Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Father's Will

In meditating on the issues at hand from the last few posts, the scripture from Matthew 7 came to me.
Matthew 7:21-23
I began to think of how we believe that the litmus test for spiritual maturity is signs, wonders, and miracles. But that is not it at all. In this passage, Jesus clearly tells us that many will stand before Him on that day and tell Him all of the great things that they have done. He will tell them that He never knew them. This is profound! As much as I want to see signs, wonders, and miracles, there is something greater to serving the Lord and that is found in verse 21. It is doing the will of the Father. Did that smack you like it smacked me?
We have gotten caught up in wanting to see the supernatural so much that we have lifted those who seem to operate in the supernatural without ever examining the true fruit of their ministry. Yes, supernatural things will flow from a true man/woman of God. But that is not a sign of spiritual maturity. We must examine their fruits. Just because someone is used in the supernatural does not mean that they are right with God. We must realize that so that we are not lead astray. In Deuteronomy 13:1-5, it talks about if a man comes and announces a sign and wonder and that sign and wonder takes place, and after it takes place he says lets follow other gods then he should be put to death. I believe we see a lot of this today. People show up do a sign and wonder, get a national following, and then begin to feed us things that are unscriptural and tell us we should believe what they are telling us and if we don't then we are not of God. Problem is that the things they are telling us are not in the Bible. So who really is not of God?
Let us not abuse the grace and mercy of God. Let us not buy into what the enemy is trying to sell as "being from God." Let us hunger and thirst for a deeper walk with God and out of that if supernatural signs and wonders happen, Praise the Lord. Let Him be lifted up higher and higher and everything else be brought low. We are building His kingdom and not our own. Let us be found doing the Father's will whether that ever leads to us doing signs, wonders, and miracles. When we are in the Father's will, we are in the right place.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

If You Have Time...

I'm becoming more and more concerned with some of the teaching that is out there and some of the things people are believing. I found this article which was a comment on Paul Grabill's blog (note: Paul Grabill did not post this someone else did). If you have time, this article is long, read it here. I am not trying to paint Rick Joyner, or anybody, to be bad. I don't know him and I've never been to anything in his ministry. I do have questions about what he is doing with Todd Bentley (see earlier post) which has led me to dig a little deeper. If you have ever experienced MorningStar Ministries let me know what you think of this persons account. I post this to get us to think and check ourselves to make sure our beliefs and the things we hold as important are Biblically based. I would love to hear from you on what you think.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Who is Jesus to You?

In the sermon series we are in here at the NLC called "American Idol" I encouraged the people this past Sunday to ask the Lord to reveal Himself to them so that they could answer the question posed to the disciples, "Who do you say I am?" (Luke 9:18-21) When Peter answers, "The Christ" Jesus, in Matthew's account (Matthew 16:17), said that God revealed that to him and not man. It's the only way we can answer that question, God reveals Himself to us. I can't tell you who Jesus is to you. You must seek Him out.
So as I spent time praying asking God to reveal Himself to me I thought of the commercial for "G." If you don't know what G is it's Gatorade's new logo and ad campaign. Why would I think of that? Because they say that Gatorade is a difference maker. As I was praying I just felt like God revealed Himself to me as the "Difference Maker". In every situation I find myself in, He is my difference maker. That is who God is to me.
Gatorade has a lot of things it claims to do for you. God has proven what He can do for us if we allow Him to be our difference maker.
So what is God speaking to you? What is He showing you? Ask Him to reveal Himself to you as you pray, read scripture, and enjoy creation. Let Him speak into your spirit and then leave a comment. I would love to hear what God is showing you.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

What is Going On?

I want to share an article by J. Lee Grady (click here). Some of you may have heard about this already, I have just heard about it now. It truly makes me wonder what is going on in the church of America? I respected what Bill Johnson and Rick Joyner had to say in the past but I'm completely baffled by what they are doing now. Check out the article and let me know your thoughts. More to come later.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Sky is Falling

Can you believe it's already March and that this weekend we will be turning our clocks ahead? Spring is right around the corner. (I heard shouts of Hallelujah and Thank You Jesus!)
The NLC encountered a great problem this past Friday. You could hear Chicken Little yelling, "The sky is falling." Our ceiling above our drop ceiling decided to fall down through our drop ceiling. It is a very old ceiling made of plaster over chicken wire that stretches from one end of the sanctuary to the other. But no problem. We were able to meet in the fellowship hall and what an awesome time we had together this past Sunday. God continues to do great things in our church, even though we were packed together, only had two guitars and a piano, the presence of God was there. I believe that God is doing something in our church through this occurence. I am calling this "Temporary Convenience for Permanent Improvement." I look forward to what God is teaching us and is going to continue to teach us as we seek Him for breakthrough. I've even received a prophetic word yesterday from this whole event that went along with things that were on my heart.
God is up to something and it isn't just about fixing a ceiling. Stay tuned.