Axtell Blog

After Christ performed works of miraculous power He often retreated to be alone with His Father. Matthew 14:23 and Mark 6:46 says that after Jesus fed the 5,000 He retreated to the mountain to pray alone. Luke 5:16 says about Jesus that “he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed,” and also Luke 6:11 says that Jesus “went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” The relationship that our Savior had with His Father was one of complete dependency. It was a forever unified relationship in what Dr. Wesley Pinkham describes as a “closed circle of knowing” (Pinkham, Spirit Formed Preaching lecture, May 15, 2009).

Not much is written in scripture about the inner-workings of the prayer life of Jesus. Richard Foster in his fine work, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth humbly points out,

It was liberating to me to understand that prayer involved a learning process. I was set free to question, to experiment, even to fail, for I knew I was learning. For years I had prayed for many things and with great intensity, but with only marginal success. But then I saw that I might possibly be doing some things wrong and could learn differently. I took the Gospels and cut out every reference to prayer and pasted them onto sheets of paper. When I could read Jesus’ teaching on prayer at one sitting, I was shocked. Either the excuses and rationalizations for unanswered prayer I had been taught were wrong, or Jesus’ words were wrong (Foster, p. 36-37).

No one ever asked Jesus, “Jesus teach us to study the scriptures like You do.” One may think of the Word which was made flesh as the embodiment of the expression of God. The request that was made of His disciples was, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

One thing is certain: there was a unified relationship that Jesus had with His Father that is unparalleled in this world, and yet this is the prayer that Jesus prayed for all believers in John 17:20-23,

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

There was authentic community within the Godhead before creation which was manifested in the Person of Jesus on earth. Gene Edwards says of this relationship that it was, “Life given, love exchanged. That is the Christian life before creation” (Edwards, p. 33). Christ invites all into this type of being with the Father, which is only possible through the Holy Spirit. “The relationship of the Father and Son, whatever else it is, is centered each beholding the other. The Father is ever before the face of the Son. The Son ever beholds the face of his Father. The center of their fellowship is beholding” (Edwards, p. 34). This type of beholding prayer is what is needed for believers. Only then will Christ be formed in the church as Paul said to the churches of Galatia (Gal. 4:19).

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Edwards, Gene. The Secret To The Christian Life. Jacksonville, FL: Seedsowers Publishing

Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline: A Path to Spiritual Growth. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1978. ISBN 0-06-062839-1

Wesley Pinkham. “Spirit Formed Preaching,” The King’s Seminary (lecture presented for

Modular course at the Van Nuys Campus, Van Nuys, California, May 13, 2009), The King’s College and Seminary, Van Nuys, CA

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 6 Sep 2009 1:47:21 pm | no comments

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Mon 31 Aug 2009

"The Taring of the Wheat?"

The parable of the wheat and the tares is an eschatological parable that has critical implications for the church today. In Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus gives a poignant description about the kingdom of heaven and what it is like. Christ gives several elements in this parable to describe what the kingdom is like: a man (householder) and his field, wheat that the man sowed, some tares that an enemy sowed, servants, reapers and a barn. Then in verses 36 through 43 Jesus gives its interpretation so there is no guesses as to what He means.

The understanding of the tares is very interesting. Brad Young describes them as a false type of wheat:

“This pseudowheat of Jesus’ parable was well known and considered a great nuisance. A farmer faced a serious crisis when he discovered tares growing in his wheat. Jesus’ illustration depicts a true-to-life situation. Occasionally someone would sow bad seed in his adversary’s field in order to cause his misfortune” (Young, p. 291).

J. Dwight Pentecost gives more detailed and interesting information about the wheat and the tares. J. Dwight Pentecost gives a more detailed description of their physical makeup:

“According to the common view, these Tares represent what is botanically known as the “bearded Darnel” (Lolium temulentum), a poisonous rye-grass, very common in the East, “entirely like wheat until the ear appears,” or else (according to some), the “creeping wheat” or “couch-grass: (Triticum repens), of which the roots creep underground and become intertwined with those of the wheat. But the Parable gains in meaning if we bear in mind that, according to ancient Jewish (and indeed, modern Eastern) ideas, the Tares were not of different seed, but degenerate kind of wheat. Whether legend or symbol, Rabbinism has it that even the ground had been guilty of fornication before the judgment of the Flood, so that when wheat was sown tares sprang up. The Jewish hearers of Jesus would, therefore, think of these tares as degenerate kind of wheat, originally sprung up at the time of the Flood, through the corruptness of the earth, but now, alas! So common in their fields; wholly indistinguishable from the wheat, till the fruit appeared: noxious, poisonous, and requiring to be separated from the wheat, if the later was not to become useless” (Pentecost, p. 216).

One can see the practicalities of what Jesus was talking both then and in the future. The church today has within her those who are no different from the others. Their roots are so intertwined with the true church that it is not possible with the naked eye to discern the difference. They look the same, act the same, and have similar qualities. The difference is there is no fruit and even are poisonous to eat.

Christ will take care of the separation at the harvest of the wheat by His harvesters, the angels, but the question is how long will the church rely on their own methods for separating themselves from the tares? Did not even Jesus say, “Let both grow together until the harvest” (Matt. 13:30)? The church as Christ’s body must minister His life to those who are the posers. Even though their roots may grow together, the element of the life of Christ must permeate the tares’ roots and not let their roots choke out life within the true wheat. This must be accomplished through prayer and faith knowing that, “because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

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Pentecost, J. Dwight, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981), 216; quoted in J.W. Shepherd, The Christ of the Gospels (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1946), 201.

Young, Brad H. The Parables: Jewish Tradition and Christian Interpretation. Peabody, MA: Henrickson Publishers, 1988.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 31 Aug 2009 8:06:03 pm | no comments

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Sun 30 Aug 2009

"THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS"

The most powerful and regal man to ever walk the earth based His entire existence on the principle of humility and postured Himself as a conduit through which power flowed from His Father by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ’s existence consisted of sustained relational prayer for life and power. Men have indeed desired the power in which Jesus Christ walked, but have neglected the means through which the power flowed. He understood that prayer was the vehicle through which a relationship of connection, knowing and life took place by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says that Jesus in Philippians 2:6-8 (KJV),

… being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

This death was the principle means of Christ’s life. He always took the road of submission, and prayer was the posture in which His heart received the Father’s love; this was death to the self-nature. Even Jesus, the “only begotten Son” (John 3:16) of the Father chose to live by the Father’s power, and not of His own accord.

