Follow peace

 Follow peace

Hebrews 12:14

Sometimes we find ourselves focusing on one thing, when we should be focusing on another. 

This verse is an example of that. We focus on “holiness without which no man shall see God.”

We do mental gymnastics, we rearrange our entire lives, we change our wardrobes, we make up arbitrary standards that supposedly make us holy. 

But the key to opening holiness in our lives, is when we follow peace. 

Our whole world is built on confrontation and competition. The world’s outcry is “I must defeat you.” The church looks at the divided cultures and says, “ we must win the culture war.” Spouses try to win the argument, control each other, impress their will onto the other’s hearts. Conservatives and liberals seek to defeat the other to win power and win the battle of ideals. 

Pastors and preachers seek dominion over the church. Parishioners seek dominion over the preachers. 

But is this right? 

Jesus told us: Matthew 20:25-28

Jesus says here that we must not seek dominion over others. We must not seek rulership over others. Rather we are to minister to others. We are to serve others. 

We must humble ourselves and serve others. We must place the needs of others above the needs of ourselves. We must actively work to improve other’s situations, not our own. In other words we must be givers and not takers. 

This is not an easy task. 

This flies in the face of our flesh and its natural tendencies.

When our own needs (or what we think are our needs- often there is a major difference between these two categories in Gods eyes) push to the forefront and demand to be met, it causes conflict, confusion, and chaos. 

This is the opposite of Hebrews 12:14. 

Jesus instructs us to “follow peace.”

And says if we gain peace, then we will live holy. 

So how do we follow peace?

The word follow means “to pursue “. 

This isn’t standing in a line behind someone, keeping our place in line, and stepping forward when everyone else ahead of us does. 

No sir!

This is like your young child is running towards danger and you sprint with all of your might to catch that child before they get hurt. 

Pursuing peace requires giving our all!

Philippians 4:5-7

First the pursuit of peace requires keeping our flesh under the control of the spirit (let your moderation be known to all men). It requires living our lives under spiritual control (if we walk after the spirit we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh). 

Secondly, the pursuit of peace requires prayers and supplications to God. We can follow every “holiness standard” contained in the book and many that aren’t, but if we do not bathe our lives in prayer (submission to God) and supplications (praying in earnest for the needs of others and of our own as the Lord leads us to pray), then we will never find peace and never be holy. 

And these prayers and supplications must be mixed with thanksgiving. The old song says “a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.”

When we get focused on “the lack of things” the lack of revival, the lack of righteousness, the lack of money, the lack of help, the lack of this, the lack of that, it can bring us down. 

But if we remain thankful for the good things we do have, the good we know of, and we express our thanks to God, it makes our supplications for lack 1) easier to handle and less depressing, and 2) more faith filled. After all, we know the Lord has provided these things we’re thankful for, and it gives us faith that he’ll provide for those things we’re requesting. 

John 16:33

If we remain “in Jesus “ we can find and have peace. 

2 Thessalonians 3;16

We must understand that peace only comes from the Lord! 

It doesn’t come from money, jobs, positions, titles, what men think of us, human relationships, status, power, etc. 

Peace comes from one being and one being only: Jesus!

And he gives us peace “by all means.”

If something pleases us and he can use it to give us peace, he will. (Have Della to tell her fish catching story) After the Lord showed her he loves her and does have a plan for her, the stinging words of the adversary don’t have the same bite!

If something causes us grief, but God can use it to ultimately bring us peace in him, he will use it. 

He gives us peace “by all means.”

Isaiah 26:3

If we keep our minds constantly on him, then he will gift us peace! 

Psalms 119:165

Great peace comes from loving Gods word! Nothing shall offend them!

Ephesians 4:3

The only way to be on one mind and one accord (be in unity) is be in the bond of peace. 

Bond comes from 2 root words: one means a union. The other means shackled. In other words peace unites us and shackles us together. 

Romans 5:1

We are justified by faith and that gives us peace with God. We’re not in conflict with him, we’re not fighting and arguing with him. We are submitting to him and obeying his plans and following his ways. We are at peace with God! 

This is how following peace brings true holiness. 

