Surrender? Never!!!!
Nancy Leigh Demoss writes in her book, “Surrender: The Heart God Controls”, pages 17-18, 2003):

"On March 10, 1975, almost thirty years after the end of World War II, Lt. Hiroo Onoda finally handed over his rusty sword and became the last Japanese soldier to surrender.

Onoda had been sent to the tropical island of Lubang in the Philippines in 1944, with orders to conduct guerrilla warfare and prevent enemy attack on the island. When the war ended, Onoda refused to believe the messages announcing Japan’s surrender.

For twenty-nine years, long after all his fellow soldiers had either surrendered or been killed off, Onoda continued defending the island territory for the defeated Japanese army. He hid in the jungle, living off the land, stealing food and supplies from local citizens, evading one search party after another, and killing at least thirty nationals in the process. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent trying to locate the lone holdout and convince him that the war was over.Leaflets, newspapers, photographs, and letters from friends were dropped in the jungle; announcements were made over loudspeakers, begging Onoda to surrender.

Still he refused to give up his fight.

Some thirteen thousand men had been deployed in the effort before Onoda finally received a personal command from his former commander and was persuaded to give up the futile, solitary war he had waged for so many years.

In his autobiography entitled, “No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War”, Onoda describes the moment that the reality of what had transpired began to sink in:

I felt like a fool...What had I been doing for these years?...For the first time I really understood....This was the end. I pulled back the bolt on my rifle and unloaded the bullets...I eased off the pack that I always carried with me and laid the gun on top of it." (Demoss)

(end of quote)
__________________________________________

The war, for Onodo, was finally over.

But, yet, the war rages on for some of us.

And, that war is raging inside of us because, not unlike Hiroo Onoda, we fight and refuse to surrender. We rebel against God’s authority and we defiantly resist Him.

Why? Because “flesh” is hostile to submitting to God’s authority. The “flesh” attempts to do things its own way. And, the “flesh”, strong and powerful that it is, seeks to live without surrendering to God.

Surprisingly, the Sovereign Lord allows us, in our “flesh”, to do things our own way.

Why? He knows that, sooner or later, we will discover that we can’t accomplish anything of eternal significance in our “flesh”. And, He knows that we will find that, in our “flesh” and in our refusal to submit, we will fail miserably. He loves us too much to force Himself upon us. And, in His compassion and graciousness, He allows us to discover that when we surrender and submit, we find the pathway to freedom and deliverance from the stranglehold and putridness of the “flesh”.

And, so the war rages on ...and on ...and on. No surrender. No submission. No raising of the white flag. No throwing in of the towel. No laying down of the gun like Hiroo Onoda.

No! Absolutely not! The “flesh” shall fight to the end: “I can do it!”

And, so, while we refuse to surrender and refuse to submit, others around us have to endure the agony. Many residents on the island of Lubang suffered and many died at the hands of Hiroo Onoda because of his unwillingness to surrender. Likewise, our spouses, our family members, our friends, our co-workers, other believers, and our ministries, suffer the extreme pain and terrible consequences of our pride and our “flesh” and our refusal to surrender to the almighty hand of God.

Many have surrendered and found their freedom and their joy. Others have raised the white flag of surrender and found their peace.

But, no, not the “flesh”. It seeks to have its own way. It is stubborn, inflexible, immovable, and obstinate. The “flesh” is at war and will fight to the bitter end.

And so, the war rages on...and on...and on...and................................................................................................

Thoughts on the man of God

It was during his first visit to Britain on a preaching mission, that D.L. Moody heard the words which set him hungering and thirsting after a deeper walk with God and which marked a new beginning in his life. The words were spoken to him by Henry Varley, a well-known evangelist of that time, as they sat together on a seat in a public park in Dublin. The words were these:

"The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully consecrated to Him."

"He said 'a man'" thought Moody, "he did not say a great man, nor a learned man, nor a 'smart' man, but simply 'a man.' I am a man, and it lies with the man himself whether he will or will not make that entire and full consecration. I will try my utmost to be that man." The words kept ringing in his mind, and burning their way into his soul until finally he was led into the deeper, richer, fuller experience for which his soul yearned. (Source: J. Gilchrist Lawson)

Ezekiel 22

23 Again the word of the LORD came to me:

24 "Son of man, say to the land, 'You are a land that has had no rain or showers in the day of wrath.'

25 There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her.

26 Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.

28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says'-when the LORD has not spoken.

29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.

30 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.

31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD."

God was looking for a man. Not a group of men. Not a collection of men. Not a cluster of men. Just one man. But He found no one. Where was the man that God was looking for?

Because of Israel’s spiritual poverty and spiritual pollution, Ezekiel had prophesied the fall of Jerusalem. But his message fell on deaf ears. The people of God had become worthless and useless to God. They had violated some of the Ten Commandments and they had become proud and disrespectful to God. Their disobedience would eventually lead to their destruction and the corruption was so complete that when God searched for a man to stand in the gap, to build up the wall, none could be found. (Source: Walvoord and Zuck)

Where was the man that God needed? He had always found his man before.

When God wanted a man in the midst of a desperately corrupt culture, He found Noah.

When God wanted a father for His people, He found Abraham.

When God needed an honorable man to save not only His people but the people of a foreign nation, He found Joseph.

When God needed a deliverer of His people, He found Moses.

When God needed a king for His people, He found David.

When God needed a prophet to confront the prophets of Baal, he found Elijah.

When God needed someone to whom He would give a double portion of His Spirit, He found Elisha.

When God needed someone to be a testimony and witness in Babylon, He found Daniel.

And where is that one man today?

We have seen that man before in people like D.L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, Billy Graham, and others: surrendered to God, pursued Him with passion, and consumed with fire from heaven.

But where is that man today? Where is that man for our generation?

There may be some today that would say there will never be another man like Billy Graham; that there will never be another man like Moody, never another man like Spurgeon.

There are some who might say that Billy Graham was a man whom God used in his generation, in his own day, but that the world will probably never see that kind of ministry and that kind of response to the gospel again. There are some that might say that we will never see another Moody or Spurgeon. indicative of Christian leaders who say that we are living in a post-Christian era, giving up on God and sounding like it is time to lock the doors, clock out, and go home.

We know that our culture and our generation are far from what we desire it to be, but, are we past the point when God can use one individual, like a Billy Graham, to call our nation and our world to repentance?

In days gone by, God has usually used one man (sometimes several men) to be His vessel for sending a great movement of His Spirit throughout a nation.

In the First Great Awakening, during the 18th century, in Great Britain and colonial America, God used men like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and John and Charles Wesley.

In the Second Great Awakening, God used men like Francis Asbury, Charles Finney, and Peter Cartwright, a missionary who helped start the Second Great Awakening and who personally baptized twelve thousand people.

Included in the Second Great Awakening, was Jeremiah Lanphier, one man determined to see a great movement of God in New York City. Little did he know that the simple prayer meeting he started by himself during his workplace lunch hour would ultimately result in more than 50,000 people a day praying for revival. And those prayers would usher in, what Perry Miller of Harvard would later refer to as, "The Event of the Century", an awakening formally referred to as "The Layman's Prayer Revival."

During the Second Great Awakening, scholars estimate that possibly a million people came to Christ in 1857 and 1858. Therefore, in less than one year, nearly 20% of the American population was swept into the Kingdom of God. Three years later, in 1861, though the Civil War had begun, the revival continued, as both union and confederate soldiers were converted by the thousands.

The latter half of the 1800’s gave the world men of God, such as D.L. Moody, William Booth, Hudson Taylor, George Mueller and great theologians such as Charles Hodge and B.B. Warfield.

In 1904, in the country of Wales, God used Evan Roberts, who prayed, “Lord, bend me”, to bring one hundred thousand souls to Christ in just nine months, from November 1904 to August 1905.

But where is the man of God for our generation?

Where is the man of God who will pursue righteousness rather than recognition?

Where is the man of God who will pursue holiness rather than happiness?

Where is the one who will be a man after God’s own heart?

Is it you?

Would you be the man who would rise up and say to God?

