Heaven Pt. 55

“Now look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you swore to our ancestors to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey.'” Deut. 26:15

Oh how we need God to look down upon our nations and bless them again!

Let’s Pray: One more time God! Bring us a last days harvest! Let us see another revival and restore us with renewal! Lord we sit before you in repentance! Hear our cry and heal our land! Forgive our wicked ways! We confess and turn to You! Sanctify your church again without spot or wrinkle! May we be a holy remnant and may we be enough to preserve our nation for another move of God! A-men

Whatever nation you hail from may this be your heart’s prayer today and may God hear your voice- JE

Heaven Pt. 54

“Therefore, when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies in the land he is giving you as a special possession, you must destroy the Amalekites and erase their memory from under heaven. Never forget this!” Deut 25:19 NLT

It’s interesting to me that by giving us this verse God made it impossible to totally erase the memory of Amalek from under Heaven. By reading it we remember that Amalek was a nation. I know, I know… God was using hyperbole to say “totally wipe this nation out.” But even that Israel failed to do and so we have the Book of Esther ( Haman was a grandson of Agag the Amalekite king).

This verse just points to our inability to blot out history. As humans, we can forgive but we can’t forget. We can get past our past but we cannot totally get over it…that is until God gets involved. Left to our own devices we can only blockade, with a little distraction, the hurt and heartache that is our memory. But when He arrives on the scene we can begin to heal. It is a process that won’t be fully complete until we get to Heaven but with Jesus, blotting out the darkness of our history becomes a possibility, more than that a certainty. Scripture says:

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Rev. 21:4

So if you have an Amalek that needs blotting out stop trying to do it in your own power. Scripture indicates that human attempts without God have always failed. Bring your Amalek to Jesus and begin to receive Heaven’s healing for your history!

Let’s Pray: God you know my past even better than I do. But there are things from the past that I still need you to blot out because however hard I try I just can’t. Jesus come and heal those things now. Further the process of healing my history with Heaven’s power here on Earth. With faith I look foward to the day when every tear will be wiped away! Thank you Jesus A-men!

Heaven Pt. 53

“When you begin living in the towns the LORD your God is giving you, a man or woman among you might do evil in the sight of the LORD your God and violate the covenant. For instance, they might serve other gods or worship the sun, the moon, or any of the stars—the forces of heaven—which I have strictly forbidden. When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then the man or woman who has committed such an evil act must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death.” Deut. 17:2-5

In our devotion before prayer this morning our senior pastor made an interesting observation. He noted “All addiction at its root is an attempt at substitution”.

Putting that another way we could say idolatry is the root of all sin or sin is our attempt to replace God with something else. I find that a  profound thought.

Today’s blog is not about reinstituting the practice of stoning. It is about recognizing that sin is a serious matter. Every sin we commit is at its root an attempt by us to remove God from our lives and replace Him with something else.

That is why God is always ruthless with sin. He loves us and doesn’t want to be displaced by some lesser lover. That’s why Jesus told his followers:

“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” MA. 5:29,30 NIV

God is calling His church to a new level of holiness because we were made for One Lover and He knows anything less just won’t do!

A Friday Reblog

I just loved this post from Ben; So I thought I would share it with you as we head into another weekend full of ministry and anointing. If the days ahead are too big for you bring them to Jesus!

http://justifiedfreely.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/bring-them-to-me/

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 80

I am  taking a series of ministry classes at our Network headquarters in order to update my credentials. With each class I get a study guide that follows the class text. I have found that the best way for me to learn the material is to write the answers from the text onto a copy of the study guide and then to type the written answers onto another study guide before the test. The repetition helps me to get the lessons deep down into my heart so I am prepared for the final.

Deuteronomy is like that second study guide. It is a repetition of the law that has already been given and of the history that has already been lived by the Israelites. It is the cram before the exam that will come in the book of Joshua.

If you are just joining us, Pastor Wrinkles in the midst of a count-down to a hundred contest with the chapter charts. If you’d like to join in here are the rules:

https://jelillie.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/pastor-wrinkles-chapter-charts-pt-75/

Now here is what I see in Deuteronomy chapters 2 and 3

Deuteronomy chapter 2 sermon topics/titles:

1. Time to Move On: Deut. 2: 1-3

2. Don’t Touch What God Hasn’t Given You: Deut 2:2-6

3. Remember What God Has Done: Deut. 2: 1-37

Deuteronomy chapter 3 sermon topics/titles:

1. Don’t Be Impressed By A Big Bed: Deut 3:1-11

2. Help Your Brothers! : Deut 3:12-21

3. When You Can’t Pass the Blame: Deut. 3:23-29

Now why don’t you rehearse what you see in these chapters by leaving me a chapter chart of your own!

