Anyone who has been to Church, and most importantly has read the Bible is familiar with the concept of the Trinity.

One God/Three Persons.
That is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In our opening blessing each week we invoke God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son. Today we are going to speak a bit about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. First, we will discover a bit about this mysterious Person, and then we will tackle the mystery of how He lives in us as believers. In order to understand the nature and the power of the Holy Spirit we must start with His role in the existence and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Jesus was on earth in his human body it was the Holy Spirit that bound him consistently with the Father both in mind and Will. The relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit is established from the very beginning of Jesus’ earthly life.

According to the Gospels, the Holy Spirit was instrumental in the conception of Jesus. In the gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel tells Mary,

The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
– Luke 1:35

This divine act highlights the Holy Spirit’s role in bringing forth the incarnation of Christ, the Son of the Trinity made flesh, marking the beginning of the divine connection between Jesus and the Father through the Spirit. The baptism of Jesus is another significant moment where the Holy Spirit’s presence is vividly seen. As recorded in the book of Matthew.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’
– Matthew 3:16-17

This event underscores the triune nature of God, with the Father’s voice, the Son’s presence, and the Holy Spirit’s descent, symbolizing the divine approval and the Spirit’s empowering of Jesus’ mission on earth. Throughout His ministry, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit.The Spirit provided guidance, strength, and wisdom as Jesus taught, performed miracles, and fulfilled His mission.

For instance, immediately after His baptism, Luke records it…

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
– Luke 4:1

This verse demonstrates the Spirit’s role in directing Jesus’ actions and decisions, ensuring alignment with the Father’s will. As we know, it was in the wilderness that Jesus was tested by the enemy, and when the test had been completed, and Jesus had prevail, Luke says this…

Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
– Luke 4:14-15

The implication in this verse is that not only did the Spirit give Jesus clear direction and timing but also provided Him with the supernatural wisdom to teach in the Synagogues with authority, illuminating the scriptures to the Scribes and Pharisees from God’s perspective.

I believe that it is the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to rightly divide the Word (the Bible) today. We will speak more about that in a moment.

Furthermore, Jesus Himself acknowledged the Holy Spirit’s role in His works. In the Gospel of Matthew He states to the Pharisees who question His motives and from whence His power comes to drive out demonic forces…

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
– Matthew 12:28

This acknowledgment serves to illustrate that the miracles performed by Jesus were carried out through the power of the Holy Spirit, reinforcing the connection between Jesus and the Father. This divine presence not only connected Jesus Christ to the Father during His earthly ministry but continues to work powerfully within believers today.

Understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in these contexts offers profound insights into the nature of God’s interaction with humanity and the transformative power available to the faithful. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the action by which God takes up permanent residence in the body of a believer in Jesus Christ.

Conversely, in the Old Testament, the Spirit would come and go from individuals, empowering them for service but not necessarily remaining with them. According to most theological interpretations, the Old Testament describes instances where the Holy Spirit came upon individuals who were not necessarily considered “believers” in the sense of a personal relationship with Yahweh, but rather came upon them for a specific task or purpose, like empowering a prophet or judge to carry out God’s will.

Consider Samson who was in no way a paragon of moral virtue… What seems certain is that in the Old Testament, a level of faith or obedience was not required to receive God’s Spirit but only God’s purpose of fulfilling His sovereign Will. Here’s a somewhat obscure piece of scripture from first chronicles that describes the Spirit filling an individual for a specific purpose…

Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David at the stronghold. And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgment.” Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the captains, and he said:

We are yours, O David;
We are on your side, O son of Jesse!
Peace, peace to you,
And peace to your helpers!
For your God helps you.
– 1 Chronicles 12:16-18

What I find so fascinating about this scripture is that just like we must come humbly, seeking peace with God in order to receive the peace that he has already provided for us in Christ Jesus… so David said to the men of Judah and Benjamin, “if you come peaceably to me then my heart will be united with you but if you come to betray me then the God of our fathers will look upon you and bring judgment.”

And how are we drawn to desire peace with God? By His Spirit, just as it was with Amasai to David. The Holy Spirit draws us to desire a relationship with God and then reveals the Son to us when the time is right. God is always with those whose hearts are with His Son.

Now we come to the question how do we know that the Holy Spirit is indwelling in US? The Holy Spirit’s role did not end with Jesus’ ministry on earth; it extended to His resurrection.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
– Romans 8:11

This passage highlights the Holy Spirit’s vital role in the resurrection, a cornerstone of our faith in Christ, and signifies the Spirit’s life-giving power that raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus revealed to His disciples the new role the Spirit of Truth would play in our lives when He says in the Gospel of John…

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
– John 14:15-17

And the apostle Paul wrote,

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
– 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

These verses are telling us that the believer in Jesus Christ has the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, living in him. When an individual accepts Christ as hid/her personal Savior, the Holy Spirit gives that believer the life of God, eternal life, which is really His very nature and the Holy Spirit comes to live within him spiritually.

The fact that the believer’s body is likened to a temple where the Holy Spirit lives, helps us understand what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is all about. The word ‘temple’ is used to describe the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum in the Old Testament tabernacle structure. There, God’s presence would appear in a cloud and meet the high priest, who came once a year into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. On that Day, Yom Kippur, the high priest brought the blood of a slain animal and sprinkled it on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. On this special day, God granted forgiveness to the priest and His people.

Today, the believer in Christ has become the inner sanctum of God the Holy Spirit, as we have been sanctified and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. The believer in Christ becomes the habitation of the Holy Spirit of God. In fact, Scripture also says that the believer is indwelt spiritually by the full Trinity in One God.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
– 1 John 4:15

As the Holy Spirit lives in the believer, He brings about some life-changing results that reveal His Presence:

1. The indwelling Spirit comes to a soul dead in sin and creates new life. Paul calls it the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. This is the new birth Jesus spoke of in John 3:1-8 when Jesus told Nicodemus that in order to see the Kingdom of God, a person must be born again of the Spirit.
2. The Apostle Paul tells us the indwelling Spirit confirms to believers that they belong to the Lord and are heirs of their Father God and fellow-heirs with Christ.

   For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
   – Romans 8:14

   The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
   – Romans 8:16

3. The indwelling Spirit installs the new believer as a member of Christ’s universal church. This is the baptism of the Spirit, according to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

   For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
   – 1 Corinthians 12:13

4. The indwelling Spirit gives spiritual gifts (God-given abilities for service) to the believer to edify the church and serve the Lord effectively for His glory.

   There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
   – 1 Corinthians 12:4

5. The indwelling Spirit helps the believer understand and apply the Scripture to his daily life. I want to camp out on this one for a minute…

Paul tells us…

Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
– 1 Corinthians 2:11-12

The Bible, while accessible, is a text of divine origin and eternal wisdom. Its truths are veiled to the natural mind, as Paul reminds us…

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
– 1 Corinthians 2:14

Without the Holy Spirit’s intervention, our understanding remains superficial and incomplete. The Holy Spirit’s role in illuminating the Word of God is multifaceted.

Firstly, He inspires a hunger and reverence for the Scriptures. As we read, He opens our hearts and minds to comprehend the depth of God’s message. This is not merely about intellectual understanding but a transformative experience. The Spirit brings conviction, encouragement, correction, and guidance through the Scriptures.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit helps us to “rightly divide” the Word of Truth, as Paul exhorts his disciple Timothy. This means interpreting the Scriptures accurately and applying them appropriately to our lives. The Spirit helps us discern the context, the intended message, and how it relates to the broader narrative of God’s redemption plan. The practical application of this divine illumination is seen in our daily walk with God.

When faced with life’s challenges, the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance the words of Scripture, providing comfort and direction. In moments of decision-making, He helps us discern God’s will through the principles laid out in His Word. As we share the gospel, the Spirit empowers us to speak with clarity and conviction, ensuring that our message aligns with biblical truth. One of the evidences of the Holy Spirit living in you is that you will have a hunger and a thirst and a desire to know God’s word

Even though we have gone through quite a bit of the evidence of God’s spirit indwelling in us and how it is supposed to come out in our daily lives there is much more and I will continue it next week, God willing. But for now, suffice it to say that when you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior, you receive the character of God, the power of God, and the very person of God to live in you, with you, and through you. Truly a life lived in relationship with the Lord through His Spirit is the only life worth living. As Jesus said He is the way the truth and the life.

Let’s pray…
– John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I don’t know how many of you have ever held a managerial position, but even as a supervisor to a single person or a small group of people, let alone Director of a very large company, (and I have been both), the weight of responsibility is incredibly heavy. This is especially true if the person to whom you report has given you complete responsibility for the bottom line.

The pressures of running the day-to-day operations of a number of departments that report to you without having anyone to give you guidance is incredibly stressful. Well… I don’t know about you but my life before Jesus was a lot like that. I was running the world and doing a pretty poor job of it and I was under a lot of stress.

As anyone who’s ever worked for a corporation knows there is generally someone to whom even the CEO reports. Sometimes it’s an owner who founded the company or it could be a Board of Directors or shareholders.

Think of your life as a job that has been given to you and where you have responsibility for the bottom line and yet you report to a higher authority whom you’ve never met. What we are going to talk about today is the nature of free will and how it makes us the boss and how to be the best boss we can be.

If you think about it, God (who is three persons, one God), created man (you and me) in His own image. When He gave us dominion over the Earth, it was with the express understanding that we would be His managers and report to Him as our senior partner.

It was for this purpose that He gave us free will. He wanted us to make good decisions. Early in the game, however, we made a bad one and are still paying the price today as the human race. Free will is a gift from God that has been given to human beings for good and not for evil. However, there is no regulator put on our free will except God’s consistent desire that you use it for good, and His Word which has been given to you and consistently encourages you to use it well.

It is free will that makes you the boss of your own life. I’ve spoken before from this pulpit about how our free will is the greatest power on earth. It was given to us by God and He has never rescinded it. We have unhindered ability to make good choices or bad choices as we go about our lives. God won’t override the bad decisions we make, although there will always be consequences for our choices. The world itself will see to that.

Satan can’t take our free will away from us, but he can trick us into using it to our own detriment. This was proven in the garden of Eden. Even though Eve was given to Adam as a helper for his good, and they were both given Dominion over the Earth… (not only for their own benefit but also for the good of the Earth), because of their unhindered ability to choose, they were able to be tricked by the serpent into using their free will to harm themselves.

Our enemy is still using this trick today. The trick of course as we know, from the third Chapter of Genesis, is to get someone to take pride in the fact that they have the ability to choose, and then to believe that the choice that they have is not a gift from their Creator but a right that they deserve, and finally that their Creator (who is the real owner of the company in this analogy), is a meanie and just doesn’t want them to be the owner of the company (even though they are doing all the work).

It’s a small step then to make them believe that all their choices are good ones simply because they have made them. This trick works because of the same pride that caused them to choose poorly to begin with… In effect, then they (who is us) simply stage a hostile takeover and start our own company acting as if we were the owner and founder.

