For Family and Friends

ADORNING THE DOCTRINE OF GOD

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 17:46:00 +0000

We don’t know very much about Paul’s mission to the island of Crete; in fact, no records exist of when he was actually there, but we know he was (see Titus 1:5). The letter that Paul sent to Titus was meant to assist this faithful young man as he put things in order and set the new believers into churches in Crete. Paul shares very practical advice on what specific groups to address and what to talk to them about.

In Titus 2:9-10, Paul focuses on what today would be the large, middle-income working class. Bondservants of Paul’s day were the blue-collar workers, the office workers, the laborers who made the country run. Many of these had come to faith in Christ during Paul’s visit to Crete.

“[Slaves] are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior ” (Titus 2:9-10, ESV).

Here is a brief synopsis of Paul’s teaching for them:

1. Be obedient to their bosses. They were to submit to the leadership of the place of business where they worked.

2. They were to be “well pleasing in all things.” This meant they were to do their work with excellence, with an eye for detail and with a good attitude.

3. They were to handle conflict with grace, and use wisdom and courtesy by not answering back.

4. They were not to pilfer. That means no stealing. If that pen in your pocket belongs to the company, why is it on its way to your desk at home? Pilfering shows a lack of integrity.

5. Good workers are loyal and dependable. Paul emphasizes this when he says, “Show all good fidelity.”

This is practical advice for believers living in a corrupt and immoral society, which is exactly what Crete was known to be (and how about the world we live in today?).

Not only is this good advice for daily living but Paul brings it into sharp focus when he says, “So that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” (Titus 2:10).

How can we adorn or make attractive the teaching which is about our Savior?

First, let’s talk about the word “adorn.” Paul may have been engaging in a little wordplay here. Crete was known as a center for the manufacture of jewelry; we could say it was “the bling capital of the first century.” So Paul, who was no slouch with words, may have been using this to capture the attention of Titus and the Cretans.

The word adorn means to present something in a way that makes what it is attached to more attractive, like an ornament on a tree, or jewelry on a pretty lady. The second way this word is commonly used in the New Testament is to trim, as in “trimming the lamp.” Why were lamps “trimmed”? Because after hours of use, the wick would burn down, ash would accumulate on the wick, and the light from the lamp would dim considerably. A trimmed lamp had the ash removed and the wick slightly elevated so that the amount of light that went forth was noticeably increased.

To “adorn the doctrine of God” does not mean to add to the gospel . . . not at all. The heart of what Paul is saying here is that when we truly embrace and live the truth of the gospel, we attractively show the message to unbelievers. There is nothing more persuasive to the unbeliever than the life of someone living in the grace and mercy of the Lord — it is compelling to them! Don’t worry about what they say or how they may insult or ridicule; the life of a believer fully committed to Him brings the presence of the Holy Spirit with it and that brings conviction and a drawing to Christ.

Paul is saying to the Cretans, “When you live like a believer, you show forth the qualities of obedience, excellence, grace, integrity and loyalty! The amount and quality of the light you show to the world is greatly enhanced and they will see God’s life in you much more clearly!”

What does it mean if, instead of showing forth these qualities as believers, we show forth the opposite? What does that do to the beauty of the message? Ouch!

The message, then, is, “We can adorn the doctrine of God by the life we live.”

One hundred years ago in Japan, businessmen would seek out and hire Christians, at that time just a tiny, tiny minority of the population, to work in the financial areas of their businesses. Why would they look for Christians? Because Christians in Japan were known to be people of exceptional integrity. Is that a great testimony or what?

As St. Francis of Assisi was reported to have said, “Preach the gospel always and, when necessary, use words.”

HUNGRY AND THIRSTY

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 12:30:00 +0000

A blazing hot sun, no shade for miles, empty canteen, dry mouth — and no water anywhere! You think this is trouble? Hang on, there’s more! On top of everything, you are lost and hungry. Somehow you got off the trail you were supposed to be on and now you can’t find your way back. And you’re hungry because you didn’t take time for a full meal before getting started on your hike.

It is one thing to be hungry or thirsty but to be both at the same time is painfully uncomfortable and has potentially dangerous consequences. And, yet, that’s the level of intensity Jesus was describing as He sat with His disciples and shared what became known as The Beatitudes.

As Jesus laid out the characteristics of who would be blessed in the kingdom of God, He said that those who were painfully, intensely hungry and thirsty for more of Him would be filled to overflowing. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (filled)” (Matthew 5:6, ESV).

This verse is truly one of the great keys to personal growth in Him. The key that unlocks the door to spiritual growth is hunger: hunger for more of Him and more of His Word; hunger that causes us to shut the door on the noise and demands of life and get up close and personal with Him. The concept is not complicated but often is overlooked, perhaps because we think it is just too simple or too old-fashioned.

Let’s look at the verse for a moment:

Blessed means “to experience the fullness of all that God is, to be happy and spiritually prosperous.” Happiness is a by-product of righteousness. This is not a smiley-face type of happiness; it is the joy, the peace, the contentment that comes from a life that has been made right with God.

Food and water are physical necessities and when we find them difficult to obtain, we can become rather intense in our desire to satisfy our needs. Righteousness (to be in right standing with God) is shown here to be a spiritual necessity. Just as it is not wrong to desire food and water in the natural, so it is fully natural to desire righteousness in our spiritual life.

In Luke 15 we are given an illustration of a believer who goes astray in his pursuit of righteousness. The Prodigal thought that pleasure, possessions and popularity would bring him the satisfaction he craved and so he wandered away from a correct relationship with his father. As he came to the end of his empty pursuit, he made this telling statement: “How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!” (Luke 15:17). The Prodigal was intensely hungry but there was no answer for him in the direction his path was taking him.

The story of the Prodigal is a parable about the condition of many in the church today. Much of their discontent exists because the church’s focus has shifted from the pursuit of righteousness to other, less important, things. Over twenty million believers have left the church in the U.S. in the last few years, largely because they are spiritually hungry and have not been taught how to eat.

“They shall be satisfied.” This is a promise of spiritual fulfillment, a promise to the spiritually famished: “Your hunger and thirst will be satisfied!” The word satisfied speaks of being fed to the point that you are “filled and happy” in Him. This satisfied or filling that Jesus speaks of has a double fulfillment. There is an initial filling that takes place when the hungry heart reaches out to God, and a continual refilling that takes place as the relationship proceeds. Notice that I said, “as the relationship proceeds.” We are to grow in our relationship with Him just as a husband and wife grow together in a successful marriage.

When the Prodigal came to his senses and acknowledged his hunger, he did something about it: He went home to where plenty of food was available. If you are satisfied with little or nothing spiritually, then welcome to a life full of the pangs of hunger and the resulting lack of spiritual health. If, on the other hand, you are hungry and ready to do something about it, then God has made you an irrevocable promise: “You will be satisfied!”

There is no spiritual disappointment for the hungry heart that reaches to Him! You will be filled with a peace and contentment that is beyond the understanding of human reasoning.

O, God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints (has intense desire) for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1).

“I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me” (Proverbs 8:17).

BLESS AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO HATE YOU

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 22:58:00 +0000

In the last two blogs we briefly looked at 1 Peter 3:8. A large portion of Peter’s message encouraged young churches to remain faithful during a time of severe persecution. The apostle reminded the churches of five qualities that he knew they needed to embrace if they were going to survive the difficult time they were in.

I believe Peter’s message is just as important for us as it was for them. The church today is being persecuted and it will intensify in the days ahead. I just saw a report that the state of Kentucky is not allowing pastors who serve as counselors in their youth facilities to say that homosexuality is a sin. In both Canada and England, pastors can be arrested for saying that the practice of homosexuality is a sin.

In 1 Peter 3:9, the apostle instructed the church in how to respond to persecution. “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you might obtain a blessing”.

Peter was there when Jesus delivered what has become known as The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, “I say to you ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’” (Matthew 5:44). Peter was teaching the same truth to a new generation of Christ followers. Paul also taught the same when he said, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14).

I find it extremely challenging to “love my enemies.” How about you? Have you thought this through? Does Jesus mean that we should love the terrorists who are killing Christians? And are we supposed to bless them?

Before I give you the answer that I have arrived at for this command, let me try to unpack 1 Peter 3:9 a bit.

The Pharisees had taught the Jewish people about giving “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But Jesus said, “No, love your enemies and pray for them,” and that’s what Peter and Paul were teaching the young church.

The word evil in this verse is speaking of morally objectionable behavior and the word reviling speaks of abusive words that are meant to damage a person’s reputation.

What does it mean “to bless” those that persecute you? The word blessing means to “invoke divine favor, often implying a positive disposition or kind action toward the recipient.” Now that’s a mouthful, isn’t it? By the Lord, we have been given the authority to bless people.

The challenge in this for me is to bless people who hate me, who dislike me, who lie about me. I have found it to be releasing to my spirit to pray for and bless that itinerant preacher who has told lies about me to a number of pastors that we know in common. And through this trial I have found that I can pray for those who are my enemies, and I can bless them — and as I do, I get blessed.

So Jesus, Peter and Paul are all speaking to us today as we look around at a world that is becoming increasingly chaotic and antagonistic toward Christ followers. They are saying, “Do not return evil for evil, or insult for insult but, instead, bless them and pray for them because to this you were called.”

Let me finish with the story of Stephen, who was one of the men chosen to be a deacon in the first church.

“And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8).

Stephen was being greatly used of God, which brought him to the attention of some of those who hated the new church. They were going to great lengths to stop the spreading of the gospel. Eventually they lied about Stephen and he was arrested and taken before the High Priest to be judged.

Acts 7:2-53 is Stephen’s sermon to the High Priest and his accusers. The sermon caused an uproar among Stephen’s accusers and they cast him out of the city and began to stone him.

Stephen’s response to being stoned was, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). This was a form of a blessing. It would have been easy for Stephen to curse them and say, “Lord, judge them for what they are doing and send them all to hell” — but he didn’t. Instead, he blessed them and asked the Lord to have mercy on them.

One of the Pharisees who witnessed and encouraged Stephen’s death was the man who later became the Apostle Paul (see Acts 7:58 and 8:1).

