Go Forward!
Haggai 2: 9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” [emphasis added]
One of the toughest pasts to let go of is past glory. That was why the elders in Ezra 3 [please read] were weeping. Yes, it was great but it is over and you are still holding on? God says let it go. God is not saying let it go and be hopeless. Let it go and take hold of greater things.
Transform Not Transfer
Phil.3:13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
You cannot go forward if you keep holding onto the past. The past is what it is – past! So let it go. You cannot start a new business if you are still holding on to the failure of the last business. You cannot take a step forward in marriage holding on to the failure of the last relationship. It will be totally impossible for you to trust anyone again. God says you have to let the past go if you want to go forward. However, the question is, why is it so difficult to let go of the past – past regrets, past pain and past hurts? God is saying you Read the rest of this entry
Let Go!
Eze.36:11 “I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” [NKJV]
If you are ever in doubt as to what you are truly worth, look at Jesus because He is the picture of the value God puts on you. The clay derives it worth from the potter. A lot of us are tempted to think our worth increases when we perform and we are successful. We are tempted to think that when we fail and our performance drops, our worth also decreases. But the truth is that your success does not increase your worth and your failure does not decrease your worth. Your worth in God is the priceless Blood of Jesus. There is nothing, Read the rest of this entry
Your Worth
Rom.8: 32 “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.”
I agree that there has been a lot of abuse on claims that “God said…” but you must know how to deal with it as a child. When someone comes to you with, “God said xyz”, you simply tell him or her to wait because you need check with your Father. He is your Father and you can check with Him. Some people will get upset with you because they do not expect you to do that. But do not take their word for it. I am not saying you should not trust people. I am saying you should check with God because God sent Jesus so you can have access Read the rest of this entry
Friend of God!
John 15:15 “I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me”
Yesterday we began to talk about the orphan mentality and how it is possible for children of God to struggle with the orphan mentality even in the Presence of their Father. We will continue to identify pointers to the orphan mentality so that we can deal with it conclusively. Read the rest of this entry
True North
Job 22:21 [KJV] “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.”
The next thing that the spiritual leaders did, particularly Ezra, was to teach the people the Word of God. Why teach the Word? Ezra taught the people the Word because he needed to show them who they were. These people did not know the nation of Israel or anything about God. He needed to teach them so that they could see the world and see themselves. As a child of God, there are many things that attempt to influence your identity. Things are constantly trying to make you succumb and tell you who you are. Situations Read the rest of this entry
Come Now
Heb.4:16 “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most”
For many of us, our walk with God started with seeking Him because of a need. And on that journey, we discovered that not only is He all that we need, God is all that we want. A classic example is someone seeking God for the blessing of children. God uses that need to draw the person in and then He more than satisfies that longing. By the time that woman or that family has their triplets [say amen], they have fallen in love with God.
So Much More!
Job 7:17 “What are people, that you should make so much of us; that you should think of us so often?”
It is only God that is all sufficient. Yesterday we established the fact that even though God does not need us, He wants us. That is why the psalmist says repeatedly, what is man that You are mindful of him [Ps.8:4, Ps.144:3]. However, the sad truth is that most people would not seek God until they need Him. God knows this so He puts a need in our lives. That need makes us seek Him only to discover that we want Him. That is the basis of the wilderness experience. That is why people go through the wilderness experience.
Praise God!
Ezra 3:11 With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid.” [emphasis added]
Scripture says, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Remember that these people had just come from captivity to meet Jerusalem in shambles, in rubbles. They had just managed to lay the foundation of the temple. Note that they did not just say for the Lord is good, which would have been fantastic. But they said for the Lord is so good. How do you say, “God is so good” when all you see is rubbles? How do you say, “God is so good” when you are at the beginning of the Read the rest of this entry
The Priesthood
Rev.5:10 “And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth”
To go forward, the first thing you must do is to build your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. The priesthood sustains the temple and the priesthood is based on repetition. This means that the duties of a priest are repetitive. It is almost like a list of what to do daily and at different times of the day. So, for you to take care of your temple there are things you have to do repetitively. And whether you like it or not, whether you feel like it or not, you have to be consistent at doing these things.
