Inspired Word - February 20, 2008

INSPIRED WORD

February 20, 2008

PRAYER

Lord, every time we give our hearts to You, You stir up that fire within us. You stir up the life of You, the life of Your Spirit, the love between You and Your Father; that kiss between the two of You, which is the Holy Spirit. Lord, help us to be transparent; help us to be like crystal on the outside, with Your light, Your love, and Your fire burning within. Jesus, You have inspired man to build lighthouses, and a lighthouse is nothing more than a tall tower with a very simple fire and a very clear glass reflector. Yet that light burning and shining through that glass in its clarity, shines out to ships at sea, shines out for people to see for miles away. Lord, help us to be that lighthouse! Let Your fire shine through us! Let us stand tall in a tower above the world, so that the world may know You and Your love through us. You have anointed us, Jesus, help us to go forth; help us to be Your witnesses.

SCRIPTURE / EXHORTATION

Matthew 5: 14 – 16: “ God reminds us as we have been reminded in song tonight: “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set upon a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” I was just thinking how this Scripture and what we have all been about so far this evening ties in together. The baskets that we are setting our lights under are those things that Andrea asked us to think about, to write down and to surrender to God. We have to move our baskets out of the way, lay our crowns before Jesus, and trust that He will work through us and in us. But it all has to do with our surrendering all those things - fear, doubt – or whatever they may be. Then we are able to trust that God truly loves us and all those who are still in darkness. We are the light! Be that lighthouse! Clean off the windows so that the light can shine out from us.

PROPHECY

Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid to surrender your hearts to Me; to surrender those things that you hold close. Do not be afraid to surrender those things to Me, surrender them into My love. Surrender them into My love! Allow that love to lead your minds and your hearts! Fear not! Fear not! Surrender into My love! Fear not – let them go!

SCRIPTURE

Hebrews 4: 12-13 : “Indeed, the Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. Nothing is concealed from Him, everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must render an account.” Nothing is concealed from Him! We will render an account when we stand before Him.

SCRIPTURE

John 15: 5, 8 - 17: “ I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in Me, and I in them will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without Me. My Father's glory is shown by your bearing much fruit; and in this way you become My disciples. I love you just as the Father loves Me. Remain in My love. If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you. The greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them. And you are My friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from My Father. You did not choose Me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of Him in My Name. This then, is what I command you: love one another.” Jesus, thank You for Your love for us!

SHARING / EXHORTATION

I want to thank my brother, who shared earlier, and Jim, who shared last week. I think I have learned more lately from people sharing their weaknesses than I have in a year's worth of victories, if you want to call them that. I think the reason is that when we share or recognize our own weaknesses that is when God shines through us. I was thinking about this idea of laying down our crowns. One way that we might see it is that we lay down any claim of our own power. We lay down any claim to some kind of glory on our own. That is one interpretation that came to me. With your sharing, Chuck, the Word that was on my heart was: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies…” (see John 12:24 ) – I don't think we can bear that fruit unless we are first broken. To be honest, after that mental exercise, I didn't feel free; I felt raw. But the surrendering was the thing that brought me back. Just surrender it to God! When my brother spoke a little earlier, I think what you were testifying to was not so much that God knows everything you are doing, but to surrender it all and give it up to Him. You can't hide it, but realize that we follow a loving and merciful God. So experience the freedom of surrendering to Him – the freedom that comes from acknowledging and admitting your sins and turning them over to God. A priest once told me to stop, check, correct, and move on! Don't keep rehashing those things or wallowing in your guilt; stop, check, correct, and move on! Lay down all of your crowns at His feet! There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can separate us from the love of God !! (see Romans 8: 35 – 39 ) And remember, from last week, that He calls us into the Holy of Holies because He is the High Priest who knows all of our weaknesses. (see Hebrews 4: 14 – 16) He always tells us that He loves us, He loves us! That is where worship comes from – knowing that Savior Who is so gentle, kind, merciful, and loving. So if you were feeling raw, like me, take solace in a merciful and gracious, gracious Savior.

CONFIRMATION

Psalm 51: 15 - 17: O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For You do not want sacrifices, or I would give them; You are not pleased with burnt offerings. My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; You will not reject a humble and repentant heart.

CONFIRMATION

This is another confirmation. Romans 5: 1 – 8: Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. Not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still weak, died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

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