Isn’t it interesting that the next time we hear of Saul he is on his way to Damascus to attack the church there? But on the road to Syria he had an encounter with the Lord Jesus and was converted.

I believe that the manner in which Stephen died and Stephen’s blessing had a great impact on Saul. That blessing subsequently assisted in opening the door for the worst terrorist of the day to become a Christ follower!

“Bless, love and pray for those who curse you and despitefully use you” (my paraphrase).

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 16:45:00 +0000

TRANSFORMED INTO A MAN OF GOD - 2

The apostle Peter teaches and encourages the church to stand fast in the face of persecution. In last week’s post we discussed the first two of five qualities that he listed in 1 Peter 3:8. They were unity and sympathy. If you missed reading last week’s post, you can go to Archives on the left side of the page and choose October and then the article Transformed Into A Man Of God.

As we continue looking at 1 Peter 3:8, we next come to the words “brotherly love.”

BROTHERLY LOVE

There are several words in the Greek for love but here Peter chose to use the word philadelphio, which is translated “brotherly love.” It is easy to see how the name of the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, came from this.

It is one thing for a group to be united but it’s something else for them to display love between themselves. We are to “love as brothers” because we are family.

I must admit that at times I don’t feel very comfortable saying that I love everybody but I know that I must. I doubt that there is one person reading this post who hasn’t been hurt by a fellow Christian. They may have offended you in some way by something that was said or done, and it left a bad taste in your mouth. But no matter what they have done, you are to love them as a brother.

Jesus said to His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34, ESV).

We are family!

Next we come to “tenderhearted.”

TENDERHEARTED

In the King James Version, the word that Peter used here was translated “be pitiful.” Somehow I don’t think the translators had in mind what today’s interpretation of that phrase is. Peter was saying to the church that we are to have kind thoughts towards each other; we are to be compassionate or tenderhearted toward each other.

Sometimes during times of stress I find myself becoming rather rigid/hard-hearted toward people I know. I guess it’s a type of defensive reaction. Peter is addressing the church during a time that it was going through severe persecution and was teaching them that they must not allow a hardness of heart to overtake them.

The great secret of maintaining a tender heart lies in our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was so strong and at the same time so tenderhearted — not because He knew so little but because He knew so much. He saw all that men had to bear and battle through. He never lost His tenderheartedness even in the darkness of going to the cross. Our staying in fellowship with Him will powerfully assist us in staying tenderhearted toward our brothers and sisters in the church.

Finally we come to “a humble mind.”

A HUMBLE MIND

Humility is the posture of every strong Christian. The seat of humility is in the heart/mind. It is not a gift we are given but a conscious choice of the follower of Christ.

First Peter 5:5: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

The word Peter chose here for opposes is a military term that means to resist or counter. In plain words, this tells us that God will have nothing to do with pride. This is not an isolated passage.

For thus says the high and lofty One
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
    and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
    and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15, RSV).

I have had the privilege of meeting some really great and well known men and women of God over the last fifty years and I can attest to the fact that all of the really great ones were humble. I don’t like some of what I see on Christian TV. I especially don’t like seeing some who brag about all they’ve done, all they have, and how great they are. The really humble ones don’t do that; they just do the work of God and give Him the glory.

We have personal control over these qualities Peter listed that we need in order to stand fast in times of great pressure and persecution. We choose to be in unity; we choose to flow in sympathy; we choose to be people of brotherly love; we choose to be tenderhearted; and we choose to be humble.

But will we?

A strong church happens only when individuals are strong, and they link arms with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

“United we stand, divided we fall.”

TRANSFORMED INTO A MAN OF GOD

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 11:14:00 +0000

One of the most fascinating transformations in the New Testament is that of Peter. A fisherman by trade, impetuous Peter was also a man hungry for a real relationship with God. His brother, Andrew, after encountering Jesus, went to him and said, “We have found the Messiah . . . and he brought him (Peter) to Jesus” (John 1:41-42).

The transformation in Peter was not instantaneous. He made a lot of mistakes and even denied that he was one of Jesus’s followers after boasting to Jesus, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33).

We get to see the transformation more clearly when, after the infilling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter preaches the first post-Pentecost sermon and three thousand were added to the infant church (see Acts 2:41).

Peter became one of the leading apostles of the early church. While he was not as widely used as the Apostle Paul, the change in him is most clearly seen in the depth of his writings to the church in what we know as First and Second Peter.

In his first epistle, Peter encourages and teaches a church under severe attack. This is not the lightweight teaching of someone who had a one-time experience with the Lord but then never matured as a man of God. What we read, in both epistles, is the writing of a man greatly matured in his spiritual life; he had learned from his mistakes and had become a man of God. Jesus had challenged Peter to become a shepherd to the church and in his letters we can see that Peter had, indeed, become that man, a shepherd of God’s people (see John 21:15-17).

In First Peter 3:8 we read:

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”

In the posts of this week and next, we will look briefly at the five different words that Peter is exhorting the church to understand and embrace as the people go through a very difficult time. These are just as important to us as we go through the encroaching darkness of the days ahead.

1. Unity

2. Sympathy

3. Brotherly love

4. A tender heart

5. Humility

We will look at the first two of these words today and the rest in next week’s post. Please be reminded that Peter is writing to encourage and equip the church that was under siege by the attacks of the world around it. Peter was helping the church to see and to do what it needed to in order to survive the troubled times it was in.

1. “Have unity of mind”

Why would Peter begin this list with the need for “unity”? He was with Jesus when He taught the disciples the need for unity. In Matthew 12:25, Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand” (see also Mark 3:24-25 and Luke 11:17).

Unity of mind doesn’t mean that we have to agree on every minor point of doctrine and church conduct. We agree on the major issues and agree to not let minor issues cause division. Some of my legalistic friends have occasionally rebuked me because over my years in the ministry, I have moved freely among all segments of the Evangelical and Protestant community. But I have chosen never to make an issue out of the minors.

Peter is imploring the church is be united in mind because “united we stand and divided we fall.”

2. “Sympathy”

In today’s world, sympathy carries the meaning of “shared feelings.” It allows us to casually say, “I sympathize with you on that.” That’s not the meaning of the word Peter chose to use that is translated for us as “sympathy.” Rather, the word he chose is an intense word that speaks of actually sharing in the suffering of a fellow believer.

Sympathy, as it is used here, demands action on our part — sharing in the needs of the other person. In other words, it means giving, or going, or doing something. It is not real biblical sympathy if it does not result an in action. Just as James said, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26), so sympathy without action is also dead.

Perhaps the reason so many contemporary churches are not really alive in the life and spirit of the Lord is because they are not following through and putting into action their sympathy. The church cannot just talk about prayer, or missions, or evangelism, it must follow through and engage with its talk. Perhaps understanding biblical sympathy will assist us in understanding why Christianity is in decline in America.

Next week we’ll carry on regarding 1 Peter 3:8.

HOW TO AVOID FALLING

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 12:01:00 +0000

Several years ago when I occasionally had a problem keeping my balance, I periodically used a cane. About a year ago I began using the cane all the time, as the balance problem had become worse. I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, which causes pain, numbness in the feet, and loss of balance. The doctor prescribed medicine to help alleviate the pain and sent me to see a neurologist.

I was told that most people with this type of neuropathy are diabetic but I am not. The neurologist explained that some forms of neuropathy have no known cause and also have no cure. Please don’t think the reason I am sharing is to get attention or sympathy, because I am not looking for either.

A lesson that I have relearned in the last several months has been how to avoid falling. I’ve learned this the hard way by taking several spills and ending up with some rather large bruises as well as numerous bloody scrapes and gashes.

I’ve found that in order to avoid falling, I must have a firm hold on something that is stable and strong. When I do what I know I should, I don’t fall; when I don’t do what I should then I get into trouble. By the way, several months ago I retired my cane and began using a walker to get around, as it provides me with much more stability.

The Bible has a lot to say about our being stable. Let me share with you just a little of what I have learned from my physical struggles and how it relates to our walk with God.

I am not using the word “falling” to suggest that one becomes unsaved. I am saying that when we don’t have a firm hold on what we should, we can lose our balance and end up in unnecessary difficulties as a result of our own laxity.

Just as Paul is getting ready to finish his first letter to the church at Corinth he says, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the last days your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church should have special meaning for us. Corinth was a pagan city with many of the same problems that are plaguing our society today. The new converts were coming out of this highly heathen community and Paul, who started the church, was helping the new believers learn how to live in victory. That’s what he is talking about in the verse we just read.

What does the word steadfast mean? Steadfast as it is used here means to be marked by firm determination, to be unshakable, to be firm.

How do we become steadfast? Let me just give you one verse of Scripture to chew on.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

After I began using the walker, I read the Proverbs 3 where says, “Do not lean on your own understanding.” I began laughing at myself as I thought about my arrogance in thinking that I did not need any help — and especially thinking that I would never need a walker. Carrying a cane is not too bad, as it can look rather aristocratic. But a walker? Babies use walkers! And, well, as you now know, so do I. And there goes my pride on that one.

The word acknowledge in verse 6 is really important for all of us to grasp. Our contemporary use of the word is to draw attention to something or to affirm the existence of something. But to think that is the meaning of the word here is totally wrong. The core of the meaning in Hebrew is from the word yada, which means to know, to know face to face, to know intimately (e.g., a married couple).

And here is the promise for those who acknowledge Him: “He will make your paths straight.” The word straight means to make level/smooth, to be upright (in contrast to fallen).

I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of our personal relationship with Him. It’s deadly to fall out of a daily time of communion with Him in prayer and in His Word. It’s in the simplicity of our personal contact with Him that we find ourselves in touch with the one thing in our universe that is fully stable — and it’s not a government; it’s not a leader; it’s not gold or silver. There is only one fully stable Person to hold on to and that is God.

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you” (Isaiah 42:6).

BOTH CANDIDATES ARE DISGUSTING

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 10:57:00 +0000

I came across the following quote a few days ago:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury, with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to great courage
From courage to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to selfishness
From selfishness to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy to dependency
From dependency back into bondage (Alexander Fraser Tytler)

I am deeply burdened for our nation. I believe we are in the last part of the sequence that Professor Tytler laid out. In addition, Christianity is under attack and on the decline in America. Terrorism is on the rise. Islam is about to make its presence very strongly felt in our land. In the midst of all of the above, we are in the most contentious presidential election this country has ever seen. Many evangelical Christians are shaking their heads about who to vote for. Both candidates are, to my view, disgusting! But we must carefully consider the issues at stake . . . and vote!

