One of the Twelve

One of the Twelve
Os Hillman

"And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." -2 Corinthians 5:15

It is believed that there were about 5,000 believers during the time of Christ. Among those believers, it was thought there were three types. The largest number of believers were those who came to Jesus for salvation. They served Him little beyond coming to Him to receive salvation. A much smaller number, say 500, actually followed Him and served Him. Then, there were the disciples. These were those who identified with Jesus. They lived the life that Jesus lived. Each of these ultimately died in difficult circumstances. They experienced the hardships, the miracles, and the fellowship with God in human form.

If you had to say which group best represented your life, which one would you fall into - the 5,000 who simply believed, the 500 who followed and sought to implement what they were learning from the Savior, or the 12 who identified completely with the life and mission of the Savior? Jesus has called each of us to identify with Him completely. "This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did" (1 John 2:5b-6).

Pray that God will allow you to walk as Jesus did. Experience His power and love in your life today so that others will see the hope that lies in you.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
Os Hillman

"Then Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.'" - Genesis 50:24

I was boarding the airplane in Frankfurt, Germany, when a mentor of mine asked me this question, "Would you consider why God referred to Himself as the 'God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob'? Why didn't He simply say, 'the God of Jacob'?" What a strange question, I thought to myself.

For the next hour I racked my brain trying to discover the meaning to this question. I had never read it in a commentary, and the Scriptures do not really say why this is so. It became a good exercise with the Holy Spirit that led to some interesting observations - one from my mentor, one from my own insight.

First, could it be that the Lord has given us a "type of trinity" in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Abraham was considered a father figure to the nation of Israel. Isaac was the son who had to be sacrificed on the altar. Jacob was the man who had to learn to walk according to the Holy Spirit instead of his flesh. Each of these patriarchs had a particular relationship with God to fulfill.

My friend asked about an hour into the flight, "So, what did you discover?"

I told him of my observation.

"Hmm...that is interesting. I believe that what we also see in the patriarchs are examples of three distinct types of personalities. If the Lord had cited only one of the patriarchs, we would tend to seek to model that leader. However, the Lord has given us three distinct personalities in whom He performed His work. Abraham was the pioneer who ventured out into unknown territory and was considered righteous for his faith. Isaac was faithful to follow in his inheritance with few ups and downs in his life. He had the fewest calamities among the three. He was called simply to be faithful to what had been already given. Jacob had extreme conflict in his life. He suffered more pit experiences than either of his predecessors. He had much conflict in relationships that became the source of his inheritance. Each of us can identify with one of these men in how God has related to them."

God works in each person's life uniquely, and He has provided examples of lives for us to identify with from the Scriptures. Who do you identify with most in your Christian pilgrimage? Discover this for yourself. You will find encouragement as you seek to learn from someone who has gone before you.

Recognizing Spiritual Poverty

Matthew 5:3
Chip Brogden

Matthew 5:3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

This spiritual poverty is the result of recognizing that apart from Him we can do nothing. It is a willingness to be broken and reduced to spiritual bankruptcy, which implies not only losing everything we once enjoyed, but also making a fresh start with a clean slate and all our debts erased. It is the Second Universal Spiritual Principle, which states: "I must decrease" (John 3:30). This decreasing, or as I like to say, this reducing to Christ, is the first requirement.

If we are unwilling to be emptied then we cannot have the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven. We will be like the Laodicean church, who said they were "rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing" yet in God's sight they were poor, blind, naked, and miserable (Revelation 3:17). So the Kingdom belongs to those who readily admit right from the beginning that "a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven " (John 3:27).

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Lord, give us that hunger to know You;
deliver us from the pride that makes us want to use You.
Let me pray today with John,
'He must increase, but I must decrease.'
Amen and Amen.

The Goal of the Christian Life

The Goal of the Christian Life
Os Hillman

"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." - John 12:24

The goal of the Christian life is death, not success. A popular teaching says that if we follow God, we will prosper materially. God may, in fact, bless His people materially, but few can make this claim among third-world countries. Wealth must never be the goal of a person's life, only a by-product.

