6When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
7And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
There is something to be said about finding one's way...
He was just a blind man...
He had no vision of the road ahead...
Never had...
Not once had he been able to look down the road and detect danger approaching...
Driving instructors tell us to look as far as we can down the road...
To anticipate change...
It takes vision to look ahead and anticipate danger...
This young man had no way to forecast the upcoming dangers which lay ahead...
Yet Jesus spat upon the ground, made clay, rubbed it into the man's eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam...
So the only way he had to get to the miracle was to go HIS WAY...
His way was not the easiest...
His way was most likely not the shortest distance between two points...
It was a wandering way...
A stumbling way...
A way which hesitated at times...
A way of uncertainty...
A way of failure...
A way of mistakes...
A way of desperation...
A way of hunger...
Not the best way...
But it was his way...
The only way he could make it was his way...
There are some who will criticize you for your methods...
Criticize your decisions...
Criticize your choices...
See, your way might not be their way, and that makes them uncomfortable...
But they are not blind and they don't know your way...
Their feet do not fit your shoes...
And they cannot decipher your way...
Do not be discouraged or distracted...
True vision awaits you...
If you are following the instruction of the Master, follow it to the best of your ability...
The only way you know...
Of course there are Biblical absolutes which we must follow...
Make sure your way leads you to and through them...
But find your way to the promised vision...
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Going Beyond the Gate
Going Beyond the Gate
Est 3:8-10
8 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them.
9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.
10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
Est 4:8
8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
Est 4:13-14
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Est 5:1-3
5:1 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.
2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.
3 Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
Mordecai was faithful.
He was always at the gate.
Not a day went by that did not find him sitting outside the King’s gate.
He was a faithful man.
Rain or shine; just like the postman.
He had been there when two men came out whispering in low tones about their plot to kill the king.
Had he not been faithful, the king would have been assassinated.
His simple faithfulness saved the king’s life.
No fanfare for him…
He did not require any special attention or recognition. He was just happy to be a servant of the king.
Never did he make a big deal out of his heroics. He was just a faithful man.
Another day came when he encountered something at the gate.
Haman, the prime minister, came riding by on his horse. In his pride, Haman wanted the people he passed by to bow in reverence to him.
Mordecai, being a devout man of God, would never bow in worship to any man. He refused to do so publicly.
He stood for what he believed to be true.
This infuriated Haman to no end.
He devised a plot to kill all of the Jews just to get to Mordecai.
Mordecai was at the gate when he heard of this plot.
His faithfulness at the gate allowed him to know that his life was in jeopardy.
Not only his life, but the lives of his family and friends.
He puts on sackcloth and ashes. This was a sign of mourning and sadness.
Despair gripped the nation of Israel when they heard what would become of them in a few days.
Esther the queen sent word to Mordecai to change his clothes and come to see her.
He refused, but sent word to her.
“I have been a faithful man. I have stayed here at the gate for year after year. I have seen many things in my lifetime here at the gate.
But today, being at the gate will not be good enough.”
Mordecai knew that some problems could be handled at the gate.
Some issues were easily handled at the gate...business transactions...real estate deals...marriages, etc
However, when lives were on the line, he knew that someone had to get beyond the gate and into the throne room of the king.
Sometimes you need an AUDIENCE WITH THE KING.
He told Esther that this was her opportunity to be a savior to her people.
No one was allowed to enter the king’s presence unannounced.
You would certainly be put to death on the spot if the king did not extend his royal scepter to you.
Life of death hung in the balance. . .
She had no choice but to go into the king’s presence.
There are times in our lives when being at the gate of the Spirit will get us by.
Many times our faithfulness will be good enough to take us through certain situations.
However there are other times when we must go beyond the gates and into the throne room of the king.
In the Old Testament, they were unable to approach the ark of the covenant.
There was a place that only one man could go once a year.
It was the Holiest of Holies.
Unapproachable by ordinary people.
However, when Jesus came and was crucified, the veil that kept people out of that place was torn from the top to the bottom.
Now we can push past the veils of tradition.
Now we can push beyond the gates of inadequacy.
There is an open gate in front of us.
No longer do we need to feel intimidated by God.
We should fear and respect Him, but He is a loving merciful Savior.
“For God so loved the world….”
You are here because He Loves You!!
Available to us today is His healing presence.
You don’t get your healing at the gate. You get it in his courts.
You don't get deliverance from sin at the gate, you get it in His throne room.