I have taken my concerns before the Lord and will continue to do so, not only because of the election, and I’m pleading with you to join with me in prayer for our nation. While in prayer the Lord reminded me of what he did through Daniel’s prayer for the Jews in captivity in Babylon.

Daniel was a man of God who knew how to keep his faith alive in extremely difficult circumstances. The Jews had been in captivity in Babylon for nearly seventy years and faced a troubling and uncertain future. Daniels prayer for the deliverance of his people in Daniel 9:3-19 is one of the best models of prayer for us, as our nation sinks into the madness of the end times.

The brevity of this blog allows me to touch only the highlights of this powerful, intercessory prayer. I would encourage all who are burdened for our churches, our nation, and our world to take time to read, meditate on and pray over this passage.

Daniel’s prayer is a model of how to pray for the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 to be fulfilled.

Verse 3 — “I set my face toward the Lord God” (NKJV). Daniel was determined to touch God with his prayer. To “set his face” means he was intent on achieving a specific result. He was going to pray through!

Verse 5 — “We have sinned and committed iniquity.” Daniel did not point fingers at others. He took ownership of the sin and iniquity of the people. I call this a “we” prayer and the use of “we” establishes that Daniel identified with his people; he did not point at them and say, “They are to blame, they have done wrong.”

Verse 6 — “We have not listened to the messengers [the prophets] you sent to bring your word” (my paraphrase). We heard the words but we did not do what Your word instructed us to do.

Verse 7 — “Righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face.” There is nothing arrogant or proud in Daniel’s prayer. This is the expression of the humility that God says He will respond to, the humility spoken of in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people . . . will humble themselves.”

Verse 10 — “We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord.” No excuses are being offered. “We are disobedient; we have taken the word of the Lord lightly and have not been obedient!”

Verse 12 — “He has confirmed His words.” Even in judgment God is faithful to His word — He promised that curses/judgment would come because of disobedience (Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28).

Verse 13 — “All this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God.” All that had happened to the Jews had not brought them to a place of prayer nor had they turned from their sinful and unfaithful ways. Are we any different?

Daniel then appeals for God’s intervention. Verses 16-19 are, I believe, the heart of Daniel’s prayer as he asks God for four things:

First, he asked that the Lord turn away His anger and wrath from Jerusalem (verse 16).
Second, Daniel asked that a new day of blessing would come for His temple: “Cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary” (verse 17).
Third, Daniel appealed to the Lord to open both His ear and His eye to the desolation (spiritual dryness) of the people. Daniel appeals to God for mercy and acknowledges the lack of righteousness among the people (verse 18).
Fourth, Daniel calls on the Lord to forgive His people and to take action to return them to their land, to the city of Jerusalem and to the temple (verse 19).

The church of today is looking for the fulfillment of 2 Chronicles 7:14 without having to meet the conditions of the promise. We want the healing of the land without humility, without repentance, without prayer.

It is time for us to humble ourselves and ask God to forgive us for our failures and to extend His great mercy to our land. And if we will, He will!

THE LAST ACT OF A DYING MAN

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 11:22:00 +0000

Hebrews 11 is the “faith hall of fame.” The chapter begins with the classic definition of faith and then walks us down the hallway of fame with vignettes about some of the great heroes of faith displayed like portraits on the wall. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah and others are beautifully pictured and briefly sketched in a sentence or two that capture their acts of obedience and walk of faith. These brief reminders are there to encourage us and build our walk of faith.

Verse 21 has arrested me: “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff” (NKJ).

At first reading, this hardly seems like the kind of act to be included with Noah “building an ark,” Abraham “going out not knowing where he was going,” or Moses “leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea.” But there it is — in the midst of the “hall of fame” with all the others!

By the time Jacob’s life was at an end, his natural eyesight was gone, but his “faith sight” was crystal clear. When Joseph brought his sons in for the blessing of his father Jacob, Joseph carefully arranged his sons so that Jacob’s right hand (signifying the greater anointing and blessing) would be upon his firstborn and his left hand would be on the son born second. However, by the “eye of faith” Jacob knew that the second-born son was to be used by God in a greater way than his brother and so, even though blind, he crossed his hands and laid his right hand on the second born and the left on his older brother. Both grandsons were blessed but not in the order that tradition dictated.

The Scripture says that after blessing his grandsons, Jacob leaned on his staff and worshiped. This phrase is difficult to translate from the original. It probably does not mean that Jacob literally stood up, leaned on his walking stick, and worshiped. Most likely it means that he lay back on his bed and worshiped. Frankly, exactly how it happened is immaterial. What is really important to understand is that Jacob valued his relationship with God so strongly that he went out of this life, and into eternity, worshiping. The last act of a dying man was to worship his God!

What does this say to us about the value of worship? Authentic worship is not about us, it is all about Him. Authentic worship is an act of faith, not a declaration of war, not an assertion of rights, not a condemnation of the devil . . . it is an act of faith as we express praise and adoration to God. Trite little songs and poems about dancing and jumping, about exercising our dominion and our rights, are hardly worship; at best they are expressions of pleasure and joy in serving Jesus. Authentic worship is not a performance; instead, it is a humble and unrestrained act of adoration of the Creator. Real worship is totally focused on Him and has nothing at all to do with me or you or anybody else!

What does it say to us that the final act of a dying man is worship? I believe this act of faith shows us how deeply Jacob valued his relationship with God. Jacob had gone through some very serious challenges in his life and he had seen God provide for him and his family in miraculous ways. He knew the pain of being lied to by his sons after they had conspired to kill their brother Joseph. He knew the terrifying pain of believing that he had lost one son only to find out that another had been taken hostage by the Egyptians.

Jacob thought Joseph was dead, but he later saw God’s magnificently sovereign plan being unfolded by Joseph’s advance entrance into Egypt. Jacob had seen the extremes of life, the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. He easily could have chosen to finish life as a cynical and beaten man, but instead he chose to finish his life in an act of faith, an act of worship. Maybe Jacob, in this act of faith, one more time slowly pushed himself up from his bed, and one last time took up his walking stick. Slowly, so slowly, he pushed himself upright in defiance of his age and infirmity and, using his staff for balance, begin to magnify the Lord with the verbal sacrifice of praise and worship. I can almost hear the tired voice of Jacob as he begins to worship and give praise to the Almighty!

I like that imagery — it is a picture that belongs in the “faith hall of fame.” May we all learn to walk by faith as worshipers of El Shaddai/The Almighty!

THE ROCK

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 11:52:00 +0000

We are living in a highly volatile and chaotic world. The apostle Paul wrote that the last days would be “perilous” (2 Timothy 3:1). The word Paul used for perilous in the Greek means difficult, fierce, hard to live with. The only other time this Greek word is used in the New Testament is in Matthew 8:28 where it describes a demon-possessed man as being “fierce.”

A few days ago, as Carol and I were watching the evening national news, a report came on about another random shooting spree with eight or nine people injured. I remarked to Carol that all this senseless violence seems to be demonically inspired.

Early this morning as I was praying and thinking about our chaotic world, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a passage of Scripture that I believe contains truth for us to lay hold of in these troubling times.

David’s journey to becoming the king of Israel takes him from the solitude of being a shepherd to the battlefield with Goliath; to becoming a celebrity; to the palace of the king; to running for his life from Saul, who wanted him dead. Once he became king, David’s life was far from quiet and subdued. He was very human and made serious mistakes but he always repented and reached out to God and expressed his love for the Father.

One of the most beautiful expressions of David’s love for the Lord is found in Psalm 18:1-3 and in the parallel passage, 2 Samuel 22:1-4. David penned these words in gratitude as he thanked the Lord for protecting and delivering him from his enemies, including King Saul, who had attempted to have David killed.

“I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies” (Psalm 18:1-3, ESV).

When I see repetition, as on the word rock in verse two, my curiosity kicks in and I have to try to understand what the writer was saying. In this case, the best way for me to grasp the meaning was to go to the original language (Hebrew) and see the meaning for these words.

The two uses of the word rock in verse 2 are different in the Hebrew and each is rich with understanding for us. Each word expresses an aspect of God’s protection and character that is just as meaningful for us today as it was for David.

The first use of the word rock (cela) suggests the idea of security, shelter, concealment.

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.”

David was forced to run from the assassins of Saul for seven years. After a number of attempts to hide, David and the men with him finally ended up secure in a cave called the Cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1). In fact, David was so well hidden there that when Saul and his army passed by the cave opening, they had no idea that David and his men were inside.

This is a picture of the safety of grace that becomes ours when we put our life fully into the love and care of God through Jesus Christ.

In the second part of Psalm 18:2, David exclaims, “My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge.”

This second use of the word rock is taken from the Hebrew word suri and suggests the idea of being strong and immovable, a large mass of rock. The use of the word here is borrowed from Deuteronomy 32:4:

“The Rock (suri), his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”

And Isaiah 26:4:

“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock (suri).”

This second use of the word rock in Psalm 18:2 speaks of more than a hiding place; it speaks of a bedrock foundation, a mass of rock on which a building can be safely built.

Jesus gives us a word picture of being anchored to bedrock in Luke 6:47-48 when He says:

“Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.”

He is my Rock—and I love Him—and I trust Him—and my life is built on Him! He is our Rock for the days in which we live. He is our shelter and we are anchored by our sure foundation!

HARVEST RAIN

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 11:56:00 +0000

Is there going to be a last-days revival, a last-days outpouring of His Spirit that will touch the whole world?

Ever since I was a boy I’ve heard evangelists and pastors say that the last-days revival was right around the corner and we would see it soon — very soon.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Charismatic Renewal was often referred to as a significant part of the “last-days” outpouring that was promised in Joel 2:28-32 and Acts 2:17-21. A few years later the Jesus Movement began and again came the declaration, “This is it! This is really it.”

