Ps 46:4 "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells." NIV
How important is it for a city to have water!? Imagine a large population and no water for drinking, cooking, cleaning. Now imagine a life with no water for your inner needs. This is the context of Psalm 46:4. “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God!!!!” We were created for gladness. God’s intention for us was that we would live in the refreshing reality of continual renewal flowing out of our intimacy with Him! Yet the fall of man has created in the human heart a barren desert not a flowing stream of life and peace. This is condition was on the mind of Christ when he spoke of the restoration that comes through faith in Him. Jesus said confidently in John 7:38 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." This is restoration, not just a supply of water to draw from but a living flow from a source deep within us that moves out from our lives to supply those around us not just ourselves. This is what marks the city of God. Consider a people who gather together in the name of the Lord, a spiritual city, each with a living supply of refreshing water from the Spirit of God as they create a transforming atmosphere of love and joy through the sharing of this life flow amongst themselves and all who draw near.
In many ways we have created a wrong expression of what the church was intended to be. Much of the church has created a culture of professional clergy and an audience who enjoy their displays of intellect when in reality God’s intent was that every believer become like a stream whose flow of life coming from their personal connection to the Holy Spirit becomes like a tributary stream merging with all of the other streams to become the river of God! Ps 36:7-8 points us to the abundance that enters our lives as we encounter the unfailing love of the Lord in our personal relationship with Him as the psalmist say, “How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.” As we engage God in the secret place of His presence, setting apart time to enjoy who He is in us, the psalmist describes it as feasting on God’s abundance and drinking from the river of God’s delight! Does this describe your encounter with the Lord!? It can.
The word of God declares that God rewards those who diligently seek Him, and the reward is the transformation of our inner life from barrenness to enjoying the river of God’s delight. In Isa 41:18 the Lord affirms this invitation to transformation as he declares, “I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.” There is hope for your inner life. No matter how barren, no matter how dry it may feel, we have a promise from the throne of God that he will turn our barren deserts into pools of water and living springs of life. God wants to refresh you! God wants to be enjoyed by you. God wants to transform you and make your life a source of supply to the world around you as living water flows out of your personal enjoyment of God bringing refreshing everywhere you go.
Jesus said that this river would be inside of us, flowing out as a source of life to the world and Rev 22:1-2 provides a more detailed description of what is in the heart of God for you! “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” Consider the river of the water of life flowing out from the throne of God and then remember where that throne is. God’s throne is in His temple! You! I Co. 3:16 reminds us that since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church we are the temple of God which means the river that is flowing, bringing healing to the nations is flowing out of you!!!! God wants to bring life to all of the nations of the earth through a people who are now the source of God’s river of delights!
Saturday
Friday
Psalm 46:1-3 - May 22, 2009
Ps 46:1-3 "For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." NIV
God is… therefore… Psalm 46:1-3 begins with this powerful introduction to the attributes of God and their comforting impact upon our lives. When we consider the Almighty God and His many wonders and great power, each one of the many attributes of God is intended to provide for us understanding that builds faith. The very foundation of our walk with God is intended to revolve around faith in a God whom we cannot see and yet who asks us to trust Him, to believe in Him. 2 Cor 5:7 clearly states “We live by faith, not by sight.” And Heb 11:6 indicates the seriousness of this principle by teaching us “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Consider that reality. It is impossible to please God if I do not center my relationship with God on a foundation of faith. Heb 11:6 continues on with this principle to instruct us by saying “anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
What I believe determines how I live. This principle is at work in regard to how we relate to God. What we believe about Him determines how we build our lives in regard to Him. Psalm 46:1-3 introduces a cause and effect revelation about who God is to us that produces a life transforming faith. Can you imagine a life without fear? No worries about tomorrow, or fear of natural disaster, no fear of the possibility of some unforeseeable bad circumstance happening to you? This is the comfort that is offered in Psalm 46. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble…” the knowledge that in trouble God is always present; the knowledge that when storms come my way I am hidden in the shelter of God’s powerful presence is an anchor to all of life. The psalmist declares confidently “therefore we will not fear.” How different will we live when we have this revelation? What risks of faith for God will we take if we are not limited by our fear of failure, our fear of the possible negatives that might interrupt our step of faith? Where there is no fear boldness is the result. Where there is no fear security and confidence grow. As we meditate on the measure of the psalmist’s confidence in God, the ever present refuge, as we allow our hearts to be built up by the great measure of God’s power and willingness to deliver us, the door of faith swings wide to a world of possibilities. Take your eyes off of your circumstances and place them on the God who is always there in time of need. Lean into His promises with a heart of faith and step into all that God is birthing in your
heart today!