What is prayer? This question must be answered before the prayer life of Jesus can be analyzed. Jewish and Middle Eastern Christians define prayer in a much different manner than the Western culture does. Jesus lived in the Middle East, and spoke several different languages including Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew. Aramaic was the language with which Jesus most likely communicated. Rocco Errico points out,

It is very difficult, when going form one language to another, to retain the full impact and meaning of the original word. Something is always lost through translation. The task is even more difficult when it involves such vastly different cultures as our Western culture and that of the Middle East. … The word for prayer in Aramaic is SLOTHA. It comes from the root word SLA, which literally means, “to set a trap.” In the East, when men went hunting, they would get a box, some bait, and a string. They’d tie the string to the box-trap, set up the trap, and then hide behind a rock or some other adequate shelter, still holding the string, and wait patiently for the animal they desired to trap. And when the animal came, they’d pull the string and catch the prey. So “prayer,” then, literally means, “to set your mind like a trap and wait patiently to catch the thoughts of God”; that is, to trap inner guidance and impulses (Errico, p. 9-10).

It is easy to see that much of Christ’s prayer to His Father consisted of silence and hearing what His Father said. John 8:28b says, “I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.” John 14:24 says, “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.” Jesus’ need to hear the words of His Father was critical for Him to communicate because He neither did nor said anything that was not from the Father. Trueblood points out, “Prayer seems to have been with him always, so that He could move easily from direct communication with God to direct communication with men. In this sense it is probable that His life of prayer was unbroken, always just under the surface of events”(Trueblood, p. 27).

The Bible is the primary source of the life of Jesus, and specifically the Gospels. The method behind the Man can only be glimpsed as the pages of scripture crack open “the door of the sheep” (John 10:7). In fact there is not so much a method as there is a pattern or custom that is observable. It is known that Jesus observed certain customs just as when He went to the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:16). A custom or pattern can be seen in scripture regarding Christ’s life of continual prayer. This is how He developed the relationship that He and His Father had throughout eternity. “For many people, prayer is an enigma. It is not surprising that Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray” (Young, p.1). No one ever asked Jesus to teach them about His uncanny methodology in expositing the scriptures, even though it amazed all who heard because of the authority with which He taught (see Matt. 7:29). There was a difference in His life and in the lives of the other rabbis or religious leaders of His day. Even Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews (John 3:1) said to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:2).

In trying to get a grasp on the nature of prayer and specifically the prayer life of Jesus Richard Foster in his inquisitive book Celebration of Discipline makes the astounding statement,

As followers of the Lord Jesus one would also do well to note what His position in prayer was, and what His purpose in prayer was. Christ’s pattern in prayer can be seen in the way He prioritized His life. We see Jesus rising early to be alone to pray. Mark 1:35 says, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Jesus led a very busy and full life. Prayer was important enough to carve out the first part of the day in order to spend uninterrupted time with His Source: the Father. This was necessary not only for power, but also for good communication and a strong relationship. Jesus says of the Father, “for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). Brenda Poinsett writes, “We Christians might not need so many group meetings to keep us going if more of us practiced withdrawal” (Poinsett, p. 23). There was certainly a refreshing that revitalized Jesus as He withdrew to be with His Father.

James Thomson in his book The Praying Christ gives further insight into Jesus’ prayer life,

“There is what has been called, ‘an inner canon of Scripture’ for our Lord in the Hebrew Bible. This inner canon seems to have included two of the Old Testament books in which the urgency for waiting upon the Lord comes most frequently to expression, namely, the Psalms and Isaiah. It also included Hosea, where the phrase occurs once. This inevitably means that Jesus must often had the Old Testament ideal before Him as He read the ancient Jewish Scriptures and as He prayed. Indeed, it would become a powerfully formative influence in His own prayer life as He grew up from boyhood, through adolescence, into manhood. In fact, the phrase may be taken as the quintessential expression of His prayer life” (Thomson, p.134).

The position which Christ took in prayer can also be observed as His attitude. As was stated earlier Philippians 2:5-8 says,

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Christ was the greatest servant ever to walk the earth. Matthew 20:28 (ESV) says of Christ, “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." He served others He came to save. One of the ways He served was intercession. Dr. Abena Fosua expounds on Jesus ministry,

“Intercession for the entire nation of Israel was one of the functions of the high priest. This is another reason why the John 17 prayer is frequently called the ‘High Priestly Prayer.’ After the Resurrection, early Christian thought transferred the priest’s intercessory role to both Christ and the Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:26-27; Hebrews 4:14-15; 7:24-25). Early Christian literature also spoke of intercession as a continuing ministry of Christ in our lives (Romans 8:34)” (Fosua, p. 80).

Now as the High Priest He takes on His intercessory role from heaven. J. Dwight Pentecost has an unusual and insightful perspective regarding Jesus’ role on earth:

“We also notice that when Christ during His ministry went into a strange synagogue He was greeted as a rabbi and welcomed in that assembly. A rabbi was normally designated by the color of the tassels or ribbons sewn onto his robe. It may be that Christ wore the robe of a rabbi. Such a robe would have entitled Him to respect and honor. In Israel only the priest was held in higher esteem that the rabbi. All the Jews knew of the Old Testament was taught by the rabbis. It was such a garment as this that Christ laid aside in order to wrap a towel around His waist. A towel was the sign of a servant” (Pentecost, p. 428).

One may not consider this an important piece of information about the prayer life of Jesus, but this defined Who He was in the eyes of His Apostles. He was noted among many as the “Rabbi” or one who teaches, but now He had laid aside His rabbinic tassels and had taken the position of a servant to do the menial chore of washing dusty, dirty feet. One wonders if this was in preparation for Him to move into His role as Great High Priest as is stated in Hebrews 4:14, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” A serving High Priest redefined all that Christ’s disciple’s understood about their idea of position and place.