“Lord, I want to be that one man through whom the world can see what You can do through one individual fully consecrated to You. I will take the mantle. I will take the next step. I will do whatever it takes. I will be the one who flings himself upon You, no matter what the cost, no matter what others might say. I will be the one who doesn’t care about being famous; who doesn’t care about being recognized; who doesn’t even care never to be asked to preach at the next big pastor’s conference. All I care about is being right with You and being used by You, Lord. I will be the one who wants to know You more intimately and who wants to know You more deeply. I will be the one who wants to experience more of Your holiness and wants to experience more of Your power. I will be the one who wants to know the depths of Your love and I will be the one who wants more of You in my life. Lord, I want You. I want Your hand upon me and I will be that man who is fully and totally consecrated to You. Lord, I will be your man”.All it takes is one man.

On June 5, 1989, almost nobody knew the man’s name. Nobody outside his immediate neighborhood had read his words or heard him make a speech. Nobody even knows what happened to him even one hour after his one moment that was seen in the world's living rooms through television. But one man stood before a column of army tanks near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, to protest the Chinese government’s violence towards Chinese students who supported a democratic form of government.

The meaning of his moment — and it was no more than that — was instantly decipherable in any tongue, to any age group: millions of people knew what the "tank man" (also know as the “Unknown Rebel”) did.

A small, unexceptional figure in slacks and white shirt, carrying what looked to be his shopping bag, posted himself before an approaching army tank, with a line of 17 more tanks behind it. The first tank swerved to the right; and this one man moved to his left to block it. Then, the tank swerved left; and this one man moved to his right. Surprisingly, the “tank man” then climbed up onto this vehicle of war and said to its driver, "Why are you here? My city is in chaos because of you."

One lone man stood up to machinery, stood up to armed forces and to all the massed weight of the People's Republic of China and stopped a brigade of 18 tanks. As soon as the man descended from the tank, anxious onlookers pulled him to safety, and the waters of anonymity closed around him, his name never known yet will be remembered for his courage. (Source: CNN)

Just one man. That’s all it took.

And maybe that is what it will take for God to send His Spirit to our generation for another great spiritual awakening. He has done it before. I believe He can do it again.

"The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully consecrated to Him."

Kenny

Darkness

"What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops." Matthew 10:27

At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God's hand until we learn to hear Him. "What I tell you in darkness" - watch where God puts you into darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will talk in the wrong mood: darkness is the time to listen. Don't talk to other people about it; don't read books to find out the reason of the darkness, but listen and heed. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.

(Oswald Chambers)

The Difficult Places Of Life

Events and circumstances, moments in our lives, and crises that we experience, can sometimes define and determine who we are and how we respond to other situations in our lives. When we look backwards at those events, sometimes we can gain some modicum of understanding as to the influence our circumstances have had on us in developing our character. impacting the way we live, and, ultimately, teaching us more about God. Whether good times or bad times, our circumstances, and our reaction to those circumstances, influence our lives in many different ways. And it is in these difficult places of life that we find ourselves intimately drawn to God in worship.

So, it was in the life of the prophet Isaiah, who records a major event in his life that would define and impact his life and his ministry: the death of King Uzziah.

Isaiah 6

1 In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.

2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

3 And one called out to another and said, " Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory."

4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.

5 Then I said, " Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.

7 He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Uzziah was the tenth king of Judah and, for most of his reign, lived a godly life. He was highly influenced by the prophet Zechariah and, unlike many of the other kings before him, never rebelled against God..............................................until the end of his life.

Under his influence, the southern kingdom attained power, wealth and success unlike any it had enjoyed since the days of Solomon. Because of his successful reign as king, Uzziah was well-respected and the people of his nation looked up to him as one of their greatest leaders.

In Second Chronicles 26, we find the following information about Uzziah:

1 All the people of Judah had crowned Amaziah’s sixteen-year-old son, Uzziah, as king in place of his father.

2 After his father’s death, Uzziah rebuilt the town of Elath and restored it to Judah.

3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem.

4 He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done.

5 Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.

6 Uzziah declared war on the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built new towns in the Ashdod area and in other parts of Philistia.

7 God helped him in his wars against the Philistines, his battles with the Arabs of Gur, and his wars with the Meunites.

8 The Meunites paid annual tribute to him, and his fame spread even to Egypt, for he had become very powerful.

9 Uzziah built fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the angle in the wall.

10 He also constructed forts in the wilderness and dug many water cisterns, because he kept great herds of livestock in the foothills of Judah and on the plains. He was also a man who loved the soil. He had many workers who cared for his farms and vineyards, both on the hillsides and in the fertile valleys.

11 Uzziah had an army of well-trained warriors, ready to march into battle, unit by unit. This army had been mustered and organized by Jeiel, the secretary of the army, and his assistant, Maaseiah. They were under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s officials.

12 These regiments of mighty warriors were commanded by 2,600 clan leaders.

13 The army consisted of 307,500 men, all elite troops. They were prepared to assist the king against any enemy.

14 Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and sling stones.

15 And he built structures on the walls of Jerusalem, designed by experts to protect those who shot arrows and hurled large stones from the towers and the corners of the wall. His fame spread far and wide, for the Lord gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful.

16 But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar.

17 Azariah the high priest went in after him with eighty other priests of the Lord, all brave men.

18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!”

19 Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the Lord’s Temple, leprosy suddenly broke out on his forehead.

20 When Azariah the high priest and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because the Lord had struck him.

21 So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land.

22 The rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 When Uzziah died, he was buried with his ancestors; his grave was in a nearby burial field belonging to the kings, for the people said, “He had leprosy.”

When confronted by the priests, Uzziah became furious and raged against the priests. Uzziah’s power led to a prideful heart and his pride resulted in him doing something that was none of his business. Burning the incense was an act of worship with spiritual significance for the priests. But, only the priests were supposed to enter that part of the temple and burn the incense. Uzziah had decided that is was up to him to take care of God’s business.

God had not called Uzziah to do what he did. As a result of his disobedience, Uzziah was stricken with leprosy by the Lord, placed into quarantine and died in that condition. Uzziah is now remembered more for his disobedience than he is for his obedience.

Isaiah was greatly disturbed by all of this and the death of the great king. Uzziah had reigned for 52 years. His death signaled the end of a time of great prosperity and consistency. For Isaiah, the death of the king was an event that would have major impact on him and the Jewish nation. The King's death ushered in a time of uncertainty, change and doubt but his death also made Isaiah and the entire nation understand that their king died because of his sin.

Yet, for Isaiah, this was to be a time of rediscovery and renewal.

What was it that had such a profound effect upon Isaiah's life? Surely, it must have been that he saw the awful result of sin in the King's life. Uzziah was a godly king, yet, at the end of his reign, he decided to rebel against God. It was never his responsibility to enter the temple. It was never his responsibility to burn the incense. But, yet, we find in Second Chronicles 26 that because of his great power, Uzziah became prideful and he sinned against God. As a result, God placed upon the king a deadly disease and he died in quarantine, hidden away, yes, because of his leprosy, but. more importantly, because of his sin.

This had a devastating effect upon the prophet Isaiah, but, the crisis became an opportunity for revival in his personal life and an opportunity to discover more of God. This awful situation, which could have been a dark cloud over Isaiah’s life, was used by the Lord to bring Isaiah to a fresh encounter in his relationship with God.

When Isaiah has this great vision of God, he gains a deeper understanding about God and he develops a greater perspective about:

· God’s Position-“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne”. The throne of God represents His kingship and His rulership over all of His creation. The throne of God is representative of His authority and that He is in charge. There is only one throne and that is God’s throne. You don’t have a throne. I don’t have a throne. None of God’s people has a throne. Yet, we live our lives like each one of us has a throne. We live like we are in charge and we live like we are the center of the universe. We live like there is no other god but us. I live like it is all about me. You live like it is all about you. Forget about the little catchy phrase that has circulated for some time that is used in songs and in preaching: “It’s not about me; it’s all about You, God”. (Big theological word coming now) HOGWASH! We don’t live like it is all about Him. So, why do keep we keep using that phrase over and over and over and over and over (well, you get the idea) again? No, we need to somehow come to an understanding that it is all about God, that He is on the throne and He has all authority. He is King over all of His creation!

· God’s Perspective-“I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up”. God has a different perspective than we do. Isaiah 55:8 tells us that God's ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Sometimes we question God. Sometimes we don’t understand why He causes or allows things to happen. But, we must come to the conclusion that His perspective is different than ours. We see things from an earthly perspective. God sees things from an eternal perspective. The challenge is to try to see events as God sees them. How? “Turn your eyes upon Jesus....look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace”.

