1 Corinthians 15:10
Whatever he became, according to his own statement, Paul owed it all to "the grace of God." When I ponder the words from that grand apostle, I come up with what we might call his credo. We can reduce it to three single-syllable statements, the first consisting of only eight words; the second, ten words; and the third, twelve. Occasionally, it helps to take a profound, multifaceted theological truth and define it in simple, nontechnical terms.
First statement: God does what He does by His grace. Paul's first claim for being allowed to live, to say nothing of being used as a spokesman and leader, was "by the grace of God." Paul deserved the severest kind of judgment, but God gave the man His grace instead. Humanly speaking, Paul should have been made to endure incredible suffering for all the pain and heartache he had caused others. But he didn't, because God exhibited His grace.
That leads us to the second statement: I am what I am by the grace of God. It is as if he were admitting, "If there is any goodness now found in me, I deserve none of the glory; grace gets the credit."
In our day of high-powered self-achievement and an overemphasis on the importance of personal accomplishments and building one's own ego-centered kingdom, this idea of giving grace the credit is a much-needed message. How many people who reach the pinnacle of their career say to the Wall Street Journal reporter or in an interview in Business Week, "I am what I am by the grace of God"? How many athletes would say that kind of thing at a banquet in his or her honor? What a shocker it would be today if someone were to say, "Don't be impressed at all with me. My only claim to fame is the undeserved grace of God." Such candor is rare.
There's a third statement, which seems to be implied in Paul's closing statement: I let you be what you are by the grace of God. Grace is not something simply to be claimed; it is meant to be demonstrated. It is to be shared, used as a basis for friendships, and drawn upon for sustained relationships.
Jesus spoke of an abundant life that we enter into when we claim the freedom He provides by His grace. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people cooperated with His game plan? There is nothing to be compared to grace when it comes to freeing others from bondage
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
When Praise Becomes a Sacrifice
“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” (Hebrews 13:15)
There are times when it is a sacrifice to offer praise to God, quite frankly, because we don’t really want to. There are times when we are down or depressed or things aren’t going that well. We don’t really feel like praising the Lord. Yet the Bible is filled with admonition after admonition to give glory and praise and thanks to God. Psalm 106:1 says, “Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
Notice that the Bible does not say, “Give thanks to the Lord when you feel good.” Rather, it says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!” I don’t praise God because I feel like it. I praise God because He is worthy, regardless of what I am going through. Praise can be a sacrifice sometimes. I have found that when, out of obedience, I begin to praise the Lord, the emotion will begin to engage with my act of obedience in time. The point is, I should do it because God tells me to.
In the Gospel of Luke, we find the story of ten men who were miraculously touched by Jesus. Because these men had leprosy, they were the outcasts of their society. Yet Jesus went out of His way to touch them and heal them of this dread disease. Only one, a Samaritan, returned and gave thanks and praise to God. Jesus then asked a provocative question: “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:18). In many ways, I think He is still asking this question today.
There are times when it is a sacrifice to offer praise to God, quite frankly, because we don’t really want to. There are times when we are down or depressed or things aren’t going that well. We don’t really feel like praising the Lord. Yet the Bible is filled with admonition after admonition to give glory and praise and thanks to God. Psalm 106:1 says, “Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
Notice that the Bible does not say, “Give thanks to the Lord when you feel good.” Rather, it says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!” I don’t praise God because I feel like it. I praise God because He is worthy, regardless of what I am going through. Praise can be a sacrifice sometimes. I have found that when, out of obedience, I begin to praise the Lord, the emotion will begin to engage with my act of obedience in time. The point is, I should do it because God tells me to.
In the Gospel of Luke, we find the story of ten men who were miraculously touched by Jesus. Because these men had leprosy, they were the outcasts of their society. Yet Jesus went out of His way to touch them and heal them of this dread disease. Only one, a Samaritan, returned and gave thanks and praise to God. Jesus then asked a provocative question: “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:18). In many ways, I think He is still asking this question today.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
There a Future for Israel ?
