People Of Issachar

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9...."God asks us, 'Will you allow me to dramatically alter your way so that I may teach you My own?" Beth Moore

There are many Scriptures that either make us uncomfortable, or that we ignore, and that which is above is surely one of them. We don't like to think in terms of His way of thinking, moving, being, acting, as completely different than ours. We like to believe that He thinks like us, wants what we want, and will operate in every situation just as we would. When the reality of Isaiah 55 collides with our hoped for reality, we get angry, accusing, sulk, or begin to question His goodness. In all of it, He has a question for us, and it is so well put in Moore's above quote; will we yield to His totally dismantling our ways? Our ways of thinking, choosing, even believing? He has always been doing that, but I think in light of today's events, never more so than now, at least in our lifetimes.

It was said in the 9-11 attacks that the terrorists were striking at what they saw as the foundation of our nation; its economic foundation as represented by the World Trade Center, and its military might in targeting the Pentagon. Now, a different terror is upon us, and it strikes at all the visible foundations we have humanly laid. We have seen and are seeing how unreliable they are. The question for us is, how well has the enemy, working through this virus, succeeded in striking at the spiritual foundation of the people of God, of the followers of Christ? Many who profess faith in Him have to this point, placed far more confidence in the world's foundation than a foundation built upon the Rock of Christ. That is being severely tested now. Indeed, all here in the west who name Him as Lord are undergoing it as well. In the midst of the test, He confronts us with Moore's question. Will we allow Him to Him to transform not just our foundation, but our very way of seeing, hearing, understanding, and believing? Are we willing to release our ways, all of them, so that we might know and live in His?

It can only happen through our total surrender to our way, and a choice to learn and know His. When the time came for King David to come into his kingdom, people began to come to him from all over Israel. One such group were the men of Issachar. Of these it was said that they "understood the temper of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take." They lived and walked in spiritual discernment, which has been a great lack in the church of the west. To know His ways and live them out, we must have it. Along with His wisdom and understanding. We cannot, without letting go of our ways in order to take hold of His. The time for that is now. Are we willing to live in that "now" with Him?

People of Issachar. This is the need of the day, for His church, our homes and families, and for our nation and nations. We can be such.....if we're willing. Are we willing? Are you?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Paupers?

"Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God." Romans 11:33...."My God, look at all the riches there were in Jesus Christ, and I come to the judgement seat almost a pauper." A.W. Tozer

The Bible speaks often and deeply about the riches to be found in the Father, in His Son Christ, and that these riches, our inheritance in Him, are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Can there be any more wonderful guarantee than this? Yet, here sit so many of us in the condition Tozer speaks of. A condition that will be fully revealed on that day when we, those who call Him Savior and King, have to stand before Him and give account for how we have squandered those riches, or never partaken of them at all, throughout our lives. Why did we? How could we? Yet we do. We know we do.

Part of it is certainly explained by the fact that we've bought the enemy's lie that we cannot experience His riches in this life. That's for eternity, which he cons us into believing starts after we die. Christ's truth is that His eternal life is made available to us right here, right now, for all who trust and believe in His name. The devil convinces us that all that is available to us are sips and nibbles of His living water and bread. He gets us to live on table scraps, and all the while He sets a spiritual feast before us, but we don't know or believe that its there.

A bigger part is that we value the food and water of this world far more than we do His. Witness the hoarding of supplies in our current pandemic. We grasp all we can while we can. We can't believe that the One who offers spiritual bread and water would also see to our receiving the physical as well. The result is the constant strain and anxiety of whether there will be enough. Enough money, enough resources, enough of what we need. We lose sight, indeed, we never see, that He is, in all things, more than enough. We cannot believe that He will take what is not enough and make out of it an abundance. So we continue to live in the place of worry, anxiety and fear. We continue to be paupers, begging in the street, when we could be at His table, partaking of His riches.

