America at the Crossroads: "Facing Forward"

Here's the notes from the message delivered at New Life Community Church on Sunday, November 11, 2012.  It is the second in a three-part series entitled AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS: A Defining Moment.  If you would like to listen to this message, you may do so by going to our website at www.newlifesite.com.  God bless.

America at the Crossroads, Part 2                            Sunday, November 11, 2012

 “Facing Forward”

No matter how you may stand, the truth remains that we as a nation have re-elected a president that will continue to advance an agenda that supports abortion rights.  He will in all likelihood appoint at least one Supreme Court justice that will further entrench Roe v. Wade.

The gay agenda in America will find a friend in the present administration.  America is undergoing a fundamental re-definition of marriage that has far-reaching consequences.

We today have a divided nation.

One other time in history is similar:  the days following the Civil War.

Lincoln

Doris Kearns Goodwin.  A Team of Rivals.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.  Isaiah 6:1 (NKJV)

We need to see the Lord – no matter what!

² Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one cried to another and said:  “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”  ⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.  Isaiah 6:2-4 (NKJV)

God is rearranging everything!

⁵ So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone!  Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”  Isaiah 6:5 (NKJV)

We need to see ourselves the way God sees us.

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said:  “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”  Isaiah 6:6-7 (NKJV)

We need forgiveness – purifying

⁸ Also 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.”  Isaiah 6:8 (NKJV)

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

4 Principles

… that have made America great

… that can make America great again.

Principle 1:  HUMILITY

Sovereignty of God

American Hubris

³⁵ But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. ³⁶ Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.  Luke 6:35-36 (NKJV)

³⁷ “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”  Luke 6:37-38 (NKJV)

³⁹ And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? ⁴⁰ A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. ⁴¹ And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.  Luke 6:39-42 (NKJV)

What’s wrong with America today?  Just make a list.

How have I done these things?

Principle 2:  FAITH

A Praying People

Prayer Revival under Jeremiah Lanphier

John Piper on Jeremiah Lanphier

Jeremiah Lanphier's Example
I will close with a record of something God did 130 years ago in New York City. It illustrates how God has started every harvest time in history through the concerted prayer of his people. Toward the middle of the last century the glow of earlier religious awakenings had faded. America was prosperous and felt little need to call on God. But in the 1850s . . .

Secular and religious conditions combined to bring about a crash. The third great panic in American history swept the giddy structure of speculative wealth away. Thousands of merchants were forced to the wall as banks failed and railroads went into bankruptcy. Factories were shut down and vast numbers thrown out of employment. New York City alone having 30,000 idle men. In October 1857, the hearts of people were thoroughly weaned from speculation and uncertain gain, while hunger and despair stared them in the face.

On July 1, 1857, a quiet and zealous businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier took up an appointment as a City Missionary in down-town New York. Lanphier was appointed by the North Church of the Dutch Reformed denomination. This church was suffering from depletion of membership due to the removal of the population from the down-town to the better residential quarters, and the new City Missionary was engaged to make diligent visitation in the immediate neighborhood with a view to enlisting church attendance among the floating population of the lower city. The Dutch Consistory felt that it had appointed an ideal layman for the task in hand, and so it was.

Burdened so by the need, Jeremiah Lanphier decided to invite others to join him in a noonday prayer-meeting, to be held on Wednesdays once a week. He therefore distributed a handbill:

HOW OFTEN SHALL I PRAY?
As often as the language of prayer is in my heart; as often as I see my need of help; as often as I feel the power of temptation; as often as I am made sensible of any spiritual declension or feel the aggression of a worldly spirit.
           In prayer we leave the business of time for that of eternity, and intercourse with men for intercourse with God.
           A day Prayer Meeting is held every Wednesday, from 12 to 1 o'clock, in the Consistory building in the rear of the North Dutch Church, corner of Fulton and William Streets (entrance from Fulton and Ann Streets).
This meeting is intended to give merchants, mechanics, clerks, strangers, and business men generally an opportunity to stop and call upon God amid the perplexities incident to their respective avocations. It will continue for one hour; but it is also designed for those who may find it inconvenient to remain more than five or ten minutes, as well as for those who can spare the whole hour.