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." NIV
God is… therefore… Psalm 46:1-3 begins with this powerful introduction to the attributes of God and their comforting impact upon our lives. When we consider the Almighty God and His many wonders and great power, each one of the many attributes of God is intended to provide for us understanding that builds faith. The very foundation of our walk with God is intended to revolve around faith in a God whom we cannot see and yet who asks us to trust Him, to believe in Him. 2 Cor 5:7 clearly states “We live by faith, not by sight.” And Heb 11:6 indicates the seriousness of this principle by teaching us “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Consider that reality. It is impossible to please God if I do not center my relationship with God on a foundation of faith. Heb 11:6 continues on with this principle to instruct us by saying “anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
What I believe determines how I live. This principle is at work in regard to how we relate to God. What we believe about Him determines how we build our lives in regard to Him. Psalm 46:1-3 introduces a cause and effect revelation about who God is to us that produces a life transforming faith. Can you imagine a life without fear? No worries about tomorrow, or fear of natural disaster, no fear of the possibility of some unforeseeable bad circumstance happening to you? This is the comfort that is offered in Psalm 46. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble…” the knowledge that in trouble God is always present; the knowledge that when storms come my way I am hidden in the shelter of God’s powerful presence is an anchor to all of life. The psalmist declares confidently “therefore we will not fear.” How different will we live when we have this revelation? What risks of faith for God will we take if we are not limited by our fear of failure, our fear of the possible negatives that might interrupt our step of faith? Where there is no fear boldness is the result. Where there is no fear security and confidence grow. As we meditate on the measure of the psalmist’s confidence in God, the ever present refuge, as we allow our hearts to be built up by the great measure of God’s power and willingness to deliver us, the door of faith swings wide to a world of possibilities. Take your eyes off of your circumstances and place them on the God who is always there in time of need. Lean into His promises with a heart of faith and step into all that God is birthing in your
heart today!
Thursday
Psalm 45:7-9 - May 21, 2009
Ps 45:7-9 "You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. 8 All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad. 9 Daughters of kings are among your honored women; at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir." NIV
In 2 Chron 16:9 the Lord instructs us in a powerful principle concerning himself as He declares through the prophet “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” The Lord is looking for a certain kind of life, a certain kind of heart so that He can display His strength through that life. In every story of the bible God finds a man or a woman in whom He can show himself as the awesome God! It is the desire of God to put His power and majesty, His wonder and mystery on display before all men. He is simply looking for people through whom He can make such a display, people whose hearts’ reflect Him in such a way that when He empowers them He is endorsing character and passion that reveal His true nature not a distorted understanding of who God is. This is a small portion of the concept behind the words of Jesus when He said “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”
Set apart above his companions! This is the status of the one whose heart has captured the Lord’s attention. Look now at how God has chosen to set him above; an anointing of joy! Not wealth, not wisdom, not even power, but joy! God has touched the life of His servant with an anointing of joy that has caused him to rise above his companions. What a powerful reflection of the path to favor. Think of how people respond to someone who is truly joyful. Think of how you feel when you are around someone with true gladness in their hearts, who isn’t depressed and melancholy. Did you ever think that God can touch your heart and help you to walk in joy? This is how he blesses a life. Favor comes upon people when their life touches the heart of another life and so God places a deep anointing of joyful contentment on those whom He wants to bless. This countenance opens doors of favor to the right and to the left.
Think of the language of the next portion of this psalm. “All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.” Now imagine your life clothed in a sweet smelling fragrance that is pleasing to all who come near. This is how God brings about His blessing. He causes your life to carry the aroma of His presence as you wait on Him and live righteously before Him. A life force radiates from the person whom the Lord anoints. The woman was healed when she touched Jesus with faith and He stated that he felt virtue flow out of Him. In the life of Peter people placed their sick where Peter’s shadow could fall upon them and some were healed. For Paul he testifies in 2 Cor 2:14-16 “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” For those who love what the Lord loves He leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ! Imagine, we are anointed with “the fragrance of life”! Set yourself apart unto God today and let Him anoint you with this fragrance so that you can spread the knowledge of Jesus in everything that you do!
