defeat | Revelations From The Road

God’s Throne

September 13, 2017 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given August 2017

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

I read this one morning from our church’s Project 345 Bible Reading Plan, (actually, I jumped ahead one day because I had this verse underlined), and this majestic picture of a scene began to form in my mind. I pray you will see it too.

So, you’ve messed up again, we ALL do, (see Romans 3:23), and you’re sorry, you’re ashamed and embarrassed to go to God again for forgiveness. The devil is telling you not to bother, that you’re terrible and God doesn’t want to hear it again. But you’ve heard that God loves you and will forgive you 70×7 times, (see Matthew 18:22), and more so you go to God one more time and this is how it may look:

You go to God’s throne room and find the door already open. You look inside and there He is, God himself sitting there holding out His hand of welcome to you. “Come on in child.” He says. You approach the throne slowlyand, with tears in your eyes, bow down in shame beginning to tell Him what you’ve done. He nods His head and says, “I know, come up here.”, as He motions you up beside Him. With His arm around you He says, “I know what you’ve done child and I can see that you’re truly repentant.” “I forgive you.” “Now, what you did was deserving of punishment but I’m going to have mercy on you and not give you what you deserve.” “Oh, thank You, thank You Lord!”, you say as you reach over to give Him a hug. “Now I want you to learn from this and try not to make this same mistake again.” “OK?” “But if you do, I’m always right here for you.” “And, since this is the Throne of Grace, I’m going to bless you with some things you don’t deserve.” “How’s that?” “Now, you’re cleansed so go and continue My work and remember, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.’” (Matthew 28:20). You give God another hug and wave as you exit the room with a sigh of relief, your peace and joy restored.

Can you see it? You may need to go to the Throne of Grace today and receive mercy and find that grace.

Memory

June 22, 2017 by Bill 1 Comment

Given June 20, 2017

The human brain is an amazing organ. No computer can match its power, ability or memory. Humans have done wonderful things by using their brains and it is said that knowledge now doubles every twelve months. This is all done with the brain. God designed our brains.

As I got in my truck recently, a random phrase suddenly came into my mind, “buckle up”. I thought, “Why did that come to my mind?” I always buckle my seat belt. Then, into my mind, entered this jingle from years ago which had been a commercial encouraging people to use their seat belts. “Buckle up for safety, buckle up. Buckle up for safety, always buckle up. Show the world you care by the belt you wear, buckle up for safety, everybody buckle up.” Now, in my memory somewhere was stored that little song and the random phrase that I “heard” triggered my memory and I sang the jingle without a mistake. I remembered every word from years ago! I can’t remember the names of some of the people I go to church with, students I had in school years ago, things that happened at times in my life or what to pick up at the grocery store. But my memory recalled those crazy song lyrics. It came from my brain.

Now, as I usually do, I started thinking of how this incident could be related to something spiritual; maybe it was God who put that phrase in my mind. Wouldn’t it be useful to have the Word of God stored away somewhere in our memories? Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.” When someone near us is in need, the ability to recall scripture or teachings from the Bible can make a difference in their lives. What if someone comes to you and wants to get saved? Will you be able to use scripture to lead them into Heaven? “Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:18)

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4, what did He use to fend off the devil? He used words. But not just any words, He used God’s words. Satan couldn’t compete with the Word. “Take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:10) By the way, this part of the Armor of God is the only offensive weapon mentioned. So when the devil comes at you roaring “like” a lion, with temptations will you have the offensive weapon to resist him and watch him flee from you? “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you”. (Psalms 119:11)

We want to live a good life, or should I say, a God life. The Bible is full of instructions for us to follow in order for that to happen. We want to be pleasing to God, to fulfill the mission He planned for us before we were born and to be a servant here on earth until we make our final stop on our journey. How do we do that? Joshua 1:8: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

If this has made you think about what’s in your memory from God’s word, I’m glad. I guess that was God’s intention when he put that phrase in my mind. If you need some scripture in your mind, read it, listen to it, meditate on it, memorize it and practice speaking it every day.

