S-T-R-E-T-C-H You Can Do It!

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

The Great Commission was given to all that are called by His name.  These were among His last words.  The LAST thing He wanted to leave with us.  Yet most would say that this does not pertain to them.

"Oh, I am not an evangelist."    OR    "That's not for me.  I'm terrible at that."

Well, I was, too.   But that was His last command and while I don't have an evangelistic gifting, He has made me into a 'fisher of men'.

I didn't want to go knocking on doors or speak to my co-workers.  I still don't ---but I know that's what He wants.

He has taught me techniques and given me favor--all because I cried out for help.

I was terrible at the beginning.  I would ring the bell, wait 2 seconds, leave the flyer and be two doors down before the original person answered the door-----then I'd wave at them!

I would cry out to the Lord to make me bolder---to come out of myself and not worry what they thought of me---to preach the entire gospel. 

After a while, things came together and while I'm not perfect---I can generally get the message out in its entirety.

He heard my cries, saw my struggles and knew I wanted to shrink back, but because I didn't QUIT, He eventually was able mold me into one who can share the gospel effectively.

S-T-R-E-T-C-H!  You can do it!                                                                     

Spiritual Housekeeping!

It is very easy to think that we are on target with the Lord when in actuality, we are not doing the will of God.  How can this be?  We love the Lord, go to church, read the Word of God and are doing everything we know to live a life that pleases Him.

The ansewer is found in Jer. 17:9-10.  "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.  Who can know it?  I, the Lord, search the heart and know the mind." 

We might have the best of intentions and truly love the Lord, but He says our hearts deceive us and lead us astray.  We may have no idea that we are off track.  But the Lord does. He examines our secret motives and He knows all things.

Our hearts can fool us into thinking that we're doing this or that for the Lord, but the Lord can examine our motives and show us we're often doing things to benefit ourselves and not Him.  We can protest vehemently, but He knows the thoughts of our hearts.

It's an easy thing to remedy, however.  Don't you think if you asked the Lord to divulge what is in your heart and any wrong motives that He would graciously reveal these hidden things and readily restore you?

We get busy and just rely on Him to understand that we love Him and that our hears are in the right place.  However, it's our responsibility to reserve some special time before Him to examine our hearts for wrong motives.  Some things may surface immediately and others may take a while for the Lord to orchestrate situations that reveal the hidden truth.

You may feel you're too busy for this, but it's actually a preventative measure and the benefits are numerous.  The alternative is to postpone this little housekeeping job 'til the place is falling down around your ears and you're in so much trouble you don't know where to start!

(Part 2 of 12) PERRY STONE: URGENT WARNING TO AMERICA!

Torn Between Two Loves

We are called to live separate lives unto the Lord----  II Peter 2:19--But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's Own possession---yet we identify greatly with the world.

We have allowed apathy and complacency to creep into the church over the years and little by little we have absorbed attitudes of our affluent society.  We live for our comforts, entertainment, sports, fashion, and 'techie toys'.  In moderate amounts, these are not wrong, but we often crave them and consider our lives fuller because we have an abundance of them.

We know they have a hold of us when we become disgruntled, and unhappy during times we have to do without.  Let's face it.  Most of us would have to admit there are things that have a hold of our hearts other than the Lord alone.  There may be varying degrees, but is there much difference between this attitude and that of unbelievers who 'live' for these pleasures.  Again, these things are only wrong if they have a hold of our hearts.

This is almost identical to the children of Israel.  They promised to love and serve the Lord and they did.  But they also loved and served other 'gods' of the land by building shrines in the hills and burning incense as part their worship.  They were to be His people but He had to share Israel with other gods.

This provoked the Lord and He allowed invaders to oppress Israel in hopes they would return to Him and they did.  But it was short-lived and after numerous attempts at re-gathering His people, He brought them into captivity where their way of life and prosperity was stripped from them.  Upon returning, they walked more faithfully until the time of Christ, but it was very costly.

