Pleasing to the Lord

Pleasing to the Lord
Os Hillman

"Prepare it with oil on a griddle; bring it well-mixed and present the grain offering broken in pieces as an aroma pleasing to the Lord." -Leviticus 6:21

There is a requirement to be blessed at a deeper spiritual level by God. Christ requires it of each of His servants. He required it of Paul when He struck him down on the Damascus Road. He required it of Joseph when he was left in the pit and then sold into slavery. He required it of Jacob when he left his homeland penniless and needy. He required it of most every major leader that He used significantly - brokenness.

Brokenness cannot be achieved on your own. It is something God does Himself. We cannot determine that we are going to be broken, but we can refuse to become broken. When God begins this deeper work in our lives, we can kick and scream and refuse the process. We can manipulate and strive to stay on top, but this only delays His work.

Pride and mammon are ruling strongholds of the workplace. Brokenness is considered a weak position in the workplace. However, God says until we are broken we cannot be an aroma pleasing to the Lord. God wants you to be an aroma in the workplace. In order for this to happen, you and I must be a broken vessel in His hand. Pray that God would allow you to become a pleasing aroma to Him no matter the cost.

Spiritual Discernment

Spiritual Discernment
Neil Anderson

"Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people
and to distinguish between right and wrong" -1 Kings 3:9

Discernment is an overlooked spiritual discipline in many churches. But in reality, spiritual discernment should be our first line of defense against deception. It's that "buzzer" inside, warning you that something is wrong. For example, you visit someone's home and everything appears in order. But you can cut the air with a knife. Even though nothing visible confirms it, your spirit detects that something is wrong in that home.

The first step to understanding discernment is to understand the motive which is essential for employing it. In 1 Kings 3:9, Israel's king Solomon cried out to God for help. God answers: "Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart" (1 Kings 3:11-12). The motive for true discernment is never to promote self, to amass personal gain, or to secure an advantage over another person--even an enemy.

The Greek word for discernment-- diakrino --simply means to make a judgment or a distinction. Discernment has one primary function: to distinguish right from wrong. In 1 Corinthians 12:10 discernment is the divinely enabled ability to distinguish a good spirit from a bad spirit.

Discernment is not a function of the mind; it's a function of the Holy Spirit which is in union with your soul/spirit. When the Spirit sounds a warning, your mind may not be able to perceive what's wrong. Have the courage to acknowledge that something is wrong when your spirit is troubled. Share what you are sensing with others, and ask the Lord for wisdom.

Thank You, Father, for the discernment Your Holy Spirit provides.
Without You I couldn't avoid the land mines the enemy places in my path.

Baptism at the Red Sea

Baptism at the Red Sea
Os Hillman

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" -Romans 6:4

When Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, he took them to the edge of the Red Sea. The people saw the sea before them and heard the chariots of the Egyptians behind them. They knew they were trapped - and they lost their faith in God. They thought God was no longer at work in their lives. In panic and despair, they turned on Moses and said, "Why did you bring us out into the desert to die? When we were slaves in Egypt, didn't we tell you, 'Just leave us alone and let us continue serving the Egyptians.' Better to live as slaves than to die out here!"

They couldn't imagine that God's path to freedom actually led straight into and through the deep waters! The waters of the Red Sea, like the New Testament sacrament of baptism, are a symbol of death. When Moses parted the Red Sea, the people of Israel walked upon the dry seabed with walls of water on either side. They descended into the depths of the sea. They died to their old selves and rose to a new life that led to the Promised Land.

Like the people of Israel in their journey, we panic and cry out to God, "Did You bring me out into this desert of adversity to die?" We would rather live as slaves than die to self and yield control of our lives to God. But God takes us through the depths so that we can emerge as new people, ready to enter the Promised Land.

In general, I've observed that the greater and higher the calling, the more intense the adversity. I'm not saying one person's call is more important, but I am saying it may have a more far reaching impact on others. This often requires greater preparation.

If you find yourself in deep water, thank God today that He is preparing you for a life that is designed to impact many.

When The Arm Of Flesh Fails You

When The Arm Of Flesh Fails You
Dr Harold J. Sala

"My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." -Psalm 73:26

A passerby stopped to see a Little League baseball team that played in a park near his home. As he sat down in the bleachers by first base, he called to one of the boys asking, "What's the score?" "We're behind 14 to nothing," he said with a grin. "You don't look very discouraged," commented the man.

"Discouraged?" the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face, adding, "Why should we be discouraged? We haven't been up to bat yet." Who won? I don't know, but I'll tell you for sure, when that boy grows up, he's the kind I would like to have working for me.

Winning in life, however, is not always a matter of gritting your teeth and trouncing your opposition. At times it is a matter of taking one more step by faith, realizing that the whole situation is beyond your control and that, if God is willing, He causes the wind to subside, the fever to dissipate, the opposition to soften, and the sun to shine.

True, God honors the determined spirit that presses on, but the reality in life is that all the determination and courage in the world aren’t enough to overcome some obstacles and situations. That's when God makes the difference. As the Psalmist put it: "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26).