The Amazing Life company is now re-formed as Death, Inc. Adam and sons, Proprietors. Now I know that some of you will think that I played a little fast and loose with the whole idea of original sin, but it pretty much does work like this if you think about it.

Why would God do this?

I maintain that it is because He did not want to spend eternity with robotic puppets that He created to do exactly what He wanted them to do. He wanted to spend eternity with beloved creations who by their own free and unfettered will decided with all their heart, mind, soul and strength that they loved Him and that they wanted to be with Him forever.

A friend of mine who was homeless and whose homelessness was pretty much by his own hand because he was a drug abuser and had made many bad choices in his life, said to me one day after I gave a sermon about sin at a Homeless lunch…

If God wanted man not to sin, why did He give us free will?
I said to him, “Aha! That is an excellent question.
Here is the answer. It is because love requires free will and God is love.”

Here is the point. God is free to do whatever God wants and because He loved us so much that He wanted to give us dominion over His precious Creation, He gave us free will so that we could choose to honor Him and to continue the good work of Creation from which He rested on the seventh day. He wanted the seventh Day to be an eternal Sabbath with those who chose to love Him.

However, because God, the Creator, who gave us free will is omniscient, (which means He knows everything), He always understood that in giving human beings free will, they would mess up. He also knew that He was going to ultimately give them a way to use their free will for its true purpose, which was to choose Him as a Savior and work in co-operation with their Creator as they were originally intended.

We see throughout the Bible story, from the tower of Babel to the exile in Babylon, from the slavery in Egypt to the wilderness of Sin both literal and figurative, that God has always let us know what was good and what was bad from His perspective. This scripture sums up what is good from God’s perspective.

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly, to love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
– Micah 6:8

He always said that IF we would choose His ways then our lives would be good.

On Mt. Gezaim and Mt. Ebal, God had the people of Israel proclaim that IF they obeyed God’s Word they would be blessed and IF they did not that they would be cursed. They agreed to the concept but could not follow through with the reality, and we know how that turned out. The Bible is full of these IFs but one of the greatest of them and simplest to understand is the one found in 2nd Chronicles.

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
– 2 Chronicles 7:14

And yes… that IS a Quid Pro Quo. IF you do this THEN I will do that. Because God is gracious, merciful, and abounding in love, He allowed the people of Israel to fall into idolatry time and time again, but when they were suffering the consequences of their sin and they cried out to him, praying and seeking his face, once again… He delivered them. Until the next time… This cycle of sin and salvation continued over and over again until…

Ultimately, in the fullness of time, God Himself entered His own Creation, (in effect taking back the Company from our hostile takeover) as the New Human Being, the perfect Adam, the Son of Man Jesus, who was also fully God. He came to be a sacrifice for all those who would use their free will to humble themselves, receive the grace of God in Christ and return to peace in relationship with Him.

That is us. Death Inc. has now become in us Life Unlimited, Jesus Christ, Proprietor. Now I don’t know about you but when I gave my life to Jesus, it was an instantaneous and deliberate use of my free will even though I realized that He had been drawing me to Himself for a very long time by His Spirit.

The first thing I realized was that I no longer had that feeling of heaviness and stress that comes with the responsibility of running the whole world. I knew that now, while I still had a job to do, in Christ, I had the direction, the resources, and the power of the God of the universe behind me, within me and guiding my every step. I was still the boss of my life, but I had made Jesus the boss of me.

What I do know is that you have the same authority and power in Christ Jesus that I have and so I can tell you this. You are still the boss, but now you report to the once and always original owner of everything. Whether you will use it well or not, you now again have dominion over your life with the authority of the owner and CEO at your disposal.

So… now, every morning when we wake up, we have a choice to make about how we are going to start our day. What kind of a boss are we going to be? The first person of whom we are the boss is ourselves.

So… we wake up every morning and we get to decide what kind of a person we are going to be today. We can still choose to be like the old person who can do whatever we want that satisfies our creature comforts, focusing on our needs and our desires…

or we can choose to be the new kind of person that trusts God to fulfill all our needs and sets out to live a day that will bring honor and glory to God by seeking out opportunities to bless other people with the blessings that we ourselves enjoy.

I really like this quotation from the apostle Paul from his letter to the Ephesians…

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
– Ephesians 2:10

The reason I quote this passage from Paul all the time is because it shows us that although we do not control the circumstances under which we find ourselves, we do have the ability to trust in the God that provides them for us and who has a plan for us for every day.

That’s why it’s so important for us to seek him early in the day to ask him for sensitivity in our spirits to what his Holy Spirit is doing, because that way we have the opportunity to use our free will wisely in the best possible way, which is to recognize the good works that are prepared beforehand by God for us to walk in and then simply walk in them.

By doing so every day, we will bring glory to Jesus the CEO of Life Unlimited and we will be in all ways joyful because we are fulfilling His purpose for our lives on a moment-by-moment basis. His Glory is His bottom line and your obedience in joy is what brings the company profit.

Here’s another great scripture from Ephesians which we can use as our manual in moving through this now great eternal life that is coursing through our veins and our spirits…

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
– Ephesians 5:8-10

Paul tells us in this passage that not only were we in darkness but that we were darkness and not only are we now in the light but we ARE light and so we should walk as children of light.

So… if we want to be a good boss of the life we are blessed to be living under the authority of the One and only great CEO Jesus, and not only receive our promised paycheck which is the blessings of salvation, life and peace, but also receive bonuses that our CEO distributes liberally, we will also do our best to be a good steward of those blessings and do our job to bring light into the darkness where we have been placed.

That’s why having an early morning meeting with Jesus is the best way to start your day. After all, if you’re going to bring the owner of the company profit, you will need to understand the business, and since every day brings its own challenges, (Even though you are the boss of you), showing up early is the best way to head off in the right direction.

If you are like me, you want to be the best boss, the best employee, the best servant and the best child of God you can be every day. That’s the best way to use our free will and it’s what God intended for us from the beginning.

Let’s pray…
– John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

Grace to you and Peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow is President’s Day. Though you might think President’s Day refers to all former U.S. presidents, it was actually created to celebrate the first president of the United States of America: George Washington.

It’s thought by many people that all the founding fathers were staunch Christians. This was not entirely true. While Washington, for example, frequently spoke of divine providence, and his Farewell Address emphasized the importance of morality in government, he attended church services but rarely took communion. This leads some historians to question whether he was a Deist rather than a Christian as were a number of the other Founding Fathers.

For context, Deism is the belief in a creator God who made an orderly universe governed by the law of physics and thereafter, left it to run on its own like a well-manufactured clock. Clearly this is a very different view than we hold as followers of Jesus, with Whom we have a personal relationship.

Nonetheless, Washington’s personal letters often referenced God’s guidance, and he regularly called the nation to prayer. After Washington’s death in 1799, Americans began to officially celebrate the former president’s birthday, which fell on February 22nd. This yearly celebration continued until 1971, when President Richard Nixon officially declared President’s Day a holiday honoring all U.S. presidents.

Today, President’s Day serves as a broader celebration of leadership, democracy, and national history. It is supposed to be a day when we reflect on the leaders who have shaped our nation. We honor their contributions and remember their legacies. But amidst our reflections, it is important to consider a deeper truth—one that transcends the transient nature of earthly leadership.

Throughout our history as a nation, we have seen a myriad of leaders, each with their own strengths and weaknesses both real and perceived. From the noble intentions of George Washington as first President and Founding Father, to the resolute determination of Abraham Lincoln, helping our nation to heal from a horrendous Civil War, …for the most part, our leaders have strived to guide our nation through times of prosperity and adversity. Yet, despite their best efforts, they were only human, and all human leadership is inherently flawed.

The Apostle Paul reminds us that…

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
– Romans 3:23

This includes our political leaders, who, despite their sometimes-noble intentions, are subject to human frailties. The quest for power, the temptation of corruption, and the influence of worldly desires often lead to decisions that may not align with God’s perfect will.

Consider the example of King Saul, the first king of Israel. Chosen by the people for his outward appearance and stature, Saul initially showed promise as a leader. However, his disobedience to God and reliance on his own judgment ultimately led to his downfall.

Saul’s story serves as a poignant reminder that human leadership, when not rooted in obedience to God, is destined for failure. Saul’s story also shows us that we shouldn’t make assumptions about what the will of God is just because something seems right to us. People can get very angry in support of, or in criticism of whoever is the current President. This has been true throughout our history as a Democracy, or a Republic, whichever you prefer…

Sadly, and to our shame as Christians, we often seem to associate our party or candidate with our belief in God and become entrenched in our conversations about politics. We should remember that unjust wars and horrible atrocities have been perpetrated by various religions, and even denominations, all claiming that “God is on our side”. The Nazi Storm Troopers wore Belt Buckles proclaiming “Gott Mit Uns”. God with us. Especially as followers of Jesus, we need to be careful NOT to confuse political alliances with God’s Will.

King David, Saul’s successor and the progenitor of the line of Jesus said this…

It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes.
– Psalm 118:8-9

God’s own Word shows us continually and consistently that no matter who is ruling our nation, Christ should always rule our lives as believers and is the ultimate authority. Jesus states in the Gospel of Matthew…

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
– Matthew 28:18

As we say in our house “whoever may be in the White House, God is still on the throne.” And yet, God does have His purposes for everyone He allows to be in authority. We don’t have to agree with their policies to bow to His Sovereign Will. It behooves us to remember that as God told the Israelites through the prophet Isaiah…

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
– Isaiah 55:8-9

Paul admonishes the Churches in Rome and us as well when he writes…

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
– Romans 13:1

This said and understood, it is not always good and admirable leaders that God allows to rule. The Prophet Daniel understood that the God of Israel had allowed a wicked man to rule Babylon and to rule God’s people when they were taken there into exile. Daniel told the wicked King Nebuchadnezzar, who considered himself to be “a god,” that it was the one true God that had given him his power when he said this…

You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
– Daniel 2:37

Daniel had asked the God of Israel to reveal to him a prophesy about a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had, so that he might communicate it to this king who had the power of life and death over him. Daniel had asked the Lord to reveal to him a truth that only God Himself could know… The Lord revealed it. This is Daniel’s prayer of gratitude to God…

Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said:

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
For wisdom and might are His.
And He changes the times and the seasons;
He removes kings and raises up kings;
He gives wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to those who have understanding.
– Daniel 2:19-21

The Lord gave Daniel the wisdom he sought just as He will give it to us if WE ask. James advises us in this:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
– James 1:5

As followers of Jesus, we should always be asking God for wisdom. That includes God’s wisdom about who we should vote for and why. As American citizens, we each have a right to our political opinions, but we should be acutely aware that the very nature of worldly politics is to get people to vote one way or the other by manipulating their hopes and fears. This is where the influences of the Powers and Principalities hold inordinate sway in our human minds.

