The Encourager: Isaiah 40:27-31, Psalm 42:11 (The Message Bible), Psalm 40:2-4 (New Living Translation)

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or whine Israel, saying "God has lost track of me. He doesn't care what happens to me"? Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts.... He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath, and he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles,They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.

Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix your eyes on God - soon you'll be praising again. He puts a smile on your face. He's your God!

He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.

Now faith is....

What is truth? Can you handle the truth? Is your confession based on perception or the truth that can change perception? Does your perception point you to the truth or to some Neverland state? The Just shall live by his faith? What does this mean? What is faith? This was the end point of my barrage of thought missiles…. What is faith? …. Yeah yeah I can hear folks starting to quote Hebrews 11:1 …. Faith is …. Yada yada yada…. But what does it mean…. I ask? What IS faith? ….. I was asked in return … my answer was: Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…..Yeah yeah…. Back at ya… Is substance perceptible? Yes I answered…. Is evidence tangible? Yes it is…. So my dear why do you think that you have faith, when you base it on what YOU believe will happen or some nebulous belief that things will be ‘OK’? that you will ‘make it’, ‘break through’ or whatever it’s called these days.
Now Faith is ….. Faith is …. It is in the now it is always in the now and has a physically perceptible presence that serves as the earnest of that which is promised…. Do you know that this principle holds true for everyone that I have ever given a promise? To Abraham it was the stars in the sky and the sand on the beach that pointed to how numerous his seed would be; To the children of Israel it was the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night and the tablets of stone that showed them that God was in their midst and pointed to the promise, and the promised land they were heading towards; To Joseph it was his coat of many colors that marked him out as favored; To Jacob it was the poplar bark with holes that pointed to the promise of the speckled and dappled herd soon to be produced and so on and so forth He marched me through the old testament…. Now one stumped me…. Sarah Lord, what was Sarah’s substance and evidence…. The answer came to me a few days later out of the blue….. LAUGHTER ….. yeah laughter… which is what Sarah did - laughed when God told her she would soon have a child. I used to think that God was merely scolding her …. No I was establishing a set point so that every time she laughed or heard laughter her heart would catch !!! Oooooh God said I would have a child …. Who knew whether this was the laughter shared between Abraham and Sarah in remembrance of the word God spoke that led to the ‘awakening’ and the ‘magic moment’ that Isaac was conceived (Our God Is an awesome God!). Little wonder that when the son, the promise was born he was called Isaac which means laughter…. A testament to the fulfillment of promise….
For by faith the elders obtained a good report…. Yes they pleased you right…. Yep that they did but I also say that by faith, they received the good news (report) that I relayed to their perceptive senses …. The promise to come, and they followed after it faithfully and for those who endured, got to the Promised Land. Remember Caleb and Joshua…. They brought back a good report… Ohhhh ….. So what is faith? Faith is..... Tangibility pointing to the infallibility and immutability of the intangible..... Now what do I describe as being infallible and immutable? The Word of God I answered according to the book of Hebrews…. Now does my Word have substance? Yeeaaah I said…. Is my Word evident?

Let’s take a look…
Hebrews 6: 13-20
13For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
14Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
17Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
18That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
19Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

The Two immutable mentioned here: Himself and His Word… His Word confirming his promise….
In the old testament God made a promise He swore by Himself to confirm the word He gave and gave perceptible substance pointing to the promise: The Word was not yet manifest…
Hebrews 6:13, 14
13For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
14Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

But to us the heirs of salvation who have obtained the promise, that is the Word (Jesus Christ made flesh) He confirms it by that which makes it impossible for Him to lie: Himself and His Word…. That His counsel be established.

Hebrews 6:18-20

18That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
19Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Yes that is what takes us within the veil. Faith…. no longer a human high priest, no longer the ark of the covenant, no longer fleeces, no longer clouds or pillars of fire which appointed for that dispensation of time: the shadow of things to come, but NOW faith is the perceptible, immutable, infallible promise of God – the Word, spoken by God of things hoped for and not yet seen… (The secret of faith…. His word He will not break)…that takes us from without beyond the veil, to the glory. No longer covered like it was when Moses beheld it, but now open for all to see and enter in to….

What do you base your perception on The Word of God, spoken by God or ……
NOW FAITH IS….
Shalom….

© OluperoMettabel, October 2010

What about worship?

This was a comment I made on an article that a friend wrote...Food for thought indeed....