Accordingly at twelve noon, September 23, 1857, the door was opened and the faithful Lanphier took his seat to await the response to his invitation. Five minutes went by. No one appeared. The missionary paced the room in a conflict of fear and faith. Ten minutes elapsed. Still no one came. Fifteen minutes passed. Lanphier was yet alone. Twenty minutes; twenty-five; thirty; and then at 12.30 p.m., a step was heard on the stairs, and the first person appeared, then another, and another, and another, until six people were present, and the prayer meeting began. On the following Wednesday, October 7th, there were forty intercessors.

Thus, in the first week of October 1857, it was decided to hold a meeting daily instead of weekly.

Within six months, ten thousand business men were gathering daily for prayer in New York, and within two years, a million converts were added to the American churches.

Undoubtedly the greatest revival in New York's colorful history was sweeping the city, and it was of such an order to make the whole nation curious. There was no fanaticism, no hysteria, simply an incredible movement of the people to pray.

Is there a Jeremiah Lanphier among you?

Finney wrote of this revival, "This winter of 1857–58 will be remembered as the time when a great revival prevailed. It swept across the land with such power that at the time it was estimated that not less than 50,000 conversions occurred weekly."

IN GOD WE TRUST  -- But let’s carry this further.  At the core of America is a belief that God will bless diligence and hard work.  It has been called the Protestant Work Ethic.

A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.  Proverbs 10:4 (ESV)

If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. II Thessalonians 3:10 (NKJV)

For better or worse, at the core of American greatness is a little phrase that has often been misinterpreted:  God helps those who help themselves.  Benjamin Franklin.  1736 Poor Richard’s Almanac

Human Responsibility

Mind your own business

Principle 3:  DESIRE

Seek God – but not just seeking a relationship with God, but seeking His will for your life.  Seeking to find Him and His ways.

At the core of America is DESIRE.

People yearning for a better, freer way of life.

A new start

OPPORTUNITY

We call it the America Dream

Official Title: Liberty Enlightening the World

Inscription: 

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

”

One last word about desire:

A phrase common on American lips has been “Our Kids Will Have it Better”

Principle 4:  MORALITY

¹ Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.  ² After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.  ³ Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.  His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. Hosea 6:1-3 (NKJV)

Standing in the Battles of Our Day

One Year Bible
New Testament Passage (for Sun., Nov. 11, 2012): Hebrews 10:18-39

³⁵ Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. ³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.  Hebrews 10:35-36 (NASB)

None of us wants to see the days in which severe persecution is once again unleashed against the church. But we must face the fact that standing for salvation through Jesus alone is an increasingly controversial and perilous position today. Standing for a biblical definition of marriage can thrust you into a firestorm. Holding to biblical standards concerning sexual identity can be career suicide. All kinds of surprising pressure can be applied for us to walk away from the simple statements of God's Word. From the sanctity of life to the freedom to worship to a response to the gay agenda, we are facing important questions -- important decisions.

Every era of history has its battlefield. Every generation has its unique point of conflict. In the early church there was the pressure to confess Caesar's sovereignty. During the Protestant Reformation it was justification by faith. Fifty years ago, in many portions of the world, it was a stand against atheistic Marxist communism. In our day, in large portions of our world, fundamentalist Islam threatens the lives of those who profess Jesus.

In every era of history, Christians must faithfully confess Christ.  It was the great reformer Martin Luther that said:

“If I profess, with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the battle rages the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle-field besides is mere flight and disgrace to him if he flinches at that one point.”

Thankfully, in America today, we are not called upon to pay with our lives. But in days to come we may pay with our pocketbook or our prestige. Hebrews says that the early Christians "were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations" (vs. 33).  It is incredible that they "joyfully accepted the plundering of their goods" (vs. 34). Why did they do this? HOW could they do this?

Hebrews says that they knew something. They knew that they had "a better and more enduring possession" (vs. 34). Therefore, they could endure. They could confess. They could shine their light in a dark world. 

So, my friend, do not grow weary in standing for the Lord. You have a sure reward. God's promise is sure. We are the salt of he earth. May we walk today in that strength. 

The Climb to the Summit

One Year Bible
New Testament Passage (for Tues., Nov. 6, 2012):  Hebrews 7:18-28

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.  Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV)

Max Lucado tells the story of a young man named Matt who set out with a large group of other youths to climb 14,000 foot Mt. Chrysolite in Colorado.  It was a grueling trek that only got steeper and steeper.  Matt couldn't make it.  He lagged behind the rest of the group.  Despite coaxing and begging by the leaders, Matt said he couldn't go on any further.  They were only a few hundred feet from the summit, but Matt was done.