We need to rest in the ultimate truth that God governs the affairs of men and agree that we want His will to be done. That is why we should always pray for God’s wisdom. God’s wisdom will always be consistent with His Word.

Jesus is the Living Word of God who will answer your prayer by His Spirit. We still won’t always understand why God allows certain people to rule in the world. This includes all political leaders, who, despite their weight of responsibility to govern well, are subject to human frailties. The quest for power, the temptation of corruption, and the influence of worldly desires often lead to decisions that may not align with God’s perfect will.

In our contemporary society, we witness the same challenges that plagued ancient leaders. Political divisions, power struggles, and moral compromises dominate the landscape. Leaders often prioritize personal gain or party loyalty over the common good. Politicians can be swayed by public opinion, special interests, and the desire for re-election. The pursuit of worldly success can cloud righteous judgment, leading to decisions that undermine justice and equity. This short-sightedness can result in policies that neglect the marginalized and the poor, perpetuate injustice, and fail to address the deeper spiritual needs of the people.

“It was ever thus”, as my dad used to say. God told the people of Israel in the shadow of Mount Sinai…

‘Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’
– Deuteronomy 27:19

The error of worldly politics lies in its inherent focus on self-interest and temporal matters. In stark contrast to the flawed nature of human leadership stands Christ, the only wise King. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, embodies perfect wisdom, justice, and love. His reign is not limited by time or earthly boundaries. As believers, we recognize that Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, and His authority surpasses all earthly powers. The kingship of Christ is rooted in His divine nature and His sacrificial love.

Isaiah prophesied this declaration of His eternal reign:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end.”
– Isaiah 9:7-7a

Christ’s kingship is characterized by His unparalleled wisdom and His commitment to justice and peace. Unlike many worldly leaders, who seek to amass power, Christ exemplifies servant leadership.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus declares…

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
– Matthew 20:28

His humility and selflessness set Him apart from any earthly ruler, any King, any President. As followers of Christ, we are called to live under His kingship, recognizing Him as our ultimate authority. This requires a shift in perspective, moving away from the transient nature of worldly politics and embracing the eternal truth of Christ’s reign.

In navigating the complexities of life and leadership, we must seek divine wisdom rather than relying solely on human understanding. Christ, our Wonderful Counselor, provides the guidance we need to make righteous decisions even as we live here in a world that is still fallen and foolish.

What we do know, and that upon which we can rely, is that one day Jesus Christ will return in glory and rule with righteousness. It was again the prophet Daniel who in his visions saw the coming Kingdom and the future reign of Jesus Christ…

I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.

Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.
– Daniel 7:13-14

Until then, as believers and as citizens of the United States, we need to trust in His plan and show respect and honor to the office of President, praying for the person who God allows to rule for the times in which we live.

Paul told his disciple Timothy…

Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
– 1 Timothy 2:1-2

Our prayers can have a profound impact, inviting God’s wisdom and guidance into the hearts of those who govern us. As for us, whom He has placed here to usher in His Kingdom, under Christ’s kingship, we are called first and foremost to pursue justice and righteousness.

The Prophet Micah reminds us,

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
– Micah 6:8

Our actions, both individually and collectively, should reflect the values of Christ’s kingdom, prioritizing the well-being of others and advocating for the oppressed. So, as we celebrate this President’s Day tomorrow, while we honor the contributions of our nation’s leaders, past and present, let’s remember that true wisdom and justice come from God alone. Christ’s kingship offers a model of servant leadership, rooted in love, humility, and righteousness.

Let us commit to living under Christ’s reign, seeking His guidance in all aspects of our lives. May we pursue justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. And let us pray for our leaders, that they may be convicted and endowed with the wisdom, courage, and righteousness that come from God alone.

Above all, let us glorify Christ, our eternal wise King, whose reign is unshakable and whose love is everlasting.

Let’s Pray…

• John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

Today is Superbowl Sunday. For those of you who are football fans, although you may not necessarily have a favorite team in this particular game, you will likely be thinking and talking about little else for the rest of the day. So, for that reason, let’s talk now about the other special day that’s coming up.

This Friday is the day we call Valentine’s Day. In our current day and age, it’s become a cute, funny kind of secular festival that we mark on February 14th as a celebration of romantic love. It’s a strange time of year to celebrate it to be honest.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, Spring came a bit earlier than it does now, and apparently, it was around this time of year that people started to hear the mating songs of birds.

And as the trees began to bud and the flowers started to bloom, they thought it would be a good time to come out of their winter hibernation and start writing love letters to each other. In most of this country in February, we’re still in the grip of winter but for some reason the springtime tradition persists.

We write love notes and send greeting cards, beginning as children in school, sharing little heart shaped candies with funny little phrases on them. As adults, we send flowers to our lovers and spouses. We go out for special dinners. We give gifts of chocolate and cute stuffed animals.

For many people, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of romantic love focusing on those with whom we are in a relationship, or oftentimes, those with whom we hope to be in a relationship. We might even say to perfect strangers at the store, “Happy Valentine’s Day”, just like we say “Merry Christmas”.

It’s easy to get cynical about Valentine’s Day. You’ve probably heard the critiques… Valentine’s Day is a holiday created by flower vendors, greeting-card companies and candy manufacturers. It’s a commercial enterprise and nothing more. Certainly, there may be some truth in that.

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $23.9 billion on Valentine’s Day last year. So why are we talking about it today? It doesn’t really seem to have a place in Church, does it? As it happens, however, Valentine’s Day does have some historical and Christian roots.

History records that Charles the Fifth, the Duke of Orléans, on February 14th in 1415, wrote the first Valentine poem to his teenaged wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He wrote that he was lovesick for her and in a poem, he called her his “very gentle Valentine.”

Valentine’s Day is actually named, however, after Valentinus, a Christian priest who lived in Rome in the 3rd Century. There are many stories about St. Valentine, as he came to be known. At the time of Valentine’s life, many Romans were converting to Christianity, but the Emperor Claudius II was a pagan and created strict laws about what Christians were and were not allowed to do. Apparently, marrying people to each other was one of those things they were NOT allowed to do.

Claudius also believed that Roman soldiers should be completely devoted to military service to Rome and therefore passed a law preventing them from marrying at all. In defiance of Claudius edict, Valentine began to marry these soldiers in secret Christian ceremonies, and this was the beginning of his reputation for believing in the importance of love.

Eventually, Valentine was caught and jailed for his crimes. While imprisoned, Valentine cared for his fellow prisoners and also his jailor’s blind daughter. Legend has it that Valentine cured the girl’s blindness and that his final act before being executed was to write her a love message signed ‘from your Valentine’. Valentine was beheaded for his miraculous acts of healing and his powerful witness to Christ on February 14th of the year 270 AD. You won’t hear about that on a Valentine’s Day card. Can you imagine?

Roses are red,
violets are blue,
Valentine lost his head,
but I hope never you…?

No, for most of the world, Valentine’s Day has been all hearts and bunnies, chocolates and warm fuzzy feelings. And that’s why it feels out of place in church. Because church is supposed to be a place where we tell the whole truth about God and the world. Here, we don’t flinch from the hard realities of sin and death. Here, we proclaim God’s love and our freedom because of the empty tomb, but not without the pain of the cross.

We who follow Jesus know that love is much more than what is acknowledged on this one day by the world. Love is what we are called to acknowledge every day. Love is patience and kindness and gentleness. Love is also commitment and endurance, suffering and self-sacrifice.

The Apostle Paul gives us the ultimate depiction of God-like love in his first letter to the Corinthian Church.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Paul’s description of the action and behavior produced by love is distinctly counter-cultural. Love is the ultimate expression of the upside-down Kingdom of Heaven that we are supposed to be bringing to earth.

Paul was speaking against the envy, pride, and self-centeredness of the Corinthian culture to early Christians who were still struggling with those very things, and in doing he speaks clearly to our own geography and generation as well.

In a society where so much is presented in terms of “self”—self-awareness, self-esteem, self-acceptance, self-image, self-righteousness, self-realization— to present a way of existence in which a person lives for others in a life of loving self-sacrifice will always be counter cultural.

For each of us, following the One who gave His life as a sacrifice for sin will always be humbling and may be costly in terms of human recognition and progress in life as secular society defines it. For us, Christ must ever remain our true example of love.

The envy, boasting, rudeness, arrogance, and anger of normal life must be turned upside down intentionally. Instead, patience and humility and a rejoicing in the truth needs to be the Hallmark of God’s people.

Our lives are Christ’s Greeting Card. His message of love that He desires to give to the world around us. One of the ways we do that is to show love to those who have not shown love to us. As Jesus told us, we are to love even our enemies. In keeping with the way Christ forgave our sin and no longer holds it against us, so our love should hold no record of other people’s wrongs against us.

How forgiving is God towards us?

As far as the east is from the west, The distance between the east and the West is infinite.
– Psalm 103:12

That is how deep, how broad, how wide, and how high our forgiveness is meant to be for those who have wronged us. Let’s face it. This is one of the ways in which we Christians often fail to bring God Glory in our dealings with other people. We might say we forgive but then still allow the hurt or pain of something that was said or done to us to linger in the back of our minds.

Then, the next time we encounter the person we supposedly have forgiven…we might allow ourselves the indulgence of bringing that old resentment to the forefront of our minds, keeping score of their wrongs. Then, if something goes wrong again in the relationship, we may once again say “I forgive you,” but we might then add the word “BUT,” and then that one word will, as Pink Floyd once said… “put another brick in the wall”.

It is then that we need to be reminded of Peter’s question to Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew about how often to forgive our brother when he sins against us.

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
– Matthew 18:21

The answer Jesus gives is, in essence, that the life of love for a disciple is best lived as a forgiving life. Disciples of Christ will go on and on forgiving not because that is what we are told to do but because it is who we are. More specifically, it is because of who we have become in Christ Jesus. Our love is supposed to be God’s love.

The Apostle Paul said this to the Church at Ephesus…

Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children.
– Ephesians 5:1

We are asked to imitate the steadfast love that God embodies throughout the Bible as a child models his parent character.

David describes the steadfast love of God this way…

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy.
– Psalm 145:8

God’s love is a tender, compassionate love that is merciful but also fiercely truthful. Just and zealous for righteousness, yet never giving up on His beloved children no matter how many times they stray.

We see this balance of God’s love in mercy and righteousness over and over in the Bible. A great example is the Prophet Elijah.

It was love for God’s righteousness that brought him into confrontation with the ruling authorities of Israel when they fell into idolatry. It was love and the passion for truth and justice that gripped Elijah and would not let him go as He called Israel back to right relationship with God and brought down the fire from Heaven.

It was the compassionate love of God the Father that gave Elijah the miraculous power that enabled him to raise the son of the Widow of Zarephath from the dead.