I know both sides of this. I have been His son living as a pauper, worrying, fearing, that there wouldn't be enough. Stressed to the breaking point under all of the pressure. Worried that all would be lost, and seeking to make a way out for myself, and failing miserably in it. I don't have space to tell you of all the times He delivered me in spite of my unbelief, but I'll tell you of the time He finally was able to set me free from my pauper lifestyle: Our church was struggling mightily financially. Less than a year before He had opened the door in a miraculous way to purchase a home. Now, our income was such that I could not receive my housing allowance in full. My salary was meager. How would I pay my mortgage? I, and the leaders in the church decided two things. We'd be faithful in the stewardship of our finances, and the church would as well. We continued on, and here's the glory of it all; I did not receive more than $5000 of that allowance that year, yet I never missed a mortgage payment. How? I can't tell you. I can only tell you that when the payment came due, the money was there. Greater than that though was that along with His supply was the outpouring of His constant peace, joy, and expectation in all of it. The church recovered, the shortfall was eventually made up, and God showed Himself faithful in all of it. I stopped being a pauper. By His grace, I want to remain so.

If we were to appear before Him today, in what state would we be? Especially as regards our living in the midst of the riches He has provided? May we not be living as paupers and orphans while all the while surrounded by His riches and promises. They are infinite, and they are ours. Are you living in that truth? May we not have to answer one day as to why, in our need, we didn't think He was enough?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Sacred Moments

"He then went a little farther, fell to the ground, and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him." Mark 14:35...."God is calling you to go deeper in your prayer life with Him. If you are willing to be the person Jesus can take with Him into the most sacred moments, you will experience things only the angels shared with Jesus that night." Henry Blackaby

Sacred moments. These are what we're to partake of with, and in Him.....if we're willing to go farther with Him. Farther than the general crowd that loosely followed. Most didn't even know He was there. Farther than Judas, who had already chosen his own agenda over the purpose of Christ. Farther than the majority of the disciples, who took rest, and never even entered into prayer with Him. Farther even then the inner three, who began to keep watch with Him, but soon fell asleep. Only the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the ministering angels, know what took place spiritually in that Garden, yet it was not meant to be so. Jesus had invited His disciples to enter in His "sacred moment," but none did. How like them are we?

Christ came into this world in a tumultuous time, yet a perfect one, for the Father, for the Son, and though they didn't know it, the people He came to save as well. We are living in a tumultuous time as well. Far more so than any of us have ever experienced. He is here in the midst of it, but has He really entered into it with you and me? Or more correctly, have we entered into it with Him? What sacred moments has He offered to us that we've missed? As He seeks to stretch our faith, deepen our understanding, and widen our sight, He bids us to come farther with Him, out of comfort zones, into a place that we've never known before.

We are praying...a lot. Of what do our prayers consist? From what place in our hearts do they come? The disciples were afraid. They knew something world changing was about to happen, though they weren't sure just what. It was Christ's desire that they join Him in seeking the Father, that they do something that is not much talked of these days, and that is to "pray through" everything that stood between them and into the indescribable peace, joy, hope, and well-being found in Him. The awful reality of the cross was before Jesus. His humanity knew the pain it held, most especially what the cost would be. All the disciples were in various stages of fear, and that fear continued to hold them after the crucifixion. They were meant to break through that fear unto the Father, alongside their Master. They would have, if only they'd have gone a little farther with Him. They missed their sacred moment. Will we?

In these earth shaking times, we need a people praying through all the fear, panic, anxiety, and other forces arrayed against His people. We can only do so if we are willing to go farther. Farther into intimacy, oneness, and fullness of His life. If we will, we will have those sacred moments with Him. We will see, hear, think as He wishes us to. We will not be held in the grip of fear and death, but in that of hope and life.

Like Christ, our flesh desires that this hour would pass, especially that it would pass us by. His Spirit calls us to step out....farther, deeper, in this hour than we ever have before. We cannot miss this sacred moment which will yield sacred fruit, sacred lives, and a sacred church. Such awaits us if we, like Him, will go farther.

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Famine

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8

Scripture says that there will be a famine upon the earth. Not a famine for meat and bread, but for the Word of God. That Scripture has proven true many times in this world, but perhaps none more so than right now. We have been, and are, in the midst of such a famine. We well know the taste of this world's food, but not of of His. We know little of the taste and beauty of His Bread, Milk, and Wine of the Holy Spirit, of His Holy Word. Because of that lack of knowledge and experience of that "taste," we also know so little as concerns Him. As a result we, His church, have in many ways become tasteless ourselves. Yet right now, I believe He stands before us and bids us come, taste, see, that the Lord is good, and then be vessels of that taste to a starving world.

