Isaiah 9:7
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!
As I have watched the Broncos on their amazing run one thought stands out. When passion and commitment are present great things can happen!
Now, that’s not to say that one team or person has the “corner” on passion or commitment I believe there is more to it than meets the natural eye!
I will call it the “Faith Factor”.
You take passion and commitment and add a strong dose of faith , Katie bar the doors! Anything is possible!!! ANYTHING! Let’s call them… The Fav Three! Corny? Maybe, but hey, it’s my blog! If you don’t like it…. Write your own. 
With an unwavering faith in the Goodness and Greatness of God- NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!
One of my biggest heroes of the faith is George Mueller. He ran five orphanages in England on pure faith. He never once looked to man to provide his need and that of the children. He cast all his cares upon the Lord!
His testimony has led me to claim the following passage as my “Life Verse” ;
Job 5:8-9
8 “But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
I would lay my cause before him.
9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
One does not need to look long in scripture to find great examples of the “Fav Three” in action. One of the best known, and one of my favorites is the example of David a shepherd boy, a ‘mere youth’ as King Saul called him.
We pick up the scene in 1 Samuel 17:
20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”
26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” 30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”
Wow, I never tire of that story! There is so much wealth in it for us to apply to our lives today! David surely displayed passion, commitment and faith.
By Gods grace and the Spirits illumination I will break it down in Part 2.
Stay Tuned!
Peace, Jonathan
You were created for Glory!
Let’s take a deeper look before you write me off as a heretic or ego maniac.
Psalm 16:3 – 3As for the godly (the saints) who are in the land, they are the excellent, the noble, and the glorious, in whom is all my delight.
Romans 8: 29-30
29For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
Glo- Glow.
intr.v. glowed, glow·ing, glows
1. To shine brightly and steadily, especially without a flame
Glo·ry
– noun, plural-ries1. very great praise or honor2. magnificence3. state of absolute happiness- verb (used without object)-ried-rying4. to exult triumphantly
glo·ri·ous (glôr-s, glr-)
adj.
1. Having or deserving glory; famous.
2. Conferring or advancing glory: a glorious achievement.
3. Characterized by great beauty and splendor; magnificent: a glorious sunset.
4. Delightful; wonderful: had a glorious visit with old friends.
So , based on the premise that we are created in the image of God- made in His likeness. It is logical that we, like God, would have or emit glory. We must not, in false humility say there is nothing special about us. Nor should we fear our glory and hide it under a rock! We were meant to shine bright! Look at these verses-
Matthew 5
14“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
So, the glory we have been given is meant to return to the One who gave it! If we keep it, we become proud, arrogant- a god unto ourselves.
Our glory will surely draw attention to us. This my friend, is our challenge, our cross to bare so to speak! We were never meant to absorb this light/ glory, but reflect it back to the giver! How do we do this? First, We must remember that He is the author and giver of life and every good and perfect gift is from Him. Secondly, we must be about the works He has given us to do. Verse 16 of Matthew says it best! Our light or glory shines the brightest when we do His will, the unique works created for each of us. Our charge is to find out what they are, embrace them, and then walk in them to the glory of the Father.
If we walk in these works but attempt to steal or hold the glory, it will not go well with us. Look at the description of Lucifer –
You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you. (Ezekiel 28:12-15)
And We all know how his story ends! So, shine bright my friend…. To the Glory of God!
What is your faith based on?
In my reading this morning, the Spirit brought to my attention this- – For our faith to be unto righteousness, like that of Abraham, it must be founded and found resting only on Jehovah God- and His Word. Any other faith is just our striving to believe! Getting warm fuzzies from the Spirit- i.e. Promptings of encouragement that you are on the right path or that everything is going to be OK are great, but we cannot rest on those! They are sight and feeling. True faith, conquering faith…childlike faith says, ” I am trusting and resting in and upon your word alone Daddy…for you can’t go against your word”.
Trusting in His word and Character is our “Devine Safeguard”, for if we act in faith like this, it will protect us from going on what we see and feel.
Oh the times I have acted on my human sight and feelings! … Instead of trusting my Father and His word.
May the words of this great hymn encourage us to a faith like Abrahams, “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, All other ground is shifting sand, All other ground is shifting sand”. So when you are tempted to go on what you see or feel…STOP! pray and submit it to your Father and His word. Asking Him to give you wisdom and eyes of faith to see and respond to the situation based on His Word.