· God’s Preeminence-“and the train of His robe filled the temple”. In Isaiah’s day, one would determine a king’s status by his robe and the length of the train of his robe. Isaiah sees the Lord seated on a throne as King and the train of His robe (a wedding dress usually has a long, flowing “train”) filled the whole temple. The implication is that the presence of God crowds out everything and leaves room for nothing else. Oh, that the presence of God would so fill our lives that everything of this world would be crowded out of our lives.

· God’s Purity-“Holy, Holy, Holy”. In theology, there is an area of study that deals with “the otherness of God”. Although we are created in the image of God, there are the characteristics and virtues of Him that distinguish Him from all of creation. One of those characteristics that distinguish Him from us, that is part of His “otherness”, is His holiness.

"Otherness gives us a sense that God is so pure, matchless and unique that no one else and nothing else even comes close. He is altogether glorious—unequalled in splendor and unrivalled in power. He is beyond the grasp of human reason—far above the reach of even the loftiest scientific mind. He is inexhaustible, immeasurable and unfathomable—eternal, immortal and invisible. The highest mountain peaks and the deepest canyon depths are just tiny echoes of His proclaimed greatness. And the blazing stars above, the faintest emblems of the full measure of His glory (Matt Redman)”.

· God’s Providence-“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts”. The Hebrew word for “hosts” is “saba”.

The plural of “saba” is “sabaot” or “sabaoth”. In the hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”, Martin Luther wrote these words:

“Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.”

“Saba” is a military term and is defined in English as “army”. “Sabaot(h)” is the plural of “saba” and is translated “armies”. When Isaiah refers to God as the “Lord of hosts”, “hosts” refers specifically to all the angelic armies of heaven. This name denotes His universal sovereignty and that he is the King of all heaven and earth.

· God’s Presence-“the whole earth is full of His glory”. God is omnipresent, that is, He is present everywhere. We cannot run from God. We can only run to Him. If we run to the east, He is there. If we run to the west, He is there. Whenever we try to run from Him, we will always find Him already there.

Then Isaiah says, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven’."

When Isaiah comes into the presence of God, he is convicted of his sin and the sins of his people. After his confession and repentance, he is then purged and cleansed of his sin and his sin is forgiven.

What Isaiah discovered was that even though he had a wonderful encounter with God, he was also convicted of the sin in his life. He discovers this principle: the closer one gets to the holiness of God, the more sin is exposed in a person’s life. This worship experience of Isaiah was truly a high point of his life, yet, it also led to the discovery of his own sinfulness. And so also for us: when we worship, we can receive great joy as a result of being in the presence of God, but we must also be mindful that true worship in God’s presence will result in our realization that we fall so short of His glory. Worship that assists us in obtaining a deeper understanding of the “Lord of hosts” will result in our confession and repentance of sin in our lives.

After all of this, Isaiah is spiritually ready to hear:

· God’s Plea- “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" I love what Oswald Chambers (“My Utmost For His Highest”) says about this:

“God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, ". . . who will go for Us?" The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. "Many are called, but few are chosen" That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear "the voice of the Lord" continually asking, "...who will go for Us?" However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, "Now, you go." He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, "Here am I! Send me."

Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His "Follow Me" was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard-"the voice of the Lord." In perfect freedom we too will say, here am I! Send me." (January 16, updated version by James Reimann).

And now we see the climax of worship and the proper response to worship: obedience. The worship experience is not complete until there is obedience.

And, so it is, that in our deepest hour of crisis or in our times of sorrow, such as happened to Isaiah, that we can also experience a deeper understanding of God through our worship of Him.

Kenny

You Are Important To God

In the late 1800’s, Edward Kimball, a Sunday school teacher, had a passion to win all of the young boys in his Sunday School class to the Lord. One of the boys he shared the gospel with, and who was saved, was a young man who later became one of America’s greatest evangelists: D.L. Moody.

After evangelizing America, D. L. Moody started on England. There in England F. B. Meyer heard his message. One of the illustrations that Moody used, about his Sunday School teacher Edward Kimball, stirred two of Meyer’s Sunday School teachers. One of the Sunday school teachers came to him and said, "Brother Meyer, the illustration that that preacher gave in our church the other day stirred my girls so much that there has been a lot of weeping, confession and testimony. We are sure that the Holy Spirit has come among us; and we have had an experience in our class that you won’t believe!"

F. B. Meyer was so affected by the testimony of that teacher and those girls that he got off by himself, and soon it began to grip him in the same manner. His ministry began to open up and spread, and as it did, he was invited to come to America.

Meyer was invited to Furman University to preach. One young fellow in the student body had decided to quit the ministry and go back to a secular job. But the message by F. B. Meyer was given with such fervor and flame that the young fellow stepped out, came forward and renewed his vow to his calling. He became the great R. G. Lee.

Then F. B. Meyer went on to preach at another location. In that service, a young fellow caught fire and began to evangelize. His meetings spread out all over the areas of New England and the mid-Atlantic coast, until they were bulging at the seams. J. Wilbur Chapman, set on fire of God through the preaching of F. B. Meyer, began to stir up the whole northeastern coast.

Then, because of Chapman’s preaching, he was invited to speak at a certain place. His ministry was changing, and he needed someone to move in on those citywide crusades that he was holding. Someone said, "The man you want is the young convert, Billy Sunday."

Billy Sunday, influenced by J. Wilbur Chapman and working in Chapman’s evangelistic association, went to Charlotte, North Carolina to preach a series of meetings. There, a group of laymen were so inspired and so stirred, that they organized a committee to invite an evangelist back. Mordecai Ham was invited the next time to preach in Charlotte. During that series of meetings, a young boy sitting in the choir loft one night was saved, whose name was Billy Graham.

How important is one individual in the kingdom of God? How important is one Sunday School teacher in the kingdom of God? God had a purpose for Edward Kimball. God wanted to touch many lives through one man, one Sunday School teacher, who had a passion for God and a passion for lost souls.

You, my dear friend, are important to God. He has a reason for you being on the planet Earth. He has a purpose for your life that has everything to do with the kingdom of God.

"You say your life is your own. But can you dare to ignore the chance that you are taking part in a gigantic drama under the orders of a divine Producer? Your cue may not come till the end of the play--it may be totally unimportant, a mere walking-on part, but upon it may hang the issues of the play if you do not give the cue to another player. The whole edifice may crumple. You as you,may not matter to anyone in the world, but you as a person in a particular place may matter unimaginably." Quote: from Agatha Christie)

Kenny

Dear God: Where Are You And Why Don't You Help Me?

The Silence of God

It is hard for us, when we face the difficulties of life, when things get tough, not to give up hope. Often, we want to throw ours hands up and say, "I quit!" But that it is not what God desires for us to do. That is what the devil wants. This idea of "losing hope" comes from our enemy, Satan.

You may be in a difficult situation right now. There seems to be no answer. You might not even be sure that God is listening to your prayers or that He even knows what you are going through. You might even think that God doesn’t care about you. Well, my friend, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Let me begin by saying that God is listening to your prayers and He does know what you are going through. He does care about you and He cares about the difficult places of your life.

But what you are dealing with is called the silence of God. To you, right now, it seems like He is silent, it seems like He is not working and it seems like He doesn’t care.

In the silence of God, try to understand that He is at work and that He does care about you and He loves you. In the silence of God, you have His attention and He is attending to His business. The difficulty comes in not seeing what He is doing. But know this: He has His eye trained on you and you have His undivided attention. He has not left you alone to try to work out your situation on your own.

Consider Lazarus (John chapter 11): Outside the circle of the twelve disciples, two sisters, Mary and Martha, and one brother, Lazarus, were the closest friends of Jesus. Before Jesus was crucified, on the last night that Jesus gets any rest, He spends that time in the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

John chapter 11 gives us the account of Lazarus, who was sick and dying. The two sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was “sick unto death” and He sent word to them that “this sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God”. We know that Jesus could have healed Lazarus by “long distance”. The gospels tell us that Jesus could heal someone without being in the presence of someone. Also, Jesus could have prevented Lazarus from getting sick. How? He is God!

To Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, it seemed like Jesus wasn’t even going to come to help them. It eventually took Jesus four days before He reached Lazarus. There was silence. It seemed to them like He didn’t care. But Jesus knew exactly what He was doing and He knew what He was going to do.

But why did He allow all of this to happen? Why did He allow Lazarus to go through the suffering and this “sickness unto death”? Why did Jesus say to His disciples, regarding Lazarus’ situation, “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe”. And to magnify the seriousness of the situation that everyone faced after the death and burial of Lazarus, we see Jesus weeping at the tomb of Lazarus. We see the Master’s compassion and love for Lazarus and surely for Mary and Martha in their grief.

