Online Journals

Rhema:

1 Corinthians 13:

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

Inspect:

Here is the famous chapter of love. How different from the world’s perception of love is God’s? When we say love in the world, “What’s in it for me?” is the result, this is lust not love. God’s love on the other hand is all about “What’s in it for others?”

I believe part of it means to grow up. As a child we think of ourselves. As we grow, we put away childish things. We must put away thoughts that are self-centered and replace them with thoughts that are other centered. Let’s look at what is childlike and what needs to be put away.

Things to Put Away Things to Keep

Jealous Patient
Boastful Kind
Proud Never gives up
Demand its own way Never loses faith
Rude Always hopeful
Irritable Endures through every circumstance
Rejoice about injustice Rejoice when truth wins out
Keeps no record of being wronged

So, where the world’s love is to take for self, God’s way is to put away the self-centered ways of a child and to keep the other-centered ways of God.

Commit:

I need to move on. I need to put away my childish ways. I need to discard those things that arise because I put myself at the center. I need to keep and grow those things that bless others.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how to grow up. Please help me to put away the childish things that result in trying to bless myself and put on the things of God that serve to bless others. If I don’t do so, I will not be able to bring the blessing of God to others, and I will never be able to experience the love of God on me.

In the name of the one who Father’s me, who will help me put away the childish ways and put on His ways, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Mark 6: But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here![i]” 51 Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed, 52 for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.

Inspect:

What is the state of our hearts? Are we not seeing the significance of God’s miracles in our lives because of the hardness of our hearts?

The disciples had just personally witnessed a miracle where Jesus took a little bit of food and fed a huge crowd. It was an amazing miracle that demonstrated not only that God can do anything, but will do anything because of his love for the people. The people were hungry, so God provided the food. I believe the significance was that God cares and there’s nothing God cannot do.

So just a few hours later, the disciples are caught in a very severe storm, and they became afraid. They were afraid for their lives. They hardened hearts prevented them from realizing that God’s love would cause His great power to do what is needed for those that He loves.

I believe that we need to be sensitive to what the Lord is doing for us. We should look for big and small ways that God is demonstrating His love for us. We should look to see how great the power of God is to change the situation just for us. I believe this is how our faith is built up. The disciples saw God’s care for our hunger and worked a miracle. This should have given them the faith to understand the if God worked a miracle to feed them, He will also work a miracle to protect us.

Commit:

I need to keep my heart soft. I must not be so jaded that to take God’s love and power for granted. Because if I do, there will come a time that I will become afraid because I don’t trust that God cares for me and can do anything for me. But if my heart is soft, I will be constantly reminded of God’s care. I will be constantly reminded of God’s power.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for warning me to keep my heart soft. Please send me your Holy Spirit to keep my heart in awe of your unending love and infinite power.

In the name of the one who loves and power are beyond measure, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Psalm 28:

1 I pray to you, O Lord, my rock.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you are silent,
I might as well give up and die.
2 Listen to my prayer for mercy
as I cry out to you for help,
as I lift my hands toward your holy sanctuary.

6 Praise the Lord!
For he has heard my cry for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him with all my heart.
He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.
I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

Inspect:

This psalm was written by King David. The rhema for me was the change from the beginning to the end of the psalm. In the beginning portion, we see the King praying in desperation. He is desperate to hear from the King, so important is the voice of God is that the King would prefer to die rather than to live without hearing from the Lord. The King looks for help, for mercy from the Lord.

But now look near the end of the psalm. I believe that the King has heard from his Lord. The King has been reassured that the Lord is the source of his strength and protection. It is God who we put our trust. From this King David’s heart is filled with praise and thanksgiving.

I believe this is one of the reasons why King David was such a fantastic leader, it is because he was so transparent. He showed desperation from doubt just as any of us would. But he demonstrated that in the time of need, David knew that his source of strength and protection is in the Lord. The people could see that in the King. And finally, the King showed his joy and praise when the Lord did answer him. The King connected with the people’s sense of desperation and gave them hope. This is the job of a leader.

Commit:

I need to be as trusting and transparent as King David. I must put my trust only in the Lord. And as a leader, I must not be afraid to show my doubt and desperation as it is truth, and other people share the same experience. And I must also show praise and thanksgiving when the Lord comes through. Through this I can lead others through their doubt and desperation to the Lord.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for showing what a real leader Kind David was. Help me to be real and transparent. People will only respond what they see. People will only respond the right way, if they see the right way. Please help me to lead people out of their doubt and desperation as you lead me through doubt and desperation.