The purpose that Jesus had for prayer went far beyond study of Torah because prayer as Christ demonstrated went far beyond opening the pages of holy writ and looking into the mysteries of God. Prayer was His means of communion with His Father. This developed His personal relationship with Him in which He furthered His unbroken relationship which He had in eternity. This communion is what sustained Him throughout all His days. His very life depended upon this communion. Jesus prayed for this type of relationship to be experienced by not only His own disciples when He was on earth, but also for everyone who would believe at their testimony. John 17:20-23,

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

This unity is the prayer of Jesus for all those who would believe in Him through the testimony of His disciples. This is a powerful extension because Christ’s prayer would extend through out time unto the end of the world. In Christ now we have a Great High Priest who has passed into heaven as was Christ’s pattern in prayer, as was His position in prayer, and as was His purpose in prayer.

In conclusion, the prayer life of Jesus was meant to be a shared, relational experience for all believers. This relationship cultivated in prayer presses one into Christ’s answer of His High Priestly prayer of John 17:20-21, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” In church history there is even a prayer called the Jesus Prayer in early church history. “The prayer of Jesus is said like this: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” (Brianchaninov, p. 2). This simple prayer was said over and over again out loud at first, then silently and continually throughout the day until the pray-er would become one with the prayer. In the little book On The Prayer Of Jesus, we read of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who had been taught this prayer by none other than the Apostle John:

The life of St. Ignatius the God-bearer, Bishop of Antioch, who was crowned in Rome with a martyr’s death under the emperor Trajan, we read the following: “When they were taking him to be devoured by wild beasts and he had the name of Jesus constantly on his lips, the pagans asked him why he unceasingly remembered that name. The Saint replied that he had the name of Jesus Christ written in his heart and that he confessed with his mouth Him Whom he always carried in his heart. After the Saint had been eaten by the wild beasts, by the will of God among his bones his heart was preserved intact. The infidels found it, and then remembered what St. Ignatius had said. So they cut that heart into two halves, wishing to know whether what they had been told was true. Inside, on the two halves of the heart that had been cut open, they found an inscription in gold letters: Jesus Christ. Thus St. Ignatius was in name and in fact a God-bearer, always carrying our God in his heart, written by the reflection (or meditation) of his mind as with a reed.”

St. Ignatius was a disciple of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Divine, and was privileged in his childhood to see the Lord Jesus Christ personally. He was that blessed child of whom it is said in the Gospel that the Lord placed him among the Apostles who had been arguing about priority, took him in His arms and said: Truly I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Brianchaninov, p. 4-5).

The prayer life of Jesus was truly life that He lived. He meant this life to be lived by all. The community of faith has lost the connection of life that Jesus experienced in prayer and as His disciples observed. Luke 18:7-8 says, “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” As is clearly seen the same faith is not demonstrated in the American church. The church must have a paradigm shift when it comes to the understanding of prayer. The prayer of Christ; the prayer of the early church demonstrated a reality of faith that needs to be recaptured so that the prayer for unity of the Lord Jesus in John 17 will be fulfilled so He will return. Even so come Lord Jesus!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brianchaninov, Ignatius. On The Prayer Of Jesus: From the Ascetic Essays of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov. Translated by Father Lazarus. London: Robert Stockwell LTD., 1952.

Errico, Rocco A. The Ancient Aramaic Prayer of Jesus: The Lord’s Prayer. Los Angeles, CA: Science of Mind Communications, 1978.

Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline: A Path to Spiritual Growth. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1978. ISBN 0-06-062839-1.

Fosua, Abena Safiyah. Jesus and Prayer. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002. ISBN 0-687-09071-7.

Pentecost, J. Dwight, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ: A Study of the Life of Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981.

Poinsett, Brenda. When Jesus Prayed. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1981.

Thomson, James G. The Praying Christ, Jesus’ Doctrine and Practice of Prayer. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1959.

Trueblood, Elton. The Lord’s Prayers. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1965.

Young, Brad. The Jewish Background to the Lord’s Prayer. Austin, TX: Center For Judaic-Christian Studies, 1984.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 30 Aug 2009 9:22:47 am | no comments

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Sat 15 Aug 2009

Relational Equity

A story recorded in the Talmud in Jewish historic literature paints a unique picture of what relational equity is in terms of how it coincides with one’s relationship to the Lord. “The profile of one outstanding figure of Jewish history from this period suggests close links with Jesus and his Jewish theology Choni the Circle drawer in talmudic legend displayed outrageous daring toward God when he prayed for rain” (Young, p. 61). Young goes on to quote from the Mishna,

Once they asked Choni the Circle drawer, “Pray that rain may fall.” He

answered them, “Go out and take inside the Passover ovens so that they

may not be softened.” He prayed, but the rain did not fall. What did he do?

He drew a circle and stood within it. He spoke before him, “O Lord of the

Universe, your children have turned their faces to me, because I am like a

son of the house before you. I swear by your great name that I will not

move from here until you have shown mercy upon your children.” Rain

started to sprinkle. He said, “Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain

that will fill the cisterns, pits, and caverns.” It began to rain of goodwill,

blessing, and graciousness.” Then it rained in moderation [and continued]

until the Israelites went up form Jerusalem to the Temple Mount because

of the rain. They went and asked him, “In the same way you prayed for

rain to come, so pray that it may go away!”(Young, p. 61).

Choni was a son of the house. He had relational equity built up. He spent much time in persistent prayer to God and that time had been noticed by God and others as well.

Another great example of someone with relational equity through prayer is Elijah. James shows in James 5:16b-18, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” There was a special mark that Elijah had on his life that caused the LORD to listen to him, and he was a man with a nature like the rest of fallen man.

Finally, the ultimate example of relational equity was the Lord Jesus. Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi who spent many hours in prayer to His Father. His disciples were even taken by the fact that they did not have this same type of relationship and subsequently their prayer life lacked the same clout as Jesus. This clout was the relational equity. His disciples looked on while Christ prayed, then asked after He finished, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). The special relationship that Jesus had with the Father was maintained in prayer, and the ministry He had was by the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). Ministry today should observe these examples of tenacity and develop the relational equity that invigorated these as well.

Young, Brad H. The Parables: Jewish Tradition and Christian Interpretation. Peabody, MA: Hindrckson, 1998. ISBN 978-1-59856-303-0.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sat 15 Aug 2009 1:50:02 pm | no comments

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Sun 26 Jul 2009

The Resume of Jesus Christ

The Resume of Jesus Christ

Address: Ephesians 1:20
Phone: Romans 10:13
Website: The Bible. Keywords: Christ, Lord, Savior and Jesus

My name is Jesus -The Christ. Many call me Lord! I've sent you my resume' because I'm seeking the top management position in your heart. Please consider my accomplishments as set forth in my resume'.

