Communion- War Council

Here we are again, eating and drinking in the name of Jesus. What are we doing relaxing? Don’t we realize that there is a world to conquer for Christ? When will we do something about it?

          Well, first we need to get hold of the fact that we are doing something about it here today inside these four walls. We are not hiding in here. We are having a tactical meeting.  There is a sense in which this is a war council.

          We are gathered here to assess our condition and the condition of the enemy and then make plans to go on assault.

          The Lord is making us fit for battle. The first thing we do is declare our allegiance. This is like a roll call in which we declare, present! Then we are briefed with the current condition, prepped with the necessary knowledge to go out and then take nourishment with a charge from the general. 

          Our unity in this calling is essential to our victory. In fact, if we understand what Christ has done, it is the testament that if we are unified in Christ, then we have already won.

           So, what we do here, eat and drink in the name of Jesus, is a guarantee that all the enemies of Christ will, in fact, be vanquished. We have accomplished their demise before we even set forth into the enemy territory. Christ has done it in His death, resurrection and ascension. So, let us go out in His name and receive the kingdom that He has purchased with His own blood.

Exhortation- Besetting Sins

None of us grows weary of receiving God’s blessings. We are glad to have them over and over and in ever increasing amounts.  But sometimes we do grow weary of our own flesh, our own failures, our own sins.  You may have a besetting sin, a way of thinking, a way of speaking, a certain habit, that is very difficult for you to shake. It has become so ingrained in you, that you have nearly stopped fighting against it.

          But do not do this. If it is sinful, then it must go. The fact that you war against such a sin is a sign that you belong to God. As long as you war with those things that are opposed to Christ, then you can rest assured that you belong to Him. It is only when you have made friends with Christ’s enemies that you need to worry.

          Have you made friends with a besetting sin? Have you shrugged your shoulders believing God will understand? Only then should you begin to worry about whose side you are on.  Walk in the Spirit today. Renew the fight against sin and death and every lofty thought that raises itself up against the knowledge of Christ. Do this, resist the devil and he will flee from you and Christ will give you victory.

Communion Meditation-Peace with God and Man

The glory of God with us is peace with God and man. The world fell into chaos through sin and brother against brother became the way of man. Cain killed Abel and thus it has been with man since that day. But in Jesus Christ, God has remade the Earth and Heaven. We do not yet see all things in submission to Jesus but we do see that God is restoring man to Himself and reconciling brother to brother on the Earth.

          As we have often recognized, this will not be fully and finally completed until the day of Resurrection when sin and death are utterly destroyed. But it is here now in us who are alive by God’s Spirit.

This meal is all about peace with God and peace with our brothers. Here we receive the body and blood of Jesus which brings us near to God, the Father. More than near, we are in Him and He is in us. This is mystical, to some degree, that is, we cannot quite get our minds around it, but it true none-the-less. And it is also true that through Jesus, His people are all of the same family. The glory of a family that is working as it should be, is the peace and love and unity that is revealed in their midst. 

May this bread and wine declare our unity and also be a means of grace for us who are the family of God, so that we would reveal the peace, love and unity of God to the world, so that they will know us our love one for another.

Within the Veil

          Access to God is revealed in Jesus Christ. When He died, the curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn in two. Thus, mankind, Jew and Gentile, had direct access to the Shekinah Glory of God. There is no other mediator besides Jesus. For those who call upon God through Jesus, confessing and forsaking their sins, there is peace with this Holy God. And He is not merely the Holy God in Fire and Smoke as He was revealed on the mountain to Moses. But through Jesus, we are actually adopted into the family of God and thus God is our Father, our Abba, our daddy. These are intimate words and the Father wants us to understand that there is peace and reconciliation with Him.

          But for those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus or for those who draw back into a life of sin after submitting to Jesus Christ, the Scriptures give us dire warnings that reveal that God is even more fierce than He was revealed on the mountain in Fire and Smoke and at that time struck down many who had sinned.

          So, our peace is made with God through Jesus. And having seen a Holy God from a distance, we draw near to the Father, Our Father, not in quaking fear, but as His dear little children, who draw near to the Father with our elder brother, Jesus, knowing that the Father will receive us, comfort us and bless us just as He does His own beloved and only begotten Son.

Thus, we confess our sins and call upon the strong name of Jesus to bring us close to the Father.

The Year of our Lord

Today is A.D. January 1, 2012. The A.D. is Anno Domini, the year of our Lord. This year is the year of Jesus, just as 2011 was and 2010 before that and the two thousand ten years before that.  He has been enthroned and His rule in His kingdom continues down to this very day. Glory to King Jesus! You can see why the secularists want to get rid of A.D. as it is a continual and worldwide acknowledgment that all the years, all the months, and all the days belong to Jesus Christ, His bride and His heirs, forever and ever.

          This year promises to be the best year ever. More people are known by Jesus today than ever in the history of the world. Heralds have gone out to the ends of the Earth proclaiming the reign of Jesus and men everywhere are aligning themselves with Jesus who is the Christ.

          Someone said it is an election year and they’ve got themselves all up in a dither about it. I hate to break it to them but there is a benevolent monarch ruling this year. They are not going to unseat Him.  Let us eat and drink to Jesus for 2012 is the Year of our Lord and of His Christ and of His government there shall be no end.

Exhortation- Be at Peace

Happy New Year Everyone! It is a common thing to make New Year’s resolutions.  There is a sense that in a new year you have the chance to start over and do better than you did last year.  Sometimes, these resolutions just heap more trouble on your shoulders as you make a list of new intentions and then fail once again to achieve them in 2012. So, I will not encourage you to make a list of things to do which will be a burden upon your shoulders.

          But there is a burden in this area that we carry that is not optional.  We should endeavor to be better children to our Father, more loyal citizens to our King and better representatives of the Spirit that indwells us.

          Some might put this burden on you in the areas of Bible reading and prayer or other spiritual disciplines and those really are spiritual duties. But I think the burden is both harder and simpler than that.  God calls us to dwell in unity. This unity reflects the character of the Trinity and is manifested in our relationships to one another.

          The burden this year as it is every year is to be at peace with God and man. As much as is possible with you, do not be the cause of strife and division with your spouse, your children, your siblings, your parents, your extended family, your friends, your neighbors. 

          Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So, if you endeavor to walk in the Spirit, He will enable you to be a peacemaker and not one who spreads strife. This kind of peacemaking and unity will reveal the rule of Jesus on Earth.

          To the extent that you have been the source of strife and division, you should confess your sins, ask God to make you new and begin to live righteously before Him this day and this year.