All Christians everywhere believe in a future for Israel.
Where Christians disagree is on is exactly who Israel is.
Dispensationalists insist that Romans 9-11 reaffirms the OT covenant promises to Abraham’s genetic descendants-promises of a rebuilt temple, a restored theocracy, and reclaimed geography. For dispensational premillennialists, this is a primary purpose of the Millennium-ethnic Israel is reconstituted as a political state and serves as a mediator of God’s blessings to the rest of the nations. Some dispensationalists further argue that this future for Israel demands current support for Israeli claims to all of what once was Canaan-along with virtual carte blanche support for Israeli policies since “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen 12:3).
Covenant theologians argue that the future restoration of Israel will be fulfilled--but fulfilled in the church, a largely Gentile body that has “replaced” the Jewish theocracy since the nation rejected her Messiah at Jesus’ first advent. Covenant theology then (quite wrongly) sees great continuity between Old Testament Israel and the new covenant church--both are mixed bodies of regenerate and unregenerate members (believers and their children), and the sign of circumcision is replaced with the sign of baptism (and, like circumcision, applied to new converts and to covenant children).
Both covenant theology and dispensationalism, however, often discuss Israel and the church without taking into account the Christocentric nature of biblical eschatology. The future restoration of Israel has never been promised to the unfaithful, unregenerate members of the nation (John 3:3-10; Rom 2:25-29)--only to the faithful remnant.
The church is not Israel, at least not in a direct, unmediated sense. The remnant of Israel--a biological descendant of Abraham, a circumcised Jewish firstborn son who is approved of by God for his obedience to the covenant--receives all of the promises due him.
Israel is Jesus of Nazareth, who, as promised to Israel, is raised from the dead and marked out with the Spirit (Ezek 37:13-14; Rom 1:2-4). All the promises of God “find their Yes in him” (2 Cor 1:20), as Paul puts it. And this "yes" establishes a Jew like Paul with Gentiles like the Corinthians “in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Cor 1:21-22). The Spirit guarantees what? It guarantees that all who share the Spirit of Christ are “joint heirs with Christ” of his promised inheritance (Rom 8:17 NKJV).
This is the radical nature of the gospel in the New Testament. Dispensationalists are right that only ethnic Jews receive the promised future restoration, but Paul makes clear that the “seed of Abraham” is singular, not plural (Gal 3:16). Only the circumcised can inherit the promised future for Israel. All believers--Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female--are forensically Jewish firstborn sons of God (Gal 3:28). They are in Christ. Circumcision is not irrelevant. Instead, both Jews and Gentiles in Christ are “the circumcision” because they have “the circumcision of Christ” (Col 2:11-12).
In Christ, I inherit all the promises due to Abraham’s offspring because I am “hidden” in Abraham’s promised offspring so that everything that is true of him is true of me. As Paul puts it, “Christ is all and in all” (Col 3:11). It is not that God changes his mind about a rebuilt Temple. He fulfills it--in the temple of Christ’s body, a temple Jesus builds with living stones.
The future of Israel then does belong to Gentile believers but only because they are in union with a Jewish Messiah. Paul speaks of a future conversion of Jewish people but he is careful to denote this salvation as the growth of a single olive vine with a Jewish root--with a grafting on now of Gentiles and a future grafting on of more Jews. The church, as Israel was promised, does now “bear fruit”--the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5)--but it does so only because Jesus is the vine of Israel. We share his inheritance because we are the branches, united to him by faith (John 15:1-11).
Is there a future for Israel? Yes. Does this future mean material and political blessings? Yes. Does this future mean the granting of all the land promised to Abraham in Canaan? Yes, along with the entire rest of the cosmos (Rom 4:13). Does this promise apply to ethnic Jews? Yes, one ethnic Jew whose name is Jesus. Do Gentile believers share in this inheritance? Yes, if they are in Christ, one-flesh with him through faith (Eph 5:22-33), they receive the inheritance that belongs to him (Eph 1:11).