Peace, Jonathan
The Following is taken from Streams in the Desert
The Prayer of Faith
“God that cannot lie promised” (Titus 1:2).
Faith is not working up by will power a sort of certainty that something is coming to pass, but it is seeing as an actual fact that God has said that this thing shall come to pass, and that it is true, and then rejoicing to know that it is true, and just resting because God has said it. Faith turns the promise into a prophecy. While it is merely a promise it is contingent upon our cooperation. But when faith claims it, it becomes a prophecy, and we go forth feeling that it is something that must be done because God cannot lie. –Days of Heaven upon Earth
Over and over again, the Psalmist pleads his case to God. This is a commendable spiritual discipline for sure- One we are all called to do!
But if our prayers only consist of requests, we have missed the boat. We must always bring God and His truth into our tiny pictures. Reminding ourselves of who He is and whose we are.
In essence, we become Counselors! We encourage and tell ourselves the truth. We “step back” from ourselves and our circumstances and turn from just a “player” to a player-coach. Learning to invite the Counselor, the Spirit of Light and Life into our daily lives is a discipline we can’t LIVE without. It is no coincidence Jesus mentions giving us peace right after He tells us the Father will send The Spirit. John 14:
25“All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Let us take David’s example! For the Truth will set us free! Free from-worry, fear, doubt, depression, hopelessness, despair, confusion ….you get the picture.
George Mueller did and look what God did through him! Peace, Jon
Cast Down
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul” (Ps. 43:5).
Is there ever any ground to be cast down? There are two reasons, but only two. If we are as yet unconverted, we have ground to be cast down; or if we have been converted and live in sin, then we are rightly cast down. But except for these two things there is no ground to be cast down, for all else may be brought before God in prayer with supplication and thanksgiving. And regarding all our necessities, all our difficulties, all our trials, we may exercise faith in the power of God, and in the love of God. “Hope thou in God.” Oh, remember this: There is never a time when we may not hope in God. Whatever our necessities, however great our difficulties, and though to all appearance help is impossible, yet our business is to hope in God, and it will be found that it is not in vain. In the Lord’s own time help will come. Oh, the hundreds, yea, the thousands of times that I have found it thus within the past seventy years and four months! When it seemed impossible that help could come, help did come; for God has His own resources. He is not confined. In ten thousand different ways, and at ten thousand different times God may help us. Our business is to spread our cases before the Lord, in childlike simplicity to pour out all our heart before God, saying, “I do not deserve that Thou shouldst hear me and answer my requests, but for the sake of my precious Lord Jesus; for His sake answer my prayer, and give me grace quietly to wait till it please Thee to answer my prayer. For I believe Thou wilt do it in Thine own time and way.” *** “For I shall yet praise him.” More prayer, more exercise of faith, more patient waiting, and the result will be blessing, abundant blessing. Thus I have found it many hundreds of times, and therefore I continually say to myself, “Hope thou in God.” –George Mueller
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Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
On the surface, one might think King David has gone crazy! It’s like he is daring us. I can just hear him say… “I double-dare you! Go ahead, make my day! Taste for yourself!”.
Let us consider this. God is the creator and giver of every good and perfect gift, as James testifies.
James 1:17
New International Version (NIV)
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
So, let’s think of His creation. Beautiful beyond words, right? Yeah, He is really into beauty! Now, think of all the tasty things He has created. Spices, fruit, fish, etc…. Then He created us with creativity, like Himself. Think about it! Ahh! Your favorite meal or food. A creative chef takes the ingredients God created and makes something special. Of course, the chef loves to create and share his creations with people who can appreciate them. They are, in essence, a part or reflection of him.
I think this is what the psalmist is talking about. He has truly experienced God’s essence. It is as tangible and real to him as a fat, juicy steak! Just as we love to share our experiences with others, David is saying, ” man, have you tasted God? He is amazing! His goodness, mercy, faithfulness, and protection are so tangible I can taste them!”
Now, lets take this home! How can we testify of something or someone we have not experienced or come to know! Uh, well, um, I guess God is amazing- right?! At least I heard He was!
Not a very convincing witness, right? If we, His children, have not come to know our Heavenly Father in this way, well then, we are in sore need of some taste-testings! IE- some trials! You don’t think David learned about God and His tastiness in the palace do you! No, he learned it in the valley of the shadow of death!
Note: You don’t have to wait for trials to begin your taste testing. Just grab hold of one of His promises, take Him at His word and let Him show you just how tasty He is! Trust me, He is Very Tasty!
Peace, Jon