In 2 Chron 16:9 the Lord instructs us in a powerful principle concerning himself as He declares through the prophet “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” The Lord is looking for a certain kind of life, a certain kind of heart so that He can display His strength through that life. In every story of the bible God finds a man or a woman in whom He can show himself as the awesome God! It is the desire of God to put His power and majesty, His wonder and mystery on display before all men. He is simply looking for people through whom He can make such a display, people whose hearts’ reflect Him in such a way that when He empowers them He is endorsing character and passion that reveal His true nature not a distorted understanding of who God is. This is a small portion of the concept behind the words of Jesus when He said “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”
Set apart above his companions! This is the status of the one whose heart has captured the Lord’s attention. Look now at how God has chosen to set him above; an anointing of joy! Not wealth, not wisdom, not even power, but joy! God has touched the life of His servant with an anointing of joy that has caused him to rise above his companions. What a powerful reflection of the path to favor. Think of how people respond to someone who is truly joyful. Think of how you feel when you are around someone with true gladness in their hearts, who isn’t depressed and melancholy. Did you ever think that God can touch your heart and help you to walk in joy? This is how he blesses a life. Favor comes upon people when their life touches the heart of another life and so God places a deep anointing of joyful contentment on those whom He wants to bless. This countenance opens doors of favor to the right and to the left.
Think of the language of the next portion of this psalm. “All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.” Now imagine your life clothed in a sweet smelling fragrance that is pleasing to all who come near. This is how God brings about His blessing. He causes your life to carry the aroma of His presence as you wait on Him and live righteously before Him. A life force radiates from the person whom the Lord anoints. The woman was healed when she touched Jesus with faith and He stated that he felt virtue flow out of Him. In the life of Peter people placed their sick where Peter’s shadow could fall upon them and some were healed. For Paul he testifies in 2 Cor 2:14-16 “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” For those who love what the Lord loves He leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ! Imagine, we are anointed with “the fragrance of life”! Set yourself apart unto God today and let Him anoint you with this fragrance so that you can spread the knowledge of Jesus in everything that you do!
Wednesday
Psalm 45:3-6 - May 20, 2009
Ps 45:3-6 "Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. 4 In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds. 5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet. 6 Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom." NIV
The Lord is a mighty warrior! He is clothed for battle. He is armed for the fight. He is riding forth to gain victories for God! We serve a triumphant king! The scriptures declare in Col 2:15 that “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Jesus has already won the victory! Psalm 45 is a prophetic call from the time of the Kings of Israel to the generation of the Lord’s triumph! It is a powerful insight into the reality that God has declared for generations the purposes that lie within His heart.
Psalm 45 is very clearly a prophetic Psalm pointing to the coming Messiah. Its language is the language of conquest and triumph. It is the language of purpose and power and yet looking back upon the advent of Christ it is such an insightful glimpse into the contrast between the symbolism of the prophetic and the reality of God’s fulfillment. The psalmist speaks of the Lord girding his sword and riding forth victoriously in the language of prophetic spirit and yet this coming forth manifested itself humbly, almost invisibly, in the birth of a baby in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem. The promise speaks of the hearts of enemies being pierced by sharp arrows and yet Christ was the one who was pierced, dying terribly on a cross as those who seemingly had defeated him mocked and gambled for his clothing. What does this reality say to us about the ways of God?
1 Cor 1:18-19 and 27-29 answer this question very powerfully by declaring to us “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… 27 God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are.” When Jesus died painfully on that wooden cross even his own disciples despaired. The scriptures say that they all fled out of fear and confusion, with Peter even going as far as to deny the Lord three times. It was not until later in the days following the resurrection that the eyes of Christ’s followers were opened to comprehend the magnificent victory that had been won that day. God has so ordained the means of His victory that it is cloaked from the proud and self-confident and is understood only by those who possess a simple faith.