A missionary to a Middle-Eastern country has shared a motto among their ministry team: "God does not require success, but radical, immediate obedience." Jesus' obedience gained Him the cross. It did not gain Him popularity among the heathen, the religious or financial success, or a life of pleasure. His obedience resulted in His death on the cross. This is the same goal Christ has for each of us--death of our old nature so that He might live through us. That may not sell well among outcome-based Christian workplace believers, but it will result in an eternal reward that far exceeds any earthly reward. "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done" (Revelation 22:12).

The Christian life is a paradox--the first will be last, death in return for life, and we are encouraged to offer praise to God to overcome a spirit of heaviness. It requires faith in a God who operates from a different set of values that are sometimes difficult to measure from human standards. Let death work in you a life that only God can raise up.

Becoming Aware of God

Becoming Aware of God
Os Hillman

..."Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." - Genesis 28:16

Jacob was forced to flee his family after receiving the blessing of God from his father, Isaac. He ran as a result of his broken relationship with his brother, Esau, who threatened to kill him. He was alone after leaving his family and was sleeping in the wilderness area at Bethel. It is here that Jacob encountered God personally for the very first time. He had a dream in which Heaven was opened up to him. The Lord spoke to him there and gave him a promise to give him the very land on which he was lying.

This encounter with God made him realize that God was in this place, even though he had not been aware of it. God had to remove Jacob from all that was of comfort to him in order to reveal Himself to Jacob. What began as a crisis that forced him to be removed from his family and friends led to an encounter with the living God and a fresh vision of God's purposes for his life.

How often we go about our daily routine and fail to recognize that God is in the place where we are. God had to bring Jacob to a place of separation from his old life and remove all his worldly possessions. He was alone with God at Bethel; nothing else could distract him from an encounter that would change his life.

God often must do radical things in the life of the servant in whom He has special plans: separation from family, removal of physical and emotional resources, an encounter with God. These are often the hallmarks of ownership by God that build a vision into a life.

Pilot's Eye

Pilot's Eye
Chip Brogden

"There was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, 'Alas, my master! What shall we do?' So he answered, 'Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, and said, 'Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.'Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw." -2 Kings 6:15-17

When the servant's eyes were opened, he saw what Elisha saw. When Elisha said, "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them" it must have sounded like lunacy. It cannot be understood with words alone: the eyes must be opened. If words were enough then Elisha would not have prayed for the eyes to be opened.

We should spend less time trying to understand "words" and more time praying for God to open our eyes. When our eyes are opened, then the words will make sense. Until then, words are like hieroglyphics - we know there is something significant there, but we cannot understand what it means.

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Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that prayer might never become for me 'a duty to be fulfilled.' In a real love relationship communication is a delight, never a duty. Fill me with that freedom in my times with You. In Jesus’ name I ask and pray, Amen and Amen.

Becoming a Mighty Man

Becoming a Mighty Man
Os Hillman

"All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him." - 1 Samuel 22:2

Have you ever felt that you could accomplish a whole lot more if you had more talented people around you? Perhaps you are in an office and think that some of your fellow workers don't quite measure up. Imagine what David must have thought in the years following his anointing by the prophet Samuel as the next king of Israel. He spent the next many years running from King Saul. Now God was beginning to bring men to support David. But what kind of men? The down-and-out. God gave David not the elite or the sophisticated; He gave him those who were in debt and discontented with life. David turned those men into the best fighting men of their day. In fact, David never lost a battle during his entire reign as king of Israel-quite a feat for a bunch of no-name, lowlifes! Some of those men became an elite group known as David's Mighty Men. These were the elite of the elite, the Navy Seals, the Few Good Men, the Green Berets. Whatever you call them, they were exceptional warriors.

Jesus took a few men who weren't exactly the cream of the crop either. He built His life into these men, which resulted in 12 men who turned the world upside down. Are you one of God's mighty men or women? Are you investing your life to build other mighty men or women? David and Jesus set the example of what can be done when we invest in others. God does extraordinary things through men who have an extraordinary God. Ask God to use your life to be a mighty man or woman for a cause greater than yourself. He delights in such prayers.