In the name of the one who will bring me out of doubt and desperation and help me to help others to do the same, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Mark 4: 24 Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given[c]—and you will receive even more. 25 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”

Inspect:

This is amazing encouragement. So often we complain that we will never understand enough so why try? We give up, and sure enough we will never get the understanding. But the Lord gives us a great promise, if we show some faith and commit the time to listen, to pay close attention, we will begin to get understanding. Then as we gain some understanding, and then listen some more, and pay more attention, we will get even more! What a great promise and a demonstration of how God wants us to grow. I think this is God showing us that with humility and trust, comes His blessings, the fulfillment of His promises.

By trusting the Lord and having faith, we invest the time to listen, although we may not be confident in ourselves that we gain the understanding, as we begin to God will grant understanding. Then as we continue to trust that God will continue to give us more and more, we invest ourselves more and more. We also need to stay humble, because if we stop at any point and tell ourselves I’ve had enough understanding and stop paying attention and listening, it will stop. In fact the promise here is that what understanding we have achieved will be taken away. I believe this is because our pride will begin to isolate us and we will begin to know less and less about less and less.

So we need to be faithful and humble, then we will gain more and more understanding about more and more.

Commit:

I need to be faithful to be willing to pay close attention and to listen. I need to be humble and never think that I’ve learned enough.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, thank you for showing me this amazing truth. Please help me to be faithful so that I will pay close attention, that I will never stop listening. Please help me to be humble so that I will never stop learning. Please help me to never stop listening to you.

In the name of the one who will always speak to me when I listen and will teach me when I want to learn, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Numbers 14: 4 But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.

Inspect:

What caught my eye was that the Lord singled out Caleb in the rebuke against the rest of the nation who were fearful of entering the Promised Land because of the report of the spies. We see earlier in the chapter that out of the 12 spies that were sent in, 10 brought negative reports and only Joshua and Caleb expressed confidence that the Lord would help them to defeat the enemies that stood in their way. So why did the Lord only speak that Caleb had a different attitude, because didn’t Joshua also bring back a report that encouraged the people to trust in the Lord?

The only difference I could see was that the Bible only recorded Caleb speaking up against the people who expressed doubt (Number 13:30). Perhaps this is why Caleb was described by the Lord as having the different attitude. The Lord recognized his loyalty and promised to reward it. Could it be that Joshua didn’t speak up? We do see later that the Lord did acknowledge the loyalty of Joshua, by promising that both Joshua and Caleb would be permitted to enter the Promised Land. And eventually we see that Joshua was given the mantle of leadership.

However I think Caleb was the one who had the trust in the Lord to speak up, when no one else did. I believe this the “attitude” that the Lord is looking for. The courage to speak up to encourage, to defend the Lord’s faithfulness before others.

Commit:

I need to have this “attitude.” I must have the courage to speak up, when no one else will. To be willing to go against the popular tide. Only then can I gain the promise that God has for me.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank for showing me what kind of “attitude” I must have to be loyal to you. Help me to have the courage to stand up for you. Help me not to go with the crowd. After all the crowd didn’t get what God promised, only those that had the “attitude” of loyalty.

In the name of the one who I must remain loyal to, even if no one else would, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Psalm 90: 12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
so that we may grow in wisdom.

Inspect:

This Psalm was a prayer of Moses. What a great prayer, to ask the Lord to help us to keep in mind that our length of life here on earth is very brief. Having this perspective brings wisdom to us in so many ways:

- A sense of urgency. The realization that we can’t put stuff off for long. Once our life is over, there is no more time to work.
- A sense of perspective. The realization that some stuff just won’t matter, life is too short to dwell on something.
- A sense of value. The realization that some stuff does matter, life is too short to let it go by.

Commit:

I need to have this realization of the brevity of my life. This realization will drive me to urgency, to perspective and to value.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me the value of death. Please send me your Holy Spirit to give me the sense of urgency, perspective and value. Don’t let me discouraged by death, but let it give me wisdom.

In the name of the one who’s short life accomplished so much, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Numbers 11: 16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather before me seventy men who are recognized as elders and leaders of Israel. Bring them to the Tabernacle[d] to stand there with you. 17 I will come down and talk to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you, and I will put the Spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone.