Then, three fellow trekkers came up beside Matt. Two took his arms and another pushed from the rear.  They virually dragged him, but Matt passed the timberline and came to the top.  There they heard the applause. Their group, a couple of hundred youth stood there giving a standing ovation.

Our journey is similar.  We are called to the top of the mountain.  But the climb can be hard and our endurance is tested.  We may be tempted to give up.  BUT WE HAVE A FRIEND -- A SAVIOUR.

Our Friend comes alongside us to boost us on our climb.  He is able to save us completely -- to the uttermost -- to the summit.  He is able to carry us all the way to the top.  Why?  Because He ever lives to stand in our place -- to intercede for us -- to pull for us -- to believe that we can do that which we ourselves have perhaps given up on. 

When our strength runs out, His strength never fails.  He is our Leader, our Helper, our Hope.  He will come along beside us and push us from the rear.  He will bring us to the summit.

There we will find those who have climbed before us.  Hebrews 12 says that a host is watching, cheering us on.  This is not the casual appreciation of those who are entertained.  It is the applause of those who know the severity of the climb.  It is the applause of the fellow-traveler.  This is the picture of our walk with God.  We are tested to our limit.  But God is our help.  And, we can today help each other further up the trail.

America at the Crossroads, Part 1: "The Promise of Our Nation"

Here are the notes from the message at New Life Community Church yesterday, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012.  This was the first of a three-part series entitled AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS: A Defining Moment.  The message title is "The Promise of Our Nation."  If you desire to listen to this message, you can do so by going to our website www.newlifesite.com.  God Bless!

America at the Crossroads, Part 1                                              Sun., Nov. 4, 2012

 “The Promise of Our Nation”

Video: “It is our Time”

BASIC OUTLINE OF MESSAGE:

1.      THEN

2.      NOW

3.      AND HOW

COMPARISON BETWEEN ANCIENT ROME AND MODERN AMERICA

A Defining Moment

THEN

Roman Empire – a pagan place – Christian values unknown. 

Corruption was pervasive in business.

Morality virtually non-existent.

Divorce was common to the point that marriage was increasingly considered non-existent.

Dirt and filth filled the cities so that disease, plague, and epidemic were frequent.

Life expectancy was half that of US today.

Few families had both parents – few parents ever saw all their children grow to adulthood.

ABORTION

Modern contraception or birth control was unknown, therefore abortion was frequent.

Medical procedures were primitive – germ theory unknown, sanitation non-existent.

Women who underwent abortions often either died in the process or became infertile.

Therefore the primary form of birth control was infanticide. 

Determine the gender and then usually keep the male babies and dispose of the female babies – abandonment – take them to seashore or forest and leave to die of exposure.

DISEASE AND EPIDEMIC

Measles, smallpox, or bubonic plague would sweep through a city and kill as much as half the population. 

People fled the cities.  As a result of depopulation of the cities, then after the epidemic, the government would move tens of thousands of people from different parts of the empire back into the cities.  Therefore the cities were a conglomerate of languages and cultures.

A 9/11 EVENT OF THAT DAY:

BURNING OF ROME

Historic date:  July 19, 64 A.D.  The city of Rome burned.

72 hours the fire was nearly out.  Then it burst into flame again.  Three more days it burned.  Rumors that soldiers stopped firefighters 

Nero decided to blame the Christians.

Thus, the Neronian persecution.

Three years later Peter wrote:

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  ¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. ¹² Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.  I Peter 2:9-12 (NIV 1984)

NOW

Three Words to America:

1.     God judges PEOPLE and NATIONS.

2.     The church is the HOPE of the world.

3.     America is UNIQUE in history.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.  Psalm 33:12 (NKJV)

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.  Proverbs 14:34 (NKJV)

AND HOW

How were Christians to live in such a perverse and corrupt society?

Here’s how:

HOME AND MARRIAGE

Husbands and wives were faithful.  Avoided divorce.  Women treated with dignity.  Didn’t have abortions.  Kept their girl babies.  EVEN WENT OUT AND FOUND THE ABANDONED LITTLE GIRLS.

Therefore there were a disproportionate number of women in the churches.  Wouldn’t allow women to venture out into the world because of the danger.  Church insisted that a young man be a Christian before he could marry a young woman.  Single men in the empire by the thousands began coming to church.  Result – they converted.