Building a Solid Foundation

Building a Solid Foundation
Os Hillman

"But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand." - Matthew 7:26

There were two kinds of people in the days of Jesus. Some heard the words that Jesus spoke and were awed by His wisdom and understanding, but did nothing about what they heard. Others heard those words and acted on them. Jesus said that those who heard the words but failed to put them into practice were foolish and likened them to building a house on sand. How foolish, indeed, it would be to build a house on sand.

The person who followed what Jesus taught was a person who would be sure to weather life's storms.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock (Matthew 7:24-25).

You never know how well your house is built until it is tested by the elements. Torrential rains reveal the quality of your roof. Wind and cold reveal how well your home is insulated. Heat and sun reveal the quality of your paint and siding. All these elements reveal whether a solid foundation has been laid to make your home a secure and lasting place to live.

Many of us find that we have given only lip service to God's commands. We are faced with the reality that our foundations are not strong enough to weather life's storms. How do we react when the trials come? Do we fret and worry? Do we take life into our hands? Do we respond inappropriately when we don't get what we want? The Lord uses these times to help us recognize whether our foundations are sand or rock. Ask the Lord today if you have built on His rock. If so, you can be comforted to know that you can weather any storm that may come your way.

Heart of a Father

Heart of a Father
Chip Brogden

"And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved." -2 Corinthians 12:15

Paul gave us an example to follow. Don't just look at his calling and his gifting and his revelation. Look at his heart of love. He gave all - not just for the Lord, but for the Lord's people. And they were a most carnal, unappreciative bunch of people. Even so, the heart of a father is demonstrated. That is the reason he had authority. I tell you his authority was not in his title, his position, or his status as having taught the believers there. His authority was not in his calling, gift, or revelation. His authority was in the abundant love he showed.

Make no mistake: I am not there yet. I still struggle with how to be a good brother, much less a spiritual father with abundant love for everyone. I obviously have a long way to go, but now I see the missing ingredient and I am following after Love. How about you?

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Lord, please give me Your kind of eyesight so I can truly see what is right in front of me. To see the need and not the fault. To see someone You love and not an offensive person. To see someone You died for and not someone to avoid. And then I pray that Your love and power will flow through me to minister to the need. In Jesus' name ... Amen and Amen.

Verse For Meditation: 1 John 2:13

Overcoming Our Past

Overcoming Our Past
Os Hillman

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah." -Judges 11:29a

We've all heard stories of individuals who have overcome extreme hardship during their childhood years. Children of alcoholics, orphans who never have parents, loss of parents to a fatal crash, childhood disease - these are all difficult circumstances to overcome.

Jephthah was a man who overcame his obstacles and refused to allow his circumstances to prevent him from becoming great in God's sight. He was born to Gilead, a result of his father's adulterous encounter with a prostitute. Jephthah's half-brothers decided to reject Jephthah, and drove him away from their home saying, "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family because you are the son of another woman." Imagine the rejection this young man felt as he was cast away from his own family.

This experience taught Jephthah to become a hardened warrior. Today he probably would have been part of a street gang. As he got older, his reputation as a warrior became known to those in his country, so much so that when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to be their commander. Jephthah had to fight off those feelings of rejection from previous years.

"Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house?" he responded. He overcame his hurt and pain, and responded to the call God had on his life.

It is said that if we were to help the butterfly remove itself from the cocoon, the butterfly would not be strong enough to survive. It is the struggle that prepares the butterfly to become strong enough to fly. Without the struggle in the cocoon, it could not survive as a butterfly.

The Lord prepares each of us in similar ways. Some of our childhoods seem to have been harsh and born from a seemingly unloving God. However, the Lord knows our struggle and will make our life an instrument in His hand if we will follow Him with an upright heart. He does make all things beautiful in His time if we are willing to be patient.

