It Takes Time to Serve the Lord!

Serve: To render obedience or homage to; to perform the duties of

I once heard an elderly lady say that it takes time to raise children... and as those of you with kids can testify - that is a true fact!

I certainly thank the Lord for His patience in raising me. Most of the time, I want to go my own way, and do what I want to do; when I want to do it. But one of the dangers in doing is that there are so many things we are not simply aware of. We start out as babies in the natural, just as we start out as babies in the spiritual, so we have to be taught how to do things and that takes time.

My grandmother once told me that going on for God is like climbing a ladder - you don't step on the first step and suddenly you're at the top. No, you have to go one step at a time. And what happens when a baby first begins to walk? They inevitably try to go too fast and end up falling down. We're like that spiritually sometimes. I can't stress enough that we must spend time with the Lord in prayer and in His Word, so that He can teach us.

Babies in the natural don't stay the same size - as you feed them, they grow; as you teach them, they learn. It's the same with us. As we feed on God's Word, we grow and we learn. We just have to slow down, be patient and spend time with the Lord. In reality, we're not just spending time - we're actually investing time and investing in Jesus pays the best dividends you'll ever get - Eternal Life!

So remember, when we come before Him, we should never act as if it's a chore. Instead, we should come with out minds made up to serve the Lord with gladness! Just as Psalms 100:2-5 tells us, we must "serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye 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. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."

With all that said, let the church say Amen... and AMEN!

God's Merciful and Gracious Names!

Merciful: full of compassion, favor, tender mercy, pity

Gracious: showing kindness, full of compassion, to bestow God blessing upon us

As you may know, names speak of nature. By "nature" I mean, ones own character or type. "Merciful" and "Gracious" always work together to bestow God's nature and blessings upon us. Friends, that's just who God is; He's not some mean God that sits on the throne just waiting to beat us over the head when we do something wrong. No, the God we serve was merciful before sin; He is merciful during sin; and He will still be merciful after sin. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever.

Exodus 34:5-7 tells us "And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation."

The Lord stood by Moses and proclaimed the names of the Lord. He wanted Moses (and He wants us) to learn and get familiar with His names or His nature, so that when we are in the midst of our storm, we can just call on the name. When we need God's mercy, we must call on His merciful name - in Hebrew, that's Jehovah Khaw-oom. When you do, His mercy is going to show up and keep those things back that I so rightly deserve. When we need grace, we should call on His gracious name - Jehovah Khan-noon - and He will show up and graciously give us what we don’t deserve. If you are not familiar with His Hebrew names, just call on "mercy" and "grace," God knows His names (even if we don't). However, we must call on His name with believing-faith and He will show-up and show-out on our behalf.

Let me share with you a testimony of my own: my formal pastor went to the doctor with his daughter, who wanted to have a specific procedure done that day. The nurse at the doctor's office said, "no, we can't do that procedure today; you'll have to wait another month." He and his daughter left, but while they were on the elevator he asked his daughter if she really wanted to have the procedure done that day. Of course she said yes. Guess what they did next? They called on the merciful - Jehovah Khaw-oom - and the gracious - Jehovah Khan-noon - names of God. When the elevator reached to first floor, he told his daughter, "let's go back up." So, they did just that - they went back to the doctor's office and told them again what she wanted to have done. You better believe that the second time the nurse said, "Can you come back this afternoon? We will do it today." That's what I mean about "believing faith." God's names are powerful; all we have to do is use them. They are full of compassion and tender mercy!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen… and AMEN!

God's Protection Covenant! (Part Three)

Today, we will conclude our study on God's Protection Covenant from Psalms 91. There are some awesome promises in here and fortunately for us, God is committed to them all!

11-12.  For He shall give His Angels (messengers) charge (a special assignment from God) over thee, to keep (to preserve) thee in all thy ways. They (the Angels) shall bear thee up in their hands; lest (for fear) thou dash (destroy) thy foot against a stone. In these two verses, God makes an additional promise of protection. At some point in our lives we all can recall a close call in which we escaped a tragedy, where there is no explanation in the natural. The spiritual explanation was that God's Angels were standing guard over God's children. It is so awesome to me that God would give His Angels a special assignment to protect me and you and to hold us in the palm of his hand and not allow us to so much as dash our foot against a stone!

13.  Thou shalt tread (walk) upon the lion (devil) and adder (serpent) the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample (injure or destroy) under feet. As Christians, we have been given the authority over the enemy; he does not have authority over us. Luke 10:19 says, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." What awesome coverage we are provided under God Protection Covenant!

14-16.  In he remaining three verses, God is speaking directly to us. In these three verses, He gives seven promises. When we set our hearts, minds, and love on God, these promises comes into effect. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

I believe that Psalms 91 is a covenant - a spiritual agreement that God has made available to His children. In these difficult times we are living in - we truly need it. May the Lord bless each of you!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen… and AMEN!

God's Protection Covenant! (Part Two)

Today, we will continue on with part 2 of God's Protection Covenant, which is found in Psalms 91.

5 and 6: Thou shalt not be afraid (overcome with fear) for the terror (extreme fear) by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor from the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Verses 5 and 6 cover an entire twenty-four hour period -- day and night protection. The Lord continually reminds us not to be afraid, because it is through faith in His word that we are protected. Being afraid comes when we think that we are responsible for protecting ourselves. Fortunately for us, His protection is already there - it has already been provided - we just need to receive it. The terror by night that's talked about in verse 5 refers to all those things that are happening around us in our every day life - like robbery and murder. However, if we abide close to the Lord in the shelter of the Most High and believe His promises, there will be no reason to fear. Remember, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

7: A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. What a wonderful statement! God wants us to know that there shall be a thousand falling by our side and ten thousand at our right hand, so while there will be destruction, but it will not approach us, because we have chosen to believe and trust in Him! By doing so, we are hid under the shadow of the Almighty.

8: Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward (recompense) of the wicked. When the children of Israel left Egypt, they were under the protection of the Almighty God and where able to crossed the Red Sea on dry land. However, but the wicked ones who were not under the protection all drown in the Red Sea. Moses told the Israelites whom ye have seen today, ye will never see them again. Just as He did for the children of Israel, he will do for us. God will protect His own! 

9 and 10: Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, (shelter) even the Most High, thy habitation; (a place of residence) There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague (disease) come nigh (near) thy dwelling. After God repeats our part of the condition in verse nine, He re-emphasizes the promise in verse ten - no plague will come near your dwelling place. What an awesome God! When our hearts are truly steadfast and we are trusting in His faithfulness, He will fulfill His promises!

Next week we will conclude God's Protection Covenant, so be sure to check back next Wednesday!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen… and AMEN!