The Tomb

April 15, 2017 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given April 10, 2017

Today, (April 16, 2017), we celebrate Easter. For many people, Easter is a springtime, bunny rabbit, egg hunt holiday but to Christians, it is much more. Today, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death and the tomb. He went through so much on Friday with the trials, humiliation, beatings, abandonment, pain, suffering and finally, death. He was placed in the tomb. We can imagine that it was dark, cold, and final. Imagine that you can hear the victory celebration in Hell because Jesus was dead. He was in the tomb. The tomb is a dark, scary place and it signifies the end. Jesus was there of His own choice….but He didn’t stay there. God had a plan. Jesus was to arise from death and walk out of the tomb never to return. He did this to give us the option of life.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23). We were all in our own tombs of spiritual death. But because of what Jesus sacrificed and accomplished, we can, and many have, respond to the command of Jesus just as Lazarus did, “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43). Lazarus came out of his tomb. And, many who were dead on the day Jesus arose, “..came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.” (Matthew 27:53)

Some of you may be in your tomb of sin and death today. Because Jesus came out of His tomb, you can come out of yours. Hear Jesus calling to you, “Come out!” Can you imagine someone saying, “No, I like it in here with these demons. I think I’ll stay.” And then, there are also those today who have come out of their tomb at some point but have chosen to go back inside! They hear the call of the demons and respond to them by reentering their tomb! Jesus is calling.

Today, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from His tomb. Make it the day you can celebrate His tomb exit AND yours too. Thank you Jesus for what you did for me!

Picture This: Death Was Arrested

November 6, 2016 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given November 6, 2016

As happens to me quite often, I see or hear something that begins a video playing in my mind of how a scene might play out. It happened this morning in church as we sang the song, “Death Was Arrested” by North Point InsideOut. These lyrics began the video:

“Our savior displayed on a criminal’s cross.
Darkness rejoiced as though heaven had lost.
But then Jesus arose with our freedom in hand.
That’s when death was arrested and my life began.”

I saw the demons of darkness dancing, rejoicing and partying at the base of the cross where Jesus hung dying and then in front of the tomb where He was laid. I saw us as prisoners of darkness standing nearby in chains because, supposedly, our Savior had been eliminated. But then…the heavy stone sealing the entrance to the tomb began rolling away to the right and Jesus came walking out of the tomb with the key to our chains in His hand. The demons stopped their merriment in fear and screamed, “Oh no!” “Where did he come from?” “We thought he was dead!” The demons could not move except to turn around with their hands behind their backs as Jesus put on the cuffs and arrested them. Then He walked over to us with His blood-stained key and freed us from our chains. Now, we are the ones rejoicing because Jesus has set us free forever!

“Yes we’re free, free forever amen.
When death was arrested and my life began.”

Anti Bullying

November 5, 2016 by Bill Leave a Comment

Given October 16, 2016

We all know about bullying. Many of us have been bullied in school, at work, in public or even in families. Research suggests that bullies are insecure, feel unworthy and need attention and they usually attract a following who want to see what they’re going to inflict on someone. Bullies don’t pick on the captain of the football team but some, supposedly, weaker kid. Experts suggest many ways to stop a bully, one of which is to stand up to them. I saw a video of a large kid who was being bullied and finally had had enough. He turned, picked up the smaller bully and slammed him to the ground and walked away. End of that bullying session.

So now you’re thinking about how bad it is to be bullied and how you don’t want to be in that situation. Well, most of us are! We’re being bullied by the king of bullies, the devil! And the sad thing is, we keep letting him do it. But there are a few differences in the devil’s bullying: 1. He’s all talk. He can’t hit you but will talk you into hurting yourself. 2. He knows there are some people he can’t bully. 3. There’s a sure-fire way for you to be bully free.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) The devil is a deceiver; he talks you into hurting yourself. He makes it look so good, you fall for it. He’s looking for someone to scam.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:11) He’s looking for someone to pick on but when he sees someone fully dressed for battle, he just moves on. If you’re a Christian, you’ve been issued that armor, do you have it on or is it somewhere in your closet?

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) If you try to stand up to the devil without God backing you, you’ll get whipped! So, give yourself to God, get in the devil’s face and tell him to “Git!” You might say, “I’m submitted to God and I resist you devil.” And, “Greater is He who is in me than you are.” (1 John 4:4) Don’t let the devil bully you anymore!