And it was God’s love that sent Elijah ravens to carry him food in the desert, and was the still small voice that came to him when he was alone and afraid, calling him gently back to community and giving him purpose when he had given up on people. It was God’s love that endowed his life with purpose and took him alive to be with Him in a fiery chariot at the end.

It was the same love that compelled Saul of Tarsus to renounce his former ways of violence toward the early church to follow the crucified and risen One as the Apostle Paul. Paul had had a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus and simply put, he fell in love.

For this love he was ready to abandon all and follow the Source of all Love who had revealed Himself to him. For the sake of this love, Paul proclaimed a gospel of grace to the nations of the known world, a gospel he was willing to suffer and die for.

It was Paul who said…

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
– 2 Corinthians 4:6

The face of Jesus Christ is the face of love, as witnessed by Peter, James, and John on the mount of Transfiguration. In a dazzling vision of glory, they saw Moses and Elijah—representing the Law and the Prophets, the whole Word of God—pointing to Jesus. There, they heard the same Voice that had spoken at Jesus baptism naming him the Beloved One.

Jesus, in His words tells us the whole of the Law:

Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
– Matthew 22:37

And in his deeds, He shows us the message of the Prophets:

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.
– Matthew 22:39

For God, it has always been, and is all and always and only about love. Now for us it is all and always and only about love. Not only the sweet and innocent teasing love of children on Valentine’s day… or the yearning romantic love of couples on a special date, but the mature love of the disciple that is willing to suffer and die for our beloved, for Jesus.

Ours is a passionate, powerful, sacrificial love that can move heaven and earth closer together. Jesus shows us God’s love that will not even stop at death to rescue and redeem a lost humanity. We are here to tell the story of that love and show the world what that love looks like.

Another note from the History books… Jerome of Stridon, the 4th Century Priest and translator of the New Testament scrolls, told this story about John the Beloved…

He wrote…

“The blessed John the Evangelist lived in Ephesus until extreme old age. His disciples could barely carry him to church and he could not muster the voice to speak many words. During individual gatherings he usually said nothing but, “Little children, love one another.”

“The disciples and brothers in attendance, annoyed because they always heard the same words, finally said, “Teacher, why do you always say this?” He replied with a line worthy of John : “Because it is the Lord’s commandment and if it alone is kept, it is sufficient.”

So the world is going to go on being the world and celebrate it’s own version of love this Valentine’s Day. Children will be giving each other furtive glances and passing around hard candy hearts with cute little phrases saying “Be my Valentine”. Grownups will be buying each other extravagant gifts and going out for overpriced Valentine’s Day themed dinners.

But for us, this one day that is focused on the word love should remind us that we are to be focused perpetually on the real love, God’s love, the love of Christ.

Let’s conclude this conversation with the Apostle Paul’s last word on the subject, picking up where we left off in his letter to the Corinthian Church, and to all believers, for all time.

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
– 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Let’s pray…
– John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

Last week we began a series called “Is There a Kink In Your Faith Hose?”

Beginning with the supposition that as a new creation in Christ you are actually like a garden hose, plugged in to Jesus, the Source of all Life, Love and Blessing. Once in Christ, you become a conduit of Living Water which flows to you and through you to those God puts in your life.

The kinks in your faith hose to which this series refers, are any hardened bits of your own will that impede the flow of that grace that you received and the life, love and blessing that you are now intended to have and to be in Christ Jesus.

Even as Abraham was blessed to be a blessing to the nations, when you are in sync with what the Holy Spirit is doing and wants to do in you with you and through you, you will be a blessing to all who are around you.

In so doing, you will bless the Lord. Here is a Psalm of David that describes God’s blessings to us, and our appropriate response, which is to bless Him.

Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
– Psalm 103:1-5

The psalm ends with an exhortation to those who have received God’s blessings to bless God by blessing others.

Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.

Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.

Bless the Lord, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
– Psalm 103:20-22

What do you suppose is God’s pleasure that he wants you and me, His ministers, to do? How can we bless the Lord for and most importantly WITH all of the blessings we’ve received?

Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is to Love the Lord your God with all your soul, all your mind and all your strength, and the second is equal to it and that is to love your neighbor as you love yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).

If you think about it, why would God not want to bless you, knowing that you are going to use those blessings to bless others?

Last week we talked about one kink in our faith hose as being the fear of not having enough money and likewise the love of money as really being just a preoccupation with self. If that is a kink in your hose, it means that instead of making God #1 in your life you have decided to make yourself number one and this has impeded the flow of blessing to you and through you.

Now let’s talk about another, although related potential kink in your faith hose…

What if you really are just satisfied with God’s Grace and blessing to you, and you really aren’t much interested in other people. Maybe you are clenching your hose of blessings so tightly it has become a kink.

In fact, maybe that kink is many kinks in the conduit of blessings that God sends to you from the Throne of grace. Or worse… Maybe the part of your hose that is supposed to extend blessing to others is completely unused.

I once knew a pastor who gave a sermon about how to make your vessel bigger to hold more blessings. As I recall him, he was a pretty self-absorbed guy. I suppose that what he ascribed to was part of the so-called prosperity gospel.

I have observed that when believers put themselves in the middle of the blessing equation, they do tend to become self-absorbed instead of God-directed. I think it’s a way of misunderstanding God’s incredible love for humanity which is completely undeserved.

I have often said that just because for God it’s all about you, doesn’t mean that for you it should be all about you. I do believe that it is God’s desire to bless those who have received Jesus as Lord. However, let’s be clear about this… God does not want to prosper you so that you can acquire a lot of stuff that you want just because you have faith in Jesus and you want to be rich in stuff.

He did after all, extend the offer of salvation to you. He gave you grace to forgive your sins. But receiving eternal salvation and hearing “well done, good and faithful servant” at the end of your days are likely two different things.

God desires His people to be willing to extend the same grace they’ve received to others and to be open to blessing others in the measure that they themselves are being blessed. That is why loving our neighbors as ourselves is part of the greatest commandment. It is how we show our faith is real.

It’s easy to say that you “love God with all your heart mind and strength,” but if you are not willing to give grace to others as grace has been given to you, then you’re using neither your heart, your mind, nor your strength for the Kingdom of God. Jesus talked about this often and He wasn’t kidding.

If we want to hear “well done, good and faithful servant” at the end of our days on Earth, then we will have to use those days on Earth well, redeeming the time for the glory of God, blessing our neighbors and finding joy in the giving and not just the taking of His blessings and grace.

Withholding Grace from other people takes many forms and all of them will kink up your faith hose. Here is a big one… unforgiveness. Now you may say there’s nobody with whom you are currently angry. …that there’s nobody that you’ve stayed angry at and after all, that person or those people who hurt you did it a long time ago and you’ve pretty much forgotten about it.

You may be thinking of someone right now… Maybe you are thinking that you aren’t sure if you have really forgiven them or not. You may be thinking, “well I just don’t deal with that person anymore, so I guess I’ve forgiven them.

But here is the thing… One of the most beautiful aspects of God’s Grace to us is that once we received His forgiveness by Grace through faith in Jesus, our fellowship with Him was completely restored. How else could it then be possible for us to enter His very Holy of Holies without fear…

The writer of Hebrews illuminates this…

Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace in time of need.
– Hebrews 4:16

So my point is…, if you had something against someone with whom you had been close and you think you have forgiven them, but no longer have a relationship, is that even really forgiveness? Is that a kink in your faith hose and if so, what can you do about it?

Once again, the best solution in this case is for you to go to your Heavenly Father in prayer and ask Him to give you a heart of forgiveness and love for that person. This is one of those things that God will certainly grant you if you ask for it. Again… why would he not?

When you have received a heart of forgiveness in response to this request, pick up the phone and just tell your old friend, or relative or brother or sister or parent that you love them and want to know how they are doing. Then just stand back and be prepared to see what the Lord will do.

It has been my experience that everyone I know who has tried this has seen a relationship restored. That’s it. Communication and the love that only God supplies is the kink-buster here. Communicate honestly with God and then communicate openly and lovingly with your now forgiven friend.

What about your spouse? Is there a kink in your faith hose in regards to your spouse? Is it possible that you have withheld affection for weeks, months, perhaps years, because of some slight aggravation that got under your skin so deeply and so insidiously that you don’t even know it’s there?

You only know that for some reason you act cold and uncommunicative when you are together, like you’d rather be somewhere else or with someone else than the person that you took as your husband or wife to be your partner, your soul’s mate, the one who is supposed to be the closest friend you have in life.

Maybe in your marriage you’re just going through the motions and being nice, but you’re not laying down your life for your wife if you’re a husband or respecting your husband if you’re a wife.

If that’s the case… and please be honest, first you have to discover what and where that kink is. It could be so ingrained in your behavior by now that you don’t even know it exists. It could be something so small and so simple that formed that kink that you have not thought of it in years, but still it has affected and is still affecting your behavior towards that person that you’re supposed to give 100% to all the time. Maybe you feel your spouse deserves your neglect…

This form of unforgiveness, the withholding of affection, is particularly cruel and infects every area of your life. Now perhaps that isn’t you, but if you suspect that it is, then you desperately need to discover the source of your passive aggressive anger. You know something is seething down there. It may be something you don’t even know or remember, or it may be something you do know and are afraid to address with your spouse. You just know that you are resentful.

I’m not talking about what your marriage looks like on the outside, even to you. I’m talking about the real relationship that you have with your spouse. Maybe the blockage is some old pain from your childhood that keeps rearing it’s ugly head, or it’s something about your relationship with yourself that is so old and dark and deep that you are afraid to discuss it and never have discussed it no matter how many years you’ve been married.

Maybe it’s something from your past that you just can’t get up the courage to reveal or something in your present that you want, and are resentful that you don’t have, but you just have never asked your spouse and you’re resentful because you only know that you are not getting what you need or worse, feel that you deserve. But let’s be real, how would he or she even know what you want or feel you need if you never asked or if you never discussed it?

Is it even something that you should discuss with them or would that just be selfishness on your part? There’s only One that can answer that question for you.

The Holy Spirit.

• So, once again, get on your knees and just talk to your Heavenly Father.
• Ask Him to reveal the blockage.
• Ask Him to give you wisdom to know what the problem is, and how YOU can be the peacemaker.
• Ask for the courage and strength to do whatever it takes to straighten out that kink in your hose.

But be aware… The devil is going to try to drag your mind off into thinking that your unforgiveness and anger is justified. That it must be something that your spouse has done wrong, and that’s what started this whole thing to begin with. So, just ignore him, meaning the devil.

A scripture that I really can’t stress enough that is crucial to overcoming almost every dysfunctional problem that is caused by our carnal mind is found in James 4. It relates particularly to unforgiveness and especially in a marital relationship.

Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
– James 4:5-7

Let’s unravel this scripture. James says the scripture proclaims that the Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously. What do you suppose the Spirit of God is yearning jealously for?