What can we learn from the story of Lazarus? That in the silence of God, when it seems like He is not at work, when it seems like He doesn’t care, that there is a greater glory to be revealed and there is a greater testimony.

There was a greater glory to be revealed to them about Jesus. Everyone knew that Jesus could perform miracles. They knew He could multiply food and feed thousands of people. They even knew He could raise people from the dead. But they had never seen Him raise someone back to life who had been dead four days.

What is significant about four days? In the Jewish religion and culture, when a person died, they believed that the person’s spirit hovered over the body for three days. Therefore, a Jewish person was not declared dead until the fourth day. This is part of the reason why Jesus lingered before going to Lazarus. When He raises Lazarus from being dead four days, no one can make the accusation that Lazarus wasn’t “officially” dead. When Jesus calls forth Lazarus by name and Lazarus walks out of the tomb, the greater glory that is revealed about Jesus is that now they know that He has power over life and death.

The greater testimony is for Lazarus. Lazarus' testimony (John 12) was so powerful that the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him because so many people were placing their faith and trust in Jesus. (The humor in this is that the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Lazarus. Didn’t they realize that Lazarus had already died once and Jesus brought him back to life? Kill Lazarus ten times. If Jesus wants him to live, He will bring him back to life ten timesJ).

So what can we understand, then, in all of this? How does this apply to someone who has lost hope, ready to give up? How can someone deal with the silence of God?

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, all capable of giving up hope, could do nothing but look to Jesus for help. They couldn’t fix the problem. It was beyond their ability to do anything. What could they do? They could only do one thing now in their desperation: look to Jesus. They would have to trust Him and cling to Him. They would have to rely on Jesus. He would be their only hope. He would be their only help. Only Jesus could do something about the problem that they had encountered.

But the main concern of Jesus was not the circumstance of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus but their relationship to Him and whether or not they would trust Him. (And trust is all about relationship. You can’t trust someone you don’t know personally. The more you get to know someone, the more you can trust them. And when you get to know someone intimately, you can fully trust them no matter what).

Jesus could change their circumstance immediately but what mattered to Jesus was whether or not Mary, Martha, and Lazarus would trust Him. What mattered to Jesus was whether they would cling to Him more than they ever had before. What mattered to Jesus was whether they would rely upon Him more than they had ever relied upon Him before. Their relationship with Jesus was going to go deeper. Their relationship with Jesus was going to have to be more intimate.

And so it is with someone who has lost all hope and is ready to give up; going through difficult circumstances and the silence of God. If this is true of you today, please understand this:

As much as He cares about what you are going through, Jesus cares even more about your relationship to Him, about your trusting Him. Yes, He cares about your circumstance but He cares even more about you. The issue, my dear friend is this: Are you going to trust Him? Are you going to cling to Him? Are you going to rely upon Him?

We know the end of the story. Lazarus is raised from the dead. His health has been restored but more important is that hearts could rejoice because a greater glory had been revealed to them about Jesus.

And Lazarus had that greater testimony. Before he got sick and died, Lazarus was kind of on the “fringe”. Mary, we know, worshipped at Jesus’ feet and at least Martha wanted to serve by working in the kitchen. But Lazarus? Before his sickness, he is just casually mentioned in the gospels as the brother of Mary and Martha. Now, he has that greater testimony.

And you know what? One day...that’s right, one day you will be able to give that greater testimony. One day you will be able to say, along with Lazarus: “Let me tell you what Jesus did for me!”

How is that possible? By trusting Him fully. By trusting Him completely. By trusting Him intimately. By clinging to Him like never before. By relying upon Him like never before. He cares for you and He knows what you are going through.

Why silence? Because there is a greater glory to be revealed to you about who God is and there is a greater testimony for you to share with others!

The Good Shepherd And His Sheep

John 10

Jesus said:

10"...I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (ESV)

· Characteristics of Sheep

Unlike goats, casual observation reveals that sheep seem to need each other. The flock, their "community," is their identity.

Not only do sheep need each other, they also need a shepherd they can depend on. Goats don't need a shepherd to watch out for them; they are independent to the point of being "head-strong". The shepherd is the main-stay in the sheep's lives. Without his attention and care they would quickly find themselves in trouble.

Sheep are notoriously stupid. Hold up a stick in front of the lead sheep in a procession of the flock and the lead sheep will nimbly leap up and over the slight barrier. The remaining sheep will also obediently leap up to clear the stick - even if the obstacle is removed after that first sheep jumped it. All the other sheep leap to avoid something that isn't there. The strength of their flock mentality forces them into the air.

· Characteristics of a Shepherd

In the culture that Jesus lived in, sheepherding was an important task.

A good shepherd always knew the habits and characteristics of his sheep and could predict their behavior and understand their peculiarities. The shepherd knew the characteristics of his sheep so well that he was never surprised or caught off guard by their actions.

A good shepherd was always at ease with his sheep, comfortable with their company, and enjoyed the responsibility of taking care of them. But, the life of the shepherd was extremely hard; never off duty and never any time off from his shepherd responsibilities.

A good shepherd would sometimes have to discipline his sheep. Because fields of grass were sometimes hard to find, the sheep were prone to wander looking for grazing opportunities. Therefore, the shepherd had to keep constant watch over his flock. One rebellious sheep could lead the other sheep astray. So the shepherd would break the legs of the wayward sheep to prevent it from straying away from the flock and leading other sheep astray.

After this disciplining process, the shepherd would then carry the sheep on his own back to teach the sheep that, even though the sheep needed discipline from the shepherd, the shepherd still loved the sheep deeply. Being carried on the back of the shepherd, the sheep developed a more intimate relationship with the shepherd.

The shepherd’s task was not only constant but also dangerous because he had to guard his flock against wild animals and against thieves and robbers. Constant vigilance, fearless, courage, and patient love were necessary characteristics of the shepherd.

Lastly, the shepherd was responsible for taking care of the physical diseases that his sheep might contract.

A good shepherd’s responsibility, then, was to provide for all the needs of his sheep. Food, water, direction, protection, and healing were all his responsibility.

And what was the responsibility of the shepherd’s sheep? To have a relationship with the shepherd, and to follow him and to obey him. As long as the sheep maintained its relationship with the shepherd, followed him, and obeyed him, then all of the sheep’s needs were met.

Should a sheep rebel and go off on its own to get its needs met (food, water, etc.), the sheep could expect the discipline of the shepherd (the breaking of its legs) but could also expect the love of the shepherd and a more intimate relationship with the shepherd by being carried on the shepherd’s back.

What’s the point in all of this?

Jesus uses the illustration of the good shepherd and the sheep to explain spiritual truth.

Jesus is the Shepherd and we are His sheep.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is not just a shepherd. He is not one among many shepherds. There is only ONE Shepherd and His name is Jesus.

I am a sheep and you are a sheep. I am not the only sheep in the flock. You are not the only sheep in the flock. There is only one Shepherd but there are countless numbers of sheep.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, loves His sheep: He lays down His life for the sheep.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, intimately knows His sheep and He knows us as intimately as the Father knows His Son (John 10:15).

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, provides for His sheep. His responsibility for His sheep is to provide food, water, direction, protection, and healing.

What is our responsibility as His sheep? To have a deep and intimate relationship with the Shepherd, and to follow Him and to obey Him. As sheep, our relationship with the Shepherd must be maintained and must continue to grow. As long as we do this, Jesus will provide everything we need.

But, some of His sheep rebel and stray away. Therefore, He has to discipline them because He loves them and because they might lead other sheep astray. Sometimes, the Shepherd has to “break the legs” of His rebellious sheep. Because they belong to Him and because of His holiness, He has to discipline those who are rebellious because His primary concern is for their spiritual health.

And then, as the Good Shepherd, He carries the disciplined sheep on His back to demonstrate His love and compassion for them. His discipline is evidence that the rebellious ones belong to Him and but it also teaches them that He will not tolerate their rebellion. Carrying His sheep on His back teaches disciplined sheep that He still loves them. (Hebrews 12:7-11)

Making It Personal

Where do you find yourself in your relationship with Jesus? Are you maintaining a deep and intimate relationship with Him and trusting Him to supply all of your needs? Or do you find yourself rebelling against Him and trying to get your needs met outside of your relationship to Him?