Inspect:

We need to share the load. Moses was struggling again as the people were now complaining about the lack of meat. Sometimes it was lack of water, sometimes it was danger of enemy attack, now it was lack of meat since they were tired of eating manna. Moses got so frustrated that he asked the Lord to kill him already, because he couldn’t stand the complaining of the people any longer. The Lord solution was again to delegate. Early on in the journey, God sent Jethro to help Moses learn to delegate the responsibility for judging the people. But apparently this not include Moses’ burden of caring and encouraging the people.

I think the rhema here for me was that the leaders learned to judge the dispute of the people by learning from Moses, but to learn how to care for the people takes the Spirit of the Lord. I think it takes the Spirit of the Lord to put the care and love for the people and it takes the Spirit of the Lord to be equipped to be patient and encouraging for the people.

Commit:

I need to pray for this spirit. I need to be able to love and care for people I need to be able to be patient and encouraging. I can judge their disputes without the Spirit of the Lord but I cannot bear the burden of the people without it.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how to care for the burdens of the people. Please send me your Holy Spirit so that I can bear the burden of the people. The Spirit equips me to have compassion and wisdom to care for them as you do.

In the name of the one who cares for me, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 28: 23 So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul’s lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening. 24 Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe. 25 And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,
26 ‘Go and say to this people:
When you hear what I say,
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
27 For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me

Inspect:

It is amazing to me that Paul with all of his education, experience and personality couldn’t persuade all of the people, all of the time. We see in this scripture that he used scripture. We see that he went all day from morning to evening. We see that some were persuaded and they came to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. However, we also see that despite the use of the scripture and the intensity of the session, they were not persuaded. So even if they hear and even if they did see, they weren’t persuaded because their hearts were set against it. Unfortunately, once the hearts are hardened, scripture and time will not be able to move them; they will not be able to come to God.

We like Paul can only go so far in persuading people. We can present the scriptures in the best way we can, for as long as we can, and some will have hard hearts that will not be persuaded. I believe the rest has to be done through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the only one that can soften hardened hearts. Once the hearts become willing, then the time and Word will have an effect. Then they will be persuaded to turn their hearts to the Lord.

So we need to pray, we need to ask the Lord to send the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of those that we talk to. Yes we need to prepare, but we also need to pray.

Commit:

I need to prepare to make sure that I can present the proper scriptures accurately. I need to prepare enough material, so that I can present comprehensively. Then I need to pray. I need to ask the Holy Spirit to move on the hearts of the listeners.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how Paul preached. Thank you for the lesson that even as great a speaker that Paul is, he couldn’t persuade all that listened to him, because their hearts were hardened. Please help me to study to be able to persuade. Please help me to pray for those who are listening that their hearts would be open.

In the name of the one who sends the Holy Spirit who teaches me and who prepares the hearts, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Numbers 7: 84 So this was the dedication offering brought by the leaders of Israel at the time the altar was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver basins, and twelve gold incense containers. 85 Each silver platter weighed 3¼ pounds, and each silver basin weighed 1¾ pounds. The total weight of the silver was 60 pounds[d] (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). 86 Each of the twelve gold containers that was filled with incense weighed four ounces (as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel). The total weight of the gold was three pounds.[e] 87 Twelve young bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old male lambs were donated for the burnt offerings, along with their prescribed grain offerings. Twelve male goats were brought for the sin offerings. 88 Twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty one-year-old male lambs were donated for the peace offerings. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed.

Inspect:

What caught my eye is how orderly everything was. Each tribe brought the same gift before the Lord. For instance each platter weighed the same, each basin weighed the same, the numbers of animals presented were of the same number. The other thing was that Moses asked each to come on a given day.

Perhaps the lesson here was that God expects us to all bring the same thing. We are to bring the best of what we have. We are each individually responsible to present it to the Lord. We all have our own time to bring our offerings to the Lord.

Although God has given us different backgrounds and different quantities of things, i.e. the tribes were of different number of people, He still expects the same out of all of us. We just need to be faithful that God who is the source of everything, will provide to us everything, even what He expects from us. God loves us so much and will not set us up for failure.