I maintain that the Spirit who dwells in us, the Spirit of Christ, is yearning jealously to be given an active place in us, replacing our human nature which is basically pride. Here is our opportunity to use Grace in our own marriages.

If we humble ourselves and realize that it is not our spouse’s fault that we have fallen into this habitual coldness, even if it is something that he or she has done to us that we felt was undeserved, but take responsibility for the fact that we have allowed this to affect us to the point of no return (except in Christ), it is only when we accept this personal responsibility that we can truly ask Holy Spirit not only to reveal the source of the problem but to give us grace as we give grace to our spouses.

This is where we can effectively resist the devil because we have truly submitted to God and His Spirit that yearns in us to be shown to our spouses in grace. This will unkink that part of the hose that makes you feel uncomfortable or act distantly with your spouse.

As a man who loves his wife, I know that I have been guilty of this very thing. It is only when I realize that my job is to lay down my life for my wife as Christ did for the church (which means forgiving whatever I may feel has been done to me or not done for me),
and take that seriously, as my reasonable service, to accept my hurt feelings in love and return it to my wife with grace, that I find that my wife’s natural response (or should I say supernatural response) is to respect me and repent of whatever it is that has caused the initial slight that may exist on her part.

And on my part, whenever I have acted or re-acted in an unkind manner, I have found that it behooves me to realize that it is my responsibility to humble myself in sincere apology and that then my wife will be able to respond respectfully.

While we are at it, let’s talk a bit about other resentments that are kinking up our faith hose. Maybe there is resentment towards others in your life that you don’t even recognize as unforgiveness, for the way they’ve treated you or the way they’re treating you right now. Maybe it’s your Boss who seems unable or unwilling to understand the simple things that you need to find satisfaction in your job. Maybe you feel that you’re being under-compensated or given short shrift for the contribution that you’ve made for the company that you’ve worked at for a very long time.

It may be if you seek the Lord in prayer that He will give you the answer and maybe it’s one that you’ve known all along, that it’s just time to move on; or maybe it’s just time to humble yourself and realize that you could do your job better if you cared more. I would suggest that you simply ask God for the courage to ask your boss for what you feel you need. That puts the compassion ball in the other person’s court, but sometimes that’s just what it takes for you to know exactly what to do.

Once you’ve unkinked that hose that goes from the throne of grace to you by seeking the Lord in prayer, wisdom will come to you to know what to do, although sometimes acting or walking in that wisdom will still be difficult.

But asking your Father in Heaven for wisdom AND the courage and strength to walk it out is where faith comes in. It’s also where your faith grows to become just as you see the deliverance of the Lord is directly tied to your submission and obedience. After all, that’s where the rubber meets the road.

That’s where the kinks in your faith hose get unkinked and you will become ever more able to let the Living Water of Christ’s blessings flow freely through you.

Let’s Pray,
– John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

Today is the second Sunday of the new year. I would like us to begin today by praying for those who are experiencing the loss of their homes and neighborhoods in the current wildfires…

As I understand it many of the firefighters were frustrated as they were experiencing a lack of water pressure coming through their hoses because of an over demand from the sheer number of fires that they were fighting… Today, I’m going to talk about how to maintain the health of our faith hose in order to keep God’s blessing flowing through us.

In California we experience spring-like weather, for the most part, year-round, and so we are constantly watering our plants. Anyone who has ever watered a garden knows that in order for the water that our plants need to come through the hose we are using unrestrictedly and abundantly, the hose must be free of kinks. Kinks in a hose are places where the water is unable to flow freely because the hose itself is bent or knotted in some way. Those kinks must be worked out and eliminated before the water can flow freely.

Today I’m going to talk to us as believers about the kinds of spiritual dysfunction that can literally put a kink in the hose that connects you to the throne of grace and which goes through you so that living water can flow freely through you.

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
– Isaiah 44:3

And Jesus said this …

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
– John 7:38

Here’s an analogy that the Spirit revealed to me years ago when I was shepherding the unhoused in the San Fernando Valley…

When we were first saved, it was like we were in a pit of our own making, and the Lord dropped a lifeline down to us, and grabbed ahold of it, and He pulled us up by His strength, because we could not fix our own “sin problem”; we call this the grace of God.

It is by His Grace alone that we are saved. For God to pull us up to safe ground, all we had to do was to take that line that was sent down.

Psalm 139:7-12 tells us that even if we make our own bed in Hell, He is there.

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
– Psalm 40:1-2

If you think about it… that pit that we are talking about is really like quicksand because if we were to refuse the line of grace that God sent down to us, we would have continued to sink further and further, until our hands could no longer even reach out.

Unbelievers are still in that position today. There are reasons why they may not take that Hand of grace or that line that’s out to them. Those reasons include fear, pride and rebelliousness. These things can cause a person to rely only on their senses and physical desires and not even realize the awful state of their lives. They see no need for a savior.

So here is the analogy that Holy Spirit showed me.

That line that we took hold of was really a hose. Once we were pulled out of the miry clay of our former lives, we drank living water from that hose that was sent down to us from the Throne of Grace. Now that hose flows Living Water through us from that same Throne of Grace. That hose is a conduit that is firmly affixed to Jesus Himself and by faith is now attached to us and that flows Living Water into us and through us. Now that lifeline that was used to save us has become the conduit through which God will use us to help save others by being a testimony to the Living God.

But in order for living water to flow freely through the hose it must be free of kinks. In order for us to be a hose that is free of kinks through which living water can freely flow, we need to be sensitive in our spirit to what the Holy Spirit is communicating and wanting us to do in real time. In order to do that we have to turn our carnal minds over to the Mind of Christ.

The problem is that it takes a while after we have become born again for us to fully access the mind of Christ in all that we do. We’ve talked about that. It takes full submission and a willing heart to be sensitive to what your Father in Heaven is doing and a strong desire to do it with him so that you are doing God’s work, not John’s work or Mike’s work or Jenelle’s work or Kai’s work.

It’s very easy for our hose, that lifeline which is now a direct connection of communication with God our Father through the Holy Spirit, to get kinked up because of our own self-will which is still there in the human vessel that we are.

So what are the things that can kink up the hose between you and God? Let’s start with a big one. The source of most blockage…

If you’ve neglected him so completely that you can’t even remember the last time you prayed, then there’s a kink that is easily undone… You have turned a deaf ear towards the Lord. He’s been speaking to you all along, but perhaps you’ve tuned Him out. That is a major kink in the hose. Let’s fix that one first.

• Right there where you’re sitting and right now, take a moment to acknowledge God as the Source of all life, of all wisdom and of all power.
• Reaffirm your belief that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.
• Make the decision, right now, that you want to hear from Him and that you are going to make His will your will whatever it takes.
• Then starting tomorrow, first thing in the morning, take some time to have a conversation in prayer with your heavenly Father.
• Then sit down with your Bible or Bible App and read His Word.

That will straighten out the biggest kink in your hose that connects you to God. Now if you’ve just made that heartfelt decision, let’s look at some of the other kinks in the hose that may be blocking blessings or the ability for you to be a blessing.

Worry or anxiety is a big one. Especially worry about money. Worrying about finances is a big kink in your hose to God and also your hose to other people because it shows that you do not trust God even when you say you do.

Jesus told us this…

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
– Matthew 6:25

Later in the same chapter he says this as a solution…

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
– Matthew 6:33

And in his letter to the Philippian church, Paul puts a fine point on it when he says this…

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
– Philippians 4:6-7

Trusting that God will supply all your needs is an important kink-buster for any true believer. Think about it.. if you truly believe that God will supply your needs and you’re still anxious about it, it’s one or more of several problems…

• That you don’t really believe God and his word
• That you are more interested in getting what you want than having what you need.
• That you’re really not grateful for all of God’s blessing in the past or for what you already have.
• That the Kingdom of God and his righteousness is not really something that you’re interested in but only the things of this world.

I know that these are hard words to hear. They are nonetheless true.

Remember it is the peace of God which is the anxiety breaker here that Paul references. God’s word says that he will supply all things that we need.

When Jesus says to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and that all these things will be added unto you, He is basically saying “think more about what God wants to do with your life than what you want to do with the life God gave you”. Decide right now to give Him the reins of your life. That will get a big kink out of your hose. It’s part of the submission we’re talking about.

That brings us to another kink… this one specifically in the part of the hose that comes out of you, that blocks the living water that is supposed to come out of every believer. It also has to do with money. In this case it is not the fear of not having money. This kink is the love of money.

The Apostle Paul had some notable things to say about this one…

This one is a big chunk of scripture but bear with me because it ties the worry of not having what you need to the desire of having more than you need…

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
– 1 Timothy 6:6-10

The Love of money, therefore, is a BIG kink in your hose both vertically to the Throne of Grace and horizontally, to your ability to be a blessing to others. In fact, Jesus said this in Matthew’s Gospel…

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
– Matthew 6:24

These two scriptures reveal the relationship between

• contentment with what one has, which is a form of gratitude…

• trust in God to supply our needs, if not always our desires… and

• the ability to serve God with our whole heart, which can only happen when our faith is not being drowned out by the desire for wealth and power.

Strange as it seems, this kink can be found not only in the faith hose of wealthy believers, but also in the very poor. I have befriended many people who found themselves homeless and relatively destitute, who were generous in spirit and always shared the little that they had with those around them who had less.

Conversely, I have met wealthy people who no matter how much they have in the bank always considered it offensive that they should be “required” to give something to charity because enough is never enough for them and they’re thinking only of themselves.

Sadly quite a few of these called themselves Christians. Also sadly, even among the destitute and poor there were those who would rather take from others who are poorer than themselves. It was here, seeing people in those circumstances, that I came to realize that love of money is really just love of self.

You’ve all heard the phrase looking out for #1. Well… a big kink in the blessing hose of a believer is when number one is you. There are some who say that their number one is God but when it comes right down to it, their actions show that they themselves are really #1.

God appreciates it truly when you treat others as #1. It is God’s desire for believers to be a conduit of His blessing. It is a means of giving glory to the One whom you worship.

While it is true that the hose that we have been talking about is a conduit for the believer to disperse living water in terms of the Gospel message to the thirsty unbelievers all around us, our faith hose is also a transport system for the believer to distribute the resources that God pours into us that He desires for us to pour liberally around us, to others, in faith that He will continue to supply our own needs and the needs of those around us.

In fact, intentional generosity, especially when one’s natural tendency is to be parsimonious (stingy) is one of the best ways to straighten out the financial kink in your blessing hose.

