You Will Understand

Scripture:

John 8:28 "So Jesus said, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I Am He.  I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me'".

Observation:

The Pharisees where confronting Jesus about who He was.  They were accusing Him of claiming to be the Son of God.  His response to them was that when they lifted Him up on the cross, they would understand He was God in the flesh.  At the cross, darkness covered the earth fir three hours and then when He breathed His last breath there was an earthquake and graves opened and people came back to life.  At that point, I think they understood His claims were true.

Application:

Jesus says here that He did nothing except what the Father told Him to do.  He said the Pharisees would know He was God when they put Him on the cross.  We need to honor Jesus and follow Him completely because He is who He said He is.  We should seek to follow Him in doing what the Father wants in the earth and saying what the Father is saying.

Prayer:

Lord, forgive me for not following You completely.  Enable me to do Your will on the earth.  Help me to walk in Your power and let me hear Your voice so I can do what You desire.  Let this be an incredible weekend at Word of Life.  Save souls.  Bring people to Yourself.  Use me to declare Your truth.

Yours,
Jeff

Everything points to Jesus

Scripture:

John 5:39 "You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life.  But the Scriptures point to me!"

Observation:

Jesus was telling people that He was sent by God and they didn't understand.  He says something here that many would have had, and many still would have a problem with.  He said that they were searching the Scriptures for eternal life, but that the Scriptures point to Him.  He was not discrediting the power of searching the Scriptures, but letting them know that these Scriptures were trying to let them know about Him.

Application:

Jesus is the center of everything.  The Scriptures are meant to point to Him!  Eternal life is not found by knowing more of the Scripture, but by knowing Jesus.  We tend to look to the Bible for everything we need for life.  Here Jesus was saying, look to Him, because He is the one Scripture is pointing to.  The Scriptures are crucial to our spiritual lives, but most important in our walk with Jesus.  He must be the center of everything.  Then the Scriptures will really be able to help us.

Prayer:

Jesus, I want to know You more.  Reveal Yourself to me.  Everything points to You and I want my life to be about You and Your kingdom.  Help me to live every day with my ear toward heaven and my heart ready to do what You want done in the earth.  Give me opportunities today to share Your love and life with someone.

Yours
Jeff

Without Limit

Scripture:

John 3:34 "For he is sent by God.  He speaks God's words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit."

Observation:

As John is describing Jesus, he says that He is sent by God and speaks God's words.  Then he adds, "God gives him the Spirit without limit".  John described Jesus as having the Spirit without limit.  I love that wording. 

Application:

My desire is to be filled with the Spirit 'without limit'.  Jesus humbled himself and walked on this earth as a man.  He set aside His divinity so He could experience what we experience, yet He did it without sin.  He received the Spirit without limit.  I want to remove everything in my life that hinders the flowing of the Holy Spirit.  I want His Spirit to work in and through my life without limit.  I don't want my issues to hinder God's Spirit from working in and through my life.

Prayer:

Father, I want to be filled with Your Spirit without limit.  Help me to seek You more and more and to be filled to overflowing with Your Spirit.  I want to see more and more lives transformed by Your Spirit.  You are the source of everything spiritual.  Baptize me afresh with Your Spirit.  Let me live a yielded life that walks in submission to You in everything.

Yours,
Jeff

Impartation

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 34:9 "Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him.  So the people of Israel obeyed him, doing just as the Lord had commanded Moses."

Observation:

I love the way God says this, Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him.  It appears from this that there is a direct connection between him being full of the spirit of wisdom and the laying on of Moses' hands.  There seems to be a transfer of authority and anointing when this happened.

Application:

We should never take the laying on of hands lightly.  There is a definite transfer that takes place when we lay our hands on someone.  We should not lay hands on someone suddenly, but this should be part of putting people into positions of authority, etc.  We need to practice this more in the church.

Prayer:

Father, give me sons and daughters who I can lay my hands on for ministry.  Help me to live a life that walks in your anointing and that transfers that anointing and power to others.  Thanks for the time of laying on of hands in school of ministry last night.  It was powerful.  I want to walk in your power more and more so that when I lay hands on people, there is a powerful transfer.  I want to give something valuable to those I lay my hands on.

