Power of the Cross

The Power Of The Cross

I was totally blown away when I heard this song on a You Tube clip. The fact that it was our pastor singing it helped of course but watch, listen for yourselves, and be blown away too. It was a live recording from 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deL06aw8xeg

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:

This, the pow’r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev’ry bitter thought,
Ev’ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
“Finished!” the vict’ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:

This, the pow’r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

“The Power of the Cross” Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend – Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Taking the Land

Wherever you step

There are many promises written throughout the Word of God. Many of them we claim for ourselves as well. After all, the Word says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and for ever, so if He made promises then, surely we can claim some of them now.

One particular passage always encourages me. Joshua 1

“After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “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—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

There are two distinct conditional promises here for us to claim for ourselves, our lives, and or ministries

1 – If you “Enter your territory” - Then “I will give you Everywhere you place your foot”

So how do I interpret ‘enter your territory’? To me this is a step of faith; a step into the unknown; but not a step in the dark. At one time or another, we all feel called of God into something; to do something for His Kingdom. This is when God shows us the “territory” that He has mapped out for us. We have a choice to accept/believe the call or to reject it. If we reject it then the matter is closed for now, but, if we accept it, then we have to decide to somehow and some way step into the calling. So, when the opportunity presents itself and we feel the Holy Spirit nudging us towards it, that is when we take a deep breath and we take the plunge. We enter our territory.

Thats the first step and our part of the ‘bargain’. Now it’s God’s turn.

We pray for someone, or pray for healing, or give a word of encouragement, or a word of prophecy – and God ‘gives us the land’. He meets our step of faith with His Holy Spirit and things happen. A person is healed, or the prayer is otherwise answered. The prophecy proves to be totally correct – or ‘spot on’ as I have frequently heard it called.

2 - If you will “Be strong and very courageous” - Then “I will be with you wherever you go”

By being ‘strong and very courageous’ we are stepping out full of faith for the answer we are seeking – healing, deliverance, a ‘Rhema’ word for someone. I have heard someone say, “But I have no faith for my healing.” Only for them to hear the response, “You may not have but I have faith for both of us.” And then I have watched the person receive their healing miracle. That is being ‘strong and very courageous’

This is when the Lord fulfils His promise to be with us wherever we go by answering the prayer immediately. He demonstrates His power, His presence with us, and His faithfulness by answering the strong and courageous prayer of faith.

What amazing promises to us as we seek the Lord in these dark end-time days. What a moment in time to take His promises and call them in for ourselves so as to demonstrate God’s power and mercy.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

That is our wonderful God.

Who's driving today?

Who is piloting your ship?

The world is full of glib little clichés and ‘wise’ sayings your granny used to say. Yet, I read a wonderful, thought provoking quotation this morning - “Ships in harbour are safe – but that’s not what ships are built for.” – John Shedd. This really made me think for a while.

Who is piloting my ship? Is it me or have I allowed Jesus to take the helm? Now, at the risk of mixing my metaphors, Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. “ Matthew 7:13-14 OK so you can’t sail too many ships through gates and down narrow roads – but you get my drift?

Seriously, if the world is your pilot, then you will surely miss the narrow gate and sail blithely down the broad way to destruction. However, with Jesus as your pilot, you will just as surely go happily down the ‘straight and narrow’ way that takes you to your reward in heaven.

And don’t make the mistake of allowing someone else to say, “Follow me – I am going the right way.” You are responsible for your own ship, and your choice of pilot is critical. Jesus warned us saying, “Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.” Mark 13:6 I don’t think I exaggerate over much by saying that we’ve only got one shot at life, and it is far too important to mess it up using the wrong pilot or guide or map – whichever way you want to put it.

Make Jesus your pilot – today.

The Authority of Jesus

Even the Wind and Waves Obey Him

Jesus never left us anything without there was something for us to learn about Him in the story. Mark 4:35-41 is a perfect case in point “That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

If ever there was a story about Jesus written solely for our encouragement, this is it. With three words Jesus demonstrated beyond any doubt just Who He really is and the power at His command. There they all were, in a small boat on a huge lake or inland sea, when a sudden severe squall blew up. Not as bad as a full storm or tornado, but certainly enough power to wreck the boat. Yet with just three words, “Quiet, be still”, Jesus rebuked the storm and it died away. It was similar but not quite so dramatic when He cursed the fig tree – Mark 11:12-14 & 20-24. With a word, Jesus stilled the storm and withered a fig tree. Later on, He gave us His authority to do the same things and “greater things than these”.

On my ministry travels, I have actually witnessed a similar incident. In Denmark we were in a meeting in a private house. The weather was terrible and it was blowing a gale so hard the authorities closed all the local bridges between the islands. Some people were scared by the storm so we prayed and the storm really did die away. We went outside to test it and prove it. Within 10 feet of the house the storm was not blowing but as soon as we stepped outside that zone, the storm was unabated. So we stayed on in the meeting until it did die down a bit and until the bridges were reopened.

As Jesus has given us His authority, we need to understand it exercise it. The source of our authority in Christ is this - Ephesians 1:18-2:7 (NKJV) “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. “

Now we can exercise this authority in faith.

Tithes & Offerings

How should we make our offerings

Tithing has always been a bit of a sore point in the church. Is it Old Testament and old law? Or is it just as much New Testament and therefore still for today? I am pleased to tell you that I have no intention of going there and stirring up disagreement and grumbling. My concern with tithing, any kind of offering actually, is more along the lines of – how to do it.

Today, we make our tithes and offerings for the most part in cash or a cheque. We calculate how much we perhaps should give, how much we can afford to give, and then how much we will give and we dutifully place that amount in the offering or in an offering envelope and place it in the offering. Either way, our church ends up with a heap of money and cheques each Sunday which has to be accounted for and banked. Some churches are very religious about this and monitor how much each member gives – even so far as chasing up what they consider shortfalls. But such places are, thank God, few and far between.

I want to ask a question here about how tithes and offerings are paid? When the ancient Israelites were wandering round in the desert for forty years, coins hadn’t even been invented. That didn’t happen until about 600 BC in Lydia in modern Turkey. So when the Bible talks about bringing all the tithe into the storehouse – Malachi 3:10 “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.” – what is it saying?

I believe it was simply accepting the fact that the tithe had to be in goods or in kind if you like, because money was not available to them. I mean, when the Israelites were wandering around the desert, where was the nearest bank ATM available to them in those days?? Offerings were made in goods – real sheep, real wheat, real gold that was weighed and measured according to weight alone. A shekel was a weight of gold or silver.

Today, offerings come in all shapes and sizes – and they are all quite Biblical too. Sacrifices of praise, a clap offering, a dance of worship – all sorts of ways to worship and offer of ourselves. Let me ask you this, is it Biblical to offer our service – physical work – as our offering. Is it possible to say to our church, I work 40 hours a week so as my tithe, I offer you four hours of my time doing whatever you want me to do. Actually, as a retiree, I would offer a whole day but that’s another matter entirely. All I am asking is – is this a Biblical way to tithe by tithing our time rather than our money?

Well ???