Where Christians disagree is on is exactly who Israel is.
Dispensationalists insist that Romans 9-11 reaffirms the OT covenant promises to Abraham’s genetic descendants-promises of a rebuilt temple, a restored theocracy, and reclaimed geography. For dispensational premillennialists, this is a primary purpose of the Millennium-ethnic Israel is reconstituted as a political state and serves as a mediator of God’s blessings to the rest of the nations. Some dispensationalists further argue that this future for Israel demands current support for Israeli claims to all of what once was Canaan-along with virtual carte blanche support for Israeli policies since “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen 12:3).
Covenant theologians argue that the future restoration of Israel will be fulfilled--but fulfilled in the church, a largely Gentile body that has “replaced” the Jewish theocracy since the nation rejected her Messiah at Jesus’ first advent. Covenant theology then (quite wrongly) sees great continuity between Old Testament Israel and the new covenant church--both are mixed bodies of regenerate and unregenerate members (believers and their children), and the sign of circumcision is replaced with the sign of baptism (and, like circumcision, applied to new converts and to covenant children).
Both covenant theology and dispensationalism, however, often discuss Israel and the church without taking into account the Christocentric nature of biblical eschatology. The future restoration of Israel has never been promised to the unfaithful, unregenerate members of the nation (John 3:3-10; Rom 2:25-29)--only to the faithful remnant.
The church is not Israel, at least not in a direct, unmediated sense. The remnant of Israel--a biological descendant of Abraham, a circumcised Jewish firstborn son who is approved of by God for his obedience to the covenant--receives all of the promises due him.
Israel is Jesus of Nazareth, who, as promised to Israel, is raised from the dead and marked out with the Spirit (Ezek 37:13-14; Rom 1:2-4). All the promises of God “find their Yes in him” (2 Cor 1:20), as Paul puts it. And this "yes" establishes a Jew like Paul with Gentiles like the Corinthians “in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Cor 1:21-22). The Spirit guarantees what? It guarantees that all who share the Spirit of Christ are “joint heirs with Christ” of his promised inheritance (Rom 8:17 NKJV).
This is the radical nature of the gospel in the New Testament. Dispensationalists are right that only ethnic Jews receive the promised future restoration, but Paul makes clear that the “seed of Abraham” is singular, not plural (Gal 3:16). Only the circumcised can inherit the promised future for Israel. All believers--Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female--are forensically Jewish firstborn sons of God (Gal 3:28). They are in Christ. Circumcision is not irrelevant. Instead, both Jews and Gentiles in Christ are “the circumcision” because they have “the circumcision of Christ” (Col 2:11-12).
In Christ, I inherit all the promises due to Abraham’s offspring because I am “hidden” in Abraham’s promised offspring so that everything that is true of him is true of me. As Paul puts it, “Christ is all and in all” (Col 3:11). It is not that God changes his mind about a rebuilt Temple. He fulfills it--in the temple of Christ’s body, a temple Jesus builds with living stones.
The future of Israel then does belong to Gentile believers but only because they are in union with a Jewish Messiah. Paul speaks of a future conversion of Jewish people but he is careful to denote this salvation as the growth of a single olive vine with a Jewish root--with a grafting on now of Gentiles and a future grafting on of more Jews. The church, as Israel was promised, does now “bear fruit”--the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5)--but it does so only because Jesus is the vine of Israel. We share his inheritance because we are the branches, united to him by faith (John 15:1-11).
Is there a future for Israel? Yes. Does this future mean material and political blessings? Yes. Does this future mean the granting of all the land promised to Abraham in Canaan? Yes, along with the entire rest of the cosmos (Rom 4:13). Does this promise apply to ethnic Jews? Yes, one ethnic Jew whose name is Jesus. Do Gentile believers share in this inheritance? Yes, if they are in Christ, one-flesh with him through faith (Eph 5:22-33), they receive the inheritance that belongs to him (Eph 1:11).