Anyone who's frequented a grocery store of late can see that many food staples are either sold out, or in short supply. Fear and panic do that. We know the value of that food. Why do we know so little of the priceless worth of His? Jesus said that those who depend upon the water and bread of this world will only grow hungry again. That's natural. Yet He promises that if we partake of the bread and water that is His Life, as a way of life, we will not hunger and thirst again. That is supernatural, and only He could make such a promise. Dare we believe it?

We are seeing this panicked reaction to this virus because we, even in the church, know little, if anything, of the nurture and life to be found in Him and in His Word. We look to government, to science, to health agencies, and of course, to the media, to tell us what to do, where to go, and how to live. They all have their place. Our great sin is that we have allowed them to take His place. I am not making any kind of political statement in this, but certainly a spiritual one in that when a photo of Vice-President Pence was shown of him praying with his team for guidance, it was roundly mocked. Mocked as being a useless response to a real need. This is what a famine produces. A culture starving to death in their ignorance and unbelief. God help us all if the church in any way follows their lead.

Our church and many others are seeking to provide food and help in our city of Lynchburg in any way we can. This can be the only response of the church; being the church. Yet the greatest help and ministry we can give is to minister Christ, His Hope, His Life, His Food, to a world in the midst of a spiritual famine. We must be filled to the full with that food, and then live lives that a starving world can "taste." I want to live each day tasting His life to the full. Then I want to be, in every way He leads, a taste of Him to a generation living without Him. This virus has brought us the opportunity to be that. Will we? Or will this opportunity, like so many others, just pass us by?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Washing Our Hands

"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." James 4:8

In the midst of this virus epidemic there has been a multitude of encouraging articles, posts, and messages calliing on us to not give in to fear, panic, and despair. I concur with all of them. Yet there is another message to be heard as well, and it is not a popular one. It is found in the above Scripture coming from a book in the Bible that makes many a believer, particularly in the western church, decidedly uncomfortable; the book of James.

If we believe Almighty God to be totally sovereign, and I do, then we cannot miss what He is saying to us in His allowing of this pandemic. What He is saying to the world, and even more, to His church. Churches and people are praying, praying like never before in most cases. This is good, yet, what is it that we're seeking? Is it just relief from the effects of this virus? Is it a desire to get back to "normal?" If so, what is that normal? Is that at all what He wants to take us back to? A church that in many ways looks very much like the world it is supposed to apart from? A church that is nurtured more from the soda pop and junk food of the world than from the Living Water and Bread of Life that is given in Jesus Christ? He seeks a "normal" for us that is totally abnormal to much of the way we've been living. That's what makes James 4:8 decidedly uncomfortable for us, yet desperately needed as well.

Can we see the correlation between the obsessive demand that we constantly wash our hands as a means of maintaining physical health, while missing our need to have clean hands before Him? The need for the first is real, but it also shows how rooted in this world we are, because we've been content to neglect the latter consistently. We're calling out to Him now, but we've omitted the element of seeking to draw near to Him. We may have often sung the song "Give Us Clean Hands," but we've not often followed through, prayed through, on having them. There has been a great amount of double-mindedness in our devotion to Him. We talk a great deal about "lukewarm Christianity," without worrying much about whether we're one of its products. Francis Chan says there can be no such thing. I'm more and more inclined to agree. I believe the Father is as well.

I am not ready to call this pandemic a judgement from God. I do view it as a wake-up warning. If we, the church, miss what I believe He is saying in this, we can only expect more of these warnings to come, until we become so hardened and deaf to the warnings, that He can send no more. He is speaking, calling. Calling us upward, onward, and deeper. Into Him, His holiness, His righteousness, His life. May we wash our hands before Him. May our hearts be truly cleansed. May all double-mindedness be washed away. That all sounds like an awakening, and that is what I'm praying and believing for..... An awakening; in me, in His church, and in this world.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Nothing Impossible

"For nothing will be impossible with God." Luke 1:37......"God is the God of promise. He keeps His word even when that seems impossible." Colin Urquhart....."We often limit our vision to what we know to be in the realm of possibility - not as God defines possibility, but as we define it." Chris Tiegreen

As a nation and as His church within that nation, we are facing a situation and situations that few, if any of us have ever faced before. Mass shutdowns, even of churches, are taking place. Fear and panic are rampant, hoarding of goods is as well. People are afraid to venture outside of their homes. The church in America is being challenged as never before, and on every level; financially, physically, emotionally, and above all spiritually. Here's a reality we may not want to face, but must; our belief in the truth of Luke 1:37 is going to be challenged on every one of those levels.