Job 25:2

True dominion is with God almighty. The one we should fear is Jesus! But this all powerful almighty God makes peace in his high places! 

When we seek him with all our heart, he will be found of us. When we surrender and submit our whole hearts in prayer, when we surrender  and submit our thoughts to him, HE will make peace in our lives!

He will turn chaos into quiet! Confusion into understanding! Self righteousness into real righteousness! Selfishness into selflessness! Sinfulness into holiness! 

Pursue the peace of God! Pursue his heart! Chase his ways! Surrender our all and he will give us peace and grant us holiness!

The sighing of the prisoners

Psalm 79:11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;

In doing my daily Bible reading recently, I came across this verse. And, as is usual when the Lord wants to teach me something, a phrase stuck out to me. 

I work 12-14 hours a day, so many times my morning Bible reading is done through a Bible App where I can listen to Max McLean read the King James Version as I'm driving down the road in the early hours while most folks are still asleep. This particular morning that phrase, "The sighing of the prisoners" might as well have been spoken by Mr Max using a bullhorn to speak it into my ear from the backseat of my truck. 

I've both listened to and read that whole Psalm several times since then. This morning it became our Bible lesson in our church. But, here on this blog, we'll cover a few things that were not covered in the study in the church service today. 

There are many types of people in the world. Some are loud and arrogant. Some are quiet and shy. Some are somewhere in between. Some are if you'll indulge my hit song from childhood reference, "From Boston to Denver and every town in between." (Manilow, It's a Miracle) 

But whoever we are and wherever we may be from, we all have one thing in common. We will all, at some point (or several points) in our lives, wind up in prison. Oh, not a literal penitentiary, but rather a mental/spiritual prison. 

Now, there are as many reasons for winding up in these prisons as there are different types of people in the world. 

Some prisons are prisons of circumstance. 

Life happens. Storms hit. Companies close or change plans. Family members die of one thing or another. Or, as we found out with Covid-19, diseases break out and spread. Bad things happen to both good and bad people.

Matthew 5:45

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

And when these things happen, we feel trapped. We feel overwhelmed. We start pulling on bars. We start yelling for the guard and saying there must be some mistake. We start digging at concrete corners with any spoon we can find in a vain effort to try and dig our way out. And we keep saying, "There's got to be a way out of this."

Some prisons are prisons of our own making.

We started digging at something or other and piling our digging around us. So intent are we on our goal that we don't realize that we're slowly building a series of walls around us. Before we know it, we're surprised to find that we've built our own little cell around us. Worse, the floor of our little cell is a hole in the floor and we're standing below ground level, and getting out is not going to be easy- being surrounded by walls, as well. 

Some prisons are made by our enemies.

Supposedly, when some people want to hunt Monkeys, they take small jars and put in something that entices the Monkey to reach in and grab their prize. The problem is, that the neck of the bottle is so small that they cannot pull their hand back out as long as they hold onto their newly gained prize. When the hunter checks the trap, if the Monkey refuses to let go of the prize, it will become captured or killed by the hunter.  This is how temptation works on us. We reach for the shiny thing because we just have to have it. But, when we grab it, the enemy says, "Gotcha!" Only if we let go of our shiny prize (repent) can we escape the clutches of our enemy. 

If we don't let go, then the enemy takes us to a prison, not of our making. And this prison will be very well constructed and extremely hard to get out of. Our enemy doesn't want us to escape, after all. He may or may not have been "kind enough" to allow us to keep our new prize we really don't need. But, even with the prize, we are still well and truly trapped. (Hint: he probably won't let you keep it)

But, in all these situations and more, there are keys that will open the prison doors and let us out. 

Key 1: Repent. 

When we have sinned and gotten ourselves into prison, the first step to finding an exit is not trying to manipulate our situation. It's not begging others to bail us out of the consequences. The very first thing we should do is seek God in prayer, asking where we've sinned (if we are unaware- many times we know). Once we know our sin (or sins), we must honestly and sincerely repent before God and ask for forgiveness. Once we've been forgiven, that's one part of exiting our prison. 