And now, here we are nearly fifty years later. True, there have been some wonderful moves of God’s Spirit in the land but there is currently no national revival in America. The Charismatic Renewal is over and the Jesus Movement was absorbed into the mainstream evangelical church. In truth, Christianity in America is now declining, while it is growing rapidly in other parts of the world. The percentage of the population of the U.S. that attends church grows smaller every year, and every year America becomes more secular and atheistic.

So what are we supposed to believe? Are we in the last days? Is there now going to be an outpouring?

We need to stop basing our thinking on what we hear said on a TV program, or on radio, or through any other form of media. We need to base our understanding and belief totally on what God says in His Word.

A theme that is repeatedly referred to in the Old Testament, and again in the New Testament, is that two rains were vital for a successful harvest — the former (first) rain and the latter rain.

The growing season for grain crops in Israel is different from what it is here in North America. In Israel, wheat was planted in the fall and harvested in the spring. The first rain was needed after the seeds were planted to cause them to germinate. The latter rain was needed just before the spring harvest to cause the grain to ripen and to insure a bountiful harvest.

“Let us live in awe of the Lord our God,
for He gives us rain each spring (the latter rain) and fall (the first rain),
assuring us of a harvest when the time is right” (Jeremiah 5:24, NLT).

Most theologians (which I most assuredly am not) believe the “former/first rain” was the outpouring of God’s Spirit at Pentecost. The first rain watered the Word in the early church and brought about the initial spread of the church throughout the world.

The latter rain, in the natural, was needed to ripen the grain and insure a good harvest — and so it will be in the last days.

Are we going to see the “latter rain” here in America?

I believe we are!

“Ask the Lord for rain in the spring,

for He makes the storm clouds.
And He will send showers of rain
so every field becomes a lush pasture” (Zechariah 10:1, NLT).

The spring rain was the latter rain, which brought about the final ripening of the grain and insured a bountiful harvest.

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah had just triumphed over the prophets of Baal. It had been dry in Israel for 42 months — not a drop of rain. First Elijah said to the evil King Ahab, “I hear the sound of a heavy (abundant) rain” (see 1 Kings 18:41).

Elijah then went to prayer and asked God for rain. Six times he sent his servant to look and see if there were any rain clouds in the heavens. And six times the servant returned to say, “Not a cloud in the sky.”

Finally, after looking the seventh time, the servant said to Elijah, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”

Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him to go back home. Tell him if he doesn’t hurry, the rain will stop him!” (see 1 Kings 18:44).

Let me finish this brief article by saying, in the patience of faith and in my understanding of the Word of God, “I hear the sound of the harvest (latter) rain!”

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains” (James 5:7, ESV).

LIVING LETTERS

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 11:18:00 +0000

“Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:1-3, NKJV).

It was a common practice in the early church to give letters of introduction and recommendation to missionaries and traveling ministers. A false prophet or a false apostle could travel from city to city, receive support from the church, and spread false doctrine simply by saying, “I am a friend of Paul” or “Paul sent me.” To make it more difficult for this to happen, Paul and others in leadership began issuing letters of recommendation to those who were traveling.

Paul wrote this letter of Second Corinthians from Macedonia about five years after his first visit to Corinth. While in Macedonia, and apparently in response to a challenge to his leadership, Paul says to the Corinthians, “I don’t need a letter of recommendation written on paper; you are my letter of recommendation. Everyone can see what God has done; your lives are seen and known by all men. You are a living epistle of God’s love and grace.” Paul had a right to make this claim because he was the apostle/missionary who established this church in the midst of a very pagan and immoral city.

What an incredible point Paul is making here—that for many people in the world, the Bible they first see is the life of a believer being lived out in front of them. And what a challenge this is to us as we come to grips with the reality that our lives are being looked at as a living testament of the work of God. I can honestly say that I rarely feel like I am a Bible, a living letter. Being very aware of who I am and what I am, most of the time I feel more like the tattered dust cover on the book than the book itself.

In verse three, Paul says, “Clearly you are an epistle of Christ.” I believe that what he was saying is, “You are what you are because of the work of Christ in your lives. I was simply an instrument that God used to bring you to Christ. The Holy Spirit was the pen and ink that God used to write this new life on the paper of your heart and cause you to become a Living Letter that openly witnesses to God’s great love and grace.” Based on the way Paul penned these words, I cannot help but wonder if he also realized that this was a work in progress. It was an epistle that was continuing to be written; the work was not yet done.

I am challenged by the magnificence of Paul’s metaphor as he likens the life of the believer to a living epistle. I am also challenged with the thought, “How do I live up to this ideal? How do I do this in a way that people actually see me as a living example of why Christ came and gave His life?”

Clearly this is a challenge; clearly it is something we are going to have to work at in order to achieve; clearly there is a lot of room for growth.

Jesus gives us one of the most important keys to our growth as a Living Letter when He says “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

There is an old Scottish saying that I used to hear my grandmother and my mom use, “The proof of the pudding is in the tasting.” This is not a bad idea to keep locked away in the back of your mind. If someone takes a look at my life, what is he going to see? Will he see a life that points him to Christ or some other direction? Will the life he sees be one that encourages him to want more? The best evangelists of all are not the men and women who stand on stages in front of big crowds but those who lean on the fence and talk to their neighbors.

LIVING IN THE SHADOW

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 12:36:00 +0000

In 1998 Carol and I moved to New York City to spend a year overseeing a special evangelism project at the request of a ministry we were assisting. Our apartment was four blocks south of the World Trade Center, directly “in the shadow” of the Twin Towers.

More than once Carol asked me, “What would happen to our apartment if those towers ever came down?”

I blithely replied, “But that could never happen; those buildings are engineered to withstand all kinds of weather, earthquakes, and explosions. They will never fall down!”

In ancient times the word shadow held a stronger, more ominous meaning than our current usage does and, in fact, the word exercised a superstitious influence upon people. In some cultures it was thought that if a person’s shadow was trampled upon, that person would suffer injury. This superstition grew from the belief that the shadow was a reflection of the soul. In some parts of Asia, everyone attending a funeral would leave before the casket was closed because they feared that a portion of their shadow might get caught in the casket. Superstition said that if any part of your shadow was trapped in a casket, sickness and ill health would follow.

We are given a glimpse of the superstitious aspects of the word in Jewish culture in Acts 5:15, where it says, “They even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them” (ESV).

Whether or not God used the superstitious thinking of the people as an occasion for miracle healing is hotly debated, and it is difficult to prove one way or the other from this passage. Personally, I believe that God did a “special” miracle in this instance, as He later did through Paul, and many were healed (see Acts 19:11-12).

The word shadow also spoke of the influence or power that a leader or a person carried with him in the society where he lived. To live under the shadow of a ruler/leader meant that you were being covered by all the might, power, and influence that belonged to the person in authority.

In Psalm 91:1 the Psalmist declares, “He who dwells in the shelter (secret place) of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

The last part of this verse is a promise to the person who chooses to make his relationship/communion with God a priority of his or her life. The person who chooses to honor God with all parts of his life — his private life, his personal life, his vocational life — is the recipient of a powerful promise. I call it “living in the shadow.” The promise is that we will live within or under the influence of God’s all-sufficient power.

The term used in this verse — “the Almighty” — in the Hebrew is Shaddai. El Shaddai is commonly known as one of the names used throughout the Old Testament to reveal the character of God. Each of the names of God in the Old Testament served to express another aspect of His character. El Shaddai indicates the richness and fullness of God’s grace, His readiness to pour out His mercies on His children — merices that He is more ready to give than we are ready to receive.

In Hebrew the word shaddai also means “the breast,” as speaking of a nursing mother. It is meant to convey the understanding that the same way a mother’s milk is completely sufficient for a newborn, El Shaddai’s sufficiency is more than enough for us as we draw on it.

We are not to live or dwell in the shadow of superstitious thinking. We are to fully embrace the understanding that we are a part of the family of God and, as such, we live under the influence or shadow of Him. We did not deserve to live in this relationship but He took us into His family and made us one of His children. As His children, we live under His protection, provision, and sufficiency.

God is the Shepherd and we are the sheep; we live in His pasture and He takes care of “all our needs.” He is a good and loving shepherd. Charles Spurgeon, the great British pastor, wrote about this phrase and said: “The Almighty Himself is where His shadow is, and hence those who dwell in His secret place are protected by Him. What a shade in the day of noxious heat! What a refuge in the hour of deadly storm! Communion with God is safety.”

Welcome to “living in the shadow.”

SURROUNDED AND SAFE

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 11:45:00 +0000

“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Psalm 34:7).

A few weeks ago I wrote about “comfort food” and how the Word of God brings comfort to us in time of need. I referred to those passages of Scripture that become “oases” of comfort to us, the ones we find ourselves returning to over and over because of the comforting/healing/encouraging that we find there.

This past week I found myself returning to one of the passages that I referred to in the aforementioned article, one of my personal “comfort” passages. I went to Psalm 34 and began to draw on the wonderful healing and strengthening ministry of this precious psalm.

David wrote this psalm at a time of tremendous pressure in his life. His popularity with the people had caused King Saul to become insanely jealous, so jealous that he tried to kill David. David fled with Saul’s mercenaries in hot pursuit and his flight took him into the territory of the Philistines, who were Israel’s mortal enemies. While Saul was jealous of David, the Philistines were distrustful and wanted nothing to do with him. So David fled from them and ended up hiding in a cave where this psalm was written.

David may have been rejected and his life threatened but he knew that God loved him. As he contemplated God’s love, out of his heart flowed this amazing psalm that begins, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).

Doesn’t really sound like someone who has let pressure get the best of him, does it?

As I drank in these encouraging words, my whole outlook on life began to change. I got to verse 7 and the words of the verse just seemed to come alive through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I knew God was speaking comfort and peace to me through this portion of His Word“.

"The angel of the Lord”. We don’t know exactly what David meant when he used the phrase, “The angel of the Lord.” Was he referring to God’s presence surrounding him or was he referring to angels sent by God to protect him? Both of these are true. Psalm 91 tells us that God protects us and 2 Kings 6:17 is part of the amazing story of Elisha’s servant seeing the vast armies of angels that are around God’s people.