YBH: Yes, but how?

Do everything you know to do to maintain and develop a more intimate relationship with Jesus. At all costs, pursue Him no matter what your circumstances are. Seek to follow Him and obey Him with everything you’ve got. And I suggest you pray the following:

“Dear Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd and I am one of your sheep. Jesus, please teach me more about my relationship with You. Reveal to me the areas of rebellion in my life that hinder my relationship with You. Then, Lord, teach me more about Your responsibility as my Shepherd. Teach me more about how you will supply every need I have. And, Lord, teach me how to take care of my responsibility as one of your sheep to have an intimate love relationship with You.”

Psalm 100:3-Know ye not that the LORD, He is God: it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Psalm 95:7-For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Responsibilities of the Shepherd:
Lead the sheep
Provide for the sheep
Discipline the sheep

Responsibilities of the sheep:
Maintain a relationship with the Shepherd
Follow the Shepherd
Obey the Shepherd

One final point: On The Abundant Life "... I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”. (verse 10).

The potential of abundant life for each of us is only fully experienced in our relationship with Jesus. When we rebel, we miss out on the kind of life that only Jesus can give. The abundant life can only be realized in a personal, intimate, love relationship with Him.

Matthew 6:33

By Oswald Chambers

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

Immediately we look at these words of Jesus, we find them the most revolutionary statement human ears ever listened to. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." We argue in exactly the opposite way, even the most spiritually-minded of us - "But I must live; I must make so much money; I must be clothed; I must be fed."

The great concern of our lives is not the kingdom of God, but how we are to fit ourselves to live. Jesus reverses the order: Get rightly related to God first, maintain that as the great care of your life, and never put the concern of your care on the other things.

"Take no thought for your life. . . ." Our Lord points out the utter unreasonableness from His standpoint of being so anxious over the means of living. Jesus is not saying that the man who takes thought for nothing is blessed - that man is a fool.

Jesus taught that a disciple has to make his relationship to God the dominating concentration of his life, and to be carefully careless about every thing else in comparison to that. Jesus is saying - "Don't make the ruling factor of your life what you shall eat and what you shall drink, but be concentrated absolutely on God."

Some people are careless over what they eat and drink, and they suffer for it; they are careless about what they wear, and they look as they have no business to look; they are careless about their earthly affairs, and God holds them responsible. Jesus is saying that the great care of the life is to put the relationship to God first, and everything else second.

It is one of the severest disciplines of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into harmony with the teaching of Jesus in these verses.

Hunger and Thirst For Righteousness

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…”

We know that there are many parallels between the physical world and the spiritual world. For example, if something is healthy it will grow. But one spiritual truth that doesn’t have a physical parallel is hunger and thirst. In the physical world, the more you eat and drink, the more you get full and satisfied. But that is not true spiritually. The more a person hungers and thirsts for righteousness, the hungrier and thirstier he gets and will never get satisfied. In Matthew 5:6, it is not appropriate to translate the end of the verse as “filled” or “satisfied”.

The word that Jesus used chortazo is a grazing term that means to feed or to fatten cattle, from the word for fodder or grass. Spiritually speaking, logic says that when one hungers and thirsts for righteousness, one can never get satisfied. Jesus would never want us to get to the place where we were satisfied with where we were spiritually. His desire is for us to continue to grow in our relationship with Him and our desire should be that He would continue to find areas in our lives for the work of the Holy Spirit.

But what about the believer who has lost his spiritual hunger and thirst for righteousness, who has little desire for the spiritual? The answer is: force feeding (from a comment by David Jeremiah). Someone who has lost their spiritual desire is going to have to force-feed themselves with the Word of God and prayer until they start to develop a new taste for the things of God. (“Oh taste and see that the Lord is good…” Ps. 34:8a). It will take discipline, diligence, and repetition in order for the hunger and thirst for righteousness to return.

Kenny

How to pray for your church

1. Oh God, give me and my church a deeper understanding of our need for You and that our satisfaction comes only from our relationship with You.

2. Oh God, give me and my church a growing hunger to pray and to study Your Word.

3. Oh God, give me and my church a heart that is growing more tender towards others, specfically people that we find it hard to love.

4. Oh God, give me and my church a greater desire to understand what being a servant is and then give us ways in which we can be servants.

5. Oh God, give me and my church an increasing desire and ability to glorify You in our daily lives.

6. Oh God, give me and my church a greater passion for standing up for You in our community.

7. Oh God, give me and my church more tangible ways to support world and home missions.

8. Oh God, give me and my church more opportunities to pursue friendships with people who need to hear the gospel.

9. Oh God, give me and my church more perspective in dealing with life's difficulties and disappointments, both large and small.

10. Oh God, give me and my church a greater understanding of our accountability to you in using our money in sacrificial ways that reflect spiritual priorities.

11. Oh God, give me and my church more discernment in exercising better judgment about the use of our free time.
12. Oh God, give me and my church specific ways to think less of ourselves and more of others.

13. Oh God, give me and my church an evaluation of whether or not we are growing in our love for You.
Adapted from- Questions From Philip Graham Ryken: "City on a Hill" pg. 125-126

The Heart God Revives

The following is by Nancy Leigh DeMoss:

http://www.reviveourhearts.com/search/?q=the+heart+God+revives

What kind of heart does God revive? And what does it take in my heart to experience ongoing, continual revival? Listen if you would to these scriptures. Then I think the answer will be plain. "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabited eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Isaiah 57:15)

"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." (Psalm 34:18) "You do not take delight in sacrifice or I would bring it. You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, oh God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:16,17) And then the Lord said, "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Isaiah 66:2)

Then we hear the words of the Lord Jesus. "Blessed," to be envied, happy "are those who are poor in spirit:" those who are bankrupt, those who are poverty stricken, those who are destitute, those who have no resources of their own, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "And blessed," happy, to be envied "are those who mourn: for they," those who mourn over their sin, those who grieve over that which grieves the heart of God, "they will experience the comfort that only God can give."

If we hear those verses and think of many others like them in the Scripture, what is the kind of heart that God revives? The heart that God revives is the broken, the contrite, the humble heart. We tend to think of revival as primarily a time of joy and blessing and fullness and abundance and excitement and enthusiasm and wonder and overflowing abundance. And so at the right time, it will be.

But the ways of God are that the way up is down. And we're reminded by one of the leaders of the revival in Borneo in 1973 that revivals do not begin happily with everyone having a good time. They start with a broken and a contrite heart. You see, we will never meet God in revival, until we have first met Him in brokenness.

The epistle of James reminds us. He calls us to "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." But there is a process. First, "Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness." (James 4:8-9) First, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and then He will lift you up.

Now there are some who don't care much for the thought of brokenness. And I think that's perhaps because we have some misconceptions about what brokenness really is. You see, our idea of brokenness and God's idea of brokenness may be two different things. We tend to think of brokenness, for example, as being sad and gloomy and downcast--never smiling, never laughing. Or as being morbidly introspective, always trying to dig up some new sin to confess. Some have the image of brokenness as a sort of a false humility, where we are continually putting ourselves down.

For some, the word brokenness conjures up images of deeply emotional experiences and shedding of many tears. But I want to say that there may be many tears without brokenness, as there may be in some cases genuine brokenness apart from the shedding of tears. There are those who equate brokenness with deeply hurtful circumstances in their lives. But I would say again, that it is possible to have experienced deep hurts and tragedies and yet never to have experienced genuine brokenness.

You see, brokenness is not a feeling. It is not an emotion. It is a choice that I make. It is an act of my will. And brokenness is not primarily a one-time experience or a crisis experience in my life, though there may be those.

Brokenness is rather a continuous on-going lifestyle. It's a lifestyle of agreeing with God about the true condition of my heart and my life as He alone can see it. It's a life style of unconditional, absolute surrender of my will to God. Even as the horse that has been broken. It's surrendered and sensitive to the direction and the wishes of its rider. It's a life style of saying, "Yes, Lord, not my will, but yours be done."

Brokenness is the shattering of my self-will so that the life, the spirit, the fragrance, the life of Jesus may be released through me. Brokenness is the lifestyle of responding in humility and obedience to the conviction of God's Spirit and the conviction of His Word. And as His conviction is continuous, so my brokenness must be continual.

Brokenness is a lifestyle that takes me in two directions. It's a lifestyle vertically of living, so to speak, with the roof off in my relationship toward God, as I walk in the light in transparent honesty and humility before Him. But it's a lifestyle that requires also that I live with the walls down, in my relationships toward others.