Your Son,
Jeff

Covenant

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 29:9 "Therefore, obey the terms of this covenant so that you will prosper in everything you do."

Observation:

God has just given a covenant to Israel as a nation.  If they do their part of the covenant, He will bless them and raise them up as an incredible success story.  If they don't do their part of the covenant, they will experience his wrath and He will turn them over to themselves where they will live under a curse.  They knew what they were getting into.

Application:

Many times we make covenants with God.  We make promises, "if you will hear my prayer, I will do whatever you want the rest of my life".  God answers our prayer, yet we don't come through on our part of the agreement.  God is a God of promise, when He promises something... it will happen!  He wants us to be like Him... When we promise Him something, He expects it to happen.  May I learn to walk in obedience and fulfill all He has asked me to do so I may walk in His blessings.

Prayer:

Lord God, help me to follow you wholeheartedly like Caleb and Joshua.  Help me to do everything You put in my heart.  May Your name be praised in and through my life.  Teach me to honor my covenants and then bless my life.  Bless me with a new house where we can take care of my mother in law better.

Yours,
Jeff

Always on Top

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 28:13 "If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom."

Observation:

God laid out His commands and Law to the people of Israel.  He told them exactly what He expected as their time to enter the Promised land neared.  Then He told the the blessings and curses that will follow with obedience or disobedience.  In this verse He told His people if they would obey Him, they would be the head and they would always be on top and never at the bottom.

Application:

Our obedience is directly associated with our obedience.  When we walk in obedience to the Father, He will raise us up and make us the head in whatever we do.  When we walk in obedience to the Him, He will cause us to be on top and never on the bottom.  When we are serious about obedience, God gets serious about blessing us.  Our job is obedience, His job is blessing.

Prayer:

Father, let my life shine as an example of obedience to You in all areas.  Help me to follow You completely and live a yielded life.  Teach me to hear Your voice clearly so I can follow You completely.  As I read Your word, speak to me about my life and help me to live an obedient life.  As I do my part, raise up my life and let me make a difference for you and Your kingdom in all the earth.

Yours,
Jeff

Offer Your Best

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 17:1 "Never sacrifice sick or defective cattle, sheep, or goats to the Lord your God, for He detests such gifts."

Observation:

When God was talking to His people about their offerings, He was clear that the offerings were not to be the worst of their flocks or the leftovers, but the firstborn and the best of their flocks.  It actually says that He detests such gifts.

Application:

When we offer ourselves to the Lord, we need to give Him our very best.  He doesn't want our leftover time, talent and treasure.  He wants to be honored first and above all else.  He wants us to seek first his kingdom and righteousness, then all these other things will be added to use.  What we present to the Lord needs to be our best.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, You are worthy of my very best.  Forgive me for not offering my best at all times.  Enable and empower me to offer you the best of who I am.  You are worthy of honor and glory, help me to walk with You in all ways and to always present my best and first to you.

Yours,
Jeff

Give Generously

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 15:10 "Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do."

Observation:

As God was giving out His commands for His people as they were to live in the Promised Land, He reminded His people to always give generously to the poor.  He added a promise that when they did it, not grudgingly, He would bless everything they did.  A few verses above this He said there should be no poor among them.

Application:

God does look out for the poor.  Throughout Scripture, we see God wanting the poor to be taken care of.  I know I struggle at times with feeling people are poor because of bad decisions they have made or because of things they have done.  Therefore I justify not helping because they may use it for something I don't approve of.  God doesn't say that, He says we need to give generously to the poor, and then the Lord will bless us.  We must learnt to give and trust the Lord to bless.

Prayer:

Lord forgive me for not giving more generously to the poor.  Help me to see the poor like You see them and give me a heart of compassion.  Show me where the balance is in all of this between being used and giving generously.  I want to walk with You in this area of my life.  Show me the way forward.  I want to walk in Your blessing.

Yours,
Jeff

The Choice

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 11:26  "Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse!"