Commit:

I must be obedient and trusting to bring to the Lord what He expects from me. I must not rely on what I have and don’t have, because God will provide all that I need. I must not rely on others, because we are all individually responsible. I must not rely on the timing of others, since everyone has their own time. They have their day, I have my day.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me that I need to be individually accountable for bringing to you what you want of me. Don’t let me wait for others. Don’t let me wait on the lead of others, the Heavenly Father has a time for me. Help me to be obedient to what I need to bring and when I need to bring.

In the name of the one of the will provide for me, even what I need to give back to Him, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Psalm 22: 23 Praise the Lord, all you who fear him!

Inspect:

To fear the Lord is to literally be afraid of the judgment of the Lord for disobeying Him. He judges us because His loves us. To fear the Lord then will help us to obey Him, which will bring us blessings. And now we see that we are commanded to praise the Lord. We need to give praise to the Lord to demonstrate that we recognize that all of our blessings come from the Lord. It reminds ourselves that because of God’s mercy and grace, and His generosity everything good comes from God. Praise also reminds others that hear our praise that the blessings that we receive our also available to them.

We praise because He commands us. We praise no matter what happens. We praise because He delights in our praise.

Commit:

I must praise the Lord no matter what. I must praise the Lord at all times.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you that you would never command me to do something that would be harmful to me. You command me to praise you because it will remind me who my true source is. You command me to praise you so that others would desire the blessings that come from obeying you.

In the name of the one who brings blessing through my praise, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Numbers 4:

19 This is what you must do so they will live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects. Aaron and his sons must always go in with them and assign a specific duty or load to each person.

27 Aaron and his sons will direct the Gershonites regarding all their duties, whether it involves moving the equipment or doing other work. They must assign the Gershonites responsibility for the loads they are to carry.

32 also the posts for the courtyard walls with their bases, pegs, and ropes; and all the accessories and everything else related to their use. Assign the various loads to each man by name.

Inspect:

God is so careful about everything. Each person has a specific assignment. They have a line of authority and are given a responsibility. I believe that God was showing us His character and how we too can become like Him. God clearly specified who each person would be report to. This person would be responsible for giving direction, in this case it was very specific. A specific person would be given a specific job to do.

I believe this is no different for today. God gives us direction for each of us to have a specific responsibility. I believe He places a person over us to help us to understand our responsibility and to help us to be successful at it.

Actually we are in both roles, we are given someone to give us directions, and we are also given someone to give direction to. In order for the tabernacle to be moved successfully, everyone had their role to play. Similarly, I believe that in moving God’s kingdom today, we have similar responsibilities, We all have a part in moving God’s kingdom.

Commit:

I need to do my part. I need obediently move the part I’m responsible for and I need to accurately give direction to those that I have authority over.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for this lesson in responsibility and direction. I ask that you send me Your Holy Spirit to help me to obediently carry out the responsibilities that you have assigned to me. I ask that you help me to accurately and with wisdom give direction to those that you have placed in my care.

In the name of the one who has a place for me in the kingdom, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Numbers 2: 34 So the people of Israel did everything as the Lord had commanded Moses. Each clan and family set up camp and marched under their banners exactly as the Lord had instructed them.

Inspect:

When Israel wandered in the wilderness after leaving Egypt God gave very specific instructions on how they were to arrange their camp and the order they were to march. At first this may seem sort of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), why would God give such detailed instructions on how to set up camp and what sequence to walk in? I believe that God wanted the people to be blessed. The challenge of having over 2 million constantly setup camp, take down camp and move to their next destination is immense. One could imagine that if this was done in a disorderly fashion there could be at minimum a lot of friction and confusion in the move and at worse, people getting lost and hurt. I believe there were enough things to worry about and that these instructions on how to place their tents and the order of the march, would free them from having to decide each and every time they would move.

The worse that would come out of this would be the perception that God freed His children from slavery, where thought harshly treated, they were surviving vs. now they were under the care of God in the wilderness they got confused, frustrated and eventually died off. No, God loved them too much to let them die off in the wilderness under His care.

I believe this is a type of the world, in that when we liberate people from the slavery of sin, we need to give them some structure and orderliness. We need to help them camp and march. We have give them some structure to develop their spiritual disciplines so that they can survive the wilderness. We cannot leave the development of their lives to chance. We are called to be disciplemakers.

Commit:

I need to give structure to those that God has placed under my care. I need to use the same wisdom that God used in not giving too much structure that they would rebel completely, but not too little that they would get frustrated.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me the importance of giving structure to those that are freed from the slavery of sin (and that includes me). Please send your Holy Spirit to give me the wisdom to not give too much structure and too little. You know exactly how much is needed at each moment. Please help me to do the same.