Qualifications

I founded the earth and established the heavens, (See Proverbs 3:19)
I formed man from the dust of the ground, (See Genesis 2:7)
I breathed into man the breath of life, (See Genesis 2:7)
I redeemed man from the curse of the law, (See Galatians 3:13)
The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant comes upon your life through me, (See Galatians 3:14)

Occupational Background

I've only had one employer, (See Luke 2:49).
I've never been tardy, absent, disobedient, slothful or disrespectful.
My employer has nothing but rave reviews for me, (See Matthew 3:15-17)

Skills Work Experiences

Some of my skills and work experiences include: empowering the poor to be poor no more, healing the brokenhearted, setting the captives free, healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and setting at liberty them that are bruised, (See Luke 4:18).
I am a Wonderful Counselor, (See Isaiah 9:6). People who listen to me shall dwell safely and shall not fear evil, (See Proverbs 1:33).
Most importantly, I have the authority, ability and power to cleanse you of your sins, (See I John 1:7-9)

Educational Background

I encompass the entire breadth and length of knowledge, wisdom and understanding, (See Proverbs 2:6).
In me are hid all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, (See Colossians 2:3).
My Word is so powerful; it has been described as being a lamp unto your feet and a lamp unto your path, (See Psalms 119:105).
I can even tell you all of the secrets of your heart, (See Psalms 44:21).

Major Accomplishments

I was an active participant in the greatest Summit Meeting of all times, (See Genesis 1:26).
I laid down my life so that you may live, (See II Corinthians 5:15).
I defeated the archenemy of God and mankind and made a show of them openly, (See Colossians 2:15).
I've miraculously fed the poor, healed the sick and raised the dead!
There are many more major accomplishments, too many to mention here. You can read them on my website, which is located at: www dot - the BIBLE. You don't need an Internet connection or computer to access my website.

REFERENCES

Believers and followers worldwide will testify to my divine healings, salvation, deliverance, miracles, restoration and supernatural guidance

In Summation
Now that you've read my resume', I'm confident that I'm the only candidate uniquely qualified to fill this vital position in your heart. In summation, I will properly direct your paths, (See Proverbs 3:5-6), and lead you into everlasting life, (See John 6:47). When can I start? Time is of the essence. (See Hebrews 3:15).

Send this resume' to everyone you know; you never know who may have an opening! Thanks for your help and may God bless you!

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 26 Jul 2009 5:15:33 pm | 1 comments

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Fri 19 Jun 2009

Amazing Einstein Quote!

Join with me in praying that all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:25-27).

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Physicist and Professor, Princeton University

“As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the
Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the
Nazarene....No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual
presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is
filled with such life.
Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrase-mongers, however artful.
No man can dispose of Christianity with a bon mot.”

"What Life Means to Einstein," The Saturday Evening Post, October 26, 1929.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Fri 19 Jun 2009 6:46:42 pm | no comments

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Wed 17 Jun 2009

Fire and Light

Jesus is the Light of the world, and the Holy Spirit is the fire of God. Where there is fire there is light.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Wed 17 Jun 2009 10:59:19 pm | no comments

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Sun 10 May 2009

W.O.R.D. "Keeping the Commandments"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Leviticus 22:31-33 “Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I [am] the LORD. Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I [am] the LORD which hallow you, That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I [am] the LORD.”

O – One of the most important and identifying beliefs of the Hebrew people had been the call of God on their lives to keep His commandments. The Orthodox Jews today still hold to the fact that God is the same, and holds to holiness for the most part in the same manner He did in the Old Testament. Jews all over the world today still keep the same schedule of reading the Torah or books of Moses. They believe God is unchanging and keeping His law still holds today as it did in Moses day. Wow, that sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? The New Testament passage of Hebrews 13:18 tells us, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Holiness is and always will be God’s standard.

Here in this passage God places His mark upon them as He did throughout scripture that keeping His commandments makes them uniquely qualified to bear His holy name. “Holy” is another word for separating or setting apart. In other words God is setting Israel aside to be completely different for Himself because He is completely different. A good description of God that has been used is the term “Holy Other.” He is other than who we are. He is completely righteous, not because He follows a certain set of rules or laws, but because He is the standard to which the rules or laws are pointing. His command to Israel was to “keep my commandments, and do them” because this was the measure of separateness to the rest of the world that they were the people of this specific God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The scripture also reveals to us in Jeremiah 11:3-5 something similar, “And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed [be] the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, Which I commanded your fathers in the day [that] I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God: That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as [it is] this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.”

The qualifying requirement here is obedience to God’s voice, which was the same as obedience to the commandments that God spoke as the Israelites came out of Egypt. He told them this so that they would be His people and He would be their God. Jeremiah writes something that is typical for God to say about obedience in that it would bring about blessing that He wanted to give them.

In these two passages we see that keeping the word of God, not only made the people holy, but also would lead them into blessing. Keeping His word was God’s merciful gift to protect and preserve them as well as proclaim His name.

R – As I read this I’m convicted that my actions do not always line up with my “faith.” With the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” I feel I have not obeyed to the fullest. With all the legal bills we’re incurring in the custody battles we are facing, along with school bills, mortgage, a slumping economy, etc. it’s easier to fall into fear and panic than into obedience and holiness.

One of the ways that I can magnify Him and be called by His name as these passages indicate is to obey His word and watch His deliverance. I say my security is only the Lord, and man I sure want it to be. I cannot take matters into my own hands by worrying because that does not produce life. Jesus in Matthew 6:27 (NKJV) says, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”

The tithe is His. It always has been His. By faith I will keep tithing because this proves the Lord at His command (Mal. 3:10). Stretching my faith is uncomfortable at first because my faith muscles are being used differently. In using this muscle He validates calling me by His name. It’s obedience. His name is a strong tower. He has made me righteous by the blood of Christ and I will run into that strong tower and be safe. I will obey His word and His commands because in that way I will show that I am His.

