Inspired Word - July 2, 2008

INSPIRED WORD

July 2, 2008

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 149:2 – 5: “ …Be glad, Israel , because of your Creator; rejoice, people of Zion , because of your king!” Can you rejoice with me? “Praise His name with dancing; play drums and harps in praise of Him. The Lord takes pleasure in His people; He honors the humble with victory. Let God's people rejoice in their triumphs and sing joyfully all night long.”

SCRIPTURE

Luke 19: 37 – 40: When He came near Jerusalem, at the place where the road went down to the Mount of Olives, the large crowd of his disciples began to thank God and praise Him in loud voices for all the great things that they had seen: “God bless the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory to God!” Then some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “command your disciples to be quiet!” Jesus answered, “I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will start shouting.”

EXHORTATION

….our strength is – the joy of the Lord! If you remember the image we had of the mountain, JOY was on our road up the mountain, because we need that strength. As Deacon Chuck was sharing the image of the mountain, I was having all sorts of hiking images and the spiritual relatives of those. One of them was sweat. You don't hike up the mountain without getting sweaty. Sometimes when we come to praise God it takes a sacrifice of praise. But that joy is our strength. Then Deacon Chuck said, “Why is desire so important?” As soon as he said the word desire, I am much ashamed to tell you that the image that came to my mind was last Thanksgiving. My children wanted a new Wii and we were out there, camping out in front of the store with the rest of the crazy people at three o'clock in the morning hoping to get the newest and greatest toy at the greatest sale. Jesus Christ has paid for our gifts! They're not on sale – they're FREE! They are waiting for us. Are you willing to take your tent to the top of the mountain to camp out and wait for the Presence of the Lord for those gifts? You talk about trust – this is a lifetime guarantee! We have much to be joyful for and there is much reason to sweat and offer that sacrifice of praise. So tonight it may be hard for you to raise your arms up in praise. But as Mel has said many, many times, when you stand up, and as you raise your arms up in praise, many of those burdens fall off your back.

SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 43: 18 – 21: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to My people, My chosen, the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim My praise.

SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 43: 2 – 3: Israel , the Lord Who created you says, “Do not be afraid, for I will save you.

I have called you by name and you are Mine. When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, Who saves you.

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 30: 5, 8, 11 – 13: Sing praise to the Lord, you faithful. Give thanks to God's holy name. Lord, when you showed me favor I stood like the mighty mountains. But when you hid Your face I was struck with terror. Hear, O Lord, have mercy on me; O Lord, be my helper. You change my mourning into dancing; you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. With my whole being I sing endless praise to You. O Lord, my God, forever will I give You thanks.

SCRIPTURE / EXHORTATION

I am drawn to 1 Samuel (Chapter 3 ) . The Lord keeps calling Samuel, but Samuel doesn't recognize the Lord. He keeps calling Samuel, but Samuel thinks its Eli. Eli keeps telling Samuel that he did not call him and for him to go back to sleep. At that time Samuel was not familiar with the Lord because the Lord had not revealed anything to him as yet. The Lord called Samuel again for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the youth. So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep and if you are called, reply, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'” When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the Lord came and revealed His Presence, calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel.” Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” How often we are so busy and caught up in our own agendas and our own plans, that we don't hear the Lord calling us. I pray that we can just set all that aside and truly listen for the Lord and His direction and guidance.

SCRIPTURE / PRAYER

Earlier we heard about the water and we asked the Lord to raise the water to where we have to swim in the water - the water of that grace. In Ezekiel 43 (verses 1 – 5) we hear what happens when we swim in the water of that grace. “Then he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. And there, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east; the sound was like the sound of mighty waters; and the earth shone with his glory. The vision I saw was like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city. As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.” Lord, right here, right now, You are inviting us into that inner court. Let us surrender our hearts to You, our minds to You, and all that was in us and with us when we came here tonight, so that Your glory may fill this temple.

SHARING

I want to say that I am still drawn to what Deacon Chuck was saying earlier- about being held back because of feelings of unworthiness. That is something that gets in my way all the time. I have thought about it, prayed about it and talked to Deacon Chuck about it. The Bible is full of people who have felt unworthy; it is full of people who have said, “Who am I, Lord, that you should be asking me?” It is full of ordinary people who were made extraordinary by the Holy Spirit and the power of God.

TEACHING / SCRIPTURE

It is a true blessing when we come into these meetings full of the Lord's blessings, after having a good week and everything going our way, where we can really enter into His praise. But often we come in here beaten down with the happenings of the week. Sometimes it is a struggle just to get here. I found this little gem tucked into 2 Chronicles . This was inspired by the song we sang earlier – “Jesus, Mighty God. our rock, our fortress, our defense, and every foe will tremble at Your name.” This is good news because we are battling against a lot of stuff in the world. Those of you who know me know one of my favorite songs is the song by John Michael Talbot. The verse that sticks out for me is: “The battle belongs to the Lord. When the power of darkness comes in like a flood, the battle belongs to the Lord. Take courage, my friend, your salvation is near, the battle belongs to the Lord.” Those words come forth in 2 Chronicles . I am just going to touch upon a few things. Here King Jehoshaphat and the people are enduring an attack. The Moabites, the Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites came to fight against Jehoshaphat. It is going to be a crushing reality and they realize it. They seek out the Lord. You can read it for yourself – read Chapter 20 of 2 Chronicles – it is a good read. You might have to go back prior to Chapter 20 to get a sense of the history. They did not know what to do and Jehoshaphat was frightened and hastened to consult with the Lord. “All the men of Judah , even down to their youngest children and their wives stood in the presence of Yahweh. In the middle of the assembly the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattanah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph. He said to them, “Listen, all you men of Judah and you who live in Jerusalem and you, King Jehoshaphat! Yahweh says this to you: ‘Do not be afraid; do not be daunted by this vast horde; for the battle is not yours, but God's. March out against them tomorrow and you will see them coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will come on them in the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not have to fight in this encounter. Take up your positions, stand firm, and see what salvation Yahweh has in store for you, Judah and Jerusalem . Be fearless, be dauntless, march out against them tomorrow and Yahweh will be with you.'” Yahweh does come through! They don't even have to fight. We have to realize that these armies are coming to crush them and they look out and say that they don't know what they are going to do. Then the Lord comes through! The armies somehow come upon each other from three different directions and they perceive that each one is the enemy. They end up killing each other. Judah watches it all. “When it is over, Jehoshaphat and his people came to take plunder, they found an abundance of cattle and personal property, garments and precious vessels. They took so much that they were unable to carry it all; they were three days taking the spoil, so great was it.” We have to remember this: Jesus, Mighty God, our Rock, our Fortress, our Defense, and every foe will tremble at Your name! That is good news!! I don't know about you, but sometimes the foes I face seem overwhelming. It is through these prayer meetings that I am reminded of Who my God is. He is a God Who stands to fight for you and me. We must always remember Who our God is!

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