Observation:

God had gone to great lengths in this chapter and prior, to let His people know that if they would follow Him wholeheartedly, He would bless them, prosper them, protect them, and multiply them.  He also told them that if they worshiped other gods, he would curse them and they would love everything.  In this verse, He tells them they had a choice in the matter.  Obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings a curse.

Application:

Yes, Jesus became a curse for us so that we wouldn't be under a curse.  Yes, we are in the New Testament, but God still looks for a people who will be completely His and who will follow His ways and submit to Him.  He still wants to be first and most important in our lives.  We have a choice.  We can follow Him completely and prepare to be blessed, or we can do things our own way and try to make it without His blessing.  I would much rather have His blessing.

Prayer:

Lord, I want to follow You completely.  I want to hear Your voice and follow.  I choose your blessing and obedience today.  Help me to follow exactly what You want me to do.  Teach me Your ways and let me fulfill Your will in the earth in my day.

Your Son,
Jeff

Stay on the Path

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 5:33 "Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow.  Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy."

Observation:

Moses told the people that they must obey all of God's commands and decrees in detail.  He then went on to tell the people of Israel how to live long and prosperous lives in the Promised Land.  He said to do this, they must stay on the path God commanded them to follow.

Application:

Everyone wants the simple keys and steps to prosperity.  We all want to live long and prosperous lives.  One of the keys to a long and prosperous life is that you have to stay on the path of the Lord.  It is easy to get off His path and onto our own path.  It is easy to see a path that looks easier and to take it, but staying on the Lord's path and doing things His way is what is going to be blessed.

Prayer:

God, help me to do things Your way and not my own.  Teach me to stay on Your path, no matter how good other paths look.  Help me to remain focused on You and Your ways.  You path leads to prosperity and long life.  Help me to stay on it always.

Your Son,
Jeff

The Wilderness

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 1:2  "Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea, going by was of Mount Seir."

Observation:

Deuteronomy starts out by reminding the Israelites that it should have only taken eleven days to get to the entrance of the Promised Land, but it was going to take forty years because of their disobedience.  They had been to the edge of the promise, but got in the flesh, therefore they had to spend the next forty years in the wilderness.

Application:

Sometimes we can be right on the edge of a great victory, but we think it is impossible.  Sometimes God will promise us things, but our disobedience will either cancel the promise or delay it dramatically.  We must learn to obey quickly, whether we think we can do it or not.  We must always say yes to God.  No has terrible consequences.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, You are incredible and I am honored to serve You.  Help me to obey quickly and to do what you ask my to.  Deliver me from myself and my thoughts of inadequacy.  Deliver me from thinking I can't, when You have said I can.  Help me to walk in complete obedience.  I want to walk in Your blessing.

Yours,
Jeff

Public Commissioning

Scripture:

Numbers 27:18-19 "The Lord replied, 'Take Joshua son of Nun, who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him.  Present him to Eleazar the priest before the whole community, and publicly commission him to lead the people."

Observation:

When Moses knew his end was coming, he asked the Lord to put someone in place to lead the people of Israel.  The Lord chose Joshua, Moses servant.  The Lord gave exactly how to transfer authority and power to him in front of the people so they could see it coming from God and from Moses.  He laid hands on Joshua publicly and commissioned him to lead.

Application:

When we empower someone, we also need to do it publicly, so that the people they lead will see where they are getting their authority from.  People want to know they are working with or under someone with authority.  We need to do better at public commissioning, so that it is clear who has authority to act and speak.

Prayer:

Father, help me to commission properly and to delegate authority well.  Teach me Your principles and help me to apply them in ministry and life.  I want to delegate and train people for ministry better.

Yours,
Jeff

Don't Be Afraid

Scripture:

Numbers 21:24 "The Lord said to Moses, 'Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, along with all his people and his land.  Do the same to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.'"

Observation:

As the people of Israel were traveling through different areas under Moses, they came upon people who would attack them, thinking they were nobody nomads.  God showed up in power and routed their enemies.  The Lord spoke to Moses and told him not to be afraid because He had already handed him over to Moses. 

Application:

Sometimes we just need to realize that God is powerful and he is on our side.  He can defeat any enemy and win every battle.  He can take a group of nomad slaves and have them defeat strong enemy armies.  Nothing is impossible for Him.  We need to walk in confidence, knowing God has already fought our battles.