In the name of the one who I trust to give me the right amount of structure to prosper in the wilderness, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Leviticus 26: 44 “But despite all this, I will not utterly reject or despise them while they are in exile in the land of their enemies. I will not cancel my covenant with them by wiping them out, for I am the Lord their God. 45 For their sakes I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of all the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.”

Inspect:

This verse struck me given the context of the section of scripture. The passage talks about the blessings we would receive if we obey the Lord. The passage then talks about progressive punishment. It describes a frightening litany of more and more severe punishments that would come about if we continue to disobey the Lord. But right at the end, God gives His promise. Even if at the end as these punishments get more and more intense, when we would normally expect that a limit would be reached where God would just give up on us, God shows that He has no limits. At the end, God promises that He will still remember His promise. He promises that He will forever be our God, no matter how bad we are.

This is amazing, God will never give up on us. God always has the hope that we will come back to Him. We need to hold onto God’s hope for us, and make it the foundation for our hope. If our hope is on God’s hope, we will never be disappointed.

Commit:

I must remember to base my hope in God upon God’s hope in me. He will never give me up, I must never give Him up.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your amazing hope in me. Your are amazing that your hope in me has no limits. Please send me your Holy Spirit to help me to place my hope solidly on you.

In the name of the one who died for me, because of His hope in me, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Psalm 25: 4 Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.
5 Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.

Inspect:

The transparency of King David is so great. One might expect the King to have all the confidence in the world. After reaching the position, the King would be realize that he had the experience and the knowledge to do a good job going forward. However, we see here that King David humbly asks the Lord to continue to help him. The King continues to put his hope and trust in the Lord and not in himself or anyone else.

Could this be the secret to one of the most successful kings in Israel’s history? I believe so. In order to become successful and to remain successful, we must know the road to follow and the road to stay on. We must discern from truth and deception. The only way to do this is to put our hope and to receive our trust from the Lord on a daily basis.

Commit:

I need to be like King David. I must not get cocky and believe that I made it. I must daily put my hope and get my truth from the Lord and only from the Lord.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how a great man remains great. Please help me through your Holy Spirit to come to you on each and every day to put my hope in you. Help me to get truth from you, help me to get direction from you. You are the only one willing and able to save me.

In the name of the one shows me the path and leads me by truth, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Leviticus 23: 3 “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.

Inspect:

The Lord commands us over and over to take a break from our regular work. I believe that this is the way we learn to trust the Lord. We have to let go and allow Him to work. The Lord will not take away work from us. And if we do everything ourselves, then we give up the potential for accomplishing so much more by allowing God. We need to stop and let God.

Commit:

I need to stop. That’s it, just stop. I must let God be God. The more I do, the less God can do.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for reminding once again to take the Sabbath. Please help me to just shut It down and let you take over.

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

Amen

Rhema:

Acts 20: 22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit[f] to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

Inspect:

This is Paul talking. What an inspiration! Despite what he knows awaits him in Jerusalem, he continues to go. Throughout Paul’s ministry, the pattern remained the same, i.e. as the Lord blessed his ministry and began to expand his influence over a larger quantity and more influential people, persecution arose. Persecution came in the form of arrest, beating and threats to his life. Paul believed that this would not change in Jerusalem, and in reality more intensely since this was where the religious leaders were based.

But, Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go. The Word says here that he felt bound by the spirit. I believe this is part of Paul’s effectiveness, he allowed himself to be bound by the Spirit, instead of him bounding the Spirit. We must allow the Spirit to control our boundaries vs. us controlling the boundaries of the Spirit.

Paul also submitted his life, his own goals to the goals of the Lord. Too often we measure our goals against what the Lord’s goals for us are and we naturally value our goals over and above the Lord’s goals. We need to pray that God open our eyes so that we can see that accomplishing God’s work, is so much more valuable than whatever value we can obtain from accomplishing our own work. God’s work is not only eternal, but has consequences often far beyond what we can perceive.

What is God’s work? We need to tell other’s the Good News about the wonderful grace of God, that through believing and accepting of His Son, we will have eternal life. This has eternal rewards. This can and will impact the earth as those we tell, will tell others who will tell others.