PLAGUES AND DISEASE

Standard health policy – when disease hit, flee the city.  Leave behind the disabled, the children, the elderly.  But the Christians would not flee.  At risk of their own lives, the Christians reached out to those who stayed behind.  Loved them and ministered to them.  After 3-6 months, when plague had died down, family returned and found their family members still alive and converted to Christianity.

CONSTANTINE AND THE “CONVERSION” OF THE EMPIRE

October 28, 312 A.D. the Battle of the Milvian Bridge

CONQUER BY THIS. 

In hoc signo vinces.

Labarum

Rodney Stark The Rise of Christianity.  It wasn’t the Edict of Milan that made Christianity the official religion, it was the rise of a vibrant Church.

Question:  Are we winning or are we losing in America?

What happens at the ballot box is certainly important because it determines the health and future of our nation, but the real battle is in terms of THE CHURCH BEING THE CHURCH.

2008 BBC correspondent Justin Webb stationed in Washington, D.C. wrote this about what he sees in America:

My wife and I do not believe in God. In our first posting in

Brussels among the nominal Catholic Belgiums' unbelief was not a

problem. The Bush administration hums to the sound of prayer.

Prayer meetings take place day and night. Before that in London it

was not remotely an issue. With the sole exception of one friend

who is an evangelical Christian, I don't recall a single conversation

with anyone about religious matters in the years I lived and worked

in the capital. Our house in London was right next to a church. We

talked to the tiny congregation about the weather, about the need to

prune the rosebushes and mend the fence, but we never talked

about God. How different it is here on this side of the Atlantic. The

early settlers came here in part to practice their faith as they saw

fit. Since then the right to trumpet your religious affiliations loud

and clear has been part of the warp and weft of American life. And

I'm not talking about the Bible belt or about the loopy folk who

live in log cabins in Idaho and Oregon and worry that the

government is poisoning their water. I'm talking about Mr. and

Mrs. Average in normal town USA.

Mr. and Mrs. Average share an uncomplicated faith with its roots

in the Puritanism of the forbearers. According to that faith there is

such a thing as heaven. Eighty-six percent of Americans, we are

told by the pollsters, believe in heaven. But much more striking for

me and much more pertinent in current world events is that 76

percent, or three out of four people you meet on any American

street, believe in hell and the existence in Satan. They believe that

the devil is out to get you, that evil is a force in the world, a force

to be engaged in battle. Much of the battle takes place in the forms

of prayer. Americans will talk of praying as if it were the most

normal, rational thing to do. The jolly, plump woman who delivers

our mail in the Washington suburbs has a son who is ill. "The

doctors are doing their best," she says, "but she's praying hard,"

and that's what will do the trick.

During the last week a child who has been missing for nine months

has been found safe and well. The event was described routinely

on the news media as a miracle. One broadcast had a caption

reading "the power of prayer. In fact, the child had been abducted

and her abductor was recognized and captured. In rational, old

Britain the media circus following the finding of the child would

have focused on ways of preventing this from happening again, on

police errors in the investigation. But here metaphorically,

sometimes literally, they just sink to their knees.

We are at our best when IN CRISIS.

But why wait until the crisis?

America rises to her true identity when things are at their worst.

²⁴ Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.  ²⁷ “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’  ²⁸ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’  ²⁹ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”  Matthew 13:24-30 (NIV)

³⁶ Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”  ³⁷ He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.  ⁴⁰ “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴² They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.  Matthew 13:36-43 (NIV)

Don’t curse the weeds – Grow the wheat!

My Anchor Holds

One Year Bible
New Testament Passage (for Sun., Nov. 4, 2012): Hebrews 6:1-20

¹⁹ This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, ²⁰ where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.  Hebrews 6:19-20 (NKJV)

Bestselling author Andy Crouch writes, "Human beings can live for forty days without food, four days without water, and four minutes without air. But we cannot live for four seconds without hope."  Hope is as vital as food, as water, as the air we breathe. 

But hope is more than wishful thinking.  Hope is an anchor.  It holds us steady while we move toward the sure and secure destiny that Jesus has already procured for us.  Like an anchor holds a ship, hope holds us in the storm.  At times, you can feel like your life is like a ship tossed on the stormy seas.  But, despite the turbulence, YOUR ANCHOR HOLDS.  You are tethered to the rock.  The anchor of hope is lodged securely in the Rock.  It reaches through the uncertainty and enters into the very Presence of God.  HE IS OUR HOPE.