The Wonders Of Prayer

The Wonders Of Prayer
Dr Harold J. Sala

"Let us then approach the 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

You have probably heard of the Seven Great Wonders of the Ancient World including the following: The Pyramids of Egypt, built 1000 years before baby Moses floated on the Nile, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the great Temple of Diana in the city of Ephesus, the Statue of Jupiter on the Parthenon of Athens, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, on the Aegean, the Colossus at Rhodes, and the Pharos or the great Lighthouse of Alexandria.

In 1926, Dr. Henry W. Frost suggested than there are seven wonders of prayer, no less outstanding that the seven great wonders of the ancient world. How improve on what he observed?

Wonder #1: You as a mortal can approach this great God in prayer. Until World War 2 was over, Japanese people had never heard the voice of their emperor. They would never have considered standing and boldly speaking to him. Yet God said, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3).

Wonder #2: You may address God with simplicity in ordinary conversation. In many languages, there are levels of intimacy and formality. To speak to your superior as you would your best friend would be insulting and demeaning, yet God's Son encourages us to come to Him saying, "Our Father who is in heaven…." and tell Him of our needs, wants, and wishes.

Wonder #3: You can pray for definite needs--not simply use religious verbiage when you pray. The thief on the cross knew exactly what he wanted and voiced it. "Lord," he cried, "remember me when You come into Your kingdom!" Like the old spiritual which goes, "Not my father, not my mother but it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer," he voiced a specific request and a personal one.

Wonder #4: You can pray anywhere. Anywhere? Not just in the temple or a church or a place of religious worship? Paul wrote to Timothy and said, "I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing" (1Timothy 2:8). Some pray in prison. Paul was in a dungeon when he prayed. Some pray in their closet, some as they drive to work, some as they do housework. Prayer knows no distance; thus, I can pray for a friend in Manila or Russia as though I were by the person's side.

Wonder #5: You can pray about everything that is of concern to you. Paul urged the Philippians, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). Personally, this wonder greatly encourages me. “Everything” is all-inclusive--little things, big things, irritations, celebrations. Whatever I do, whatever consumes my interest is fodder for prayer.

Wonder #6: You can be in constant touch with God through prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:17, which says simply, "Pray continually!" You can maintain an awareness of God, the realization that He is as close as your sigh: "Lord, what do I do now?" As a friend put it, you never say the "Amen!" which means you don't close the circuit saying, "I'll be back next Sunday, God; until then, Bye!"

Wonder #7: You may pray with boldness and confidence. Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." The King James text says, "Let us come boldly…" Answered prayer is based on the relationship of a son, a child, with His father, and because of that we may cry, "Abba, Father!"

Yes, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are awesome and marvelous, but of great awe and wonder is the fact we can touch God through prayer.

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O Father, thank You for showing me that prayer is not begging for blessings. It is becoming a blessing - to myself. I pray, not to change Your attitude towards me, but to change my attitude towards You. Thank You, Father. In Jesus' Name. Amen and Amen.

A Two-Way Relationship

A Two-Way Relationship
Os Hillman

"He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught." -Isaiah 50:4b

The prophet Isaiah describes his relationship to God as a relationship that has two-way communication. Have you ever felt that your communication with God was only one way - you to Him only? Isaiah tells us, "The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.... The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back". (Isiah 50:4-5)

The key to Isaiah's relationship with God lies in four important principles:

1. He had an instructed tongue. Isaiah had given over rule of his life completely to God's purposes.

2. He knew the word of the Lord, which allowed him to sustain and encourage others.

3. He took time to listen.

4. He did not flee from the tough assignments. He didn't shrink back.

If we are to be able to listen to God, we must follow the same principles. Knowing and spending time studying God's Word allows the Holy Spirit to bring to mind His instructions for what He wants for us. Recently, I became very busy in my work and other activities. It wasn't long before I felt distance between God and me. I had to make a conscious decision to carve out more time alone to listen, study, and meditate on His Word.

This is the lifeline for the follower of Jesus. When we begin to lose the relationship, we are susceptible to becoming rebellious, going our own way. Invest your life in this relationship so that you may continue to hear His voice and sustain the weary ones around you.