W – Father, teach me to walk by faith in obedience so I can prove Your faithfulness to all the world. Help me to testify of Your holiness of which You have called me to. Teach me to be disciplined in my actions so that I can bring glory to Your Son; in Jesus’ name I pray; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 10 May 2009 11:47:21 pm | no comments

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Tue 5 May 2009

W.O.R.D. "Honor"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – John 5:22-23 “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all [men] should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.”

O – After hearing that Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and that He said that His Father was God, the Jews wanted to kill Him. This poor man had been lame in his feet for thirty-eight years and they wanted to kill Jesus because they felt one of their rules had been violated. This is legalism at its worst!

Jesus in these verses here reveals another layer of His character, specifically regarding judgment and honor. In many passages of the Old Testament we see God depicted as an exacting Deity meting out retribution on wickedness and also on those who come against His people. The law was a measure which demanded perfection, but was impossible to keep. IMPOSSIBLE; NO WAY! These Jews that were doing all the questioning were turning what originally was meant to protect and preserve into a club with which to beat the hearers into submission. This was not for submission to God and His holiness, but they wanted Jesus to submit to their own liberal spin of what they wanted God to be. They were not about life; they were about control.

The Jews were bent out of shape because Jesus actually healed on the Sabbath. The nerve. I mean, how dare He actually bring forth life in a person on such a solemn occasion. After all no life should ever come from any godly person on the Sabbath; only rest, right?

So here are these Jews who are self-appointed arbiters of truth that were concerned about “God’s judgment” and Jesus springs a startling truth on them: the Father does not judge, but has given that to Him as God’s Son. This totally fires them up, and then to throw gasoline on the fire He introduces them to the finer points of rage by saying in essence that they should honor Him! Can you imagine? Jesus tells them if they do not honor Him, then they don’t honor Father God. Whoa!

R – This tells me a lot about how God feels concerning the attribute of honor. Along with the fact that God hates manipulation of His word for controlling others, He also puts a premium on honoring authority. In His great commission Jesus said, “all authority is given unto me in heaven and earth” so He is the ultimate authority here on earth. I believe that the natural in many ways mirrors the spiritual, and God has set authority up for us to honor and heed. 1 Timothy 5:17 says, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.” Our elders of Harvest Hill Church include Pastor Nelson and Charlie, and should be honored as God has given them to our body. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that [is] unprofitable for you.” They have a big responsibility before the Lord.

The next time a decision that is made, and maybe we don’t necessarily agree with it just know that our responsibility before the Lord is to honor our elders and to submit as to the Lord because they have to be held accountable to God for our congregation. We should never try to manipulate a situation or as the Jews did try to exercise control out of selfishness, pride or even jealousy.

D – Father, please help my heart to always remain pure before You as I submit and lean on our eldership for wisdom and leadership. I want to honor them as You would have me to honor them with my loyalty and service. Thank You Lord for Harvest Hill Church. Use our body to bring people into the fullness of the Spirit with wisdom and bring revelation to us all in the knowledge of Christ. Cause not only their eyes, but also cause the eyes of our understanding to be enlightened, and that we all would know what is the hope of His calling in the name of the Lord Jesus I pray; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 5 May 2009 10:47:26 pm | no comments

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Thu 23 Apr 2009

W.O.R.D. "Salt In Yourselves"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Mark 9:33-50 “And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know [it]. For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who [should be] the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, [the same] shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. And whosoever shall offend one of [these] little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt [is] good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”

O – The context that Jesus makes this statement began with Him warning His disciples of pride because of wanting to appear great before men, and then comparing a little child who trusts in the Lord with Himself. You see, Jesus was a child Himself. He was the only begotten Son of the Father. We know this because He tells these disciples that receiving a child that believes in Him is really receiving the Father. Jesus was a man who always reflected to others the exact representation of the Father (Hebrews 1:3). He took the low road instead of the grandiose King’s highway. He could have, but it was not time.

He goes on to relate the dangers of offending or making one of these children that believe in Him to stumble. It is so interesting to me that He at this time talks about things that offend or cause us to stumble whether it be your eyes or your feet. Our Lord is making the comparison as such because we as believers in Christ are little children, only we have the option of following the desires of the flesh instead of following Him. Does that not seem odd to you? We determine whether or not we are going to fall for our flesh or go for His grace.

The stakes get higher than just falling, though. Jesus talks about taking drastic measures with yourself to ensure life and not eternal death. He warns six times in these seven verses that hell is everlasting and fire never ceases. You think Jesus meant what He said? Through faith we are children of the Father. Through faith we trust in Jesus as our only substitute for our death on the cross. No wonder His disciples were afraid to ask Him about dying and raising the third day. His death on the cross paid for our penalty for sin, but our death comes as a result of death to our decision to make one of God’s children to stumble - including ourselves! Pride keeps us from coming to Him. It is our stumbling block and offence.

Notice Jesus says that “everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.” This is not everlasting fire, though. This is a fire of seasoning as one is seasoned with salt. He also says that “every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.” We as living sacrifices are not only cured as salt cures meat, but we are also flavored with the flavor of Jesus. Ever had beef jerky? It’s salty isn’t it? I don’t know about you, but my mouth is watering just thinking about it. That salt not only cures the beef jerky, but makes it taste really good!

R – I really am hit by this word because I see the seriousness with which the Lord looks at sin. There is such a white-hot smolder that He has toward what makes His children stumble that His warning shouts aloud to all who will hear. We have a choice to trust in His faithfulness and live eternally with Him or we can allow pride to keep us from throwing ourselves whole-heartedly into His arms for mercy. Who is going to be Lord of your life – self or Jesus? Would you really let your own lusts and pride keep you from coming to Him for a cool drink of His Spirit?

The Lord is jealous over us because that is His name (Exodus 34:14). He does not want any competing lovers for our affection. If we will humble ourselves and become His little child in heart, then He will lift us up.

D – Father, teach me to humble myself as a child. Give me compassion for those who do not have You as their Father because hell is real. Teach me by Your Spirit to emulate Jesus in all I do, say, ask and think in Jesus’ name; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Thu 23 Apr 2009 5:37:36 pm | no comments

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Fri 10 Apr 2009

W.O.R.D. "His Resurrection; Our Life"

W – Romans 5:6-10 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by

his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

O – The book of Romans which is the crown jewel of Christian doctrine, gives us a glimpse of just how little man has in himself apart from Christ to stand uprightly before God. Just look at the descriptions Paul uses for man. He says we were “without strength”, “ungodly”, “sinners”, and “enemies.” This is just within five verses. We are

pretty bad hombres, huh? The gap has been extended so we could never make the leap to come back into friendship with God. It is so far in fact that even for one sin that gulf is stretched to infinity. With sin comes brokenness, and we’ve all been broken.