Nobel Laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa may be controvesial about many things but he got one thing right.  He was asked, "After all you've seen and endured, are you really as optimistic as you seem?"  He replied, "I'm not optimistic, no. I'm quite different. I'm hopeful. I am a prisoner of hope. In the world, you have very bad people—Hitler, Idi Amin—and they look like they are going to win. All of them—all of them—have bitten the dust."  He went on to say that Romans 5:8 is his life verse: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He said, "It sums up the Gospel wonderfully. We think we have to impress God so that God could love us. But he says, 'No, you are loved already, even at your worst.'"

Hope says, "Throw you're worst at me, and I'll still be standing!"  The great old hymn states, "My hope is built on nothing less that Jesus blood and righteousness."  No matter how bad it seems in the world, we have a sure future.  That's what the resurrection means.  I WILL STAND AGAIN -- no matter what.

No Longer a Baby

One Year Bible
New Testament Passage (for Sat., Nov. 3, 2012): Hebrews 5:1-14

¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. ¹³ For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴ But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.  Hebrews 5:12-14 (NKJV)

We all love babies.  They are cute and cuddly.  They smile at us and our hearts melt.  They speak to us of innocence and endless possibities.  No one ever looked at their baby and hoped someday that they would grow up to be a derelict.  We hope and dream of the great things these children can be when they grow up.

But, as wonderful as those early days are, they must END.  This baby must grow up.  The wonderful simplicity of early childhood must give way to the challenges and responsiblities of growing up.  Decisions will be made.  Direction will be taken.  Character will be formed. Patterns of life will be established.

It is the same way with followers of Jesus Christ.  WE MUST GROW UP.  A teacher years ago lamented the plight of many believers in a message he called "The Eternal Childhood of the Believer."  He stated that there is something about Christianity that too often encourages believers to never grow up -- to stay babies. 

One of the themes of the Book of Hebrews is the MATURITY OF THE BELIEVER.  Repeated we hear,"Let us go on...",  "Let us run the race..." -- twelve times we are encouraged "LET US...". 

Food can be used as an example.  Babies can only handle milk.  Their systems are not able to digest the more diverse and complicated sources of nutrition.  But the demands of growth and life push the baby to a fuller more adequate diet.  Similarly, many believers continue after years of walking with Jesus to subsist on the slimmest of spiritual diets.  They refuse to be taken deeper.  Therefore, at times their faith can be "a mile wide and an inch deep."

So, let us go on to a fuller diet.  Let's order steak!  Read your Bible to understand it.  Stay in the Word and prayerfully ask God for insight.  Seek those who have already walked these paths.  They can teach you.  As the writer of Hebrews states, learn "again the first principles of the oracles of God."  You will GROW.  You will become STRONGER.  You will win some battles.  You will rise higher in the enjoyment of God's presence.  "Let us go on to maturity."

The Living Word

One Year Bible
New Testament Passage (for Fri., Nov. 2, 2012): Hebrews 4:1-16

For the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerned of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)

There is a supernatural aspect to the word of God. Not only does the word of God convey the thoughts of God, but it also delivers God Himself!

This is more than just words on a page. This is more than the factual repetition of inspired utterance. This is more than the description of divine activity.

This is the release of God's power. This is the transmission of divine decree. When God speaks, He creates, He confronts, He convicts, and He conforms. He is little interested in simply informing us of interesting facts. He cares to elevate us to a higher plane - His plans - His ways.

God's Word is described as being like a SWORD. It serves as both an offensive weapon and as a surgical instrument. In OUR HANDS it is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17).  We may use this sword to enforce Christ's victory. We shape our world by using the sword of the Spirit.  In GOD'S HANDS, this sword is used to SHAPE US - to work deeply in our hearts. He cuts us to the core.

The anointed preaching and teaching of God's Word transforms us. I can remember moments as I sat under the preaching of the Word of God in which I was deeply moved, profoundly stirred, eternally changed. It is like standing under the gusher of a waterfall. We are changed by the impact of the Word of God.

Drink deeply today. Open your heart and your mind. You will be called to a higher place.

Then, take the sword of the Spirit and do damage to the kingdom of darkness. YOU BECOME DANGEROUS when you wield the Word of God.

He will work IN YOU and He will work THROUGH YOU.