Key 2: Learning the lesson

Now, if we haven't sinned, but find ourselves in prison, then God has allowed us to be attacked and captured by the enemy. If he's done this, then a) God is testing us like he did Job, and b) we have a lesson to learn- or lessons to learn. 

But, you say, Job didn't learn a lesson. 

Really? 

Among other things, God kept saying to him, "Where were you when I did this, or that?" In other words, God was telling Job, "Yes, you are a righteous man, but I am God and I can do or allow anything I wish. You have no right to demand anything from me or demand for me to do anything." (Name it claim it folks please take note)

Sometimes, we as humans have to be reminded that we are not in charge. That God is God alone and truly, as creator, has the right to do whatever he wishes. I have no right to tell God what he can't do or can't allow. The minute I accuse him, I'm out of line and guilty of iniquity- self-willed sin. I'm judging God- something I have no right to do.

But, whatever lesson we need to learn in order to gain the second Key to the exit door, we need to ask God to show us and learn it ASAP. In most cases, the quicker we learn the lesson, the quicker we end our imprisonment. 

Key 3: Asking for God (the judge) to let us out.

When we get to the end of ourselves, we need to appeal to the judge.

Psalm 79:11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;

Ultimately, in the spirit realm, there's only one Judge- Jesus (God almighty). 

The devil is a prosecutor. The Bible calls him "the accuser of the brethren." (Revelations 12:10)

This is also why Scripture calls "the MAN Christ Jesus" our "advocate (defense attorney)" (1 John 2:1)

So, we need to throw ourselves on the mercy of the court, many times in honest repentance. 1 John 1:9 comes to mind. But, whether we're guilty or not, we still need the judge to release us.

Does it work?

Israel was guilty and cried out to God, and God sent judges at different times to free them from their oppressors. 

Israel was not guilty but was put into slavery by Egypt. They cried out to God, and God sent Moses and the rest is history! 

Joseph was not guilty, but stayed faithful to God and prayed. God sent Pharoah a dream and not only set him free but made him the number 2 ruler in the land. 

It works. God responds to the cries of his people. 

But, one more thing. 

Key 4: If you are innocent, don't lose you're integrity in your frustration. 

Job complained about his situation. He pointed out his righteousness. He had to repeatedly defend his integrity. Even his wife's frustrated attack, "Curse God and die," was an admission on her part that Job was not in the wrong. 

But, one thing Job did not do was sin by accusing God with his words or actions. 

If we find ourselves in a prison and we're innocent, it's normal to be frustrated. But, we cannot allow our frustration to turn to anger at God. This will cause us to say or do things that will be sinful, and then our prison will get worse. 

Joseph stayed faithful and was promoted. 

Job stayed faithful and got back double what he lost.

And remember, Jesus said, "he that endureth until the end, the same shall be saved." 

So hold on my friend. At the end of this prison, there is forgiveness. At the end of this prison, there is joy. At the end of this prison, there is promotion. Just hold on to Jesus with all your might and watch him work.

It's time to carry our cross

 

Matthew 16:24-25

King James Version

24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

1 Chronicles13 

And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader.

2 And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the Lord our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us:

3 And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul.

4 And all the congregation said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

5 So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjathjearim.

6 And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kirjathjearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God the Lord, that dwelleth between the cherubims, whose name is called on it.

7 And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.

8 And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.

9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.

10 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.

David had just become king over the whole land of Israel. His enemies were defeated and dispersed. The people had spoken. It was time for a celebration, right?

But as good as things seemed to have been, something was missing. He thought about it. He must've prayed about it (after all, he was a "man after God's own heart). What was wrong? 

It hit him. 

The Ark of the Covenant wasn't in the capital. It wasn't even in a holy place. It was in the home of Abinadab. (Are our homes holy enough for the Ark of God to dwell there without us being cursed?) Throughout Israel's history, the Ark had been a powerful presence. It was the center of the power of God. It was the seat of God's authority. It led Israel's armies into battle. It was the focus of their religion, which was the core of their national identity. 

Now that David was king, the ark needed to be put back into its proper place in society. 