“The angel of the Lord encamps around.” We don’t use the words “encamps around” in our everyday vocabulary. The simple meaning is “completely surrounded.” I think this is important to understand. This verse is saying that we are totally surrounded by God’s protection.

This protection is not offered to everyone who claims to be a child of God. The next phrase in the verse tells us that it is available only to those who “fear Him.” The word fear means “to show respect and reverence.”

The fear of the Lord is the trigger that releases the protection of the Lord. No reverence—no respect—means no protection. It doesn’t mean that the person who claims to be a Christian but shows little or no respect for the standards of Christian behavior as outlined in Scripture, is not saved. But it does mean that he or she will not be living in the blessing of the Lord as they should be.

When the Jewish nation was in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, they had very strict instructions on how their “camps” should be set up as they traveled. The Tabernacle was always in the center of the camp and then the tribes were aligned in a square around the Tabernacle (where the presence of the Lord dwelt).

The picture of the camp is a wonderful metaphor of our spiritual life and journey. We know that we are on a journey and that our permanent dwelling is not here but in heaven. While we wait for that day to arrive, we are doing His pleasure here and we are under His protection throughout the journey. God is the center of our life and all that we do. Because we have established our camp according to His instructions, we know we are surrounded by His protection, and therefore sin and evil cannot penetrate.

Elisha’s servant went outside one morning and saw that Elisha’s dwelling was surrounded by the army of Syria who had come to take him captive. The servant cried out in fear, “What are we going to do?” Elisha responded, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than they who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16) and then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he might see.” The Lord opened the eyes of the servant and he saw the vast army of angels that surrounded Elisha’s home. The angel of the Lord was “encamped around” Elisha’s home!

“Please, Lord, open our eyes of understanding that we are comforted with the encamping of the angel of the Lord around our life.”

The Hardest Part Of Faith

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 11:15:00 +0000

I flirted with jogging for several years when I was in my twenties but was never consistent about it. Even though I wanted to be faithful, something always got in the way. I started jogging seriously in 1974 when we moved from Dallas, Texas, to Chatsworth, California, the Los Angeles area where I had taken the position of Executive Vice President of an international missions organization. I learned to love to run in the late afternoon after a full day in the office.

I normally got to the office about 7 a.m. and tried to get home around 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon. Whether I was home, on the road, or even in a foreign country, being outside and jogging for 30 or 40 minutes was something I looked forward to. The exercise and fresh air helped me relax and clear my head from a day full of meetings or just old-fashioned busyness!

Jogging doesn’t require a lot of equipment. A good pair of running shoes, socks, shorts and a T-shirt and I was ready. Oh, yes, there was one other piece of equipment: my trusty $15 Timex sports watch. I loved that little watch because they had named it Ironman and when I put that watch on, that was me; in fact, I still have it!

At home, I liked to run a predetermined route and I always had several paths of different lengths that I could follow, depending on how I felt. I would warm up and start jogging, and then choose which route I would take: the two-mile route, the three-mile, etc.

As I was finishing my run, a strange discussion would take place in my head. Up ahead I would see the invisible finish line that meant I had completely run my path. My mind would start cajoling me with little statements like, “There’s the finish line; you can stop running now and walk the rest of the way.” Or, “You’re getting too old for this (I was thirty!); your heart is pounding, you’re sweating, your legs are tired. You can quit now; you don’t have to run the last 200 or 300 yards!” Or, “There’s nobody around. Who will know if you quit now? What difference does it make?” Almost every day during the last few minutes, the last half mile was always the hardest to run. I ran consistently for nearly 25 years and, true to form, my mind never gave up trying to convince me to quit early, to slow down just before I got to the finish line.

When Paul was writing to Timothy, his son in the gospel, in 2 Timothy 4:7, he says: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Paul knew that his life was nearly complete as he penned these words to this young man he loved so much. I think one of the things very much on his mind was the satisfaction that he did not quit short of the goal. He didn’t stop running the race a half mile early because there was no one to witness his going across the finish line, or because of the intensity of the persecution. Paul was setting a standard for Timothy and others to follow.

I am indebted to David Wilkerson for a very brief chapter he wrote nearly 50 years ago in a little devotional-style book entitled I’M NOT MAD AT GOD. In a chapter entitled “The Faith of Giants,” David wrote, “Can a man still speak the language of faith when all his leadings ‘blow up’ in his face? The giants of faith did! Men of faith faced the most fiery trials. God has peculiar ways of developing faith, and the deeper in God you go, the more peculiar will be your testing. Do not think that afflictions are necessarily proof that you are displeasing Him! Miracles are produced only amidst impossibilities. The most critical part of faith is the last half hour.”

God wants us to finish the race well. No one said it is going to get any easier. With the Apostle, I want to be able to say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

The hardest part of faith is the last half mile!

“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you might receive what is promised” (Hebrews 10:36, ESV).

COMFORT FOOD

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 13:23:00 +0000

I have to confess that I like comfort food! When life is treating me harshly, I counter the attack by raising up a barrier of comfort food. I have discovered a defensive shield that can only be found in a good cup of coffee and several oatmeal raisin cookies. This simple pleasure seems to blunt the sharp edge of the attack and has a calming effect on me—in fact, my whole outlook on life improves.

To my great delight I found that the Bible talks rather favorably about comfort food.

“Now, Dave, don’t stray too far from orthodoxy,” some will say.

Well, unbeliever, let me prove the point to you. In Genesis 18, three angels from the Lord appear to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham, ever the gracious host, rushes to the angels and extends an invitation of hospitality to them, saying, “And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh [comfort/strengthen] your hearts” (Genesis 18:5).

So there you have it! Comfort food is validated by no less than Abraham—and witnessed to by three angels! So, why are we talking about comfort food? Because there are times when we all need comfort, to be refreshed. And, frankly, I am delighted to know that the Bible has a lot to say about comfort, because I seem to need it frequently.

Here are two passages of Scripture that speak of the ministry of comfort available to us through His Word.

“Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). The rod represents the Word and the staff represents the Holy Spirit. Both the Word and the Holy Spirit continue to be agents of comfort to us.

“That we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

Another day I will write about the Holy Spirit, the Comforter (paraklete), and one additional agent of comfort the Lord has provided for us, but today let’s think just about the comfort that the Word of God brings.

Do you have any favorite passages that encourage and minister to you each time you read them? Do you visit those passages over and over? When troubles rise up and it seems difficult to get into your regular pattern of Bible reading, do you find yourself drawn to passages that ring with familiarity?

When you begin to move toward those familiar passages, do you ever hear an accusatory voice saying, “Don’t do that, you’ve read that a hundred times. You don’t need to do that again.” That is not the voice of the Lord nor is it your own spirit talking. What you are hearing is the voice of the enemy attempting to short-circuit you. Our enemy does not want you to receive God’s comfort; he wants to keep you away from God’s provision so he lies and accuses. The enemy wants you miserable and uncomfortable so he can trick you into a mistake. Stick your finger in the enemy’s eye by going straight to the passage and letting God’s Word minister comfort and strength to you!

I have a number of passages that I go to when the heat is on. Early in my life I was deeply ministered to by Psalm 34 (especially verses 4-7) and I have gone there dozens of times over the years.

Jeremiah chapter one is the passage I was reading when God called me into His service and I have returned to drink at that well more times than I can count. I have a special affinity for both of Paul’s letters to Timothy and have read, studied and preached from both of the books over and over.

Recently I have spent a lot of time in Psalm 37 and have received great encouragement from this chapter. There are other “comfort stations” for me in the Scriptures such as Psalm 23, Psalm 91 and the first chapter of Joshua. All the passages I have referred to, and their application to me, are what I believe Paul was referring to in Romans 15:4 when he spoke of the “comfort of the Scriptures.”

While the focus of this short devotional has been on comfort, I think it fitting that we end with the understanding of why Paul penned this word in Romans 15:4:

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (King James Version).

The patience (endurance) and comfort that come to us through Scripture is that we might have hope. In a previous article I wrote at length about the biblical meaning of hope. Briefly stated, the Bible word hope has been defined as “the confident expectation that as God has worked for His people in the past, so He will again, for me!”

So that we “might have hope”!

BLESSED IS THE MAN

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 13:37:00 +0000

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers” (Psalm 1:1, ESV).

I love the Psalms and Psalm 1 is one that I read often and find comforting and meaningful.

I believe the intent of the first verse is to convey the understanding that God’s blessing is on the person who sincerely desires to follow the Lord in all areas of his/her life. It is easy to get caught up in the meaning of “sit,” “stand,” or “walk” and miss the overriding statement about the blessing of God on the life of the committed follower.

Verse 2 - “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Verse two tells us from where the “blessed” person derives his strength and purpose; he finds them by continually feeding on God’s Word. I think we misunderstand the second part of the verse if we read it to mean that we have to be constantly thinking about and reading scripture. Meditation as referred to in scripture is often meant to be a reminder to frequently go back and feed on a particular verse or passage.

Verse 3 - “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

Verse three shows us the result of person who is honestly trying to follow the Lord and values God’s Word enough to immerse (soak) himself in it. This kind of person, scripture says, has put down roots. When a tree has deep roots, it doesn’t matter all that much what is going on above the surface of the ground — there could be drought, famine, plagues, Democrats, rain, hail, snow, earthquakes — it really doesn’t matter because his roots are deep and they keep him anchored, nourished and standing when all hell is breaking loose.

Don’t get lost in the meaning of the word prosper; it is very culturally western to immediately think of financial success. I am not trying to diminish that but instead to bring a balance. The prosperity that the Psalmist is speaking of has to do with continued growth, advancement and success in life.

Verses 4-5 - “The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”

Verses four and five are contrast verses. They contrast the life of the “blessed” person with the life of one who is simply pursuing life for all he can get out of it with no thought of God and His plan for his life. The Bible says these are the wicked.

Verse 6 - “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

“The Lord knows the way of the righteous.” The Hebrew word that is used here for “knows” is the word YADA. The meaning of this word is very rich . . . it is trying to convey the level of intimacy of a husband and wife relationship from which new life is conceived. To put this in practical terms, this verse means that God is not distant from us but is intimately aware of and interested in every aspect of the journey of your life.