You receive your breakthrough when you get beyond the gate.
There are some “gate” prayers that you need to abandon.
There are some “gate” consecrations that are now inadequate.
Your faithfulness is good, but only the gate to your miracle.
If you can figure out how to get your request into the throne room, you entire family can be saved.
And it is when you make into the throne room that those who have been trying to destroy you will be discovered and handled.
Ps 100:4
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
David understood that thanksgiving would lead you to the gates.
Thanksgiving was a good first step.
But Praise would lead you into His courts.
There is a difference between Thanksgiving and Praise.
One will get you there, but the other will get you IN.
Please do not sell yourself short and be satisfied with a life at the gate.
The throne room awaits.
Est 3:8-10
8 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them.
9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.
10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
Est 4:8
8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
Est 4:13-14
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Est 5:1-3
5:1 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.
2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.
3 Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
Mordecai was faithful.
He was always at the gate.
Not a day went by that did not find him sitting outside the King’s gate.
He was a faithful man.
Rain or shine; just like the postman.
He had been there when two men came out whispering in low tones about their plot to kill the king.
Had he not been faithful, the king would have been assassinated.
His simple faithfulness saved the king’s life.
No fanfare for him…
He did not require any special attention or recognition. He was just happy to be a servant of the king.
Never did he make a big deal out of his heroics. He was just a faithful man.
Another day came when he encountered something at the gate.
Haman, the prime minister, came riding by on his horse. In his pride, Haman wanted the people he passed by to bow in reverence to him.
Mordecai, being a devout man of God, would never bow in worship to any man. He refused to do so publicly.
He stood for what he believed to be true.
This infuriated Haman to no end.
He devised a plot to kill all of the Jews just to get to Mordecai.
Mordecai was at the gate when he heard of this plot.
His faithfulness at the gate allowed him to know that his life was in jeopardy.
Not only his life, but the lives of his family and friends.
He puts on sackcloth and ashes. This was a sign of mourning and sadness.
Despair gripped the nation of Israel when they heard what would become of them in a few days.
Esther the queen sent word to Mordecai to change his clothes and come to see her.
He refused, but sent word to her.
“I have been a faithful man. I have stayed here at the gate for year after year. I have seen many things in my lifetime here at the gate.
But today, being at the gate will not be good enough.”
Mordecai knew that some problems could be handled at the gate.
Some issues were easily handled at the gate...business transactions...real estate deals...marriages, etc
However, when lives were on the line, he knew that someone had to get beyond the gate and into the throne room of the king.
Sometimes you need an AUDIENCE WITH THE KING.
He told Esther that this was her opportunity to be a savior to her people.
No one was allowed to enter the king’s presence unannounced.
You would certainly be put to death on the spot if the king did not extend his royal scepter to you.
Life of death hung in the balance. . .
She had no choice but to go into the king’s presence.
There are times in our lives when being at the gate of the Spirit will get us by.
Many times our faithfulness will be good enough to take us through certain situations.
However there are other times when we must go beyond the gates and into the throne room of the king.
In the Old Testament, they were unable to approach the ark of the covenant.
There was a place that only one man could go once a year.
It was the Holiest of Holies.
Unapproachable by ordinary people.
However, when Jesus came and was crucified, the veil that kept people out of that place was torn from the top to the bottom.
Now we can push past the veils of tradition.
Now we can push beyond the gates of inadequacy.
There is an open gate in front of us.
No longer do we need to feel intimidated by God.
We should fear and respect Him, but He is a loving merciful Savior.
“For God so loved the world….”
You are here because He Loves You!!
Available to us today is His healing presence.
You don’t get your healing at the gate. You get it in his courts.
You don't get deliverance from sin at the gate, you get it in His throne room.
You receive your breakthrough when you get beyond the gate.
There are some “gate” prayers that you need to abandon.
There are some “gate” consecrations that are now inadequate.
Your faithfulness is good, but only the gate to your miracle.
If you can figure out how to get your request into the throne room, you entire family can be saved.
And it is when you make into the throne room that those who have been trying to destroy you will be discovered and handled.
Ps 100:4
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
David understood that thanksgiving would lead you to the gates.
Thanksgiving was a good first step.
But Praise would lead you into His courts.
There is a difference between Thanksgiving and Praise.
One will get you there, but the other will get you IN.
Please do not sell yourself short and be satisfied with a life at the gate.
The throne room awaits.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The High Cost of Free Provision
I recently heard a story of some men who wanted to hunt and capture a bald eagle.