Solomon sums this up nicely…

There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.
– Proverbs 11:24-25

“He who waters will also be watered himself” is a great way of summing up what we’ve been talking about here. To conclude the finance part of what I think is going to be a series on removing the kinks from our faith and blessing hose…

We might as well talk about tithing. There are many Christians who tell me that tithing or giving 10% of your first fruits to the Lord is an Old Testament concept and has no relevance to the Christian. While it’s true that it was Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets before the arrival of Jesus who said this…

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”
– Malachi 3:10

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says this to the Pharisees who he called lovers of money…

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
– Luke 6:38

In these two scriptures we have the old meeting the new. God still desires generosity from his people both corporately in terms of tithing and specifically in terms of charity to those most in need. To think and behave otherwise is likely a kink in your hose.

So today, we’ve discovered that the lifeline that God sent to us in the Person of His son Jesus Christ has become the conduit of living water that flows to us from the Throne of Grace and through us to those that He has put in our lives.

If we want that conduit, or “hose” as we have called it this morning to be free flowing and without kinks that will keep God’s blessing from going to us and through us then we will identify and address the issues each of us has allowed in our own lives.

We are going to continue this series next week as we address more of those things which restrict God’s flow.

Love you saints,
John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12.

What is the difference between soul and spirit?

Before we can understand this scripture, which speaks about the nature of the Bible, the Word of God itself, we need to understand what soul and spirit really are…

Here is a simple answer that will help us understand this scripture, and also, how we can utilize our relationship with God in Christ through the Holy Spirit to overcome our natural negative reactions to daily life by waiting on the supernatural insight that comes through the Holy Spirit when we “wait upon the Lord” and respond to what is happening instead of simply reacting to it.

Just as God (One God) is made up of Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, man (one man or woman) is made up of three parts.  Body, soul and spirit.

What is the Body?

Our bodies are the vehicle which allow us to interact with the world.  They carry us around, and through the five senses, Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste and Smell, the body allows us to experience the world around us.  Through it we experience pleasure, or pain.

What is the soul?

Simply, the soul of a person consists of the mind (or intellect), the emotions and the will.

The Soul is who we think of when we think of ourselves. It is the “inner man”.  The Soul is complete and with the body, is all we need to operate in the natural world. The Mind, Emotions and Will (which is the ability to make choices/decisions), are the way our physical bodies are able to operate and make sense of the world around us.  Our senses perceive the world around us and communicate to the soul and the soul operates our bodies so that we can function.

What is the spirit of a man?

The spirit of a person consists of conscience, intuition and communion.

The conscience is the part of a person that perceives right and wrong (their moral sense).

Intuition is the part of a person that understands those things that are not spoken or experienced directly by the senses.

Communion is the part of the spirit of a person that is able to communicate directly with God through the Holy Spirit. It is also the function of the spirit of a person to worship God.

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In the Bible the name Adam is Hebrew for “from the ground” and is used in the rest of the Bible as the Hebrew name Ha’Adam for humanity.  Genesis 2:7 tells us that Adam was created from the dust of the earth and became a living soul.

Because of this, our senses, which are our body’s way of communicating to our souls, are attuned to the earth and all ”natural” things.

That is why our feelings shift and change according to what is happening around us. Science talks about natural selection and that the human being has survived because of the “fight or flight” response, as it is called.

The science of Psychology describes it like this:

The fight or flight response is an automatic physiological reaction to an event that is perceived as stressful or frightening. The perception of threat activates the sympathetic nervous system and triggers an acute stress response that prepares the body to fight or flee. These responses are evolutionary adaptations to increase chances of survival in threatening situations. Overly frequent, intense, or inappropriate activation of the fight or flight response is implicated in a range of clinical conditions including most anxiety disorders. A helpful part of treatment for anxiety is an improved understanding of the purpose and function of the fight or flight response.

Have you experienced this reaction in times of threat or stress?

Everything that is of the earth is unsteady and changeable, which is why a person who allows their soul to control their life is never at rest. Through the soul – through our senses and feelings – we are in contact with people. Someone who lives according to the soul is always in unrest with regard to what other people think and say about him.

Through my spirit I am meant to be in contact with God. However, before I said yes to Jesus, I lived according to my own understanding.  My senses and my body were used to serve my own earthly desires. My spirit was then polluted by those desires and filled with that which is of this world, with the result that I had little or no contact with God.  My spirit was suppressed by my soul.  I was a soulish person.

Let me explain further…

Before we receive the Holy Spirit by accepting Jesus Messiah as our Lord and Savior, our spirit is under the control of the soul.  Fight or flight is the only reaction we know to trouble or stress.  We also tend to idolize or worship the things of this world like money or power.  This is not what our spirit was intended to do.

Salvation in Christ is meant to change this relationship so that I become spiritual and heavenly instead of soulish and earthly. The result is a life of faith instead of a life according to my human understanding.  When I received Jesus as Lord, and I became “born again”, my spirit was AWAKENED by His Holy Spirit.  Instead of my soul, with it’s own desires, dominating my body and my spirit, now, my awakened spirit, in proper alignment with God’s Holy Spirit, has control, through my WILL aligned with God’s WILL, over my MIND and my EMOTIONS so that my body now is under obedience to God’s purpose for my life.  I am now as God created Adam to be.  I am now able to have dominion over the earth as a partner with God.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

The intention is that our spirit is to be made alive so that God can speak to us; we should live for Him and for the heavenly things. Then we find rest for our souls. The heavenly things are eternal and unchangeable. When we live before God’s face, we are free from people and the unrest that comes from living before their face.

God’s Word: A two-edged sword

That said, even when we are “born again” and our spirit is awakened, we still struggle with the body of sin that is still a part of our flesh.  This is where God’s Word, the Bible, comes in.  It’s purpose is to do a deeper work in us. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces and divides between soul and spirit and discerns the thoughts and counsels of the heart.  In this sense, the heart is the inner man which now includes both soul and spirit.

The scripture we started with, Hebrews 4:12, tells us that God’s Word discerns the thoughts of the heart and pierces and divides between soul and spirit – between that which is earthly (human) and that which is spiritual and heavenly, which I receive into my spirit through the spirit of God. For this to occur, first I must believe the Word and be obedient to it.  I do this by spending time reading the Word, studying the Word, meditating upon the Word and praying in accordance with the Word.

For example, the biblical concept to “Overcome evil with good” goes against our human feelings and our human reasoning; but if we believe the Word and are obedient to it we come to understand the truth of that statement. When we choose to believe God and ask for His strength to ACT as if we believe that good overcomes evil, only then can we EXPERIENCE that God’s wisdom is greater than our senses and see the deliverance of the Lord when trouble comes.

God’s Word also says to forgive the person who sins against you seven times seventy each day, in other words, as many times as it takes… If you are soulish, you will hold onto your grudge and your pride and fleshly sense of personal honor will cause you to make plans as to what you should do to the offender and you may also seek the opinions of family and friends who will validate that, rather than simply forgive.

The Apostle James, the brother of Jesus tells us…

James 3:16-18 – For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

It is far better to let God’s Word in to pierce and divide between what you are absorbing through your senses – especially through your emotional feelings of hurt and pride – and the wisdom that is from God, which you absorb through your spirit by His Word. Live by faith and not according to your human reasoning; only then will you enter into that rest, the true Sabbath, that only comes with a right relationship with God.

If you are struggling with all of this, just know that the disciples did too.  The Gospel of Matthew tells us how Peter struggled with confusion between soul and spirit…

Matthew 16:13-23  

13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

Matthew 16:21-23 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”

23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” 

Peter, ironically, was the one who had just been commended by Jesus for proclaiming Him as Messiah, and yet, when Jesus revealed to the 12 that He was going to be killed as the completion of His mission, Peter tried to talk Him out of it.  Peter, although he knew that Jesus was from God, thought that he was going to be the conqueror of Rome, not the victim of it.  That was a worldly view.

Peter cared for Jesus, but he only had a sense for the things of men, which is to spare yourself and those you care about from pain. Satan has access to this unregenerated soul, and the result is a terrible unrest.

Jesus told Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!” because Jesus had a sense for the purpose of God, which was to lay His life down. Now He wants to make our spirit alive as well so we can carry our own cross, which is the purpose for which we were born and in fact, born again.

In his defense, Peter did not have the Holy Spirit as we do, even though he had the unique privilege of knowing Jesus personally and Calling Him friend.  On the Day of Pentecost, after Jesus went up His Throne, when the Holy Spirit was released upon him, Peter became fully the Rock upon which Christ built His Church.  We who are spiritual are that Rock today, who have received God’s Spirit and do His Will by allowing His Word to divide our soul and spirit.

Becoming spiritually minded

The result of having an awakened spirit, meditating on God’s Word and taking up your cross daily and following Jesus, is a life of faith in which we hold fast to the Word against our own human reasoning and present our body in the service of God. Then our soul, which is earthly and restless, is poured out, and we become spiritually minded and enter into rest in God.

“See that you do not refuse Him who speaks … from heaven. … Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” Hebrews 12:25,29.

All unrest, complaining, struggling with other people and anxiety stems from giving in to the soulish desire to fight for earthly life. The spiritual man lives by faith in God’s Word. All things serve him for good.  (Romans 8:28) He has a mind for laying down his life, and he rests in God. What a glorious life and peace this is – a kingdom that cannot be moved.

With blessings from the Abundant Life,

John Henry

Today we are going to take one of the most compelling and well-known stories of the Torah and extend it’s lessons to our lives in a way, hopefully, that will give us a fresh perspective on the blind spots, or idols, if you will, which can hinder our obedience and thereby block the movement of God’s power in our lives. Our goal today is to address these issues and give them to God, surrendering our will to His.

The story of Abraham and Isaac, specifically the command that God gave Abraham to sacrifice his son in Chapter 22 of Genesis, contains one of the most important lessons in the Old Testament, which we can only fully understand in the light of the Gospel. It is often said that the New Testament is “concealed” in the Old Testament, and the Old Testament is “revealed” in the light of the New Testament.

In this story in Chapter 22 of Genesis we see one of the clearest examples of the Torah, written by Moses, pointing the way to the coming of Jesus Messiah, including a glimpse at God’s purpose and plan as to how He was going to ultimately deal with our sin issue, an issue that before Jesus, kept us from experiencing a full and beneficial relationship with God the Father.

The Pharisees, who supposedly were more learned of Torah than anyone living at the time of Jesus, and who were certainly aware of the nuances of this story, apparently missed it. Let’s make sure that we don’t make their mistake.

The passage we will study today begins with the words “After these things”. Therefore, we should start with a quick overview of what “these things” are, described in Chapter 21, the previous chapter. Let’s read the part of this chapter that precedes the story of Abraham and Isaac in Chapter 22…

And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. – Genesis 21:3-5

So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. – Genesis 21:8

And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” 11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son. – Genesis 21:9-11

But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.” – Genesis 21:12-13

So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy (Ishmael) to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. – Genesis 21:14

There is another part to this chapter that describes a covenant that Abimelech, King of the Philistines, had made and maintained with Abraham. This is interesting, but the phrase, “after these things” at the beginning of Chapter 22 most surely refers to the casting out of the “illegitimate” son Ishmael for “scoffing” or ridiculing Isaac, the child of promise, on the day of his weaning celebration.