It is now clear in the generations that have followed what was truly accomplished on that day as God’s people have received the promised Holy Spirit and it is now Christ manifested in His universal body that is completing the work of glorious conquest that was promised through the psalmist those many years ago. This reality is very important for its lesson that it provides for us as children of God. Too often, like the disciples of old, we judge the end of a matter prematurely. God is the author of the last minute victory. God is the master strategist who veils His activities with such mystery that it is often times only in hindsight that we can truly comprehend that He has been moving throughout the entire time of our seemingly discouraging circumstances. Lazarus died and the people despaired, yet Jesus knew that He was going to raise him from the dead in the days that followed. The disciples saw no means to feed the five thousand in the wilderness and yet Jesus was confident of God’s source of supply. The besieged Israelites were tempted to mock the prophet who promised them that by the same time tomorrow they would transition from despair and starvation to abundant deliverance. And in the same way we despair when our circumstances seem bigger than the natural mind can conceive of a solution for. We must wrap our minds around the fact that God is not limited by those things that limit Him. He created time and space, all provision is in His hands and He turns the hearts of men wherever he pleases. It is time for us to embrace the fact that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. It is time to take up a new confidence that God WILL keep his promise to us no matter what today looks like. Cling to the Word of God with all of your heart and do not “lean on your own understanding!” Believe God that there is a miracle waiting for you no matter what your problems say!
The Lord is a mighty warrior! He is clothed for battle. He is armed for the fight. He is riding forth to gain victories for God! We serve a triumphant king! The scriptures declare in Col 2:15 that “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Jesus has already won the victory! Psalm 45 is a prophetic call from the time of the Kings of Israel to the generation of the Lord’s triumph! It is a powerful insight into the reality that God has declared for generations the purposes that lie within His heart.
Psalm 45 is very clearly a prophetic Psalm pointing to the coming Messiah. Its language is the language of conquest and triumph. It is the language of purpose and power and yet looking back upon the advent of Christ it is such an insightful glimpse into the contrast between the symbolism of the prophetic and the reality of God’s fulfillment. The psalmist speaks of the Lord girding his sword and riding forth victoriously in the language of prophetic spirit and yet this coming forth manifested itself humbly, almost invisibly, in the birth of a baby in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem. The promise speaks of the hearts of enemies being pierced by sharp arrows and yet Christ was the one who was pierced, dying terribly on a cross as those who seemingly had defeated him mocked and gambled for his clothing. What does this reality say to us about the ways of God?
1 Cor 1:18-19 and 27-29 answer this question very powerfully by declaring to us “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… 27 God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are.” When Jesus died painfully on that wooden cross even his own disciples despaired. The scriptures say that they all fled out of fear and confusion, with Peter even going as far as to deny the Lord three times. It was not until later in the days following the resurrection that the eyes of Christ’s followers were opened to comprehend the magnificent victory that had been won that day. God has so ordained the means of His victory that it is cloaked from the proud and self-confident and is understood only by those who possess a simple faith.
It is now clear in the generations that have followed what was truly accomplished on that day as God’s people have received the promised Holy Spirit and it is now Christ manifested in His universal body that is completing the work of glorious conquest that was promised through the psalmist those many years ago. This reality is very important for its lesson that it provides for us as children of God. Too often, like the disciples of old, we judge the end of a matter prematurely. God is the author of the last minute victory. God is the master strategist who veils His activities with such mystery that it is often times only in hindsight that we can truly comprehend that He has been moving throughout the entire time of our seemingly discouraging circumstances. Lazarus died and the people despaired, yet Jesus knew that He was going to raise him from the dead in the days that followed. The disciples saw no means to feed the five thousand in the wilderness and yet Jesus was confident of God’s source of supply. The besieged Israelites were tempted to mock the prophet who promised them that by the same time tomorrow they would transition from despair and starvation to abundant deliverance. And in the same way we despair when our circumstances seem bigger than the natural mind can conceive of a solution for. We must wrap our minds around the fact that God is not limited by those things that limit Him. He created time and space, all provision is in His hands and He turns the hearts of men wherever he pleases. It is time for us to embrace the fact that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. It is time to take up a new confidence that God WILL keep his promise to us no matter what today looks like. Cling to the Word of God with all of your heart and do not “lean on your own understanding!” Believe God that there is a miracle waiting for you no matter what your problems say!