“The way” is the whole journey of our lives . . . from start to finish. Psalm 139:13-16 teaches us that God puts together the strands of our lives like a weaver choosing variously colored threads to bring to life a multi-colored tapestry. God is vitally interested in every aspect of our journey.

“The righteous” means us. There is nothing you and I can do in our selves to be righteous but we must accept Christ’s work on our behalf and because we have done that, God says that we are then made righteous. God doesn’t do it because of us, He does it out of mercy (grace).

Jeremiah 17:7-8 is a message very similar to what is being conveyed in Psalm 1. It reads:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

“Whose trust is the Lord”

Trust is the outgrowth of a relationship. Young children trust their fathers because they are the recipients of his love and care. This passage is all about our relationship with God and the fruitfulness that comes because we willingly draw close to Him. The closer we draw to Him, the more fruitful our lives become. As we grow in “trusting the Lord,” we are likened to a tree that “does not cease to bear fruit.”

FACING OUR FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 13:34:00 +0000

“Do not be afraid (terrified), nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

The word of the Lord to Joshua, just as he was about to step out into the plan of God for him, was “do not be frightened (afraid or terrified).”

Fear can sometimes have a paralyzing effect. What we don’t know or can’t see will sometimes cause us to stop or pause our forward movement and the Lord was speaking to that.

To be dismayed means that we have allowed fear to terrify us and break us down, causing us to become confused and ineffective.

Fear sometimes gets a bad name. There is good and bad fear. Some Christians believe that if you are really “in the Spirit” or really “exercising faith,” you will never experience fear but that’s not totally right.

We are instructed in Scripture to “fear the Lord,” which means to “be in awe” of Him, to be “reverent.” And that’s good fear. I believe we don’t have enough reverence in the church right now; in fact, church services have become so casual that it’s almost embarrassing at times.

Another good fear is one that I possess: I don’t particularly like climbing up on high ladders or standing on the edge of a roof.

For years I had an inordinate fear of the devil. I feared that he could come and take me over at any moment and there was nothing I could do about it. It was an irrational fear but real, nonetheless.

When I was young, a very famous healing evangelist came to our church. During the healing service, a woman went on the platform and the evangelist announced to the crowd that she was possessed by a demon. He then told us that he was going to cast the demon out of her and informed us that if we were not in the right spiritual attitude, the demon would go out of her and into us. Sure enough, as soon as he prayed for the woman, a person in the balcony began screaming and the evangelist and the pastor hurried into the crowd and prayed for him.

In my young mind, two things were happening. The first was that I had no clue as to what the right spiritual attitude was. The second was that I saw God and the devil in a wrestling match and some days God won and some days the devil won. My fear was compounded by the ignorance of the evangelist who did not properly handle this prayer of deliverance. From then on, I had an unfounded fear that at any moment the devil could take advantage of me just as he did that innocent person sitting in the balcony of the church.

It was not until later in life that I was able to understand the truth that the devil and God are not on the same footing. The devil is not sovereign; he is not everywhere; he is not all-powerful; and he is not knowledgeable about all things. The devil is a liar and a deceiver; he is a master of manipulation and trickery — and the devil is not God! When this truth settled in my spirit, my fear went away and has never returned.

Much of our concern and fear of the future comes because of what we don’t know. God’s commitment is to walk with us into our future. He will be our guide and our companion! We are instructed to hold fast to Him as we step into the unknown!

God’s promise to us is, “I (God, the sovereign creator of the universe) will be with you at all times; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

This is an important truth to embrace and it is stated emphatically in Joshua 1 verse 5, and again in verse 9.

The Psalmist David understood this truth and captures its meaning for us in Psalm 23:4:

“Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.” (NLT)

We step into our future with confidence, knowing that God is with us. We hold fast to the One who knows exactly where we are going and how to get there!

Jesus repeated this powerful promise to His disciples just before His ascension when He said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

As we face the uncertainty of tomorrow in a chaotic world, our tomorrow may be unknown to us but it is not to Him, and His promise to us is, “I am with you always.”

PROSPERITY AND SUCCESS

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 18:37:00 +0000

“Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:7- 8, NKJV).

The terms “prosper, prosperous and success” are prominently used in verses 7 and 8. Equating these terms primarily to affluence, influence and/or money is a very Western/American point of view. Over the last several decades, whole theological positions have come to prominence that are more influenced by Western culture than they are appropriately balanced or founded on strong biblical principles.

Does God take care of His people? Yes, He does! Psalm 23:1 and Psalm 37:25 make it very plain that He cares for His children. Does God promise to make His people rich? Does He promise that they will have big houses, drive fancy cars, and wear expensive clothes? No, He doesn’t! There is nothing wrong with any of that but this is not the predominant promise of scripture, and those things are not guaranteed to anyone.

What do these verses mean then when they talk about success and prosperity?

When trying to interpret a scripture, it is always helpful to look at the larger context of what was happening at the time the portion of scripture was written. In this chapter, Joshua was being established in his leadership role and the nation was being prepared for their future. The prosperity and success spoken of in these verses has to do with their crossing into the Promised Land — into their future.

Secondly, it is helpful to understand the meaning of the Hebrew words that are used here and have been variously interpreted as prosper (verse 7), prosperous (verse 8), and success (verse 8).

The word prosper in verse 7 comes from the Hebrew word that means “to be circumspect, to be prudent, to act wisely.” This is a promise that God will bless His people with “wisdom.” I would rather be given wisdom than riches because a wise person will eventually translate that wisdom into affluence but an unwise person with riches will always be unwise and eventually will be broke.

It is never wrong to ask God for wisdom. “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 1:5-6).

Joshua 1:8 says, “For then you will make your way prosperous.” This is speaking of our journey of life, our “way” or path. The word used here for “prosperous” in the original language means “to advance, make progress, succeed, be profitable.” This is a promise that life is not going to be able to hold us back but as we are obedient and open to Him, we will move ahead, break out, and be successful as we follow His plan.

Verse 8 reads, “And then you will have good success.” The word used here for success is identical to the Hebrew word used for prosper in verse 7; the meaning is to “act prudently and with wisdom.”

What an interesting and thought-provoking flow there is in these scriptures. As I see it, what the Lord is saying is, “Ask for the right thing — ask for wisdom. Wisdom will get you on the right path and keep you there. Moments of breakout, of advance for you, will come. As you are centered in Me and are keeping My Word in you, My wisdom will continue to flow in you and will protect your forward progress.”

Remember that Joshua was being installed as the leader of a nation. God spoke to him about his “way” or his “journey.” What we learn from this is that the principles God was establishing for Joshua are also true for us. God will give us wisdom and will teach us how to draw on Him and His Word for wisdom. Wisdom will get us and keep us on the right road to success in our life’s journey.

Success is a relative term. To one person it may mean having enough to eat and a dry place to sleep. To others, success means having a good job, a nice home and money in the bank. Success to the child of God cannot be measured by material possessions, bank accounts, or academic degrees. To a child of God, success means fulfilling God’s plan for his or her life. Joshua stepped boldly into God’s plan for him and it is recorded in Joshua 11:23: “So Joshua took the entire land.”

EAT YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS!

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 11:13:00 +0000

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8, ESV).

This verse is a declaration of the availability of success as we step into our future — if we will hear and do what God is saying! This was the heart of God’s instructions to Joshua to make him a succcessful leader as he led the Jewish people into their future.

The Book of the Law was the Word of the Lord that had been given up to that time. This week we will talk briefly about the place of the Word of the Lord in our lives. Next week we’ll discuss “success and prosperity.”

I love the Word! Seeing the priority my father placed on the Word in his life has a lot to do with my appreciation of the Word and its place in my life. My dad began almost every day by spending time taking in the Word of God.

I don’t understand fully how the Word works in me — I just know it does. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active.”

I don’t really understand how a steer can eat grass and then end up on my plate in the form of a steak or a hamburger. The transition of grass to steak escapes me and, frankly, I am not going to pursue it. But the principle is the same with the Word; I don’t know exactly how it works its work in me, I just know that it does.

The Word of God is alive and full of the spiritual nourishment we need. When we consciously take in the Word, it works in us whether we realize it or not. I like the way the Amplified Bible speaks to this in 1 Thessalonians 2:13:

“And we also [especially] thank God continually for this, that when you received the message of God [which you heard] from us, you welcomed it not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its superhuman power in those who adhere to and trust in and rely on it].”

The word “effectually” in the Greek is energeo, from which we get our word energy. This passage is saying that the Word is “powerfully at work in us.” It speaks of God’s active work, through His Word, to change us, our thoughts and our behavior.

You don’t have to be a theologian to understand this. The key issue is that you put a value on the Word and that’s what I learned from my dad. Morning after morning as I came into the kitchen, I saw him sitting at the kitchen table with his Bible open in front of him. He was prioritizing his day by putting a value on the Word and its place in his life. My dad was not a pastor, he was in management at a large lumber company in Vancouver, B.C.

Honestly, there are some days I read the Bible and when I’m finished I’m not certain what I was supposed to get out of that passage. This used to bother me but not anymore and here’s why. My wife is a wonderful cook but not every single meal she prepares is a five-star culinary delight nor does it need to be. I know I need to eat a couple of times a day and if I don’t, then hunger and weakness starts to set in. So sometimes I eat something not because it’s a culinary delight but because I know I need to. I need to eat because I need to have the energy and nutritional value the food provides.

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth

In extremely simple terms, “the mouth” has two basic functions: inhaling and exhaling. We take in food, air, water through the mouth. We exhale used air and speak words through the mouth. This passage is telling us that we should be doing the same with the Word. We need to learn not only to be taking in the Word but also speaking it out through our confessions of faith, learning to pray the Word, and engaging in Word-filled worship.

It is my opinion that many Christians today have never learned to put a proper value on the Word. Fast food and occasional eating is not going to cut it if we are looking for full nutritional value. There are some extremely good daily reading guides available and a wonderful variety of translations, so there is really no excuse for not getting the Word into us.

The primary issue is that we establish the value/importance of the Word for ourselves. We tend not to put things into our mouth that we don’t value. Maybe we could entitle this devotional, “Eat your way into the future.”

IS OUR WORLD UNRAVELING?