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
What’s Your Measure?
In Luke 6:38, Jesus said these words,
“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.”
That is a promise of Jesus that you can stake your life on. Give, and what happens? It will be given to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?!
But notice that He also added this, “The same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” If you take a serving spoon, and that is what you measure out your giving with, you will get an overflowing serving spoon. It comes back to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing from a serving spoon.
The measure you use is what is measured back to you. If you use a shovel, and that is what you measure it out with, that is how it comes back to you.
Wouldn’t you rather have a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over shovel as opposed to a serving spoon? The measure you use, Jesus said, that is what is used to measure back to you.
I believe many people are using a teaspoon and yet they are praying, “God bless me. I have big needs.” I am sure God is saying, “I’m doing all I can. You know, I’m pressing it down as much as I can press it down. It is running over. But a running over teaspoon is just not that much.”
Are you using a teaspoon or a shovel? Whatever you use is what comes back multiplied, but it is only according to the measure you use.
“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.”
That is a promise of Jesus that you can stake your life on. Give, and what happens? It will be given to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?!
But notice that He also added this, “The same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” If you take a serving spoon, and that is what you measure out your giving with, you will get an overflowing serving spoon. It comes back to you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing from a serving spoon.
The measure you use is what is measured back to you. If you use a shovel, and that is what you measure it out with, that is how it comes back to you.
Wouldn’t you rather have a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over shovel as opposed to a serving spoon? The measure you use, Jesus said, that is what is used to measure back to you.
I believe many people are using a teaspoon and yet they are praying, “God bless me. I have big needs.” I am sure God is saying, “I’m doing all I can. You know, I’m pressing it down as much as I can press it down. It is running over. But a running over teaspoon is just not that much.”
Are you using a teaspoon or a shovel? Whatever you use is what comes back multiplied, but it is only according to the measure you use.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Return of the King
Return of the King
Christ, the Anointed Son, sits on a throne. His rule stretches to the corners of creation. Every trickle of authority in heaven and on earth is now under his rule. No one--no pharaoh, no king, no president--is outside his reign. The Sovereign authority of the Son encompasses all people?from every racial origin, from all the continents of the globe. All have been created to serve and worship and glorify Him, and to enjoy the rich blessings of an eternal kingdom.
The Anointed has cast his rope of authority over all men.
But man rages against God, thrusting knives at the ropes of authority?as if the chords were an ambush, like a net contracted around a trapped animal, hanging helplessly in the air for its hunter.
Man forms alliances to build strength against the Anointed.
The Lord in heaven laughs at man’s rage.
No less a rebel is the man who ignores God. He refuses to pursue God. The fool says in his heart that God is nothing, a phantom, an impotent and imagined delusion. God is to him an unnecessary distraction from the banquet of selfish desires (Ps. 10:4, 14:1-3, Rom. 3:11). The fool has become His enemy by intentional ignorance.
The Lord in heaven laughs at man’s delusions.
The kings of the world conspire together to murder the Anointed Son. False accusations, slander, violence, spit, lashes, nails–all reveal the hatred. Cold death descends with the darkness. But Christ’s murder breaks a pathway down into the ground that opens upward to enthroned exaltation. The throne is a reward for His death.
The Lord in heaven laughs at man’s wisdom.
The kings of the earth rage against the gospel, persecute believers, threaten violence, destroy families, kill, disband churches, imprison leaders, refuse the distribution of bibles, silence preachers.
The Lord laughs. The church grows. Convictions strengthen. The gospel spreads (Acts 4:19-31).
The Lord laughs because the Anointed is returning. Soon Christ will end the mutiny. He will step down from his throne with an iron scepter in his fist to shatter his enemies like glassware (Rev. 2:27). He will step back into this world to tread his enemies with the sole of His feet, thrusting down on his enemies the winepress of his wrath, crimson blood soaking the bottom of his white robe (Isa. 63:3).