Tuesday
Psalm 45:2 - May 19
Ps 45:2 "You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever." NIV
Have your lips been touched by heaven? God is at work in you to capture your mouth! The book of James says in Ja. 3:2, 6 “If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man…6 the tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person.” A tongue under the influence of our human nature is a weapon of evil. With it we wound people, rob them of their dreams, steal their confidence and warp their identity. Prov 18:21 instructs us that “the tongue has the power of life and death.” With every word that we speak we have the power of choice. We have been given the ability to bring life and to create death with every word that flows out of our hearts. Words are not neutral, they flow out of the very power of our being and express more than just concepts. Paul even warns us in 2 Tim 2:16 of the power of careless speech when he says “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.” At times we think we are speaking harmless words but the absence of Godly speech impacts our hearts and the hearts of others more than we know.
We have been called to restrain our tongues from evil but God’s work in regard to our lips does not end with the restraint of evil. God desires to shape and empower our speech with words of life that change the world around us as we speak under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Peter writes 1 Peter 4:11 “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.” We are created to speak as God’s representatives, promoting life, resisting evil and declaring the kingdom and will of God as prophetic voices ushering in God’s purposes everywhere that we are sent by the leading of the Holy Spirit whether locally in our own towns, jobs and families or in the nations of the earth. Isaiah 6:6-8 illustrates God’s intention: “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” God is searching for a man or a woman who will welcome the fiery coals that burn in His presence, who will embrace the burning confrontation of the Spirit of God as self-revelation in the midst of God’s glorious presence brings personal transformation. “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” God does the refining and then He searches for the willing! Are you willing to be a voice for God? Are you will to kiss the coals of personal transformation? This is what the psalmist has tasted a portion of as he writes “You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace.”
God is working to raise up excellent men and women who walk the earth with lips that have been anointed by fire, empowered by grace. This word grace is founded in the concept of divine influence upon the heart. When a life has been changed in God’s presence, touched by the coals of heaven, the lips speak with a different kind of passion, a different kind of power. The kingdom of God is advancing in the earth through anointed vessels who have been changed at the altar of God and whose lips speak with heavens fire words of God that pierce the hearts of men with convicting grace. Seek the Lord until you too have been touched by heavens flames and take your place as God’s spokesmen in the midst of this desperate generation!
Have your lips been touched by heaven? God is at work in you to capture your mouth! The book of James says in Ja. 3:2, 6 “If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man…6 the tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person.” A tongue under the influence of our human nature is a weapon of evil. With it we wound people, rob them of their dreams, steal their confidence and warp their identity. Prov 18:21 instructs us that “the tongue has the power of life and death.” With every word that we speak we have the power of choice. We have been given the ability to bring life and to create death with every word that flows out of our hearts. Words are not neutral, they flow out of the very power of our being and express more than just concepts. Paul even warns us in 2 Tim 2:16 of the power of careless speech when he says “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.” At times we think we are speaking harmless words but the absence of Godly speech impacts our hearts and the hearts of others more than we know.
We have been called to restrain our tongues from evil but God’s work in regard to our lips does not end with the restraint of evil. God desires to shape and empower our speech with words of life that change the world around us as we speak under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Peter writes 1 Peter 4:11 “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.” We are created to speak as God’s representatives, promoting life, resisting evil and declaring the kingdom and will of God as prophetic voices ushering in God’s purposes everywhere that we are sent by the leading of the Holy Spirit whether locally in our own towns, jobs and families or in the nations of the earth. Isaiah 6:6-8 illustrates God’s intention: “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” God is searching for a man or a woman who will welcome the fiery coals that burn in His presence, who will embrace the burning confrontation of the Spirit of God as self-revelation in the midst of God’s glorious presence brings personal transformation. “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” God does the refining and then He searches for the willing! Are you willing to be a voice for God? Are you will to kiss the coals of personal transformation? This is what the psalmist has tasted a portion of as he writes “You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace.”
God is working to raise up excellent men and women who walk the earth with lips that have been anointed by fire, empowered by grace. This word grace is founded in the concept of divine influence upon the heart. When a life has been changed in God’s presence, touched by the coals of heaven, the lips speak with a different kind of passion, a different kind of power. The kingdom of God is advancing in the earth through anointed vessels who have been changed at the altar of God and whose lips speak with heavens fire words of God that pierce the hearts of men with convicting grace. Seek the Lord until you too have been touched by heavens flames and take your place as God’s spokesmen in the midst of this desperate generation!
Monday
Psalm 45:1 - May 18, 2009
Ps 45:1 For the director of music. To [the tune of] "Lilies." Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A wedding song.
