Faithful in what has been given

Friends,

Have you been given a ministry? Are you diligent to fulfill that ministry, no matter how small or unnoticeable? Do you find yourself frustrated because your small work seems to have no impact?

Consider the legacy of Shamgar:

Judges 3:31
After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel. [NKJV]

This man is not prominent in Israel. It seems he is a simple farmer, tending to the small piece of ground under his stewardship. He is armed with nothing but an ox goad ... what, in our day, might be called a cattle prod.

You may be interested to understand that this tool is actually a 2-edged, sword-like implement. And with this 2-edged sword, Shamgar killed 600 enemy soldiers. In so doing, he delivered the people of God.

What small piece of earth has the LORD given you to tend?
Do you allow the enemy to pass through unmolested?
Do you realize that you have the same armament in your possession as this hero of the Bible?

And now, what are you going to do with it?

Be encouraged, Jose

Willed to victory

Friends,

When we responded to Christ's call, did we recognize that it was not of our doing? Or have we somehow come up short when it comes to acknowledging that our salvation is part of His sovereign will?

James 1:18
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. (NKJV, emphasis added)

We who are rightly called Christians are given that title because the Lord chose us to be part of His Kingdom. A close reading of scripture proves that we considered God to be our enemy, and He declared that the war was over. And there are only two ways to end a war, and only two sides that one can be on when it is ended. By God's sovereign choice and will, His people are on His side, victorious over sin and death.

Make no mistake, brothers and sisters. We are victorious. And it is because the Lord of Hosts has done it!

Let us rejoice and be glad!

Be encouraged, Jose

Assured Victory

Friends,

The enemy is counting on our surrender. He expects us to be weak and fearful. He assumes that our confidence in the LORD is easily shaken.

But you and I need not live under the assumptions and presumptions of the enemy.

Exodus 15:6
Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power;
Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces. [NKJV]

Almighty God is glorified in victory over His enemy. His enemy is our enemy. And therefore, the Great and Wondrous Lord is glorified and exalted in victory over your enemy and my enemy.

We have nothing to fear, brothers and sisters. The enemy that wants to harm you and me is shattered pieces under our feet. Walk in victory!

Be encouraged, Jose

Are you prepared?

Friends,

Most people like to live in peace. Most people don't go looking for a fight. As Christians, though, we must realize that a fight is always looking for us.

Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”
-- Joel 3:9-10 [NKJV]

Unfortunately, most Christians don't have a clue that evil truly is lurking about, seeking whom it might devour. Most Christians go through life blissfully unaware of the pitched battle that is going on all around us.

Be unaware no longer, brothers and sisters. Prepare yourself for war. Take up the full armor of God. Sharpen your knowledge of God's word. Protect your thoughts by keeping them occupied with Kingdom business. Guard your heart from the desires of the flesh.

Prepare for war!
Victory is at hand!

Be encouraged, Jose

Passover to Passover

Friends,

When the LORD first instituted Passover, it was a relatively simple affair. His directions were specific but they were fairly straightforward. We find them in the twelfth chapter of Exodus ...

Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.
Exodus 12:15-17 [NKJV]

Keep in mind that these instructions were given to a people that was approaching the end of centuries of captivity. There were very few tangible reminders of God's promise, only the stories of journeys taken and battles fought by old sheep herders and their sons.

Once the LORD delivered Israel from the grip of Egypt, He began to unveil more mysteries. Prior to their entrance into the Promised Land, God's people had forty years -- being led by the very presence of God -- to learn the deeper meanings of what He had been teaching them. And so, near the end of this journey, the LORD introduces more into the Passover feast:

"On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the LORD. And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. And you shall present an offering made by fire as a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year. Be sure they are without blemish. Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah you shall offer for a bull, and two-tenths for a ram; you shall offer one-tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs; also one goat as a sin offering, to make atonement for you. You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt offering. In this manner you shall offer the food of the offering made by fire daily for seven days, as a sweet aroma to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work."
Numbers 28:16-25 [NKJV]

As you can see, God has made the preparations more extensive, the worship more intense, and the sacrifice more complete. At first, the children of God could only make minimal preparations. After years of hearing His voice, God expects more.

The same is true today.
We must not stay in our state of initial salvation. We must grow. If a 30-year-old man still sucked his thumb and needed a diaper, we would recognize that something was terribly wrong. If a 30-year Christian has no deeper knowledge of the LORD than he did when he first came to Christ, then we must likewise realize that something is terribly wrong.

Where are you today in your walk with God? Have you grown? Have your prayers changed? Are you doing battle against the powers and principalities of evil? How much of your prayers are about asking for yourself versus interceding on behalf of your brethren?

Take time this weekend to consider these questions and to go before God. Listen for His answer. And be resolved to obey His word.

Be encouraged, Jose

He fights for us

Friends,

When you pray, how often do you explicitly ask the LORD for victory over our enemies? Do you ask Almighty God to wage war upon those that persecute His people? Consider an excerpt from a prayer of David, a man after God's own heart.

Flash forth lightning and scatter them;
Shoot out Your arrows and destroy them.
-- Psalm 144:6 [NKJV]

Throughout the Bible, we hear people of God crying out to God for mercy, for help and for deliverance. And we also see them beseeching the LORD to destroy their enemies... to wipe them out... to blot them from the face of the earth.

It is critical that you and I see the great humility in these pleas. The people are not taking matters into their own hands. Rather, they are relying wholly upon the might and power of the LORD. And the LORD does not look upon their situation passively or from a distance.

The man and woman of God looks to the LORD to be deeply and intimately involved in every aspect of their life. When there is persecution, he humbles himself before God, crying out for Him to show Himself mighty and powerful.

Be encouraged, Jose