This is the Jesus we never knew?or the Jesus many would like to forget. But this is the real Jesus, the anointed King who will return to fulfill thousands of years of expectations and anticipations of God’s people. He will fix every injustice, dry every tear, and remove the handcuffs of evil from his people and his world.
But before the Son returns with His scepter in his fist, He stretches out mercy in his hand. The Anointed bids sinners to come, to kiss the ring of His Lordship, to find refuge from the wrath.
The King’s heart throbs with love towards sinners. The Anointed takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather hopes that sinners turn and live.
Captured in Psalm 2 are life-shaping realities:
The only refuge from the wrath of the King is to find refuge in the King.
The day of wrath upon His enemies is also the day of deliverance for His people.
His return is meaningless for none.
Perhaps you kick violently against God’s authority, thrusting knives at the bonds of His authority. Perhaps you plug your ears, unwilling to pursue Him. Perhaps you find your heart somewhere in the middle. It matters little. The King’s return is imminent.
Kiss His hand. Bow under His rightful authority. Humbly and joyfully take up His yoke. And find in Him a place of refuge where sinners are given forgiveness in His blood, safety, justice, salvation, spiritual riches and eternal joy. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
Christ, the Anointed Son, sits on a throne. His rule stretches to the corners of creation. Every trickle of authority in heaven and on earth is now under his rule. No one--no pharaoh, no king, no president--is outside his reign. The Sovereign authority of the Son encompasses all people?from every racial origin, from all the continents of the globe. All have been created to serve and worship and glorify Him, and to enjoy the rich blessings of an eternal kingdom.
The Anointed has cast his rope of authority over all men.
But man rages against God, thrusting knives at the ropes of authority?as if the chords were an ambush, like a net contracted around a trapped animal, hanging helplessly in the air for its hunter.
Man forms alliances to build strength against the Anointed.
The Lord in heaven laughs at man’s rage.
No less a rebel is the man who ignores God. He refuses to pursue God. The fool says in his heart that God is nothing, a phantom, an impotent and imagined delusion. God is to him an unnecessary distraction from the banquet of selfish desires (Ps. 10:4, 14:1-3, Rom. 3:11). The fool has become His enemy by intentional ignorance.
The Lord in heaven laughs at man’s delusions.
The kings of the world conspire together to murder the Anointed Son. False accusations, slander, violence, spit, lashes, nails–all reveal the hatred. Cold death descends with the darkness. But Christ’s murder breaks a pathway down into the ground that opens upward to enthroned exaltation. The throne is a reward for His death.
The Lord in heaven laughs at man’s wisdom.
The kings of the earth rage against the gospel, persecute believers, threaten violence, destroy families, kill, disband churches, imprison leaders, refuse the distribution of bibles, silence preachers.
The Lord laughs. The church grows. Convictions strengthen. The gospel spreads (Acts 4:19-31).
The Lord laughs because the Anointed is returning. Soon Christ will end the mutiny. He will step down from his throne with an iron scepter in his fist to shatter his enemies like glassware (Rev. 2:27). He will step back into this world to tread his enemies with the sole of His feet, thrusting down on his enemies the winepress of his wrath, crimson blood soaking the bottom of his white robe (Isa. 63:3).
This is the Jesus we never knew?or the Jesus many would like to forget. But this is the real Jesus, the anointed King who will return to fulfill thousands of years of expectations and anticipations of God’s people. He will fix every injustice, dry every tear, and remove the handcuffs of evil from his people and his world.
But before the Son returns with His scepter in his fist, He stretches out mercy in his hand. The Anointed bids sinners to come, to kiss the ring of His Lordship, to find refuge from the wrath.
The King’s heart throbs with love towards sinners. The Anointed takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather hopes that sinners turn and live.
Captured in Psalm 2 are life-shaping realities:
The only refuge from the wrath of the King is to find refuge in the King.
The day of wrath upon His enemies is also the day of deliverance for His people.
His return is meaningless for none.