There are some wonderful illustrations in the Scripture of broken people. And frequently those illustrations are set in contrast to the lives of those who were not broken. Think for example of two Old Testament kings who sat on the same throne. One committed egregious sins against the heart of God. He committed adultery. He lied; committed murder to cover up his sin and then lived for an extended period of time in covering up his treacherous, traitorous sin against God and against His nation. And yet in the Scripture, we're told that King David was a man after God's own heart.

Then we think of the king who preceded him. King Saul's sin, by comparison, as we would measure it, does not begin to be as great as that of King David. All that Saul was guilty of, from the seeing of the eye, was incomplete obedience. And yet, in response to his sin, he lost his kingdom. His family was destroyed and he came under the wrath and the judgment of God.

Why the difference? Both men were confronted by prophets over their sin. And both men said verbally, "I have sinned." But you see, when King Saul confessed his sin, his confession was in the context of blaming the people, defending himself, giving and making excuses, rationalizing, justifying himself. And he revealed the true condition of his heart when in the same breath of saying, "I have sinned," he also said, "Please don't tell the people."

He covered up, whereas King David, when confronted with his sin, fell on his face before God in confession. And the evidence of that contrite and broken heart was that he penned for all the world to see those Psalms of contrition that we have in our Scriptures today. You see, a broken person doesn't care who knows. God was not as concerned about the nature of the sin itself as He was about the heart attitude and response of these men when confronted with their sin.

God Is At Work Around You

Mark 14:12-16

Jesus told two of His disciples (Luke tells us that it was Peter and John) to go find a man bearing a pitcher of water. During Jesus’ day, the women were the ones who carried the pitchers of water so it would have been unusual, and it would have stood out, that a man was carrying a pitcher of water. We aren’t told how this happened other than we know Jesus took care of it (and He always takes care of “things” Matt. 6:33).


When Peter and John found the man carrying the picture I could just imagine their amazement that the situation was exactly what Jesus had told them to expect to find. Then, as they go into the large upper room (the room that some say was the same upper room as in Acts chapter one, verse four), I could just imagine their utter amazement as they walk into the room and the room is fully prepared for the Passover supper, again, just like Jesus said.


Sometimes the way gets discouraging because we cannot see all that God is doing. But I know this, just as the Lord Jesus was at work (secretly) in making all of the necessary and right preparations for the Passover meal, so He is also making all of the necessary and right preparations for all that He wants to do in and through your life.


Sometimes His work is hidden and done in secret but He is always at work (John 5:17) and there will be a day when you, also, will be in utter amazement at what He was preparing “behind the scenes” in order to accomplish His purposes and His divine plan through you (and no man can thwart His purposes, Job 42:2 NKJV).

Kenny

Five Ways God Answers Prayer

Whatever the answer, your best interest is always in mind.

By Luis Palau

Over the years, I've discovered from Scripture and experience that God loves to answer our prayers. Here are five of his most frequent answers:

1. "No, I love you too much."

The Lord of the universe isn't under obligation to say "yes" to every prayer. That's a good thing, considering some of the things we request! But sometimes God says "no" to our most heartfelt requests. Have you discovered this to be true in your own life? I certainly have. When my friend Diane started losing her hearing. When my mother-in-law came down with polio. When my nephew contracted aids.

I would be known as Luis Palau Jr. if it weren't for the fact that God said "no" to my most earnest childhood prayers. Shortly after my tenth birthday, my father, Luis Palau Sr., contracted bronchial pneumonia and died ten days later. Death became, to me, the most undeniable reality under heaven. Everything else can be rationalized and wondered about and discussed, but death is there, staring you in the face. It happens. Even to the most godly people. No matter how hard we pray. Why? Because we still live in a fallen world.

I've been reminded of this repeatedly since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America. Tens of thousands of lives were spared. But God said "no" to the prayers of thousands of others. Will good come of their deaths? I believe so. Without a doubt, the death of my father has had more impact on my ministry than anything else in my entire life, besides my own conversion to Jesus Christ. My wish and desire is that people get right with God, settle the big question, and die knowing—like my father—that they will be with Jesus, "which is better by far" (Phil. 1:23). Does that mean we shouldn't bother to pray? Just the opposite. Over the years, traveling throughout the world, I've discovered four other ways God frequently answers prayer. Believe me, he loves to say "yes!"

2. "Yes, but you'll have to wait."

Immediate answers to prayer: You want them. I want them. But God simply does not always work that way. And to get his best, we must be patient. In some cases, we must wait until the stroke of midnight for his answer to come. Phil Callaway didn't know what to say when his young children asked if Mommy was going to die. His wife, Ramona, suffered horrible seizures. Hundreds of friends and relatives prayed, but Ramona's weight eventually slipped to 90 pounds. Medical specialists tried everything, but by the fall of 1996, the seizures were occurring daily, sometimes hourly. Phil rarely left Ramona's side. He wondered if she would even make it to her 30th birthday. One evening, when things looked utterly hopeless, Phil paced their dark back yard, then fell to his knees. "God!" he cried out. "I can't take it anymore. Please do something!" Suddenly a doctor's name came to mind. Phil called the doctor, who saw Ramona the next morning and diagnosed a rare chemical deficiency. Within a week, Ramona's seizures ended. Her eyes sparkled again. The miracle was so incredible Phil says, "God gave me back my wife."

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7).

3. "Yes, but not what you expected."

Have you ever asked God to use you? If so, expect the unexpected! National Football League running back Sherman Smith, the "Sherman Tank," stood six feet four inches tall and packed 225 pounds of the most solid muscle you'd ever want to tackle. His reputation for bowling over defensive linemen raised his celebrity to near-cult status in the Pacific Northwest, where he played for the Seattle Seahawks. Then, without warning, the Seahawks traded their most popular player to the San Diego Chargers. Everything changed overnight for this running back, whose Christian faith was as rock solid as his abs. He wasn't with the Chargers for more than a few weeks when he seriously injured his knee. While in rehabilitation, he wondered, Lord, why did you ship me to San Diego? But while his knee mended, Sherman had the opportunity to lead one of his teammates to the Lord. That converted party-guy, Miles McPherson, has since become an outstanding youth evangelist who reaches tens of thousands of people each year. Why was Sherman traded to San Diego? God wanted to use him, all right!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Prov. 3:5-6).



4. "Yes, and here's more!"

Ever wonder if the Lord really knows what you want and need? Australian David Smallbone felt God leading him to promote Christian concerts in his homeland where only 5 percent of the people believed in Christ. When too few fans filled seats during one major tour, however, David took a $250,000 bath in red ink. Creditors repossessed his home, and the father of six looked for work elsewhere. A top artist offered him a job in Nashville, so the Smallbones sold their furniture and other possessions and purchased tickets to the United States. A few weeks after they arrived, however, David was informed that his position was "no longer available." He literally could not get out of bed for several days. When he and his wife explained to their children what happened, they all got on their knees and asked God to help them. Interesting things began to happen. God provided bags of groceries, a minivan, and odd jobs. Then the biggest surprise of all—a recording contract for David's oldest daughter, Rebecca, age 15. She recorded her first album using an old family name, St. James.

Flash forward to today. David promotes his own daughter's sold-out concerts. Rebecca St. James has become one of the hottest Christian artists in America. Christianity Today magazine has named her one of the top 50 up-and-coming evangelical leaders under age 40. We love asking her to sing at our evangelistic festivals around the country. All along—no surprise—God knew what he was doing!

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (Jer. 29:11).



5. "Yes, I thought you'd never ask."

Many people think prayer is complicated. Actually, the simplest prayer can bring you the miracle you need, when you need it. After a serious fall, an older gentleman named Luke Mulder prayed to receive Jesus Christ. He then prayed for his wife, Clara, who was visiting her sister in California. That very same day Clara heard a gospel presentation and trusted Christ.

Christian cartoonist Ron Wheeler dreamed of creating evangelistic tracts, but he needed a new computer. He found out what he needed and started to pray. Two weeks later, a friend called Ron out of the blue and offered him a new computer—the exact model Ron had been praying about. Shortly after setting up the computer, Ron received a phone call from American Tract Society asking him to design a whole series of evangelistic cartoon tracts.