In worship we can bow, lift our hands, dance, shake, boogie, strut, whatever we want to do, as long as our hearts are upward and our performance is before the audience of 'One' .... That's where we miss Him and right there is where we miss it.... We try to put God in a box, rather than (like David) dancing right out of our boxers before Him, regardless of who we are... Pastor, teacher, evangelist, minister, performer, or congregant .... The dangerous thing about all this is that we have not recognized that the 'Lucifer' spirit has entered into the church.... the desire to be worshipped like God....why else would a pastor not be in praise at the time of praise, jumping and leaping and praising God.... it's probably because such a pastor/minister/ etc has grown too big for their britches... they'd better watch out or those britches just might split open one of these days, and it won't be pretty .... These are dangerous times....Open the eyes of our heart Lord that we may see.... Thank you my brother for pointing out the the 'Emperor' is not wearing any clothes.... a lot of "nakedisms" one may say, but let us remember... we are all open and naked before Him with whom we have to do... Selah.....

Because he didn't, I can...

He could have liberated himself, but he didn't

Though I did not know Him,

He knew me

He loved me and went through torture

and a horrific death so that I may live

He died for me !

I am liberated because He was bound

I am clothed because He was stripped naked

My flesh is healed because His was ripped and stripped

My spirit is alive because He gave his up....

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so....

I am the redeemed and I say so!

Thank you Jesus... You could have stepped down from the cross

Separated yourself from me, you didn't and because you didn't I now can .....

Yes I can...

... cry abba father

... do all things through Christ who strengthens me

... come boldly to the throne of grace, so that I may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need

Because I am.....

...Forgiven

... Made clean by the blood of the Lamb

... the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus

... blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places

... loved with an everlasting love

.... and I am complete in Him

Yes I am ! and all in favor say aye !

Are you a 'Biter' or a 'Ruminator'?

'Biter' or 'Ruminator'? This is the question I have for you and I today – ‘Biter’ or ‘Ruminator’?

Who is a biter? A biter is one who (in this context), takes an excerpt or fragment from something larger leaving the majority of the substance behind, and in the same vein of context a ruminator is someone who turns a matter over and over in the mind usually to reach a decision that will produce results.

This question arose in my mind a few months ago and got me thinking about my ’Word life’. I have been a Pentecostal Christian for a few years now, but recently the Lord began bringing it to my attention that although I heard and regurgitated a lot of bible verses and promises I had heard from pastors, teachers, etc over the years, I have been for most of my Christian life, a biter and not a ruminator. What do I mean by this? Well let’s take a little walk down the hall of faith …..

A soundbite is an audiolinguistic and social communications phenomenon whose nature was recognized in the late 20th century. It is characterized by a short phrase or sentence that deftly captures the essence of what the speaker is trying to say. Such key moments in dialogue (or monologue) stand out better in the audience's memory and thus become the "taste" that ‘best’ (in the mind of the communicator) represents the entire "meal" of the larger message or conversation. Unfortunately a soundbite being an excerpt of the larger message is often subject to manipulation, misinterpretation or even an unintentional neutralization of impact, or reversal of meaning to the point of rendering the root statement impotent or worse still outright wrong, producing no result, an altered result, or the opposite effect than was intended.

An example of a soundbite might be:

Mr. B has no longer has money.... Now if this was a statement that was repeated enough times it would convey that Mr. B was now a poor man and if he were a business man his investors would be getting nervous right about that time…

Contrast this to the full statement – Mr. B no longer has money in his offshore bank accounts in ...... , because of the economic instability in that country….. Wow! totally different huh? Well the Lord told me I had become- a spiritual ‘soundbiter’ who after having heard the Word would run off with the ‘teaser’ and not take the time to consider the whole of the scripture, and would then start wondering why my confessions and prayers were not having the desired effect or producing the results I desired.

Take for example a soundbite of scripture could be:

…. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus….. Phil 4:19 Do I hear an amen?!

If however one were to just run with this scripture ‘as is’ it may likely produce no effect even if one quoted it from now till the hens come home to roost, because it is only a taste of the whole which is:

Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.

Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phil 4:15-19

Showing that the prayer for the supplying of the need came after the commendation that the Philippians gave to the necessity of the saints… which brings me to the ‘ruminator’ part – as previously defined would be the Christian who would:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15.

This Christian would also follow the instruction from the Word that states:

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

So when things are not going the way you and I want them to go or we are not getting the desired results, maybe it’s time to ask ourselves am I ‘Ruminating’ or ‘Biting’?

Shalom.

PS As a matter of fact not only when things are not going right, but all the time and for all of our days

Shalom again…..

© OluperoMettabel, October 2010