"My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer." NIV
What moves your heart? What inspires your passion? This psalm is a psalm birthed in a prophetic spirit. This psalm is a revelation of a passionate life. The psalmist cries out, “my heart is stirred by a noble theme” and out of this burning heart he unveils a portrait of the coming Messiah and by the glorious church that He will build! Passion is what fuels the prophetic spirit. When we become passionate about something we give ourselves to it. When a theme burns in our hearts we give ourselves permission to do the extravagant; to shout louder, to leap higher, to give the extravagant gift, to write the inspired song! It is out of the furnace of holy passion that revelation flows! God captures a heart and as that heart ascends into the presence of the Lord through a life of abandonment that very freedom of expression that flows out of passion enables us to tap into the Spirit of God with insight that cannot come from natural reasoning. When we allow ourselves to be given fully to the Spirit it is like jumping into a river with a strong current. No longer is our momentum created by our own efforts. The power of the river is what carries us along into the deeper waters of God’s
mind and purpose.
The psalmist reflects on the impact of this inspiration upon his own life in a very revealing way. After introducing the stirring that has taken place in his heart the psalmist begins to express what is taking place within him as a result. “My tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.” The movement of the heart is the source of inspired speech. Jesus taught us this principle in Matt. 12:34 “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” When our hearts are burning with passion for the Lord the flow of life out of our hearts is an unquenchable fire. Jesus taught his disciples to expect “rivers of living water” (Jn. 7:38) to flow out of the core of their being as a manifestation of their faith. In Mk. 13:11 Jesus prepared His disciples for the hour of their need by equipping them with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit would speak through them in that hour when they stood to testify on His behalf. All of these things begin with a burning heart. Jesus spoke to His disciples on the road to Emmaus and their hearts burned within them. This burning translates into impact and conviction. God wants to burn in you today! Take the time to be set apart to His presence until the fire of the altars of God burns into your soul and you become a living source of the passion of God, then speak in faith from that heart of passion so that others may be fanned into flame for God.
"My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer." NIV
What moves your heart? What inspires your passion? This psalm is a psalm birthed in a prophetic spirit. This psalm is a revelation of a passionate life. The psalmist cries out, “my heart is stirred by a noble theme” and out of this burning heart he unveils a portrait of the coming Messiah and by the glorious church that He will build! Passion is what fuels the prophetic spirit. When we become passionate about something we give ourselves to it. When a theme burns in our hearts we give ourselves permission to do the extravagant; to shout louder, to leap higher, to give the extravagant gift, to write the inspired song! It is out of the furnace of holy passion that revelation flows! God captures a heart and as that heart ascends into the presence of the Lord through a life of abandonment that very freedom of expression that flows out of passion enables us to tap into the Spirit of God with insight that cannot come from natural reasoning. When we allow ourselves to be given fully to the Spirit it is like jumping into a river with a strong current. No longer is our momentum created by our own efforts. The power of the river is what carries us along into the deeper waters of God’s
mind and purpose.
The psalmist reflects on the impact of this inspiration upon his own life in a very revealing way. After introducing the stirring that has taken place in his heart the psalmist begins to express what is taking place within him as a result. “My tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.” The movement of the heart is the source of inspired speech. Jesus taught us this principle in Matt. 12:34 “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” When our hearts are burning with passion for the Lord the flow of life out of our hearts is an unquenchable fire. Jesus taught his disciples to expect “rivers of living water” (Jn. 7:38) to flow out of the core of their being as a manifestation of their faith. In Mk. 13:11 Jesus prepared His disciples for the hour of their need by equipping them with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit would speak through them in that hour when they stood to testify on His behalf. All of these things begin with a burning heart. Jesus spoke to His disciples on the road to Emmaus and their hearts burned within them. This burning translates into impact and conviction. God wants to burn in you today! Take the time to be set apart to His presence until the fire of the altars of God burns into your soul and you become a living source of the passion of God, then speak in faith from that heart of passion so that others may be fanned into flame for God.