Brothers and sisters, I do believe the church in America stands on the very same precipice that Israel did prior to the Babylonian captivity.  " If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land."

The church might appear closer to the Lord than the average American, but the church is torn between two loves.  We are to live separated lives unto the Lord.  We are His people, His Own possession and we're passing through on our journey.

I Have One of These. Do You?

The concept of breaking up fallow ground as seen in the picture above comes from Hosea 10:21.  "Break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek the Lord."  I brought this topic up because so many of us are praying for America and using II Chronicles 7:14 as a model and it tells us to seek the Lord and turn from our wicked ways.

Fallow ground is a plot of land that is resting or not being used.  Spiritually, it represents an area that the Lord has dealt with us and we never successfully pressed through to the end.  Or it could be that He told us to accomplish a task, but we got busy and pushed it to the side and now there is no harvest.  Either way, our land is a fallow field instead of a profuse garden.

We may not consider it a conscious sin, but if we have neglected to do what He has told us then it is still equated with sin.  At this point, our assignment is labeled fallow or unprofitable ground which makes me think of Matt. 25:30 with the parable of talents.  In the end, The Lord tells them to cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness.

If that's the case, we need to plow our fallow ground and complete what He has directed us to do as part of the requirement for our prayers to be  heard according to II Chron. 7:14.  This is another aspect of turning from our wicked ways or should we say our 'selfish ways' because we've been more interested in our needs than the needs of His Kingdom. 

I believe this is the crux of the problem in our land.  We have been more concerned with ourselves than we have been with the King and His Kingdom!

A Cry Goes Up From America

The Lord wants us to cry out for America.  Repeatedly, the young nation of Israel cried out to the Lord to deliver them.  Most of the time, they had fallen into sin as a nation and were guilty of His judgement, but they knew His mercy and repented.  Time and again, He sent someone to deliver them because they had turned to Him as their Father.  He even relented of His plans for Neneveh's destruction because they prayed and fasted.
 
I believe He has given us this president knowing full well that he would put us in this situation, causing us to cry out for His mercy.  The last four years have been designed to jolt us back to reality and cause us to see how far we have strayed from the Lord.  We have been lulled into complacency and now our freedom and economy are in danger.

Remember our beginnings.  It was the Lord who led our forefathers to settle in North America.  He established a covenant with them and even though we have not held up our end, He is faithful to call us back to Himself that He might once again establish us as a God-fearing nation that will carry out His destiny for America.

He will hear our prayer as we cry out and repent for our sins.  Believe Him to deliver us from the destruction that is facing our country, for it is His desire as well as ours.
             

The Multitude of His Mercies

In case you feel overwhelmed by the state of our country, let me remind you of the multitude of His mercies (Ps 106:44).  Perhaps there is a smidgen of doubt that the problem is too big when compared to the size of your prayers. Or maybe you can't help but think that we really are guilty and we've exceeded even His mercy. 

Let's revisit the book of Judges where the children of Israel repeatedly worshipped other gods after having been explicitly warned by the Lord. He allowed their enemies to threaten their very existence and they cried out to the Lord.  Time and again, He would raise up a deliverer and the people would serve the Lord for the duration of his/her life and then revert back to their old ways. 

At one point, the Lord refused to hear their cry and told them to pray to their idols for deliverance.  In Judges 10:15-16, the people replied, "We have sinned.  Do to us as whatever seems best to You: only deliver us this day.  So they put away their foreign gods from among them and served the Lord."

The next line reveals the very nature of our Lord.  "His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel."  He agonized over their condition.  He's not like us.  We have limits as to how much we will put up with, but His compassion and love are limitless and everlasting.

Rid yourself of all doubt.  He is bigger than we know and far more compassionate than we can imagine.  Fall on His mercy, repent for our sins and seek His face.  He does not lie. He will hear from heaven, forgive us and heal our land-----but we must cry out!