So, he gathers the leaders and the people together and says, "Let's go get the ark! We'll sing and dance and party our way all the back to Jerusalem!" (My paraphrase)

Problem number one: Apparently, "all Israel" didn't include the priests and Levites who were tasked by God to lead the worship of God. 

So all the singing and playing that was going on was not being led by the godly leadership (or leadership order) that God had established. This was strike one. 

Problem number two: Rather than the priests and Levites carrying the ark as was prescribed by God, they placed it on a new cart for the journey. Sounds reasonable right? No heavy weight to bear. No straining. No stopping to rest. Let the cart and the ox team do the work. 

And why not? 

After all, the Philistines, in sending the ark back, had used a new cart and God hadn't struck them dead for it. In fact, God had stopped a cancer plague in Philistia because they had sent it back. Apparently, God had no problem with the method they used, right?

God didn't see it quite that way. 

Don't get confused by God's healing folks in churches that don't preach the whole truth. Don't be sidetracked by God drawing folks into repentance- even though they don't have the Holy Ghost yet, and know nothing of holiness. Folks who wear ungodly clothes and teach false doctrines. 

First of all, God moves on whosoever will. He tries very hard to bring people to repentance. He will heal folks who are not right with him (contrary to the opinions of some folks) in order to try and get them right with him. 

My first experience of repentance with God happened when I was FIVE YEARS OLD. Did that mean I was born again? NO! But, I had taken a necessary step in my journey toward God. I was not born again, but I had entered the womb. 

But not everyone who repents gets born again. In fact, if we study the parable of the sewer, at the absolute most (and Jesus doesn't give percentages here. He just tells us of four groups of people. Some of the groups could have been larger than others.) if we assume equal numbers in the groups, only 25% of all mankind will make heaven. Many will make the start of repentance and never complete the course. Many will never even repent. Many will get born again, but the roots won't go deep and they won't make it. Only a few (and Jesus says "few there be that FIND IT- you have to be looking for it to find it. If you have to be hungry to be fed. You must bull-headedly continue on the path to complete the journey. And the path can get hard, rocky, very narrow, unpaved, uncomfortable, and require a lot of effort to stay on!

Not everyone who gets a healing or a blessing will end up even being born again. How many folks did Jesus bless and heal in his earthly ministry? MULTITUDES! And how many people were there praying for the spirit to fall in the upper room? 120!

The Philistines weren't God's people. They were wrong to have the ark in the first place. God had cursed them because they had the ark. And the cart was an experiment for them. They basically said, "If, as we think. this plague is from Israel's God, the oxen will carry the ark on the cart back to Israel of their own volition. Israel's God will guide them home without our help. If however, they carry it somewhere else, then our plague is not from Jehovah, but just merely a chance occurrence." So they followed it back to Israel, understood it was God, and left for home in a hurry. 

However, just because God allows an unbeliever to get away with something, doesn't mean he won't punish his kids for not following his clearly stated instructions. Listen. It doesn't matter how we "feel" about something. It doesn't matter if we haven't felt "convicted" of something. If the word of God says it's wrong, it's wrong. If the word of God says it's right, it's right. 

So, just when the Oxen slipped and the Ark shook, in a seemingly kind gesture, a man named Uzza put his hand on it to steady it. Innocent gesture. Even, in most people's minds- including David's, it was a respectful gesture. He was attempting to keep the ark from falling after all. But, only a priest or Levite was supposed to touch the Ark in transport. And God killed him for it. 

Party's over now! 

They were looking for a move of God, but this wasn't what they had been looking for. 

Question: How many times has God moved in negative- even deadly- ways and the action brings revival? But, that was the Old Testament, brother. God doesn't work that way anymore.

Really? 

Remember the couple that lied to the Holy Ghost in the Book of Acts and were struck dead? Remember the Israeli King that accepted the praise of men as if he were a god and God struck him with a disease and he died? 

Both of those were New Testament events and BOTH of them brought the fear of God on the people which led to revival! 

So David is shocked and angry and scared. So, he leaves the ark, everyone flees the area in case God's not done killing yet, and the Ark winds up in the home of a Levite named Obededom. 

But something begins happening after all. God is blessing... Obededom. 