Now it may seem that Ishmael was a baby or a child when Abraham ordered him and his mother Hagar out of his house, but in reality he (Ishmael) was about 17 years old and Isaac was about three years of age, which was the typical age of weaning in Biblical times. We know the timeline because Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born according to Genesis 16:6, and Genesis 21:5 that we just read, tells us that Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

As we know, Ishmael, the illegitimate child, was also blessed by God to become a great nation, but that nation would ultimately become an enemy of the children of Israel even until the present day.
Let’s go on to the main story which we will read in it’s entirety and then break down…

Genesis 22
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

We are going to go back and unpack these verses in the light of the Gospel, but the main points of the story are that God speaks to Abraham commanding him to sacrifice his son and he sets out to do so but God, through His Angel, stops the process.

Surprisingly, some of the Rabbis of the Middle Ages who wrote and commented on Torah in the Talmud, questioned God for “testing” righteous Abraham, and some of them questioned Abraham for his willingness to obey God’s “wicked” command. Clearly, they didn’t get it.

Let’s look at this story through the lens of the Gospel.

In the first chapter of Hebrews, we see God’s promise to Abraham that through Isaac many offspring would be born. As the writer of the Book of Hebrews tells us…

Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. – Hebrews 11:12

Before Abram, who became Abraham and Sarai, who became Sarah made the bad decision to use Sarai’s maidservant Hagar to “push” God’s promise, the Lord had promised a child would come from Abraham’s own body and his marriage to be his heir.

And behold, the word of the Lord came to Abraham, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. – Genesis 15:4-6

So we might ask… why did God test Abraham? Most biblical scholars place Isaac’s age at between 15 and 20 years old when the Lord gave his command. Perhaps Isaac, as the child of promise, had become the main focus of Abraham’s attention and he had begun, after a number of years of God’s silence between Genesis 21 and Genesis 22, to worship the gift, and not the Giver (Yahweh).

I know that we have all been guilty of this at some point. Perhaps we have a child who is the apple of our eye, who we feel can do no wrong, and we do not intervene with sound counsel when we know better. Or we remain too long in a job that was clearly a God-send at one time but that has now become unethical (I did this), or we maintain some pharisaical mindset because we think it is our duty as Christians, when in fact it is not our calling as followers of Christ at all.

The first verse of Gen. 22 gives us some insight into Abraham’s level of desire to please God and gives us some insight into the power of his faith…

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.” – Genesis 22:1

Abraham may not have heard from God (that we know of) for a long time since the end of Chapter 21, but he is quick to respond “Here I am”.

In the 2nd verse God gives His command to sacrifice Isaac (who since Ishmael’s departure is the “only son whom he loves”, and Abraham’s immediate response at the beginning of verse 3 is to “rise early in the morning and saddle up his donkey”.

Abe doesn’t argue, he doesn’t hesitate. He simply obeys. It is interesting that in Chapter 21, which we just read, when The Lord tells Abraham to cast out his other son Ishmael, he also “rose early in the morning” to do what God called him to do.

This is the first lesson for us. When God speaks, respond IMMEDIATELY. Don’t argue, don’t hesitate, just do it. How do we know when we hear from God? We will discuss that in a minute… But for now let’s talk about why we respond IMMEDIATELY in OBEDIENCE.

In Psalm 119 David shows that he understood this…

I made haste and did not delay to keep Your commandments. – Psalm 119:60

In 1 Samuel we see this scripture where Samuel the Prophet of the Lord tells Saul why the Lord is angry with him…

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams. – 1 Samuel 15:22

This scripture also gives us some insight into the overarching narrative of this story. Abraham is between a rock and a hard place in that he would have known that God’s command to sacrifice his son seems contrary to everything Abraham knows of God’s character, yet he recognizes God’s voice and authority in his life and knows that obedience to God’s command is Job One.

This is Lesson two for us. Although it may be counter-intuitive to the lifestyles and choices we might make for ourselves, God’s Word and the commands He gives through His Holy Spirit and the Scriptures are to be our true guideposts and must be obeyed.

Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord said this of Himself

…
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:8-9

The big picture here is that even if Abraham had begun trusting in his understanding of the promise that God had made concerning Isaac, he trusted in God Himself more.

The key to this is found in Verse 4 and 5.

Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” – Genesis 22:4-5

This is where much confusion came in for the religious jews of the 10th Century and for their forefathers the Pharisees at the time of Jesus… Their limited understanding was this… Either their righteous Father Abraham was lying when he told the young men with him that he AND the boy would return, OR Abraham, who believed that God’s promise to use Isaac to bless the world, knew that this was a mere test of his faith. What they missed, apparently, is that Abraham had such unparalleled faith in his God that he knew in his spirit that test or not, even if God allowed Isaac to die, He would raise him to life again so that the promise would be fulfilled.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we generally presume the latter. Furthermore, we see Isaac as a type or foreshadowing of Jesus in that, as a nearly adult man of about 17, he allowed his 117 year old father to bind him to the altar when he clearly understood, just by the act of binding, that he was to BE the sacrifice. As a young man, surely, he could have overpowered his father and escaped this fate. Like Jesus, however, he laid down his life to the will of his father.

The story ends happily in that the Lord stops Abraham’s hand and Isaac is returned to his father. Abraham’s act of obedience has now apparently sealed the promise made in regards to Isaac as we see in verses 15-18.

Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, BECAUSE you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” – Genesis 22:15-18

Now I find myself asking only this question… Would God’s promise to Abraham that through Isaac would come a great nation, Israel, have come to fruition had Abraham NOT been obedient? That, I think, is only a mystery which we must accept as unknowable.

Now we come to the biggest question for US…

How do YOU hear from the Lord so clearly that you are compelled to action? If you don’t know the answer to that question you may be missing out on the power of God in your life. It is not a salvation issue perhaps, but it is a quality of spiritual life issue. How can you sensitize your inner person to “hear” from the Holy Spirit?
First, In Hebrews Chapter 11, which we call the Hall of Faith, we see a clue as to how Abraham was able to hear from God with certainty…

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. – Hebrews 11:6

Paul tells us, and we know that we have all been given a measure of faith. That faith should give us the earnest desire, like Abraham, to WANT to hear from God and to please Him with our obedience.
Secondly, remember what the Apostle James tells us…

2b. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3a. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss.– James 4:2b-3a

Surely walking out the will of God is His desire for our lives and thereby a prime example of asking rightly of God. This scripture indicates that we can ask to be made sensitive to God’s Will and His quiet voice in our spirit.

This scripture in Red, directly from Jesus, underscores this point…

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. – Luke 11:9

Clearly if Jesus tells us this, then He will see it done by the power of His Spirit. My personal daily prayer is that the Lord would make me sensitive in my (small s) spirit to what His Holy Spirit IS DOING and align my (small w) will with His perfect Will.

I always quote this next scripture whenever I teach, because it is fundamental to our daily walk, in hearing from and being obedient to, His purpose for our daily lives.

“You are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which He has prepared beforehand, that you should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10

There is no doubt that when Abraham understood that the Lord was asking him to sacrifice Isaac, there could have been other ways for him to react. Fight or flight, the natural order of human reaction could have certainly kicked in. However, Abraham did not REACT to his fear, but rather RESPONDED, in his spirit, to what God was asking him to do. This only works if we have no other idols before God.

If we are wholly and completely surrendered to God, we will do what He asks of us as Abraham did. Sometimes He will accept our obedience from the heart in saying “yes Lord” to giving up something that has become an idol to us, and then He may allow us to keep that thing anyway, only because it is no longer a priority.

Other times He will demand the sacrifice. Either way, it is always for our own good and for His glory. In fact, I maintain, that anytime God is glorified, we are joyful.

James tells us this in regards to testing and trials…

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. – James 1:2-4

I asked our brother Kai if I could use him as an example of this today and he agreed. When I met Kai, he was a self-professed “lifetime smoker” and swore he not only couldn’t quit but had no desire to do so. After several years of friendship and discipleship, and much submission to the Word of God and seeking direction through the Holy Spirit with prayer, Kai heard from the Lord that it was time to quit, which he did, in obedience, and God made it not only possible, but easy for him to do so. God was glorified and Kai was and is still joyful because of the way he dealt with this idol in his life.

So… The biggest question to ask ourselves today is… “Do we want to hear from God and take on the idols in our lives. I hope that your answer today will be a resounding “Yes, Lord”.

Yesterday, just 5 days out of major neck surgery, adorned with a neck brace, I was able to play guitar and sing and lead worship with Donna and the worship team at Abundant Life. I believe that it was a great encouragement to our little church that just one week after they prayed over me I was back having never missed a beat. It was truly supernatural strengthening. This psalm is the only way that I can explain it….

Blessed is he who considers the poor;

The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,

And he will be blessed on the earth;

You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;

You will sustain him on his sickbed.

Psalm 41:1-3

In light of this miraculous healing, with all due gratitude and credit to the talented and dedicated Surgeon and Physician Assistant, both men of God with whom we prayed beforehand, I need to proclaim that God truly DOES strengthen and support His willing servants by providing every resource and protecting us from harm while giving us every good thing we need (physical, emotional and spiritual) to accomplish the good works that He has prepared beforehand to do. (Isaiah 54:17, psalm 91:11,12, James 1:17, Ephesians 2:10)

He will consistently bless those who will be willing to bless others with the blessing they have received.

During our brief sojourn in the hospital, Donna and I were able to pray for and encourage 8 Nurses and a Social Worker, many of whom had either lost their way or were struggling with faith.  All received the Good News and prophetic Touch from the Throne of Grace with joy and some tears.

One nurse slipped a note of gratitude into my backpack allowing me to glimpse how the Lord had pierced her armor with His love through this servant.  Be encouraged beloved!  If I, who consider myself, like the Apostle Paul to be “chief among sinners” can be used mightily by the Almighty God and Savior King of Glory, then all of us who profess and follow Jesus are more that capable of these acts of mercy and Grace.  Take up your cross today and see the deliverance of the Lord!  To Him be the Glory!

Blessings for the eternal Now,

John Henry

Here is the text of a sermon that I was privileged to give this morning at Abundant Life Church in Simi Valley…

In his last couple of sermons, Pastor George talked about the battle within us.  Although we become a “new creation” when we receive Jesus as Lord, and we have at that moment become “crucified with Him” and our body of sin is nailed to the Cross with Him, we often still struggle with the reality of ongoing sin in our lives.  As Pastor said, the answer to this problem is the renewing of our minds through the Holy Spirit.  Let’s talk a bit today about why we struggle, what the battlefield looks like and what we can do about it.

I’m going to start at the beginning….

2 Corinthians 5:17- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

So… When we receive Jesus as Lord, our spirit is awakened from it’s dormancy.  At that moment we become a “new creation”.  As the Spirit of God hovered over the waters before the first creation, the Holy Spirit gently awakens our spirit to it’s new life as master and commander of our soul.