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 16:41:00 +0000

Does it seem to you that things around us are unraveling more quickly than ever? I’m not talking about just the economy and international affairs but about how quickly the world around us changes. On Thursday, July 7, I went to bed without having checked the news on TV and didn’t know that our world had changed because of an event right here in my hometown. I’m speaking, of course, of the killing of five policemen and the wounding of nine more.

Dallas is reeling under the vicious impact of these senseless killings, and the impact has spread across our land. One of my longtime friends e-mailed me a few days ago and said what a lot of us are feeling about the shootings: the events are “so unsettling and frightening.”

As I have wrestled with my own feelings and what should be my focus as a Christian, as a father and grandfather, to what is going on around us, I have found myself frequently thinking of Daniel 1:8:

“Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.”

Daniel and his friends had been kidnapped and taken from their homes in Israel to live in Babylon and were being prepared for life in the court of Nebuchadnezzar.

There are two words in verse 8 that we need to be familiar with. The first is resolved, which is translated “purposed” in older versions of Scripture. The use of the word here means that Daniel had an opinion or a philosophy that was firm, well established, immovable. The second word is defile and it means to be polluted or stained.

Daniel’s resolve was not about food and wine. I repeat—this was not about food and drink but about the godless lifestyle that they were symbolic of. Daniel was not down on Nebuchadnezzar nor was he advocating a specific dietary structure. Daniel was making sure that he did not get entangled in a philosophy of life that would destroy his relationship with God.

I believe that Daniel’s resolve was birthed out of his concern: “How do I maintain my life with God while living in this pagan community?” The conclusion Daniel arrived at is valuable for us today.

While our society is unraveling and becoming more violent and volatile, it continues to become increasingly secular, and the invisible pollution of secularism intensifies. This is the air we breathe every day! How do we continue breathing this and not be polluted?

Daniel saw what was going on around him and came to a point of resolve. He and his friends chose to put the Lord first in everything, but that choice would not be without its challenges. Daniel ended up being thrown into a den of lions because he would not compromise his desire to honor God. His friends were thrown into the fireplace because they refused to worship at the feet of the prevailing idols of their day. However, all these young men experienced the protection of God that was released unto them because they chose to honor Him and put Him first in their lives.

Daniel and his friends continually saw the favor and blessing of the Lord upon their lives while they lived in Babylon. Their testimonies were not destroyed because they dwelt in a hostile environment; in fact, the opposite was true.

These Jewish immigrants lived their lives honorably and made an impact in the Babylonian culture. Nebuchadnezzar made this statement when the three Hebrews walked out of the fiery furnace unscathed: “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent His angel and delivered His servants, who trusted in Him,and set set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God” (Daniel 3:28, ESV).

I believe the key to Daniel’s success is found in Daniel 1:8. Had Daniel and his friends not made this commitment of spirit unto the Lord, there would have been no success in the fire pit. Instead, there would have been three kosher charcoal briquettes, Daniel would have been lunch for hungry lions, and the prophecies of Daniel would never have been written.

Daniel purposed/resolved to honor God as first in his life and it unleashed the plan of God for his life was unleashed. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33, ESV). When this Scripture speaks of “the kingdom of God,” it is referring to His kingly rule in our lives; “righteousness” means that we seek to do that which pleases Him. In response to this “resolve,” He pledges with covenant faithfulness to respond to the seeker. The toxic savagery of a world system falling apart cannot destroy the purpose for which God created you, and honoring Him and living fully in His plan for you brings His hand of grace and protection.

PATH OF CONFIDENCE PART 3

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 10:58:00 +0000

I WILL NOT LET YOU SINK!

“Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have success, wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-7, ESV).

A timeless technique used to get a point across is repetition. Not once or twice but three times in the first nine verses of Joshua 1, Joshua was told to be “strong and courageous.” These verses were God’s message for Joshua as he assumed leadership after the death of Moses, and God repeated these words to drive home the point. Apparently God felt that the quality of being strong and courageous needed to be emphasized and if it wasn’t understood and embraced, the results would be less than what was needed for victory.

The first mention of strength and courage is about leadership (verse 6). The courage to lead is vital; sometimes those who are called upon to lead don’t have the courage to do so and the results tend to be disastrous. I believe President George W. Bush had the courage to lead; in contrast, in my opinion President Bill Clinton did not, and he led by taking opinion polls and using his personal charisma. This is not courageous leadership. Courageous leadership will not always be popular but it will be true leadership.

The second emphasis on courage is in verse 7; this was a clear command that Joshua was to have an unswerving loyalty to the Word of God. At times, that kind of fidelity demands the courage to say, “I am going to do what the Word says and not what our times, the culture, and opinion polls suggest.” We need a major dose of this in the church right now! I would rather have the blessing of the Lord than the applause of the world!

In verse 9, for the third time Joshua is commanded to be strong and courageous as he steps out into his future. “Have not I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” There is implied here the uncertainty that comes with stepping out into the unknown. Human nature is always fearful and critical of what it does not know or understand. The future will always be uncertain to our human spirit but it is never uncertain to our heavenly Father.

How can we define this strength and courage Joshua speaks of? It is what comes out of a relationship and the understanding of a promise. In verse 5 the promise is hinted at and referred to when it says, “I will be with you,” and in verse 9 it is laid out clearly for us: “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The literal Hebrew meaning of the phrase, “I will be with you,” in verse 5 is, “I will not let you sink.” The Patterson New Revised rendering is, “You may be up to your neck in alligators but your neck is mine and I’m not going to let them get you!”

The word picture being painted here and the use of the repetition of the command to be “strong and courageous” is not a type of arrogant or haughty leadership. It typifies a leader who is very aware of the complexities of life, of his own shortcomings, but at the same time is totally and irrevocably committed to the Lord, to the Lord’s call on his (or her) life, totally committed to being a useful servant. This person has settled it in his heart and spirit: “I belong to the Lord and I will follow Him all the way. I will go in His strength! I will find my strength in Him; when I am weak He is strong! I will hold fast to Him!”

True courage and strength does not disregard secular business models and technology but understands that the highest priority is to know God and to discover what His plan is for the future. True courage lays hold of the plan of God and will not let go.

Daniel was a man who showed great courage and his story lives on as an example of someone who thrived in difficult circumstances. One of the great revelations to me personally about Daniel and how he traversed the incredibly tumultuous times he lived in is found in the very revealing statement of Daniel 11:32: “But the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.”

There is a universal application of this truth but Daniel’s statement is part of a prophetic word that finds its greatest fulfillment in the day in which we are alive. Daniel was prophesying about us!

THE PATH OF CONFIDENCE - PART 2

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 16:06:00 +0000

The instructions God gave to Joshua right after the death of Moses are contained in Joshua 1:1-9. Forty years earlier, God brought the Jewish people out of bondage in Egypt. Their disobedience, grumbling, and lack of faith kept them wandering in the desert for forty years . . . on a journey that should have taken only a few months. God was so displeased with the Jews’ behavior that He decreed that the whole generation would have to pass away before He would allow the next generation into “the Promised Land.” Joshua and Caleb were the only ones from the old generation God allowed to go into “their future.” The death of Moses was the trigger that released this forward movement.

“Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses” (1:2-3, NIV).

I like clear instructions, and God’s instructions here are immediate and very demanding. I believe the Lord was saying to Joshua and then, through Him, to the people, “I have led you this far; I have prepared you for this time; I have made a promise to you and it is now time to get up from where you are and possess your future.”

Some people possess their future and others let the future possess them. In Numbers 13 and 14 we read about the twelve men Moses sent in to spy out the Promised Land. Ten of the spies let the future possess them when they allowed it to become a place of fear and uncertainty. Only Joshua and Caleb saw the future as a great opportunity, filled with confidence born of a relationship with God. They knew the future was theirs to possess.

God’s words to Joshua were a command to action. Inherent in the command was the understanding that God’s people were ready; He doesn’t send people into their “Promised Land” before it is time. But they have to be willing to step up and possess the future; they have to want to move from where they are toward what God has for them.

We live in a tragic moment in the Church in America. The wave of easy “believism” of today leads many to conclude that if I just think good thoughts and push away the bad thoughts, my life will be fine. I am not interested in imposing legalistic demands but we must understand that God demands a response from us. That’s why He was explicit with Joshua, “Arise, go!” What He is saying is, “Your future is here and it’s up to you to possess it. You must get up and start moving toward the goal and as you move forward, I will be with you and direct your steps.”

“I will give you every place you set your foot, as I promised Moses.” What was the promise to Moses that God was now reminding Joshua about?

The promise to Moses is found in Deuteronomy 11:22-25: “If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him—then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the western sea. No man will be able to stand against you. The LORD your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.”

Wow, that’s quite a promise! We are told that “if we follow God’s instructions, love Him and hold fast to Him” then He will move the opposition out of our way. What seems to be insurmountable opposition will be moved.

What comes to your mind when you read the words “hold fast”? I think of my grandson who, when he was little and confronted by a situation he was uncertain of, would run and grab onto the leg of his dad or mom. That is exactly the picture of what we are to do, “run to Him and grab on for dear life.”

And God’s promise to us is that as He was with Moses and as He was with Joshua, so He will be with us! Jesus restates this for us when He said at the end of His earthly ministry, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

As we walk into the unknown of our future, of all the promises God makes to us, I believe this is the greatest. I am thankful for His provision, for His protection, for all the benefits that daily come our way, but most of all I am thankful for His promise to accompany me into my future. “I am with you . . . to the very end.”

And I intend to “hold fast”!

THE PATH OF CONFIDENCE

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 15:55:00 +0000

Joshua 1:1-9 is an incredibly enriching passage. These verses contain the instructions God gave to Joshua as he assumed the leadership of Israel, and together they prepared to possess their future. In these verses we find timeless principles given to guide Israel and all of us who follow along “afar off” as we step into our future with a confident, expectant spirit.

When Moses died, the man God chose to take his place and lead the Jewish nation into the Promised Land was not a novice. Joshua had been an aide to Moses for at least 40 years and was very likely close to 80 years old when God spoke to him and said:

“Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them” (Joshua 1:2, NIV).