My friends Esteban and Carmela Tosoni were driving one of the highest mountain passes in the world when their car broke down. They were 20 miles from the nearest town. The Tosoni family prayed for God to send help. When they opened their eyes, a mechanic appeared out of nowhere, asked if he could help, fixed their gas filter, then departed.

Coincidences? Hardly! "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (Jas. 5:16)

Luis Palau is a world-renowned evangelist, radio broadcaster, and author of It's a God Thing, Where Is God When Bad Things Happen?, and God Is Relevant (Doubleday).

A Christian Reader original article.

God's Purpose

AFTER OBEDIENCE - WHAT?
By Oswald Chambers)

And straightway He constrained His disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side. . . ." Mark 6:45-52

We are apt to imagine that if Jesus Christ constrains us, and we obey Him, He will lead us to great success. We must never put our dreams of success as God's purpose for us; His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal; He is not. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, God calls the end.

What is my dream of God's purpose? His purpose is that I depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay in the middle of the turmoil calm and unperplexed, that is the end of the purpose of God. God is not working towards a particular finish; His end is the process - that I see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because I see Him walking on the sea. It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God.

God's training is for now, not presently. His purpose is for this minute, not for something in the future. We have nothing to do with the afterwards of obedience; we get wrong when we think of the afterwards. What men call training and preparation, God calls the end.

God's end is to enable me to see that He can walk on the chaos of my life just now. If we have a further end in view, we do not pay sufficient attention to the immediate present: if we realize that obedience is the end, then each moment as it comes is precious.

DYING TO SELF

When you are forgotten or neglected or purposely set at nought, and you don't sting and hurt with the insult of the oversight but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ, that is dying to self.


When your good is evil spoken of and when your wishes are crossed and your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence, that is dying to self.


When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any impunctuality, to any annoyance, when you stand face to face with waste and folly and extravagance and spiritual insensitivity and endure it as Jesus endured it, that's dying to self.


When you're content with any food, any offering, any climate, any society, any solitude, any raiment, any interruption by the will of God, that is dying to self.


When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or to record your own good words or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown, that is dying to self.


When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy nor question God while your own needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances, that is dying to self.


When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and can humbly submit inwardly, as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart, that is dying to self.

FROM: VIDEO TAPE, WISE INVESTMENTS, SPEAKER: GENE WARR
INTERNATIONAL EVANGELISM ASSOC.
COPYRIGHT 1977 BOX 6883 FT. WORTH, TX. 76115 817-921-0911

The Fear of Man

“The Fear of Man” by Del Fehsenfeld, Jr.
(Adapted from the message: “Fear of Man”)

“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.” (Proverbs 29:25)

Del Fehsenfeld, Jr. founded “Life Action Ministries” www.lifeaction.org in 1971. “Life Action” is a revival ministry that God has used in great ways across our nation in churches since its beginning. The message, “The Fear of Man”, was preached several months before Del died of brain cancer in 1989, at the age of 42.

Many years ago I typed out the entire manuscript of the sermon and the following is an abridgement of that message. This message is critical for spiritual growth. The entire message can be purchased on video or dvd from www.lifeaction.org.
_______________________

By Del Fehsenfel, Jr.

Several years ago our Life Action Revival Ministries executive staff got together for our semi-annual evaluation time. We had devotions and prayer scheduled and then we were going to get on with our business but at 2:00 that afternoon we were still in devotions.

One of our staff members had the nerve to bring up a subject from God’s Word that all of us around that table, the movers and the shakers of our organization, discovered was their problem. And when you have an executive staff around the table and they all find out they’ve got a problem, devotions don’t end in fifteen minutes.

We were amazed, as we went around the table, to do discover that everybody else had the same problem. We thought, “Surely, these capable, qualified men, in positions of leadership in this organization, don’t have this problem”. The devotional that morning was on insecurity and that began a new pilgrimage in my own life of spiritual growth.

The only thing that I remember from that staff meeting was the definition of insecurity: that it is the result of placing my confidence and trust in people or things that can be taken away from me.

In our staff meeting that day, we discovered that just about everything and every person on this earth could be taken away from us: our mate, our ministry, our health, sanity, intellect, personality, all of our friends, our charismatic personality, our dynamic ability to be able to proclaim God’s truth, all the material things of life, and every person that we knew. We discovered that most of us were building our lives by placing our confidence and trust in all of those things and in all of those people.

We also discovered that security, unlike insecurity, is placing our faith and confidence and trust in that which cannot be taken away from us and that there are only two things on this earth that cannot be taken away: one is our relationship to the Living Word, Jesus Christ, and the other is our relationship to the written Word, the Bible.

Therefore, our conclusion must be that the only way we will ever be secure is in building our relationship with Jesus and His Word.

One year after this staff meeting, God brought Bill McCloud (the pastor of the church in which the great Canadian revivals broke loose in 1971) into an area where Life Action had spent about nine months in revival work. He brought all of churches in that area together and announced his subject on a particular night: he was going to preach on the fear of man (which, by the way, is the scriptural term for insecurity or what produces it).

I sat on the front row and thought to myself, “I don’t have fear of man. I preach anything God asks me to preach. If it costs me the meeting, I don’t compromise and I would stand for truth”. And so, I started praying for all those people in the meeting that night, “God, You know that fear of man has held these people back from obeying You”.

I’m not sure anybody else in that auditorium got anything that night except me. By the time God was through pointing His finger at my, he had chopped me up in pieces, stomped all over me, and then put me back together again.

So, how does fear of man, insecurity, affect us? Proverbs 29:25 teaches that the fear of man brings a snare. It imprisons.

For example, some people cannot open their mouths and share the gospel with someone because they are choked by fear of what that person might think of them. They are consumed with fear of man.

There are some parents who can’t discipline their children properly. Because of fear of man, parents can't be firm and loving as well as consistent because they are desperate for their children’s approval and afraid they will lose their children if they discipline God’s way.

There are some who cannot disagree with another person or cannot stand it when someone disagrees with them because of fear of man. Some are totally intimidated and threatened when somebody loves them enough to point out something in their lives that is unscriptural.

There are those who are consumed with fear of man and believe that they are the ultimate spiritual authority. That is close to blasphemy.

Fear of man results in a person keeping everybody at a distance and making sure they are the “tough guy” when dealing with other people.

Some who have fear of man can’t stand it when their children act up. It’s not because they are really concerned about their character and their behavior, and how they have hurt the heart of God and disobeyed Scripture; no, it is because they fear how their children’s behavior makes them look in front of other people.

Fear of man will determine who a person associates with, the clothes and hairstyles they wear and even the neighborhoods they live in.

The fear of man ensnares, imprisons, and holds a person captive. Some, enslaved by fear of man, are chained to their sin habits and the only reason they haven’t received deliverance is because they would have to shame themselves and go to another believer and confess their sin and make themselves accountable. Their fear of being “found out” and what someone might think of them keeps them in the “muck and mire” of secret sin habits in their lives.

In my own pilgrimage, I found myself begging God to forgive me for drive that I found in my life, a drive for approval. I wanted to be approved by other people. I thought to myself, “how self-serving, how self-centered, how selfish, and how wrong”. I kept confessing the sin to God but I never found freedom of forgiveness like I had with other sins I had confessed.

Under the tutorship of the Holy Spirit, I discovered that the drive for approval is not a sin but it is God-created. When Jesus was baptized, the windows of heaven opened and the Father spoke and said, “This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (approve of).

There’s nothing wrong with the drive for approval. Created in us by God, we must understand that the drive for approval was given in order to drive us to Him-that we would “study to show ourselves approved unto God”. (Second Timothy 2:15a).

The A.U.G. degree (Approved Unto God) is one degree that is needed in the life every believer more than any other degree. But it is a degree that is not conferred by any Christian school or university. It is a degree conferred only by God. I believe the day has come that we need to ask God for a godly contempt for the approval of man and ask Him for an insatiable appetite for the approval of God. Until we seek the approval of God instead of the approval of man (of which I was guilty of), we will never know the joy of true freedom from fear of man.

In trying to understand my approval drive, I discovered that what I had done was substituted relationships, people, position, status, and things, for God. I did this by seeking acceptance, status, and increasing my work productivity.

Some may seek the approval of man by making an attempt to be accepted by as many people as possible. Sometimes a believer will compromise, or lower, his or her standards, in order to be accepted.

Others may seek the approval of man by attempting to achieve a level of status to impress others. People who drive the fanciest cars and move in to more expensive homes, sometimes do so because of fear of man, seeking man’s approval. Others just cannot live without name brand clothes and the finest jewelry substituting status for approval instead of the approval of God.