Why was Obededom blessed and Abinadab wasn't? After all, Abinadab means "Father of generosity" and Obededom means "worker of Edom." Edom was a branch of Abraham through Jacob's twin brother Esau. How did Obededom get blessed? Abinadab was right with God or his house would've been just as cursed as the Philistines for having the Ark. But, he wasn't blessed. 

Two answers: 1) One of the root words for Obededom is Adam and it means "to show blood, flush, or turn rosy." In other words, Obededom found his foundation in the blood! He wasn't just religious, he sought God! He knew his fleshly weaknesses and sins and knew he needed God! And when David brought the ark to Jerusalem finally, Obededom didn't just wave goodbye. HE MOVED WITH IT! 

We don't need to just have God's law in our hearts and homes. We need to follow the leading of the God of the Ark. When he moves, we move. When he stops, we stop. If we want the blessings of God in our lives, we need to follow where he leads. 

2 Samuel 6:11-12

King James Version

11 And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his household.

12 And it was told King David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness.

So when David heard of God blessing Obededom, he decided that they really needed to bring the ark back to Jerusalem. But, this time he did some praying and studying and found out that the Ark should have been carried by the priests and Levites. The singing should be led by the Levites, and there should be sacrifices to God involved.

1 Chronicles 15:

2 Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.

3 And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto his place, which he had prepared for it.

4 And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites:

12 And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.

13 For because ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.

14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.

15 And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord.

16 And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.

25 So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy.

26 And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams.

27 And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of linen.

28 Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps.

One of my mentors, Prophet Gordon Winslow Sr, said on several occasions that it was written in the literature of Israel that when the priests and Levites lifted up the ark, usually four carried it (it weighed over five hundred pounds) and they could sometimes carry it for miles- that God would pick it up with them and enable them to do it. 

It sounded right, but he didn't give "thus sayeth the Lord" to back it up. When I saw the phrase here in verse 26, "when God helped the Levites that bare the Ark of the covenant of the Lord," it was as if the Lord says, "There's your proof text." 

God helped them carry the load. And God will help us to carry our load!

There are two crosses involved in Christianity. There are two crosses involved with our salvation. 

We love to talk about the cross of Jesus. The cross of Jesus means blood shed for our sins. The cross of Jesus means God making a way for us when there is no way! It means victory, healing, right relationship with God! 

But, we don't like to talk about the second cross. Yes, there is a burden for us to bear. There is flesh we need to crucify. There are sins we need to kill. There are sacrifices we have to make for others. There is denying ourselves what we want to give God and others what they need. There is bearing each other's burdens (both in prayer and in physical needs). And so on.

Jesus tells us to take up our cross! It's difficult. It's painful. And in our flesh, it's impossible.

Yet, Jesus also says that we are to take HIS YOKE upon us and he will give us rest. 

A yoke bound 2 oxen or mules together so that they shared the load together of whatever they were pulling. Whether that was a cart full of heavy things, or it was pulling the plows through the rocky ground to prepare it for planting. They shared the load together.

When Jesus invites (truly commands) us to take his yoke, he's not saying we have to bear our cross alone, When we try that, we fail. But, when we take his yoke, he's saying, "I know you can't do it by yourself. I know the load is too great for you to bear. But, you're not alone! I will team up with you and I will supply your lack. You give it all you've got and I'll give it all I have. And together, we'll get the job done."

If you're not biblically born again, listen to the scriptural way to do so: 

Acts 2:37-38

King James Version

37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Some preach just repentance. This is only part of the new birth.

Some preach repentance and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. This is only part of the new birth. 

To be biblically born again, we must repent of our sins, be baptized in Jesus' name for the forgiveness of those sins, and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost to empower us to both live for him and be a witness for him. 

If you are born again, don't rely on rules and regulations. Don't think that if we look the part and act the part, we are the part. 

Being born again is not the end all be all. It is the beginning. Jesus says when we are born again, he gives us the "power to become the sons of God." And Paul says that those who are "led by the spirit are the sons of God." 

So work on, as Peter said, "grow(ing) in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Pray, study, and follow him. Let him use you as he sees fit. It may seem like an unbearable load to you, but he will help you carry the load.