Prayer:

Father, increase my faith.  Help me to realize You are the all-powerful one and that You will take care of every situation in my life.  You are amazing and Your power is limitless.  Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and You deserve the praise.  Let me see things how You see them.

Your Servant,
Jeff

Presumption

Scripture:

Numbers 14:42  "Do not go up into the land now.  You will only be crushed by your enemies because the Lord is not with you."

Observation:

After the 12 spies went into the Promised land to check it out, 10 spies came back saying it was amazing but there was no way they could take it because of the inhabitants of the land.  Joshua and Caleb said, Let's go take it!  The people went with the negative report and the Lord decided to make them pay by wandering in the wilderness 40 years.  After they realized what they had done, they decided to go ahead and try to enter the Promised Land, only to realize the Lord wasn't with them.  They presumed the Lord would forgive them and be with them, but it was too late.

Application:

When God tells us to do something, we must be ready to say yes.  Waiting or delaying, is a wrong answer.  To really walk with God, we need to be people of immediate obedience.  We can't presume that because the Lord told us something years ago, that it will work.  There are consequences to not obeying the Lord.

Prayer:

Father, let me hear Your voice and let me respond in the right timing.  Help me to walk by faith and not by sight.  You are amazing and I want to serve You well.  Help me to trust You more each day.

Yours,
Jeff

The Lord's Command

Scripture:

Numbers 9:23 "So they camped or traveled at the Lord's command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses."

Observation:

This is a reference to the pillar of cloud and fire that led the people of Israel as they journeyed through the wilderness.  When the cloud moved, they moved.  They followed the cloud and didn't ask why.  When the cloud moved, they would tear down the camp and begin moving with it.  Whatever the Lord told them through Moses, they did.

Application:

The words, "whatever the Lord told them to do", stood out to me.  Can I say in my life, "whatever the Lord tells me to do", I will do?  As believers, we need to live our lives with this attitude.  Jesus gave His life for us, therefore, we should be willing to do whatever He says with our lives.  Our lives need to be lives of obedience, no matter what He tells us to do.  When He speaks, we need to respond.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, help me to follow Your voice fully and completely.  Help me not to delay, but to respond to Your words.  I want to follow You in doing "whatever" You tell me.  Open my ears spiritually so I can hear clearly.  I want to follow You completely.

Your Son,
Jeff

The Blessing

Scripture:

Numbers 6:24-27 "May the Lord bless you and protect you.  May the Lord smile upon you and be gracious to you.  May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.  Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them."

Observation:

God gave Aaron and his sons a very particular way to bless the people of Israel.  He gave them the exact words to say, then He went on to say whenever they blessed the people of Israel in his name, He would bless them himself.  God was working with man to bring about his blessing.

Application:

In the New Covenant we are a kingdom of priests.  We have the ability to stand in the presence of God and bless the people of God.  When we follow God's ways, we get God's results.  We must learn to speak God's blessing over people's lives, then believe that He will bring it to pass according to His promise. 

Prayer:

Father, let me learn to speak Your blessing over Your people.  Help me to understand this concept at a higher level.  I want to see the people I serve blessed in every way.  When I bless them, please bless them.

Your Son,
Jeff

Put It Into Practice

Scripture:

Luke 11:28  "Jesus replied, 'But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice'".

Observation:

Jesus had a lady speak out in a crowd and said how blessed Jesus' mother was for giving birth to him.  Jesus replied to her that "even more blessed" are those who hear God's word and do it.  Mary has been honored by all as the mother of Jesus, but Jesus says when we hear the word and obey it, we are more blessed than Mary.

Application:

I need to focus more on putting into practice the Word of God when I read it.  We need to read for the purpose of obedience and putting into practice what we are reading.  When we read that way, we will be more blessed than Mary, the mother of Jesus according to His own words.

Prayer:

Father, help me to walk in obedience to You and Your Word.  Let the Word of God come alive in me.  Help me to walk more and more in line with Your Word.  I want to walk in your blessing.

Yours,
Jeff