And then there are others, like myself, that use increased work productivity in an attempt to meet the approval drive. It was so bad with me in the earlier years of our ministry that when we booked a crusade in Des Moines, Iowa, the pastor called me and said, “Del, would you do me a favor and this time stay in town?” I said, “What do your mean”? He said, “Ten years ago when you were with me over in the Buffalo, New York area, if I remember right, you were on seventeen flights and preached six of the seven services in that crusade and all of the other time you were on the phone”.

I would preach Sunday through Friday, we would drive all night to the next crusade, the team would get out of the van exhausted having slept through the night, sit down in a truck stop for breakfast and I’d be on the phone. I would overhear some on our team say, “I’m telling you, that guy is the hardest worker I have ever seen in my life”.

What do you think that did for me? It fulfilled my approval drive apart from God. I would kill myself to be approved through productivity.

Proverbs 29:25-“The fear of man brings a snare”. It puts us in prison. It makes us captive of what everybody else thinks of us. “But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe”. Proverbs 14:26 states, “In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence”. That’s security. When you place your trust in the Lord and you live “in the fear of the Lord”, you don’t care what anybody thinks of you. It doesn’t matter. Once you’ve been set free, you are like a bird that’s been set free from the fowler’s snare. You begin to understand the reality of soaring with the power of Christ’s resurrection life in your life. (By the way, I was so insecure that when I watched a football game and the players got in a huddle, I thought they were talking about me!)

I remember preaching in the early years of my ministry, coming off of the platform and standing down front with the hope that at least a few people would come forward and tell me how great the message was. When God started dealing with the fear of man in my life, every time I preached He would have me come down off of the platform and, before anybody could speak to me, I would have to go to my knees on the front pew and say, “God, was that okay with You? It really doesn’t matter whether this church likes me or keeps me. The only thing that matters is-was it okay with You.”

I remember, during this time of God dealing with the fear of man in my life, leaving my motel in Florida to go preach for a large church. On the way to that church, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Del, if you preach your heart out this morning and there’s no movement, nobody raises a hand, nobody gets saved, nobody gets right with God, nobody moves, there are no tears; is that alright with you if it brings more glory to Me?”

I knew better than to say “yes” to the Lord. I feared Him too much. I knew as sure as I said “yes”, that would be the next test.

Is it acceptable to you if people don’t like you but God does? Is it okay with you if you are ostracized from your friends because you love God so much and you obey His Word and the direction of His Spirit? Or would you cling to those friends and the security of their approval but you wouldn’t have the approval of God?

Here are some of the things that are true of people who have the fear of man and are insecure:

1. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person being unable to confront, privately, another person and unable to accept rebuke or correction from another.

2. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person being self-consciousness (the fear that others are talking about them or looking at them).

3. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person being more concerned about their own reputation than God’s reputation.

4. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person being reactionary and defensive because they can’t stand for people to disagree with them.

5. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person having to maintain control and has to be in charge because they are threatened by others.

7. Fear of man and insecurity results in nervous habits-like biting of fingernails, overeating, oversleeping, talking too much and controlling conversations, laughing raucously, exaggerating, and name dropping.

8. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person not being able to be transparent or honest about where they are in their walk with God.

Many years ago, revival occurred in Fort Worth, Texas, because a Certified Public Accountant stood before his church and confessed that he was a liar and a thief. He testified that had he stolen from his employer (a government defense contractor) by manipulating paper work to the amount of millions of dollars. After receiving a promotion with more money and “security”, God gripped his heart and convicted him of his sin and the CPA had to risk it all in order to be honest and transparent and make things right with his company and with the Lord.

When he turned himself in, it took four to five months for the Pentagon to determine what to do with him. He lost his job, his position, and the security of his salary. A few months later, with God still working in his heart, he remembered that, when he was attending the University of Oklahoma, he had stolen $300 worth of books, including a calculator. So, he wrote a check for the amount of money he owed and sent it the university and asked for forgiveness. After the university newspaper printed his story, news wire services all over the world, including USA Today, printed the story.

The fear of man will not allow a person to be this honest and this obedient. But until a person is honest and obedient, he will not meet God.

7. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person rejecting and criticizing others.

8. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person being frustrated and discontent with life.

9. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person murmuring and complaining.

10. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person being inflexible; everything has to be their way. Nobody else’s way is acceptable.

11. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person having to have the final word, even if they are not asked.

12. Fear of man and insecurity results in a person being unable to make a final decision, especially when the cost is perceived as high.

A pastor was set free from insecurity and fear of man when he stood before his church confessing that he was defensive, always having to tell his side of the story, even to people not involved. He said he had become of jealous, fearing that others would be loved for their teaching more than he was loved for his teaching.

This pastor went on to say the he overate to console himself and to fight his inner conflicts. He stated that he found himself constantly angry at

God because his church wasn’t what he wanted it to be. He was filled with resentment for being misunderstood and not being fully appreciated. He lived in constant fear of his ministry failing. He stated,

“I was insensitive to other’s who were hurting. I experienced depression. I didn’t feel loved. I felt like I was no good. A hundred people could tell me they loved me but I could only see the five who criticized me. I couldn’t be tender with my wife or share my heart. I was afraid of breaking down and not appearing to be a real man in her presence. I couldn’t even say to her that I loved her. I couldn’t sit down and talk with my children or my parents. I couldn’t express my needs. I had to appear like I had everything under control and what God showed me in my life was that the root of all of this was pride”.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For seven years I (Del) had been on this pilgrimage. I had many of my staff praying that God would set me free from insecurity (fear of man). One day during our staff revival, one of our guest preachers addressed the problem of insecurity and he had the nerve to say that insecurity was rooted in pride. I reacted and I had to figure out a way convince myself that he was wrong. But the Holy Spirit began to take me to the cross and force me to deal with my pride. Here’s how:

Each of us has people in our lives that have meant a lot to us. At some particular place in your life, God brought a pastor or friend or spiritual leader to you and they have impacted you and had the answers that you needed. We tend to elevate those people on a pedestal beyond reality.

I have done that with Bill Gothard (a well-known Bible teacher) in my life, whom God used in my life several years ago. Bill Gothard is one of the godliest and biblical men in our nation. I had elevated Bill so high on a pedestal that I didn’t even really want to meet him because he would have me analyzed in sixty seconds because, in my opinion, he sat right next to God and he and God had this thing going.

Our Life Action staff, including myself, was in Chicago for a crusade. One day, while I was out to lunch with a pastor, Bill Gothard contacted one of the staff and invited us to come to his headquarters to lead the devotions. My staff knew I was battling this thing of fear of man and insecurity and they knew that I would have found a face-saving way out of this if Bill had talked to me, so my staff agreed to Bill’s request before I got back from lunch.

That terrible day came! I had to go their headquarters, shake hands with that man, have him sit behind me and I knew that, even though he wasn’t looking at me, he was analyzing me. Some of our staff got up to sing before I spoke when all of a sudden another staff member passed me a note he had written and the note put into perspective the whole thing I was going through.

This is what the note said, “Del, I am praying for you. Today is your final exam in the fear of man”. And when I saw that note, I took off for the cross of Jesus. I said, “God, I don’t care what Bill Gothard thinks. I’m going to give it everything I’ve got and when I get through the only thing that matters is what You think.”

I want to tell you, it took me seven years in that process but there is nothing in the world like the freedom that God brings to your life once you are set free from the fowler’s snare, from being taken captive, from being a prisoner to fear of man.

I wonder where God finds you right now in relation to His truth. Are you tired of having to impress? Are you tired of fearing what others think? Are you tired of evaluating and analyzing all of your decisions based upon what everybody else thinks rather than on what God thinks?

I tell you, that’s a load to carry. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). If you’ve been taken captive there will be a process but I want to tell you that God will set you free. You can get your A.U.G. (Approved Unto God) degree. Where do you start? By simply agreeing with God that you have fear of man and that you live a life of insecurity. The biggest struggle in the fear of man and insecurity is actually admitting it. Once you agree with God, you will start on the most liberating journey you’ve ever taken in your life.

Would you be willing to pray this prayer?

“God, it’s true. I’m so consumed with fear of man. I’m so ashamed. I fear man more than I fear You. I want to be set free. The pride in me is at the root of my sin. Take the axe to the root of that tree in my life, Lord. Cleanse me, unshackle me.”