It's easy to say we believe in His words when we are not in the position of actually having to do so. We are now having to do that. I think the majority of His people don't live in the realm of the Holy Spirit. We tend to depend on our abilities, not His. So we end up doing exactly what Tiegreen says; we think of Him doing what we think is possible, not in what He says is. I've a friend who says we tend to live in the realm of possibility thinking and not that of nothing will be impossible. There's a huge gap between the two. Which one are we, are you, currently living in? Be assured of this, you can't live in the gap between them, though a large segment of the church has been trying to do so.

What comes to my mind as I write is the scene of Israel at the Red Sea, with the Egyptian army coming at their rear with the intention of returning them to their slavery. They could not go forward or backward. They couldn't go anywhere. They were powerless. Into the impossibility spoke the voice of God, "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." The sea parted, the people went through, and then, that same sea destroyed the Egyptians who sought to follow. A fable you say? That event was so burned into the consciousness of the Jews that it remains central in their faith system to this day. It must be so in that of the Christian. Dangers, needs, national emergencies are real. The Almighty God of all the earth is more real. In Jeremiah 32:27 He asks, "Is anything too difficult for Me?" We can live in the realm of that which we believe is possible, or in the living faith of nothing is impossible with God. What's your choice?

Blessings,
Pastor O

To The Hilt

"Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord invincible in battle. Open up the ancient gates...let the King of glory enter. Who is the King of glory? The Lord Almighty - He is the King of glory." Psalm 24-8-10...."I would recommend you either believe God up to the hilt, or else not to believe at all." Charles Spurgeon

There's a statement much needed in the church today that I think we've lost sight of. Hopefully not completely. That is, we're to leave, always, room for His glory. A question to ask ourselves, particularly in these tumultuous times, is do we, are we? Or, are our hearts and minds so filled, indeed paralyzed, with such fear, anxiety, stress, that there is no room at all for anything else? Particularly the witness of His glory in all of it. Are we far more attuned to the voices of the talking heads on the cable news networks than we are to the voice of the Holy Spirit? Do we listen and believe what the so called experts in science and medicine tell us over and above what He speaks? Do we even hear Him speaking at all? Has the hysteria of the flesh drowned out not only His voice, but the expectation of His sovereign grace? Have we, with our unbelief, closed the "gates," the very gates of our hearts? Can the King of glory enter in where we have lost all expectation of Him doing that?

I believe we are right now far more in a panic than pandemic. Yet, this virus is just the latest symptom of how easily we forget Him in the midst of these happenings. Does anyone remember Y2K of two decades ago? People lost their minds in fearful apprehension of what would happen with a worldwide computer crash that would send us back into the dark ages. Many of them were believers. Since then we've seen many national and worldwide crises arise. In all of them, God spoke to those who were listening, to those who knew their God. Those who could "be still and know that He is God." To these He revealed His glory. They saw Him in the midst of deep and personal need. It is always this way. Those who stand on the Rock that is Jesus Christ will see His glory, and in amazing ways. These are the ones who, as Spurgeon writes, believe Him "to the hilt." I want to numbered among them. Do you?

I believe the enemy of our souls is unleashing his hatred upon this world and particularly upon the people of God. This virus is not his first assault and it won't be his last. He depends upon fear, unbelief, and panic. His power thrives there. For you and me, our response must be, in this and all things, a settled assurance that we see Him, His works, His protection, His glory, in all of it. The danger, be it the virus, the economy, the political situation, is real. He is more real. Anne Graham Lotz said our response needs to be a crying out to Him.... from our knees. I agree, and in doing so, I believe we will see His glory, and in a multitude of ways. Let us believe Him.....to the hilt. Or else, let us not believe Him at all. I've made my choice. What's yours?

Blessings,
Pastor O