Think of Daniel in the lion's den. If he thought, "Look what I got myself into; now how do I get myself out of here?" there is no record of it. He had a quiet confidence that he was in God's strong hand, no matter what happened.

Or ponder a Jewish girl by the name of Esther, whose uncle had engineered her into appealing for the lives of the Jews in Babylon. "If I perish, I perish," she cried, and pushed forward. She didn't perish but rather saved the lives of thousands.

"Righteous Gentiles" is the term that Jews give to those such as Corrie ten Boom and many more who without thought of personal safety or concern, hid Jewish men and women fleeing from the Gestapo and SS troops of Hitler's Germany. These were not heroes who took a machine gun and a dozen grenades and took on the enemy, but quietly and determinedly went about their business doing the right thing, no matter what the cost.

That phrase "but God" appears time and time in the writings of the New Testament. It speaks of His reversing a situation, turning it around, changing everything. When Paul was on his second missionary journey, a friend traveling with him fell sick, and it looked like Epaphroditus was going to die. "Indeed," says Paul, "he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow" (Philippians 2:27). Mark these words but God in your Bible.

Is there anything too hard for God to do? Not if you believe what the Bible says. At the end of what you can do, there is the strong hand of God who can make a difference.

Do you ever wonder why we so often strive to make things happen ourselves, instead of dropping to our knees, lifting our hearts towards heaven and quietly saying, "Lord, I'm at the end of myself. I know you can make the difference, and no matter what happens, I'm going to trust you. Please God, turn this thing around."

Such is not a plea of desperation but rather the heart cry of a child of God who knows that the voice of the Father, the touch of His hand, the desire of His heart makes all the difference in the world. Thank God, He is the difference.

Philippians 3

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Holy Father, I thank You and praise You for who You and what You are. I thank You Lord that You are a loving Father, who has charted my race for me before the beginnings of time. I thank You Lord, that You know the end of my race and the outcome if I will only follow You. I thank you Lord that I can choose to run that race and that You will provide the example and the strength I need to complete my race. In the precious name of Your Son, Jesus, I pray. Amen and Amen

Overruled by God

Overruled by God
Chip Brogden

"He who comes from above is above all;
he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.
He who comes from heaven is above all." -John 3:31

If people come against you in the flesh, let them come against you. If they wish to rail and argue with you according to the flesh, do not respond in kind. If they attack you without cause, let them attack, because the fleshly, the carnal, the natural cannot defeat the spiritual.

The one who is submitted to the Lord has authority over those who remain unsubmitted to Him. Flesh is overruled by Spirit. Hate is overruled by Love. Darkness is overruled by Light. Death is overruled by Life. Earth is overruled by Heaven.

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Dear Lord Jesus, You alone can supply the life I am called to live. I humbly agree with Your word that my resources are marred by a tendency to sin. Teach me to trust in Your Holy Spirit for liberation from living by my flesh. I thank You in advance for the faithful ways You will answer this prayer. Lord Jesus, live in and through me by the power of Your Spirit, Amen and Amen.

God's Authority

God's Authority
Os Hillman

"I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on Me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what My Father has commanded Me...." -John 14:30-31

There is a constant war going on between our flesh and the Spirit. As Christians, the Spirit seeks to move us under the authority of His domain in order for us to fulfill all that we were created for. Every person was designed to be under some form of authority. Jesus modeled this in His own life. He lived under the authority of His heavenly Father. He made no independent decisions. He, unlike us, was sinless and always remained under His Father's authority. He acknowledged that the prince of this world has a hold on many, but did not have a hold on Jesus.

The prince of this world does have his hold on many in our world, even among our brothers and sisters. The one thing most of us want the greatest is the freedom to make our own decisions. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden when the decision was made to exercise a personal right: freedom to decide, freedom of choice, freedom from hindrances, freedom from pain. However, Jesus chose to live under the authority of the Father's desire for His life. He was the ultimate model of a man under authority.

Each day we must determine if we'll willingly choose to be under the authority of the Father and the direction of the Holy Spirit. It is a choice each of us must make. It is a choice that actually leads to freedom, not bondage. Choosing to live under the authority of our heavenly Father frees us to gain the greatest fulfillment in life-His mission and the purposes He has for us. It is the little decisions of daily life that reveal whether we truly live under His authority.

Being Fully Persuaded

Being Fully Persuaded
Os Hillman

"Being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised." -Romans 4:21

Why did God consider Abraham a righteous man? It was because Abraham looked beyond his own limitations of age and strength and considered God as the one who could accomplish His own goals. Abraham came to a place in his life where he realized it had little to do with him and all to do with God. His part was initiating the faith within himself.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God (Romans 4:18-20).

What are the things in your life that are mere impossibilities? What are the mountains in your life? Are these there in order to build your faith in the one who can enable you to ascend to the peak? Once you know that it is His will for you to pursue, do it with faith. Faith requires action when we know it is He who is leading. It may require risk. Faith is sometimes spelled R-I-S-K. Abraham did not limit God. It is this confidence in God that God honored and rewarded. He wants to do the same with you and me.