Commit:

I need to do as Paul does. Even if I see that the path ahead is difficult and full of danger, I need to forge ahead. I need to realize that the work that God has for me is so much more valuable than the work that I have for myself. I need to humble myself and trust God that He will keep me safe and that He will help me be successful in doing His work.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me the key to Paul’s effectiveness. Please help me to humble and submit myself to Your work. Help me to see that Your work is more valuable than my work. Help to trust that you will keep me safe from the persecution that will arise. Help me to have faith that you will equip me to be successful in doing Your work.

In the name of the one who fills me with the Holy Spirit to build my faith to do the Father’s work, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Psalm 13: 3 Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.

Inspect:

This is a great verse. King David is telling the Lord, that if He doesn’t restore the sparkle in his eyes, he will die. I believe this means that if we don’t see things the way God see’s thing, we will die.

God see’s truth, if we don’t see truth, we will see deception. This will cause us to believe the wrong thing, think the wrong thing and eventually do the wrong thing.

It is so difficult to see truth because we have eyes of flesh, which is subject to our prejudices, influence of others and we just don’t see the entire picture.

God on the other hand sees everything in total accuracy. We need to see things God’s way, in that way we will believe the right thing, think the right thing and do the right thing.

Commit:

I must stop trying to see things my way, and instead try to see things God’s way. My way is limited God is not. My way is colored, God is not. My way is influenced by my flesh and the enemy, God is not. My way leads to death, God does not.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me that I need to see things with your eyes. Please send me your Holy Spirit to bring your sparkle to my eyes. Help me to see people as you see them. Let me see the things around as you see them. Only then can I have life.

In the name of the one who will bring His sparkle to my eyes, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 18: 24 Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. 25 He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit[h] and with accuracy. However, he knew only about John’s baptism. 26 When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately.

Inspect:

Accuracy and more accuracy. Apollos was a great speaker, who not only had great delivery but his content was accurate as well. He was an enthusiastic teacher. If the scripture had stopped right there, we would conclude that Apollos was “THE MAN,” he had everything. However, we see that Apollos did not know the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. So Priscilla and Aqulla completed his education and Apollos became more accurate. How so? I believe that now with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Apollos now had the Holy Spirit to teach him directly.

By ourselves, we can only go so far, so we need to Holy Spirit to go farther.

Commit:

I must go as far as I can with my own abilities. I must allow the Holy Spirit to take me beyond to levels that I cannot achieve myself.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father I thank you for showing how to be more than I am now. Please help me to submit more to the Holy Spirit. I want to be more eloquent, more knowledgeable about the Scriptures, and more enthusiastic.

In the name of the one who baptizes me with the Holy Spirit, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 17:

1 Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women

10 That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. 12 As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.

Inspect:

It caught my eye that Paul and Silas got the same results in Thessalonica and Berea. In both cities, many Jews came to believing in the Lord as well as many Greeks. How did Paul and Silas accomplish this? The Bible records that it was because the preached from the scriptures. I believe this speaks to the power of speaking from the Word. It is the Word that sets men free and not any other word. We read in other letters of Paul that he intentionally made it a point not to use clever arguments or manipulative presentation, instead he presented the Word in a simple and plain way. I believe it works the same today.

Commit:

I need to use God’s Word. It works. It is not my words that save, it is God’s Word that saves. It is His word that can save any ethnicity through any economic strata.

Exalt:

Heaven Father, I thank you for showing me how to lead people to you. Please help me to use your Word. Please help me to resist the temptation to package, dilute and distort your Word. Help me to present your Word, simply, powerfully and with passion.

In the name of the one who with a Word, saves. Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 16: 1 Paul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 Timothy was well thought of by the believers[a] in Lystra and Iconium, 3 so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.

Inspect:

I think this is a great example of discipleship. Paul discovers Timothy. Timothy is a Christ-follower and one who had found favor with other Christ-followers. We realize that later Timothy becomes the pastor of the church in Ephesus, which is one of the largest churches in the world at the time. I wonder, if this is when Timothy’s training starts? It started when Paul began to become Timothy’s spiritual father. How does it start?

It starts first for Timothy to be circumcised. Circumcision is an act of separation and identification. It’s a separation from the old and an identification with the new. Timothy had to end his identification with the Gentile culture and become identified with the Jewish culture. As disciples, we need to do the same, we must separate ourselves from the old, and identify ourselves with the new. We end with the world, and begin to identify ourselves with Christ.