It is important that we not skip over the first verses in order to get to the heart of the instructions. The path of confidence starts in these verses! They tell us something extremely important and if we miss it, then the rest of the passage doesn’t take us where we want to go. They tell us that Joshua had an open and personal relationship with God, a relationship that allowed God to speak to him, and allowed Joshua to hear and understand His directions.

Joshua had not simply leaned on Moses all those years of being an aide. He had learned from Moses that he, too, could have a relationship with God. Building a relationship is never easy; it takes time and patience; and it takes a determination to see the relationship grow and flourish. For 40 years before Moses assumed the leadership of the Jewish nation he was “away” learning to walk with God, to have a relationship with Him. For the next 40 years Moses led and Joshua learned.

So much victory, so much success in life, in marriage, in business is squandered because people don’t take time to build relationships. Our culture is in such a hurry to succeed that shortcuts are invented. Instead of building relationships, people “hook up” for mutual pleasure and then quickly move on. Carol and I have a strong marriage because we have built a good relationship.

Joshua had a relationship with God that had been cultivated over the years and now he was faced with a major challenge. How would you like to wake up one morning and suddenly have God declare, “Moses is dead and now you are in charge of this unruly bunch; it will be your responsibility to lead them into their future”? Joshua was ready, in large part, because he had a relationship with God and recognized His voice.

Far too many Christians today have such a casual relationship with the Lord that they cannot tell when He is talking; they don’t recognize or understand His voice or His directions. The fruit of a casual, distant relationship is never sweet!

In the late 1980’s I was in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at the 700 Club with an evangelist I was doing work for. While the evangelist was being interviewed on live TV, I waited in the Green Room and talked with the next guest, a Christian psychologist. I had met this doctor years earlier when he was a pastor in Ohio. We began to talk about current happenings in the church and the impact of several very widely-known moral failures among prominent ministers. (The Swaggart and Bakker scandals were in full bloom at that time.)

The pastor/psychologist made the following comment: “Our ministry has been involved in counseling several hundred ministers and missionaries who have gone through moral failures. They come from all walks of life, many nationalities, and different denominations but they all have one thing in common. At the time of their moral failure, not one of them had a consistent personal relationship with the Lord.” I have never forgotten that statement: “Not one of them had a consistent personal relationship with the Lord at the time of their moral failure.” That’s a sobering and revealing statement.

The road to confidently possessing our future must have as its starting point, as its cornerstone, our personal relationship with God. The seeds of our defeat in possessing our future also lie here, because if the cornerstone is not kept in place then the seeds of failure can sprout and take us in directions we never intended to go. It is my personal belief that our spirit is hungry for a relationship with God and if we do not keep the relationship with Him, and we let it drift and become distant, then that unfulfilled hunger in our human spirit will seek solace in other places.

“Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross . . . into the land I am about to give.”

IT WAS TIME TO TESTIFY!

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 15:46:00 +0000

I wonder how I would feel if I had been running from the threat of death for seven years. The man I’m writing about today was not a career criminal and had not broken the law. His only crime was being a good soldier and supporter of his country and his leader. His skill and faithfulness made him popular—and that’s when the trouble began. His leader was a jealous man and he grew increasingly envious of the young warrior’s popularity. One day in a fit of rage, King Saul tried to kill David and he had to flee to preserve his life.

David ran for his life for about seven years. Not only were Saul and his mercenaries on David’s trail but so were Israel’s archenemies, the Philistines. Israel was in a protracted war with the Philistines, and David’s rise to fame began when he killed one of the Philistines’ all-time bad guys. At times during the years of flight, David was able to forge temporary truces with the Philistines for him and his small band of warriors. These truces never seemed to last, however, because the Philistines never trusted David, nor did David trust them.

Imagine seven years of pressure, of expecting that at any moment Saul’s killers might strike. Seven years of constant moving and looking over your shoulder, wondering if someone might betray you.

I believe it was during these years that David’s character and integrity were forged. At one point David and his men were hiding in a cave (1 Samuel 24) and Saul and some of his soldiers came to rest in the same cave. David and his men were hidden deep in the back of the cave and Saul did not know they were there until after he left. David had a perfect opportunity to get the pressure off by killing Saul—and who would have faulted him? The depth of David’s character showed in this encounter as he restrained himself and his men from harming Saul in any way.

David showed respect when Saul demonstrated jealousy. David was truly a king and Saul was a disobedient failure. It was during these turbulent years that David’s walk with God was deepened and expanded. David was waiting for deliverance to come and he didn’t waste the waiting (see Psalm 119:67.)

When Saul died by his own hand, David was able to come out of hiding—finally removing the pressure of being hunted. God had protected David and his men, and with the threat of death from Saul finally gone, David wanted to praise God for His faithfulness. He needed to “testify”—and so he did.

“I love you, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.” (Psalm 18:1-3)

The whole of Psalm 18 (and the parallel passage 2 Samuel 22) is David’s testimony of God’s faithfulness, provision, protection and guidance. It was written to express his praise for being released from the nightmare of being hunted down.

The word “strength” is speaking of prevailing, of being made strong. The Apostle Paul understood this well and said, “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Strength comes from the Lord who bares His arm on our behalf.

One of the descriptive words that David uses twice in these verses and four times in the chapter is “rock,” as in, “The Lord is my rock,” meaning that God is our secure refuge. “The Lord is my rock, in whom I take refuge” (v. 2).

“Fortress” refers to a strong castle and speaks of our security. God is our fortress and our defense!

“Deliverer” is a word rich in meaning and refers to God providing a way of escape, a way of deliverance from our pain, suffering, hardship or death (see 1 Corinthians 10:13.)

“Refuge” speaks of a place of shelter and also speaks of trust. We are to trust God and His refuge. If we don’t trust Him, there is no refuge.

“Shield.” The Lord is the protector of His people so that the adversities of life cannot destroy His child.

“Horn” is a symbol of strength, power and victory.

“Stronghold” is a highly fortified defensive or military structure. One of the words frequently used to describe a stronghold is security and this speaks of the security that we have in Him.

David is giving thanks that the season of his life of running and hiding is over. He is giving thanks for all the ways he experienced the care and love of God during this difficult time in his life. There is almost a euphoric element to his testimony and, frankly, it sounds good from here.

Thank you, Lord, for preserving David and thank you, David, for sharing your testimony. It encourages me!

BECAUSE OF MY CHAINS

noreply@blogger.com (David Patterson) — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 11:01:00 +0000

I can only imagine what the Christians in Rome thought when they heard that the apostle Paul had been arrested and was being brought to Rome to be tried before Caesar. The church in Rome was already under heavy persecution and now one of the most well-known leaders of Christianity had been arrested.

For two years Paul was kept in confinement in Rome while he awaited trial. He was imprisoned by the Praetorian Guard, the power elite of the Roman military. The Praetorian Guard was responsible for protecting the Emperor and policing the city of Rome. Over the centuries, the Praetorians became a force to be reckoned with. More than once they removed an Emperor from power (which means they killed him). It is reported that once they removed an Emperor, their power was such that they “sold” the Roman Empire to the highest bidder. These were the men who were charged with imprisoning Paul.

Paul was chained by the wrist to a soldier every moment of every day. The soldiers were there as Paul visited with his guests; they heard him share the gospel; heard him as he prayed for his friends and their needs; heard him in his private moments as he communed with the Lord in worship and prayer. I am sure that Paul had lengthy witnessing conversations with the soldiers who rotated through this duty.

Paul saw his imprisonment not as a defeat but as a victory. “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel” (Philippians 1:12, NIV). Paul then goes on to explain that because of his chains, the Praetorian Guard and all who lived in the Emperor’s palace had been touched by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A little background is helpful here. Prior to Paul’s imprisonment, the Roman church had come under increasing persecution. The Emperor Nero, who set fire to Rome, falsely blamed the Christians for the fire and persecution began to intensify. Many Christians fled to other cities and other countries where the persecution was not as intense.

Those who remained in Rome were largely silenced. Out of fear, they stopped sharing the good news. They literally went underground, and to the world around them they were silent.

Paul explains in Philippians 1:14: “Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly” (NIV).

Because of Paul’s positive response to his chains, the Roman believers broke their silence and began to share the message of Christ to those around them. I think it’s entirely feasible that one of those with Paul, perhaps Timothy, was serving as a liaison between Paul and the remnants of the church. As Paul’s imprisonment wore on, the messenger began to share stories of the soldiers and others who were coming to faith in Christ through Paul’s witness. At first the church may have been stunned by what they were hearing, and possibly rather skeptical. Over the weeks and months, however, that all changed and the remnant church began to understand what God was up to. They stepped out of their fear and silence and again began to share the Good News.

What had appeared to be a horrific defeat with Paul being imprisoned was now being seen as a circumstance that God had turned into a victory. Paul led the way with his understanding of “because of my chains.” We understand that Paul was not really talking about physical chains but about the circumstances that brought bondage into his life. The word used here for chains means anything that is used for tying—a band or a fetter.

Paul surrendered to God what appeared to be circumstances that limited him, and He turned it and used it all for good (Romans 8:28).

The Bible establishes this as a pattern of God’s working early on. In Genesis chapters 37-50, we read the fascinating story of Joseph. His jealous brothers faked an accident and sold Joseph into slavery to get rid of him. Bought by nomadic traders, Joseph was then sold to one of the high-ranking officers in Egypt. Working as a household slave, he was falsely accused of rape and thrown into prison. His circumstances went from bad to worse but after several years, Joseph was again freed and went on to become one of the most important men in Egypt. It was through his wisdom and the unwavering favor of God that he ended up being the savior/deliverer of his family and his nation.

After reuniting with his brothers, Joseph said to them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20, NIV).

A selfish, harmful plan had been conceived but God turned the shameful act into a glorious victory!

The greatest demonstration of faith is not when everything is going well but real faith is seen when, in the natural, everything is going wrong. It’s in a time of pain and confusion that real faith is displayed and that’s what Paul was modeling for us when he used the phrase “because of my chains.”

Paul finishes his powerful teaching in Ephesians about the armor of God when he says, in speaking of his ministry of the sharing of the gospel, “I am an ambassador in chains” (Ephesians 6:19). Paul didn’t see his chains as a negative but rather as a way for him to continue his ministry of taking the gospel to others.