Paul talks of Christ and His sacrifice for us so that we could be reconciled to Him. Reconciliation is what a book keeper does to accounts to check for accuracy. Our account has been depleted of what filled it originally. When we were born our account had already been burglarized even before we had a chance to protect our assets. You

see our account was in the trust of one that chose to break the line of continuous flow with the Source of all its assets. Neither you nor I had a say in the matter. The account could never balance again on its own because of lack of funds with no incoming supply. The devil came and deceived Eve at Adam’s neglect by something similar to a ponzi scheme made famous by what Bernie Madoff did. This scheme however was on a spiritual scale.

Only God could do something to fix the problem. By sending His Son Jesus to die our gap was bridged. Only the death of One who was like us in all points as we are yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15) could make an extension to bridge the infinite gap. So Paul tells us that we were reconciled by His death. This made the playing field even. In

other words Christ’s death made it now possible to have a reconciled account. But God did not stop there. He did not just want our account to be balanced by His death. He wanted us to have His assets in our account. That’s why Paul goes on to tell us, “we shall be saved by His life.” Our broken life was exchanged by the full, whole life

of Christ.

What a deal! I love what Olen Griffing says, “Everything has been done to procure our salvation. I could almost say that everyone in the world is already saved … if they’ll believe.” There is absolutely nothing we could ever do to merit eternal life with God. It is only by His grace.

R – In this time of remembering and reflecting on the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ let us consider that “Christ our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7) did die as the Lamb of God to reconcile us to God, but then He rose again to save us by His life. It’s so cool that the Jewish holiday of Passover began Wednesday April 8 this year

2009. Christ died at the same time the paschal lamb was being slaughtered. We know that it’s not about bunnies or eggs or anything like that pagan tradition, but I can’t see God being threatened by a bunny either. We were saved by grace through His resurrected life. Why do we hold to senseless traditions? Maybe it’s because we are

“with out strength”, “ungodly”, “sinners”, and “enemies” of God. Maybe it was because God wanted to demonstrate His goodness and all-sufficient grace that none other but Him could procure our salvation.

In this time when Christ’s Resurrection is at the forefront of the church’s agenda and focus, let us be thankful for His choosing. If you know Christ today rejoice and pursue His upward call for your life because you are not your own (1 Cor. 6:19). If you are not sure and have an urge in your heart to get right with the Lord, then simply ask Christ to come into your life. Jesus says today , “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). He is waiting because His death has reconciled you to Him, but now He wants to give you His life so that you can be saved.

D – Lord, let us in this resurrection season walk in Your life which You have purchased for us with Your blood. Thank You for Your grace, Lord Jesus.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Fri 10 Apr 2009 10:05:08 am | no comments

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Fri 20 Mar 2009

W.O.R.D. "Life in the Spirit"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – 1 Co. 15:45-48 "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit. Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven. As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly."

O – 1 Corinthians chapter 15 refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Here in these verses Paul is comparing the two natures within man with Adam and the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 44 (not listed) compares two bodies that are sown (what they are at this present time) as being natural and spiritual. We're dealing with two different natures that are contained within the same being - natural and spiritual. However, this word “living” in Greek is zao which we know is derived from zoe meaning “the life of God.” When Adam had the breath of God blown into his nostrils he was the recipient of the Spirit of God. This was involuntary on Adams part. God gave him His life. So Adam was now able to feel, discern and choose. It was God’s plan, but Adam’s soul was not yet submitted to God’s Lordship. This would need to come out of a desire to love God more than self.

So the soul has great ability as Adam had great ability. Imagine having the responsibility to name all the animals and govern God’s creation! This was all done when there was no sin in the world (Gen. 2:20). Tremendous ability! The way that I see it, the untainted soul from sin has the innate, God-given ability to govern and lead as God intended.

Adam was made a living soul and Jesus was made a life-giving spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “… [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice the scripture here did not say anything about the flesh because the flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:8). The spirit and the flesh are both contained in the body as also is the soul. I believe the soul was originally a neutral entity that could give itself voluntarily as a servant to either the spirit or the flesh. Romans 6:16 says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Of course now our world has to deal with the sin issue so anything proceeding from an unyielded soul is unredeemed.

We know that before we have faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation our spirit is dead (Gal. 3:22-23; Rom. 8:10). If we respond to the Father’s drawing, then we will be born again (John 6:44). So when we are born naturally, we are born dead. To say it another way we are born into Adam. His original nature is the nature of the soul and not the spirit. What do we have to do to inherit that nature? Absolutely nothing. It's ours. This is the doctrine of original sin. Adam sinned, and subsequently everyone born after him is born into Adam. That's why we must be born again (John 3:3-5). We are born naturally with a dead spirit, but after faith in Christ our spirit is made alive.

This is interesting language Paul uses in this passage because he makes a comparison between two Adams. The first Adam was made a living soul, but Christ Jesus a quickening or life giving spirit. We can look at our soul as our mind, intellect, creativity, emotions and will. It is interesting that of all the translations of scripture have that the last Adam, Jesus Christ, made a life giving spirit, lower case “s.” Only the New Living Translation capitalizes Spirit. Do you think that makes a difference? The Greek word for spirit is pneuma and is not capitalized. Does this change the meaning in any way? Food for thought, huh?

R – This passage is hard to grab a hold of. What it does is make me see the potential in man if he submits himself to the Lord. We can only be as good as our source. If we have not taken Christ’s invitation to join Him in relationship, then we are neglecting to acknowledge Him as our Source, thus we become our own end.

Did Jesus have a separate soul from His Father? He must have because He said in the garden of Gethsemane, "not my will, but thine, be done" Luke 22:42. The will is part of the soul. Does Jesus have a separate spirit? If He does is that Spirit holy? Is He the Holy Spirit since He was made a life giving spirit? Another interesting question, huh?