The second part is to then for Timothy to join Paul on his journey. This allowed Paul to not just teach Timothy, but to model for him in every dimension of life. When we follow someone on their journey, there is total transparency. We see the good and the bad. There is no on-stage and off-stage. This is what a mentor must offer the disciple. And this is what the disciple must commit to, the journey.

As mentors and disciples we must do the same.

Commit:

I must commit to be a disciple that is willing to join my mentor on their journey. I must commit to be a mentor that is transparent to those that God would have me disciple.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how to disciple and to be disciple. Please help me to submit myself to join the journey of my mentors. Please help me to be transparent with those I disciple to honestly show them every part of my life.

In the name of the one who’s journey I want to join, whose life has shown me, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 15: 28 “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements: 29 You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well.

Inspect:

When the Gentiles became to be converted and become integrated into the church, problems started to arise. Jews who were accustom to living a life of strict adherence to regulations in order to obtain a right relationship with the Lord, wanted to impose the same behavior to the non-Jewish Christ followers. This behavior of trying to achieve salvation through obedience of regulations couldn’t even get the Jewish people salvation, and yet they wanted to impose it on the Gentiles. Rather, than trying to build up the new believers, they were trying to pull them down.

So the Holy Spirit directed them to eliminate the barriers and just focus on the critical issues:

- Abstain from food offered to idols – eating the food offered to idols would open the door to head back to the ways of idol worship. Dr Cole says that whatever we resist grows weaker, whatever we submit to grows stronger. God wanted the hold of idol worship to weaken.
- Consuming blood or meat of strangled animals – The blood of Christ is our only key to salvation. Blood gives life. Christ’s blood gives eternal life. I believe the Holy Spirit wanted to remind us that we should never forget that only the blood of Christ is to give us life.
- Sexual immorality – when we have immoral sex, we are not only susceptible to physical harm, but spiritual harm as well. When we become bonded through sex with unbelievers, we become spiritually joined as well. When righteous is joined with unrighteousness, only unrighteousness can result.

If we are to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and the salvation through His death on the cross, and follow these instructions, the promise from the Holy Spirit is that we will do well.

Commit:

I must not put any obstacles in the way of new Christ – followers. I must only ensure that they have accepted Jesus as Lord of their lives. Then I must guide to resist behavior that would weaken them and encourage behavior that would strengthen them.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you that you encouraged others to accept Gentiles like me into your family. Please help me to encourage others as well. Please help me to build them up and not tear them down. Help me to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as the Apostles were.

In the name of the one who builds me up, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 14: 21 After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, 22 where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.

Inspect:

If any of us needed a reminder that the life of a Christ follower is going to be easy, this is it!

Paul and Barnabas as they were leaving the church they had grown, gave then encouragement, I believe they wanted to let them know that there will be hardships on the way to entering God’s Kingdom. We need to know that the path of the Kingdom will be difficult. There will be those that will try to hold us back. There will be those that try to distract us to different paths away from the Kingdom.

So we need to be strong. The way to be build our strength is through our spiritual disciplines, which is reading the Word, prayer, fasting, fellowship and others. Only through the disciplines will be able to resist those that hold us back, those that try to turn us away from the true path.

Commit:

I must stay strong and I must strengthen those around me. I must help them to know that the road will not be easy.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for reminding us and encouraging us. Please help me to strengthen myself in you. Please help me to strengthen those around me.

In the name of the one who encourages and strengthens me, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Acts 13: 50 Then the Jews stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas and ran them out of town. 51 So they shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium. 52 And the believers[n] were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Inspect:

How do we react to persecution? Here’s how Paul and Barnabas handled it.

The jealous Jews who were coveting the attention of the crowds that were flocking to hear Paul and Barnabas, were inciting people to rally against them. Well it worked, the mob forced Paul and Barnabas to get out of town. But look what happened.

Paul and Barnabas did as Jesus had instructed the disciples to do when they ran into crowds that did not welcome the message. They shook the dust off their feet as a signal that rejection was recognized, and they would be moving on elsewhere.

And the disciples and believers instead of being bummed out and depressed, went out with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

The lesson for me is that as we start experiencing victory, the enemy will start bringing attack. But we find out that the result of the attack is that the good news is spread. The gospel doesn’t just sit in one place, the persecution unwittingly causes it to spread. The persecution I think also serves to cause the believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit and joy, also an unintended consequence of the persecution.