Perhaps you kick violently against God’s authority, thrusting knives at the bonds of His authority. Perhaps you plug your ears, unwilling to pursue Him. Perhaps you find your heart somewhere in the middle. It matters little. The King’s return is imminent.
Kiss His hand. Bow under His rightful authority. Humbly and joyfully take up His yoke. And find in Him a place of refuge where sinners are given forgiveness in His blood, safety, justice, salvation, spiritual riches and eternal joy. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
Monday, February 2, 2009
When not to Pray
When Not to Pray
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
?1 John 5:14
In a broad sense, we should pray about everything. But there are certain things we don’t need to pray about. For example, if someone were to say, “Greg, I am praying about robbing a bank. Would you pray with me?” I will pray for that person, but I won’t pray that God will bless their efforts. Why? Because the Bible says, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). We don’t need to pray about that.
Yet there are certain things God tells us we can pray for. He tells us we can pray for wisdom: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 5:5).
We can pray for His provision. Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
We can pray for protection. Psalm 91:5–7 says, “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.”
The key to effective prayer is getting our will in alignment with God’s will, because 1 John 5:14 tells us, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
Nothing lies outside the reach of prayer except that which lies outside of the will of God. God only answers the requests that He inspires.
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
?1 John 5:14
In a broad sense, we should pray about everything. But there are certain things we don’t need to pray about. For example, if someone were to say, “Greg, I am praying about robbing a bank. Would you pray with me?” I will pray for that person, but I won’t pray that God will bless their efforts. Why? Because the Bible says, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). We don’t need to pray about that.
Yet there are certain things God tells us we can pray for. He tells us we can pray for wisdom: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 5:5).
We can pray for His provision. Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
We can pray for protection. Psalm 91:5–7 says, “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.”
The key to effective prayer is getting our will in alignment with God’s will, because 1 John 5:14 tells us, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
Nothing lies outside the reach of prayer except that which lies outside of the will of God. God only answers the requests that He inspires.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Making the Lord our Banner
Exodus 17:15
Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.
The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. God instructed Moses to stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in his hand. Moses' staff represented something that God said He would use to bring glory to Himself. The staff represented what Moses had done for most of his life-shepherding. It was his vocation. When God first called Moses at the burning bush, He told him to pick up the staff; He would perform miracles through it.
God wants to perform miracles through each of our vocations. At Rephidim, God defeated the Amalekites only when Moses held his staff to Heaven. It was a symbol of dependence and acknowledgment that Heaven was the source of the Israelites' power. When he dropped his hand, the power was removed and they began to lose the battle.
Each day we are challenged to reach toward Heaven and allow God to be the source of victory in the marketplace or be defeated. God calls us to let His banner reign over the marketplace so that others may know the source of our victory. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven' " (Ex. 17:14). The Lord wants those behind us and around us to know that He is the source of our power and success. With each victory is a testimony that is to be shared with our children and our associates.
Is the Lord your banner today? Reach toward Heaven today and let His banner wave over your work so that He might receive glory from your life.
Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.
The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. God instructed Moses to stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in his hand. Moses' staff represented something that God said He would use to bring glory to Himself. The staff represented what Moses had done for most of his life-shepherding. It was his vocation. When God first called Moses at the burning bush, He told him to pick up the staff; He would perform miracles through it.
God wants to perform miracles through each of our vocations. At Rephidim, God defeated the Amalekites only when Moses held his staff to Heaven. It was a symbol of dependence and acknowledgment that Heaven was the source of the Israelites' power. When he dropped his hand, the power was removed and they began to lose the battle.
Each day we are challenged to reach toward Heaven and allow God to be the source of victory in the marketplace or be defeated. God calls us to let His banner reign over the marketplace so that others may know the source of our victory. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven' " (Ex. 17:14). The Lord wants those behind us and around us to know that He is the source of our power and success. With each victory is a testimony that is to be shared with our children and our associates.
Is the Lord your banner today? Reach toward Heaven today and let His banner wave over your work so that He might receive glory from your life.
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