We’ve been looking at the person of the Holy Spirit in several of our Sunday morning services this year. Pastor Nelson said the Holy Spirit has to do with government in our lives more than if a person speaks with tongues or not. I agree whole-heartedly with that. Government indicates authority and authority implies rulership or lordship; in other words a Sovereign Lord.

The last words of Jesus to His disciples He spent talking about the Kingdom of God in Acts 1:3. In fact Jesus spoke to them through the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:2 about the coming baptism – Holy Spirit baptism. We can see from the text in 1 Corinthians 15:45-48 that the things related to Jesus Christ, “the last Adam,” has to do with spiritual or Kingdom issues and not natural issues. However, everything that occurs in the natural does have a spiritual or Kingdom outcome. Our yieldedness must be to our spirit as believers in Christ so that the fruit coming forth in our lives is fruit of the Spirit and not the works of the flesh.

D – Father, please help us to walk by Your Spirit and not in our flesh. We must be led by You in our every step. Help us not to put our own selfish interest because selfishness cannot please You. Quicken us Lord in Jesus name I pray; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Fri 20 Mar 2009 10:59:15 pm | no comments

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Tue 10 Mar 2009

W.O.R.D. "Charge!!!"

W - Word

O - Observation

R - Revelation

D - Devotion

Charge!!!

W – 1 Chronicles 22:11-13 "Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee. Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God. Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed."

1 Chronicles 28:9 "And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever."

2 Chronicles 1:7-12 "In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead. Now, O LORD God, let thy promise unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, [that is so] great? And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: Wisdom and knowledge [is] granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that [have been] before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like."

1 Kings 11:4-10 "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, [that] his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as [was] the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as [did] David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that [is] before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and acrificed unto their gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded."

O – In 1 Chronicles 22 we see king David charging his son Solomon to always keep the law of the Lord. Most all of us have heard of the wisdom of Solomon, however, it is seldom told that how king David his father first spoke of this to his son. Not only did he tell him of the benefits of keeping the law, but also warned him of the consequences for forsaking them (1 Chronicles 28:9). We can see that Solomon took this advice to heart because he knew what to ask for when the Lord came to him (2 Chronicles 1:7-12). However, the influences of a spouse (spouses) are powerful. This proved to be his downfall.

R – We as parents need to be aware of the influences of our words to our kids. The words of fathers are so influential and impact even when we do not realize it. I’m sure David knew that his words were going to affect Solomon because he was assuming the throne, however, after years the gravity of his words were weakened by the influence of his wives. We as parents, both fathers and mothers, not only have the responsibility of speaking words of direction to our children, but also to model integrity to them in our lives. Kids watch us. We must, we must, we must show our kids the importance of the word of God in our lives. They need to be able to see us fathers leading in devotions, teaching scriptures in practical ways and helping them to develop Godly habits of prayer.

Kids want whatever they are used to. If kids are always fed sugar, then guess what? They are going to want sugar. Babies do not know any better until the "knowledge" comes of what "could be."

The influence of the world will be there because the "god of this world" (2 Co. 4:4) is active and wants to deceive our kids into thinking of going along with the current of society will not harm them. That’s why we are given the armor of God as believers in Christ (Eph. 6:10-17). We must teach the scriptures to our kids because just as David recognized this to be the key to success in Solomon’s life we must as well be men and women after this same pattern. If we as parents are not students of God's word, become one! There is no time to waste. The sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6:17 is the utterance of God, which is the same as when Jesus said to the devil, "

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). This utterance or "rhema" is always going to reflect scripture. This is the sword of the Spirit. Jesus reflected the scripture back to the devil when he was in hand to hand combat with him. Jesus' line of defence was the power of God's written word made alive at an opportune moment. The word brings the eternal into the now. This is an "I AM" moment.

David was training Solomon to revere and keep the word of God so that it would go well with him. We would do well to heed his example. In the end Solomon's wives influenced him more, and he turned his heart from the living God. The New Testament gives great advice, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry" (1 Co. 10:13-14).

D - Father, help us to revere Your word as we make walk out our destiny You have for us. Let us train our children to always know and keep Your word for Your word is life. Teach us to number our days and to be influenced by scripture, that the world will not influence us in the name of the Lord Jesus I pray; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 10 Mar 2009 7:22:47 pm | no comments

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Wed 11 Feb 2009

W.O.R.D. "Family Altar"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Psalm 84:3 “Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, [even] thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.”

O – Psalm 84 is one of my favorite Psalms in the psalter. This is a Psalm that speaks of the courts of the LORD as being better than anywhere in this world. This third verse really grabbed my attention this morning. It stood out to me that birds are mentioned as being those that discovered where God makes His abode. Birds? I ask myself, “Why would the psalmist mention birds in connection to God’s dwelling place?” Quite frankly I do not think I’ve ever noticed this before. Does it seem odd to you or am I the only one? Granted, this does not stand up there with the mystery of the Trinity or anything, but it’s in the Bible so it must have importance.

I started looking at the different meanings of the words and what I found was very significant to me. Both the sparrow and the swallow found a home in the house of God, but the swallow found a place to build her nest in order to lay her young at the altar of the Lord. That reminds me of what Abraham did with Isaac. “Sparrow” comes from the root word that means to depart or to go early, and “swallow” comes from the root word which means free-flowing and is also translated “pure” as in Exodus 30:23 where this speaks of “pure myrrh.” Myrrh is a precious bitter spice used as an anticeptic for embalming the dead. This was given as one of the gifts of the wise men from the east to Jesus at His birth. “East” in Greek is “Anatole.” Hey, I work at the Anatole! This is interesting! This is all so connected.

R – I find immediate application in that my daughter, whose name is Katelynn also means “pure.” My precious little girl (she’s 13, but she’ll always be little to me) also is as pure myrrh, a gift given to Christ. I have to lay my young down on the altar if I want to build my home in the house of God. The place of closeness and intimacy with the Father is also a place of sacrifice as on the altar. Right now I involved in legal disputes with my ex-wife regarding our children. I know where the better place would be for them, but if I want to live in God’s house and dwell in His courts I have to lay them on the altar.

Later in this same Psalm verse 11 says, “For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” I am praying for justice and truth to hold up in all these legal proceedings. I just pray that my walk would be pleasing to the Lord and that He would not allow my children to be withheld from me any more.