Commit:

I must expect the persecution. I must learn to respond as Paul and Barnabas. I must intentionally move on. I must remain in the Holy Spirit and receive the joy that He brings.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me how to deal with persecution. Please help me to be intentional with rejection, to respond to it not with anger, but with love. To leave and go to those that respond, as you Son commanded. Please help me to go with the Holy Spirit and to receive His joy.

In the name of the one who was persecuted and sends the Holy Spirit and joy, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Exodus 39: 42 So the people of Israel followed all of the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 43 Then Moses inspected all their work. When he found it had been done just as the Lord had commanded him, he blessed them.

Inspect:

There’s a great lesson in excellence here. The Lord gave Moses very detailed instruction on how to construct the tabernacle. Moses in turn gave the instructions to the craftsman. The lesson here for me is that Moses than inspected their work, and only after he verified that it met the requirements, did Moses bless them.

The lessons for me are:

- God is precise. He gave Moses detailed and precise instructions.
- Moses is precise. Moses in turn gave instructions to the craftsman.
- Craftsman is precise. The leaders and the staff did precision work and faithful to their instructions.
- Moses inspected all of their work. I’m sure Moses trusted the people, but nevertheless, Moses checked everything. Moses wanted to be sure that the instructions of their Lord were carried out.
- Moses blessed the people for their good work. We want to bless as God blesses, when there is obedience.

Commit:

I must commit to obedience to the Lord. I must commit to conveying God’s instructions to others. I must commit to checking their work to help them be obedient to the Lord.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me about obedience and leadership. Please help to hear you accurately and completely. Then please help me to convey your commands to others. Help me to lead them wisely to bless them as you would bless them for their obedience.

In the name of the one who is of order and excellence and will help me to do the same, and will help me to help others do the same, Jesus.

Amen.

Rhema:

Exodus 34: 21 “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.

Inspect:

The Sabbath has no exceptions. God commands here that even during times of plowing and harvest no ordinary work should be done on the Sabbath. Logically, it would seem that during these critical seasons that there would be understanding and exceptions be given. In the plowing or planting season, if tasks are not done on time, the risk is that the crop will not have time to mature, before winter comes, and so there would not be enough food to carry through the winter. Similarly in the harvest season, there is a risk that if the harvest is not brought in while the crop is ripe, that the amount of harvest will be reduced. But I believe God wanted us to learn trust no matter what the season, it doesn’t matter if the risk is high, we must not only obey God, when the risk is low.

Commit:

I must learn to obey God no matter what. I must obey Him when the risk is low, I must obey Him when the risk is high. I must honor the Sabbath and stop my ordinary work. I must take the time to be refreshed as the Lord was.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for reminding me how important the Sabbath is. You stopped ordinary work and was refreshed, I must do the same. I must trust you when time is critical, and I must trust you when time is not critical.

In the name of the one who is faithful to me during the seasons of busyness as well as seasons of leisure, Jesus!

Amen.

Rhema:

Exodus 31: 12 The Lord then gave these instructions to Moses: 13 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. 14 You must keep the Sabbath day, for it is a holy day for you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. 15 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. 16 The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time. 17 It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.’”

Inspect:

This is amazing about the Sabbath. The realization is that God never asks us to do anything that He wouldn’t do Himself. In v.17, God said that He stopped working on the seventh day and was refreshed. God, who can speak only truth, said that He was refreshed on the seventh day. God didn’t say that He stopped work when the tasks were finished, the Bible says that He stopped work. We need to do the same. We must not stop working when the tasks are done, We are commanded to stop working on the seventh day and be refreshed.

We are given six days to do our ordinary work. On the seventh day, we are commanded to rest completely. It is a day that is dedicated to the Lord. In the Old Testament, those that violated this commandment were put to death. Why? If God Himself took the seventh day to be refreshed, we must do as well.

Commit:

I must do as the Lord commanded. If the Lord stopped work on the seventh day and was refreshed, I must do the same. I must stop doing the ordinary work and dedicate the day to the Lord. In the past violators were killed. Perhaps today, we die a spiritual death when we do not take the time to be refreshed.

Exalt:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for showing me that you took a Sabbath too. You showed me that you were refreshed. If you did, I must too, but I need your help. Send me your Holy Spirit to help me to stop, not when I’m finished, but when I’m supposed to.

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

Amen.