks, but also non-ministry tasks. Everything we do, is ultimately for the Lord. The Lord does everything with excellence and so we must as well. He paid for us, with His very all, so we need to give Him our very all.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how I need to work. Help me to do with a sense of urgency. Help me to be on-guard along with the doing the work. I must be vigilant and guarding the work along with doing it. I must be diligent about finishing it. I must do it with excellence.

In the name of the one who did everything with a sense of urgency, with excellence all the way until it was finished, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Luke 22: 24 Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. 27 For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.

Inspect:

Right before Jesus was crucified the disciples got into an argument on who is the greatest. Jesus gave them the answer telling them that the world’s sense of leadership is someone who exerts authorities over other, rationalized by thinking that it’s for their own good. Jesus said that in His kingdom, it’s about servant leadership. God’s kingdom is the reverse of the world’s kingdom, which should be no surprise because the consequences of the world’s values is destruction, where the consequences of God’s kingdom is construction.

So where the world values the older, wiser in leadership, Jesus is telling us to be the younger, be the server. I believe to be the younger means to have a heart of humility and having a teachable spirit. God’s kingdom principle is that the person who serves becomes the one who governs. The world’s goal is to sit at the table and to be served. God’s goal is to serve those who sit at the table.

Commit:

I must be as the Lord. As Jesus was the servant leader I must be the servant leader. I must not come across the as the old, wise leader, instead I must have a younger, as one who is teachable and humble. I must not strive to have a seat at the table, instead I must stay off the table and choose to serve those seated at the table. I must not strive to govern my exercising lordship, instead I must serve and allow that act to govern.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how to be a servant leader as your Son. Help me to humble myself and be teachable. Help me to seek governing through service. Help me to serve and not be served. Transform my heart with your Holy Spirit.

In the name of the one who humbled himself and served me, Jesus!

Amen

Rhema:

Luke 21: 34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy[c] to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
37 And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet.

Inspect:

We have to be careful, the Lord is returning at any time. The devil will distract us with every kind of devices. He will throw us into carousing, getting us to burn our time with doing worthless things. He will try and get us into addictive behaviors like drinking, which will get waste our time with trying to avoid reality. He will even get us to worry, knowing that worry without prayer is a waste of time. When we get caught up into any of these things, we will take our eyes off of what the Lord would have us to do.

The solution then is to remain alert to these distractions. We need to guard against falling into the trap of carousing, drunkenness and worry. We need to pray. Pray restores our perspective with the Lord. Prayer provides the power to resist these temptations.

Jesus never instructed us to do anything that he didn’t do Himself. Here we see that Jesus ministered in the day, but at night He stopped and was ministered to from the Father. Jesus demonstrated balance. Within a day he ministered, within a day he was ministered to.

Commit:

I must watch out. I must recognize carousing, which is wasting time doing self-fulfilling things. I must recognize drunkenness, or doing things trying to avoid reality and responsibility. I must recognize worry, knowing that worry without prayer is a complete waste of time. I must balance my day as Jesus did. I must minister during the day, with full focus. I must be ministered to at night, also with full focus.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for reminding me to be on guard and in prayer. I thank you for showing me how to balance my day. Please help me to be attentive to the Holy Spirit who will warn me. Please fill me with the Holy Spirit to increase the desire to pray. Help me to balance my day.

In the name of the one who watch and prayed, and will help me to do the same, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Ezra 8: 24 And I separated twelve of the leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them— 25 and weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel who were present, had offered. 26 I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver articles weighing one hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold, 27 twenty gold basins worth a thousand drachmas, and two vessels of fine polished bronze, precious as gold. 28 And I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD; the articles are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD God of your fathers. 29 Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests and the Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.” 30 So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the articles by weight, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

Inspect:

The reason why this passage caught my eye was verse 28, which declares that not only is the offering holy to the Lord, but also those that are responsible for transporting it. They were responsible for transporting it, protecting it and delivering the complete amount. I believe that too often only the gift is considered holy, but here we see that those that are responsible for taking care and delivery of the gift are considered holy as well.

We must consider those that serve the Lord as holy as the gifts of the Lord. I believe too often we don’t consider the servants of the Lord holy, and we take them for granted, we don’t build them up and care for them and as a result they either don’t grow or they fall away. Holy means set apart. WE need to treat the servants of the Lord as set apart.

Commit:

I need to serve the servants of the Lord. I must treat them as set part, as holy. I must know that they are as important as any thing that is used to serve the Lord.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me that the servants of the Lord is as holy as anything else that is used to serve the Lord. Help me to care for theme. Help me to encourage them. Help me to help them to grow. Help me to pray for them.