The first day, before dawn broke, they placed a fish upon a rock in the eagle's territory and moved far away to observe with their binoculars. They watched as the majestic bird circled and watched the fish, obviously uncomfortable with the feeling, but intrigued by the fish. He finally landed a little distance away and watched the fish through his keen eye, as well as observing the surroundings suspiciously. After a while the beautiful creature made its way close to the fish and began to feed. The hunters held their ground and only watched.
For an entire week, their strategy was the same. Only placing the fish where the eagle could see it and retreating to their hiding place to watch the goings on.
The second week began with them placing the fish on the rock, but adding a large net above. It was placed just high enough so that the eagle could walk beneath it and reach the fish without obstruction. This, the eagle did not like! Warily, he made his way toward the fish, knowing that something was definitely out of order, but loving the taste of the free meal.
At the end of the week, the hunters placed their fish upon the rock and tied their ropes to the net and moved away. When the eagle arrived that day, he walked under the net with no hesitation at all, and was surprised to hear the slithering sound of the snare falling into place around him.
Why did the hunters not put the snare in place earlier?
The eagle was much too wise to fall prey to this aggressive approach. However, it was the gradual dumbing down of his sense of survival that lefd him to walk knowingly under the snare.
He then had to pay The High Cost of Free Provision.
There are times when the enemy knows that he cannot deceive us with the aggressive approach, but if he can whet the appetite with provisions which must not be hunted, he can use them to entrap those with the strength to fly high above his snares.
There is a danger in partaking of free provision...
There are battles which the enemy will willingly surrender, so that we will become comfortable in an arena in which we were not designed to dwell.
27And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.
28And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner:
29Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread.
30So Joab, and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.
31And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier.
32And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept.
33And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?
34Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him.
Abner should have never advanced outside the gate of the the city of refuge, but because he was deceived by one who was a perceived friend, his death was that of a fool.
There are places, spirits, associations, and ministries that are placed into the lives of God's anointed that serve only to dumb down their senses of danger and their desire to hunt for themselves.
There are some things that can only be attained when we HUNT for ourselves.
Beware the free provisions, sometimes they cost much more than we would be willing to pay.
The first day, before dawn broke, they placed a fish upon a rock in the eagle's territory and moved far away to observe with their binoculars. They watched as the majestic bird circled and watched the fish, obviously uncomfortable with the feeling, but intrigued by the fish. He finally landed a little distance away and watched the fish through his keen eye, as well as observing the surroundings suspiciously. After a while the beautiful creature made its way close to the fish and began to feed. The hunters held their ground and only watched.
For an entire week, their strategy was the same. Only placing the fish where the eagle could see it and retreating to their hiding place to watch the goings on.
The second week began with them placing the fish on the rock, but adding a large net above. It was placed just high enough so that the eagle could walk beneath it and reach the fish without obstruction. This, the eagle did not like! Warily, he made his way toward the fish, knowing that something was definitely out of order, but loving the taste of the free meal.
At the end of the week, the hunters placed their fish upon the rock and tied their ropes to the net and moved away. When the eagle arrived that day, he walked under the net with no hesitation at all, and was surprised to hear the slithering sound of the snare falling into place around him.
Why did the hunters not put the snare in place earlier?
The eagle was much too wise to fall prey to this aggressive approach. However, it was the gradual dumbing down of his sense of survival that lefd him to walk knowingly under the snare.
He then had to pay The High Cost of Free Provision.
There are times when the enemy knows that he cannot deceive us with the aggressive approach, but if he can whet the appetite with provisions which must not be hunted, he can use them to entrap those with the strength to fly high above his snares.
There is a danger in partaking of free provision...
There are battles which the enemy will willingly surrender, so that we will become comfortable in an arena in which we were not designed to dwell.
27And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.
28And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner:
29Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread.
30So Joab, and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.
31And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier.
32And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept.
33And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?
34Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him.
Abner should have never advanced outside the gate of the the city of refuge, but because he was deceived by one who was a perceived friend, his death was that of a fool.
There are places, spirits, associations, and ministries that are placed into the lives of God's anointed that serve only to dumb down their senses of danger and their desire to hunt for themselves.
There are some things that can only be attained when we HUNT for ourselves.
Beware the free provisions, sometimes they cost much more than we would be willing to pay.
Beware the free provisions, sometimes they cost much more than we would be willing to pay.
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