Sunday
Psalm 44:4-8 - May 17, 2009
Ps 44:4-8 "You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob. 5 Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes. 6 I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; 7 but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. 8 In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever." NIV
Did I mention that we still have to fight? 2 Peter 1:3 promises us that “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” We are assured that everything has already been provided and yet there is a paradox at work here. On one hand all I need is already mine. On the other I am commissioned to fight the good fight of faith (I Ti. 6:12) and to take the kingdom of God violently by force! (Mt. 11:12). This is the paradox of God’s kingdom. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6) and yet we are commissioned as the Lord’s intercessors to pray for His kingdom and will to be done here on earth as it already is in heaven! (Mt. 6:10)
The psalmist is reflecting on the nature of this struggle with a powerful insight. He states “You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob.” The point being that the victory that God enables us to walk in flows out of two primary principles: our position of submission to His lordship and dominion and the power of God speaking forth those victories. Every conflict is an expression of the conflict between the kingdom of light and the
kingdom of darkness.
We must remember that when we are wrestling with a circumstance or temptation,it is not simply a matter of a human being having a personal struggle, it is a matter of a spiritual being (you!) in the midst of a spiritual conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Paul stated clearly that we do not fight against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. (II Co. 10:1-5) It is two kingdoms struggling for dominion in every heart and every home. When we are submitted to the Holy Spirit through the blood of Christ, we are now empowered warriors who are fighting against the kingdom of darkness with every life giving choice that we make, every godly stand that we take! To the degree that we allow Christ’s dominion to be expressed through how we live we are gaining the victory in Jesus name.
In partnership with this principle the victory that we win is completed as an expression of God’s kingdom and His will being done on the earth. It is such a profound reality that hundreds of years before the cross of Christ ushered in a whole new dimension of revelation that this psalmist understood the principle of God’s kingdom and purpose being released through what God speaks forth. The psalmist understood that if God has spoken, then the battle is already won! We must learn to agree with God and fight the battle in the faith that it is already finished. The real challenge is not the conflict itself but the struggle to discern what God has truly spoken. The right application of both the written scriptures and the rhema word of God that comes to us personally is the center point of walking in victory! The psalmist has captured this understanding and has learned to recognize that even as he fights, it is not his own efforts that bring him the victory. If God has decreed it then we receive it! As we spend more time to discover the victories that God has already decreed, we will spend less time fighting battles that have already been won!!!
Did I mention that we still have to fight? 2 Peter 1:3 promises us that “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” We are assured that everything has already been provided and yet there is a paradox at work here. On one hand all I need is already mine. On the other I am commissioned to fight the good fight of faith (I Ti. 6:12) and to take the kingdom of God violently by force! (Mt. 11:12). This is the paradox of God’s kingdom. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6) and yet we are commissioned as the Lord’s intercessors to pray for His kingdom and will to be done here on earth as it already is in heaven! (Mt. 6:10)
The psalmist is reflecting on the nature of this struggle with a powerful insight. He states “You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob.” The point being that the victory that God enables us to walk in flows out of two primary principles: our position of submission to His lordship and dominion and the power of God speaking forth those victories. Every conflict is an expression of the conflict between the kingdom of light and the
kingdom of darkness.
We must remember that when we are wrestling with a circumstance or temptation,it is not simply a matter of a human being having a personal struggle, it is a matter of a spiritual being (you!) in the midst of a spiritual conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Paul stated clearly that we do not fight against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. (II Co. 10:1-5) It is two kingdoms struggling for dominion in every heart and every home. When we are submitted to the Holy Spirit through the blood of Christ, we are now empowered warriors who are fighting against the kingdom of darkness with every life giving choice that we make, every godly stand that we take! To the degree that we allow Christ’s dominion to be expressed through how we live we are gaining the victory in Jesus name.
In partnership with this principle the victory that we win is completed as an expression of God’s kingdom and His will being done on the earth. It is such a profound reality that hundreds of years before the cross of Christ ushered in a whole new dimension of revelation that this psalmist understood the principle of God’s kingdom and purpose being released through what God speaks forth. The psalmist understood that if God has spoken, then the battle is already won! We must learn to agree with God and fight the battle in the faith that it is already finished. The real challenge is not the conflict itself but the struggle to discern what God has truly spoken. The right application of both the written scriptures and the rhema word of God that comes to us personally is the center point of walking in victory! The psalmist has captured this understanding and has learned to recognize that even as he fights, it is not his own efforts that bring him the victory. If God has decreed it then we receive it! As we spend more time to discover the victories that God has already decreed, we will spend less time fighting battles that have already been won!!!
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