In the name of the one who died so that I might be holy, Jesus!

Amen

Rhema:

Esther 10: 1 And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea. 2 Now all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

Inspect:

This is the end of the book of Esther. This is how the story ends. Mordecai who was Esther’s Uncle is recorded as being promoted to second in the kingdom. We don’t usually don’t hear about Uncle Mordecai, instead we remember what Esther went through. Not to take anything away from Esther’s obedience, courage and wisdom because she stepped up to the role she was asked to play to save her people. But we also see the character of Mordecai as well. His courage to do right despite not only being unpopular, but putting his own life in danger. He never rebelled against the king, he supported and defended the king. He didn’t agree with everything the king did, but he did not attack the king.

Eventually as we see, Mordecai was promoted. He honored God with his obedience. He honored the king who was put in authority by God, with his obedience. When we honor the Lord, he honors us.

Commit:

I must learn to be like Mordecai. I must submit to the authorities that God has put over me. I may not agree with the authorities’ say, but I must not rebel against them. I must continue to support and defend them. I must not seek promotion, I must seek obedience. God will take care of my promotion, if I take care of my promotion.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the lesson of Mordecai. Please help me to be like him. Help me to learn his submission, to be able to support and defend the authority that has been put over me, even if there is disagreement with the instructions. Please give me the spirit of counsel and wisdom that Mordecai has. Help me to not focus on the promotion, but instead focus on the submission and obedience.

In the name of the one who submitted to the authorities put over Him, even though they tortured and killed Him, to which the Father then promoted Him, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Luke 18: 9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Inspect:

Jesus told this parable about two kinds of prayer. The Pharisee used the prayer to compare himself with others. He justified himself by identifying that he did that others did not. The tax collector on the other hand compared himself with God and asked for mercy. The purpose of prayer is not to justify ourselves. We can always find something that we do that no one else does. Problem is that if we justify ourselves, we are actually deceiving ourselves. So what if we do something that no one else does? Doesn’t matter. What matters is God’s mercy upon us.

Commit:

I do this too much. I compare myself with others. This is so wrong. I’m just fooling myself thinking that all I need to do is to do things that no one else does. It does not matter one whit if I justify myself. What matters is the mercy of the Lord. If I do not confess my lack, the Lord will not grant mercy unless I confess truthfully.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for teaching me how to pray. Please help me not to waste my time trying to justify myself. Please send me your Holy Spirit to confess in truth, so that I might obtain your mercy. That’s why I need to pray in Spirit and Truth.

In the name of the one who teaches me how to pray, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Luke 17: 5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Inspect:

It is interesting to observe this conversation between the apostles and the Lord Jesus. The apostles perhaps seeing the many miracles that Jesus was performing, asked Jesus to increase their faith. Jesus replied that all they needed was a little. A mustard seed is a very tiny object, so Jesus was telling them all they needed was a little faith. I think Jesus was telling them that they had all the faith they needed, they just needed to use it.

It is not our quantity of faith that determines the size of the miracle. It is the size of God that determines the size of the miracle. God will use the faith that we have to release His miracles.

Commit:

I must use the faith that I have. I must not judge whether or not my faith is sufficient. God will honor what I have and use His strength and power.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for choosing to work through my faith. Please help me not to hold you back, help me to realize that you will use what faith that I have to release your glory.

In the name of the one who will take what faith I have and magnify and multiply it to accomplish miracles, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Psalm 138: 6 Though the LORD is on high,
Yet He regards the lowly;
But the proud He knows from afar.

Inspect:

Though the Lord loves everyone and He knows everyone. However, we see here a difference in treatment between those that are lowly or humble, and those that are high or proud.

For those that are humble, the Lord regards, He cares for , He looks kindly toward. God is close to the lowly.

On the other hand for those that are proud, the Lord does know them, because the Lord knows everything. However, I believe the Lord is distant from them. Does that mean He loves them less? I don’t believe so. The Lord keeps a distance from them so that they can experience the limitations of life without the Lord. They will eventually realize how much better life will be when they humble themselves and draw close to the Lord. He will then draw close to them and care for them. On the other hand if they never experienced the limited life without the Lord, they will never know how much better life with the Lord is.

Commit:

I need to come down. I must realize that it is not me, but the Lord. I must draw close to the Lord. I know then He will draw close to me. I want to be close to Him.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you so much that you love me so much. I don’t want you to be far from me. I ask that you send the Holy Spirit to humble my heart. I want to be low, so that I can have Your regard, Your care, Your kindness. I don’t want my pride, I want You!

In the name of the one who humbled Himself to beneath me, so that I might learn to be humble, Jesus!

Amen.