The Flight of Geese

The Flight of Geese
Os Hillman

"Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord." - 2 Chronicles 30:12

A major corporation conducted a study on the flight of geese. In their study they found that geese fly in a "V" formation with one goose in the lead. After a period of time, this goose relinquishes the lead to another goose. During flight they noticed head movements of the leader that seem to give signals to the other geese flying, perhaps to let the others know how he was doing. They estimate that the formation flight pattern reduces wind drag due to the lift the other birds receive and believe it increases their performance by up to 70 percent. Whenever one goose drops out, another goes with it. These two geese do not catch up to the original pack, but join another group later.

Independence is one of the strongholds of the workplace. The entire system feeds the desire within us to gain recognition from our individual achievements. We wrongly believe financial independence frees us from needing to depend on anyone else.

The fact is dependence on others is a good thing. It can bring us into a unity of spirit that accomplishes much more with less effort while meeting needs for each of us. Christ talked a lot about unity among brothers and sisters. He said that others would know we are Christians by our love for one another and by our unity. We need to depend on others so that we don't go it alone.

By walking together we increase our strength. By going it alone we must carry a load we were never intended to carry. God did not create us to go it alone. By joining together we accomplish more for Jesus Christ. Ask the Lord today if there is an independent spirit within you that prevents you from joining others in the mission He has called you to.

When God Seems Far Away

When God Seems Far Away
Os Hillman

"Why, O Lord, do You stand far off? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?" - Psalm 10:1

One of the great mysteries of God is His ways. Some of His ways almost appear to bring us into the most difficult places, as if He were indifferent to our circumstances. It would appear that He is turning His head from our sorrows. These events in our lives have a particular objective to perform for us. That objective is to bring us to the end of ourselves that we might discover the treasure of darkness. "Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness" (Job 30:26).

When we are taken into these dark periods, we begin to see light that we never knew existed. Our sensitivities become heightened and our ability to see through spiritual eyes is illuminated. Unless we are taken into these times, our souls never develop any depth of character. We do not gain wisdom, only knowledge. Knowledge is gained through understanding; wisdom is gained through the experience of darkness.

After we go through these periods, we discover that God was, in fact, with us throughout the entire time. It does not feel or appear that He is there when we are in the midst of the dark periods. However, He is there walking with us. He has told us countless times that He will never leave us. However, when we are in those dark periods, it does not feel like He is there because He does not rescue us from the circumstances. He does this for our benefit in order that we might become more like Jesus. Jesus learned obedience from the things He suffered (see Hebrews 5:8). What does that say about how you and I will learn obedience? Embrace the dark times and gain the wisdom that God intends for you from these times.

Ability Versus Availability

Ability Versus Availability
Os Hillman

"His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love." - Psalm 147:10-11

Do you ever feel so skilled in what you do that you require little help from others? Perhaps you may feel that you are more skilled than any other in your field. Does God need your skills and abilities in order to accomplish His purposes on this earth? The answer is NO.

One thing God does not need is our skills and abilities. However, He does give us the privilege to exercise our gifts and abilities for His service. That service may be as a computer technician, a secretary, an ironworker, or even a lawyer. God calls each of us to our vocations to work unto Him. To believe that He needs our skills to accomplish His mission on earth would be to lower our understanding of an all-encompassing and all-powerful God.

The psalmist tells us that His pleasure is not in our strength and ability, but His pleasure is in the attitude of the heart. It is what we find in the heart that helps determine whether ability is translated into availability.

You see God is looking to and fro throughout the earth for a man or woman who is fully committed to Him. A man or woman who is committed to fearing the Lord and placing his hope in His unfailing love is the person God seeks to support. "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" (2 Chronicles 16:9a). When our agenda becomes His agenda, we can expect God to fully support all that we do.

If we want to see our skills and abilities multiplied a hundredfold, then we must make them completely available to His service. Where are the opportunities in which God is calling you to be available to Him? Next time someone asks you to be involved in some activity, before you say yea or nay, make sure you check in with the Master of our decisions to ensure that your gifts and talents are being used, as He desires.