Our soul, which consists of our Mind, Emotions and Will often does not take this lightly.  After all, our soul, left to it’s own devices in the old person, had full reign over the Body, and our dormant spirit was suppressed by the raging desires of the flesh.  In this case the flesh I am referring to is that body of sin that is the soul’s nature without the influence, guidance and control of the Holy Spirit.

That is a lot to digest.  Let’s break it down a bit.

First, let’s talk a about the triune or Three-part Nature of God. We believe that there is One God in Three Persons.  I am often asked by seekers and unbelieving fellow Jews how it is possible that the One God of the Old Testament, referred to in the most Holy prayer of the Jews, the Sh’ma, which says, “hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One”, can be the Three Persons of the New Covenant as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and still be one God.   Here is a simple way to look at it…  Water is necessary to sustain life, just as the essence and underlying power of God is necessary to sustain life.  Now we all know that water is able to take three forms.  Liquid, Solid and Vapor.  So… water, ice or steam, they are all H2O which we all know as “water”.

This is an interesting analogy.  We refer to Jesus as the Living Water and He is the central Person of the Bible, the One who pre-existed Creation with the Father and the Holy Spirit and was the designer of the Universe.  It was Jesus who Himself became the Bridge between a Righteous, Holy God and depraved, sinful people so that the relationship between God and man could be restored.  Jesus is the one we come to when we are in need. He would be like water in it’s drinkable, consumable state.

The Father is the solid, rock-like Creator who gave all things life and under Whose authority Jesus put Himself in His time on earth and in Whom we trust.

The Holy Spirit is the One who hovered over the waters like vapor before the creation and is the One who is able to be in all places and all times drawing us to Jesus, strengthening us in our trials, and performing mighty miracles, all by the Will of God who is all three and yet One.  Amazing right?

Now let’s talk about the triune, three-part nature of people, you and me.  We are also three in one.  In the basic, a person consists of body, soul and spirit.  People often confuse the soul and spirit as the same but they are not.  Let’s break it down.

One. The Body. The body is the outside and inside physical working of the creature that is a man or woman.  It has five senses through which we perceive the world around us.  It is an amazing and incredibly complex engine that gives us the ability to experience physical sensations of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. It also allows us to think and speak and interact with other people and the world around us. The senses enable us to experience pleasure or pain.  The body does not like pain and generally craves pleasure.  That is One. The Body.

Two. The Soul.  The soul is the inner person, what the Bible calls the “heart” of a man.  The Lord told us through His Prophet Jeremiah about the unregenerated soul, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” – Jeremiah 17:9.   In this scripture, Jeremiah refers to the human soul BEFORE the spirit is awakened by the Holy Spirit to make Jesus Lord.  The Soul interestingly, is also triune. Your soul has three parts.  It consists of, as we mentioned earlier, the Mind, the Emotions and the Will.  Except for the automatic functions that keep the body alive, the body does whatever the soul wants through the Will.

The reason that the soul without the spirit in control of it is so dangerous is that it is the abiding place of free will.  The soul without the spirit’s guidance is free will run riot.  I know that before Jesus took control of my spirit through the Holy Spirit, I was highly covetous, unstable and fear and desire ruled me.  It was particularly dangerous because the physical Body we have is always under the control of the soul.  Think of it.  Your mind, your emotions and your ability to make decisions (the will) are all you need to operate in the physical world.  Without the guidance of our spirit (which in my case was asleep in a back room), we can and will, do a lot of damage to ourselves and others.

Now as to number Three, the spirit of a person.  In the unregenerated person, that is, the person before the soul is awakened by the Holy Spirit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the spirit is like a baby.  It needs very little and does even less.  The sinful nature and all of the demanding of the soul of the Body’s time and attention keeps the spirit suppressed and the enemy’s constant lies and temptations make it even worse.  However, God has made available to us a great salvation from the power of Sin in the person of Jesus Christ!  So… Jesus did what only He could do so that our spirit can be restored into right relationship with God through the Power of the Holy Spirit!  Now can I get an amen Hallelujah?

So now that we are saved, and our soul is awakened, now what?

Paul tells us:

Romans 6:3-6  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

So… Sin should no longer be a problem for us right?  And yet many of us are still in a battle.  Let’s look at how we can wage war in Christ Jesus against the sin that can trip us up.

This is what the spirit of a person looks like once it has been awakened and aligned properly with the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus to the Glory of the Father…

A properly aligned new creation in Christ looks like this…  Instead of the person being a body run by a soul run riot carrying around a little baby spirit, the New Person is a healthy, vibrant spirit, in communion with the Holy Spirit, in the driver’s seat over the soul with the body as the engine that accomplishes good works.

So… once the spirit is awakened or regenerated in Christ, our mind, emotions and will are now also New Creations.  Our Mind is submitted to the Mind of Christ, our Emotions are now all Love and both our mind and emotions are receivers of the fruit of the spirit as the body now does good works through the power of our will that is aligned, receptive and obedient to God’s Will.  That is why Ephesians 2:10 tells us… we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

So…

If you are not living a life of power, grace, truth and love then you are losing that battle.  Let’s talk about how to win and finish well.

Paul describes the battle we are in and how to be prepared to win it.  Here is his description…

Ephesians 6:10-13 – Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

The problem, it seems, is also the solution.  We have access to the whole Armor of God in Christ but we have to put it on.  Our will is still free.  So if we want to win the battles we face we must be intentional about it.

As the Holy Spirit lives in us through communication with our spirit, like an Admiral to our Captain, we are also “hidden with Christ in God”.  Just as God sees His Beloved son when He looks at us in Christ Jesus, so when we are wearing the full Armor of God, the enemy sees Jesus. No contest there right?  He has to flee. Let’s see what the whole Armor of God looks like….

Ephesians 6:14-17 – Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

In order to be effective in the battle against our own sinful flesh, which remains to some degree even in the born-again person, we need to put on, EVERY day, the full Armor of God.  The enemy will attack wherever we are weak or unprotected.  The Belt, the Breastplate, the Shield and the Helmet are all defensive weapons.

The Belt is the Truth of the Gospel and we who believe are wearing it at all times. We hold the Truth of the Gospel at the very Center core of our lives.

The Breastplate is the Righteousness of God, not our own self-righteousness, and is attached to the Belt of Truth. When we have on God’s Truth and Righteousness, the powers and principalities cannot penetrate to our weaknesses because we are protected by God’s Kingdom Power.

The Shield of Faith is our most important defensive weapon. An unshakeable faith is the surest defense against the fiery arrows of the evil one.  Here’s what using your faith in God’s promises as a shield looks like… The devil tells me I am weak, confused, untrustworthy, foolish and unloved.  My faith tells me that I am strong (in Him), confident (in Him), trustworthy (in Him), wise (in Him) and beloved always.  Fiery darts? Quenched!

The armor for the feet and lower part of the body is the “Preparation of the Gospel of Peace”.  With this protection we move forward confidently, already prepared because we have done the work of studying His Gospel and as we advance, with the goal of freeing the captives of the enemy with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are protected because as we advance, peace is established.

We “take up” the Helmet of Salvation.  Now the Helmet of Salvation is not our salvation itself, which is assured to us when we first receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  The Helmet is the HOPE of eternal life with which we are protected from the lies and doubt that the enemy uses to throw us off.  We take up this HOPE every time we are attacked with doubt and God strengthens us because we have chosen to Hope in His promise that we will live forever with Him.  The lies of the enemy therefore cannot stick in our mind.

Our offensive weapon is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  John the Beloved tells us that Jesus Christ was “The Word” from the beginning and was with God and He was God.  Having accomplished the work of the Cross, He sits on the right Hand of the Father, calling on the Holy Spirit to defend the brethren. HE Himself is our offensive weapon against the enemy of our souls. As was told the Kings of Judah whenever they would return to the Lord,

“The battle is not ours, but God’s! – Chronicles 20:15 

When we wield the Sword of the Spirit, all three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit move as one to attack the enemy and victory is assured.

The Lord has also provided us with the Bible, the inspired, written Word of God, which when we apply it, sends the enemy fleeing and also slays the demons that have been dispatched to waylay us on the battlefield.  God Himself strengthens our spiritual arms for the battle when we wield this Sword faithfully.

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Here is something to think about… The Word of God, also known as the Sword of the Spirit, helps us to divide what is soulish (our own desires) from what is truly spiritual (His will for us).  When we spend time meditating on His Word, His Holy Spirit guides us into understanding and the renewing of our mind which leads us into the newness of life.

Finally…

Ephesians 6:18 – praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints

Prayer is HOW we use the offensive weapons that belong to the Armor of God.  With our defensive Armor in place, and our Shield of Faith at the ready, using the Sword of the Holy Spirit, we can pray effectively for wisdom and strengthening in whatever trials we are in, for help in overcoming sin on the battlefield, and we can effectively bring God’s power into the lives of our families, our friends and our neighbors as well as all the saints worldwide!  How?

2 Corinthians 10:4 – For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds

So now we have seen how we passed from death into Life.  We have all been crucified with our Lord and raised up as soldiers who report to our Supreme Commanding Officer Jesus.  We have power and authority over all demonic powers and principalities in this world.  We only have to armor up and use the power of the Holy Spirit to see the victory.  To God be the Glory!

Here is something I have used to encourage the troops in my favorite role as Kingdom Field Lieutenant…

I am a soldier in the Army of my God. The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer.

The Holy Bible is my Code of Conduct.

Faith, Prayer, and the Word are my weapons of warfare.

I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity and tested by fire.

I am a volunteer in this Army, and I am enlisted for eternity. I will either retire in this Army when the Lord returns, or die in this Army; but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out, or pushed out.

I am faithful, reliable, capable and  dependable.

If my God needs me, I am there.

If He needs me in Sunday school, to teach the children, or on the streets to work with the youth, feed the poor or preach to the lost, He can use me because I am there!

I am a soldier. I am not a baby.

I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up or pepped up. I am a soldier.

No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me, or lure me. I am a soldier.

I am not a wimp. I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name, and building His Kingdom! No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy or give me handouts. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for, or catered to.

I am committed. I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around. I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit.

When Jesus called me into the Army, I had nothing. If I end up with nothing, I will still come out ahead. I will win. My God has and will continue to supply all my needs. I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph.

I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me. Devils cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot weary me. Sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me. Governments cannot silence me and hell cannot handle me. I am a soldier.

Death cannot destroy me. For when my commander calls me from this battlefield, He will promote me to Captain and then allow me to rule with Him. I am a soldier in the Army, and I’m marching, claiming victory. I will not give up. I will not turn around. I am a soldier, marching heaven bound. Here I stand! Will you stand with me?

In His Grip Of Grace and Full Armor,

John Henry