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 79

Here we are running on to day four of our countdown to a hundred contest. With this entry we are spanning two books in the Pentateuch, Numbers and Deuteronomy. If you would like to join in the fun for a little devotional exercise  and a shot at the prize here is a link to the rules:

https://jelillie.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/pastor-wrinkles-chapter-charts-pt-75/

Now on to the fun stuff! Here is what I see in today’s chapters.

Numbers chapter 36 sermon topics/titles:

1. Fear Of Loss: Nu. 36: 1-4

2. The Cost Of Inheritance: Nu. 36:1-13

3. The Limits of Inheritance: Nu. 36: 10-12

Deuteronomy chapter 1 sermon topics/ titles:

1. How To Turn A Week Into a Lifetime: Deut. 1: 1-46

2. Trusting What Men See : Deut. 1: 23-28

3. Moving Forward In Arrogance: Deut. 1: 41-46

Now tell me what you see! 🙂

Heaven Pt. 52

“That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.” Deut 11:21 KJV

What’s the best way to establish an inheritance and a strong family line? Godliness! I think some people may read this verse and think that what God is saying is that if you live right everything will go well for you and your life will be Heaven on earth. That’s just wrong. Neither Scripture nor experience bear that out!

What God is saying is that if you live for Him and train your children to live for Him your family line will be strong until the end of time (as long as there is a sky over the planet). I have to remind myself through the trials of life my righteous response is not just about how I feel( frankly there are times I do not feel like responding righteously to life); It’s about the legacy I am leaving, that my children and their children would know that there is a God in Heaven who is greater than everything this life throws at us!

Share Your World With Cee Cee Part 7

This is week number seven of sharing my world and week number 20 for those of you have been participating since the beginning.

Here are the questions:

1. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?  Wow! I am not even really sure what this is asking. Is it about how old I act? Or is about how old I wish  to be? I think how old I act is directly related to the number of coffees I have consumed on a given day. If however this question is about what age I truly aspire to, I think 1,000 would be an excellent age to be. Just think of all you could experience in a thousand years!
2. What is the kindest thing anyone has done for you? Heavens! I have been the recipient of so many kindnesses. I think  one of the greatest kindnesses extended to me has been the willingness of my church family to never give up on me!
3. What was your favorite childhood television program? Scooby Doo…Superfriends…No Justice League of America…No Spiderfriends…No Thundar the Barbarian…No the Six Million Dollar Man…No Wonder Woman…No The Bionic Woman…Noooooooooooooo! That was me descending into a 70’s retrofitted television coma!
4. Which cooking utensil (other than the usual pots and pans etc) would you miss the most? Oh that’s easy the cheese grater! 🙂

Here are some pictures from the neighborhood!

Be Blessed!

Heaven Pt. 51

“Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And [then] the LORD’S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and [lest] ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.  Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.” Deut. 11:16-18 KJV

The topic of whom my sin affects came up in our Pentateuch class last Monday. Some folks have the idea that personal sin is no big deal because after all “I’m only hurting myself.”  That is wrong thinking. Our sin is never committed in a bubble and even when it’s secret it never just affects us.

Sin is a power. It is released from our lives into the emotional atmosphere around us. So saying that my sin only hurts me is like saying a downed power wire only hurts the wire. The truth is unconfessed and unrepented sin endangers anyone who is in the proximity of the perpetrator. When I choose to live in sin it has the potential of hurting everyone around me by dragging them headlong into compromise.

When a nation practices and winks at sin it has the potential of bringing judgment on everyone in the nation whether they are practicing the sin or not.

But praise God there is an antidote, the grace and forgiveness of God which is bestowed upon people and nations who seek the Lord with hearts repentant of their sin. Where sin is renounced and the Word of God is embraced the effects of sin are dealt with and wiped away.

Let’s Pray: Dear Lord. I know my sin affects more than just me. Show me anywhere I still need to let your Spirit have greater control. I want to walk after you so that your blessing may fall on me, my family, my church, and my world. I trust you to show me how through your Word which I embrace as my rule for life. In Jesus name A-men

C.cada Update April

I love this “Hand in Hand” piece by Sandy Freeman. I am not sure if that is what it is called. But it fits don’t you think? Here’s another piece that was finished for this month’s C.cada community meeting. It’s by Lisa Johnson. What would you entitle it?

I am so excited that each month new work is being brought forth. We are now discussing what is the best way to show our work. Who knows maybe we’ll start the C.cada museum and center for Christ Centered arts!

Here is the piece our C.cada choir worked on this month. They sounded awesome! I however massacred the accompaniment. 😦 Looks like it’s time to get back to practicing!