D – Father, I want to build my home in the house of God. I will lay my children on the altar. They are Yours. I pray that You would give me grace and glory in these times. Help me to always walk uprightly. I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Wed 11 Feb 2009 1:18:46 pm | no comments

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Mon 9 Feb 2009

W.O.R.D. "Revival of Sin?"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Romans 7:9 “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”

O – Much has been written on Romans 7. This is the chapter seems to be going in circles about sin and one’s inability to overcome it. Paul seems to throw his hands up in a hopeless lunge and ask in verse 24, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” He then quickly answers himself in the next verse by stating, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Paul is referring to a state that he once was in that tended to life. In other words before he had an understanding of what the Jewish law required his conscience was fine. For the sake of this text standing by itself we can see that Paul gives us an indication that there was life before the knowledge of the law because “he was alive without [or apart from] the law.”

The law did something else, too – it made sin come alive. Yuk! He tells us that “sin revived” which from the Greek word ä-nä-zä'-ō. This basically means to live again, recover life or gain strength. When sin gained strength he died. Pronunciation

R – I was at home yesterday and I walked out of our closet and this verse flashed across the screen in my head, except it was just “sin revived, and I died.” I wasn’t sure where I had seen that before, but I was sure it was a verse or part of a verse. Again it flashed across my mind, “sin revived, and I died.” So I said, “Yes, Lord” and went to my concordance. Man, I’m thinking, “When was sin ever alive? Was sin ever alive in me?” It must have been. Could it be alive in me now? You know if something is re-vived it had to have been alive once. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), right? Can a believer still have sin alive in them?

It hit me. Paul was talking about himself when he said “the commandment came, [and] I died.” I interpret that to mean when I put myself up against what is right in the sight of God apart from God Himself, then all I get is a righteous belief system without love because God is love. This righteous standard is a good thing; a proper thing, but what it does apart from the infusion of the Divine Love Himself is set up an impossibility of achievement. Sin reviving in me is something that should never even remotely be attainable. I am a new creature in Christ, but I can choose for myself to measure according to God’s righteousness apart from His love. When that happens I become legalistic and rigid. I try to fulfill the scripture for myself instead of for us corporately, “For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21 ). Isaiah 64:6 says, “all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags.” I take His “we” and turn it selfishly to “me.” There’s no love when I have no one with which to share it. Sin revived and I died.

My only hope is God’s grace. My only salvation is God’s love. My only righteousness is God Himself. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13).

D – Father, I know revival is only in You and Your love. Apart from You I can do nothing. Help me to stay in Your life; in Your love in Christ’s name I pray; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 9 Feb 2009 10:34:35 pm | no comments

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Tue 27 Jan 2009

C.S. Lewis sermon "The Weight of Glory."

"it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 27 Jan 2009 5:45:45 pm | no comments

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Mon 26 Jan 2009

John Piper "Desiring God" pp. 81-82

"Worshiping in spirit is the opposite of worshiping in merely external ways. It is the opposite of empty formalism and traditionalism. Worshiping in truth is the opposite of worship based on an inadequate view of God. Worship must have heart and worship must engage emotions and thought.

"Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full (or half full) of artificial admirers (like people who write generic anniversary cards for a living). On the other hand, emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates shallow people who refuse the discipline of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship."

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 26 Jan 2009 6:35:07 pm | no comments

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Sat 24 Jan 2009

Deep quote of the day: John Piper "Desiring God"

"God would be unrighteous (just as we would) if He valued anything more than what is supremely valuable. But He Himself is supremely valuable. If He did not take infinite delight in the worth of His own glory, He would be unrighteous. For it is right to take delight in a person in proportion to the excellence of that person’s glory."

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sat 24 Jan 2009 3:06:38 pm | no comments

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Thu 22 Jan 2009

W.O.R.D. "Revive Us, O Lord"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

Psalm 85:6 “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?”

2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Acts 3:19 "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;"

O – These three passages are descriptive of the heart of God for mankind – His heart for revival. The Psalm is generally thought to have been written concerning the Israelites who came out of Babylonian captivity; the passage in 2 Chronicles about the dedication of the temple of Solomon; and the passage in Acts to the Jews who crucified the Lord Jesus Christ and as a result 5000 men were saved. All three have a common theme: revival. These passages show us that revival is predicated on turning or repenting, and in each case these people were the Lord's. Granted the New Testament passage in Acts is written to Jewish people, but even then the Jews are God's natural people being of the seed of Abraham. Tell me, did not Christ die for the world to be saved? 1 Timothy 1:15 says “This [is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief”, and we all know John 3:16.

R – Revival is what is needed in America today. Revival is what is needed in the church today. The people of God must, and I repeat MUST return and call for God to have mercy on us. The time for playing is over. We cannot afford to have church for church's sake. We have been called by the name of the Lord and we must call for His Spirit to sanctify His people.

We have lost the fear of the Lord. Psalm 85:9 says that "salvation is near them that fear Him; that glory may dwell in our land." We've lost the glory of God because we've lost the fear of God. The glory of God is what is seen or what is visible. Jesus manifested His glory at the wedding feast of Cana when He turned the water into wine (John 2:11). This is something seen with the eye that brings people to faith in the Lord Jesus because it tells us that His disciples believed on Him when this happened.

Our country does not need the Lord anymore! We've placed our trust in the machinations or scheming of man to deliver us from all discomfort. Malachi 2:1-2 says, "And now, O ye priests, this commandment [is] for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay [it] to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay [it] to heart." Listen, we are the priests of the Lord (1 Peter 2:5-9), and our blessings have become cursed. They have become gods because we ascribe them time and authority over our lives. Things like T.V., computers, internet, food which are neutral tools to be used for his purpose, and even ungodly diversions like cigarettes, alcohol, pornography, etc. have replaced our first love. Is Christ truly our first love? Church WAKE UP! Yes, I say, we truly need the Lord.

God has called us to be a holy people and we have been lulled to sleep. God is sovereign and this election and inauguration has not taken Him by surprise. Remember, God is the one who set Barack Hussein Obama in place (Romans 13:1). We need to pray for him because he is of God. It is time to awake out of our sleep. Paul tells the church to awake in Ephesians 5:14, “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” The church must have the Lord to live through us in holiness so that even if the world hates us (and we know it will according to John 15:18-19 ) they will glorify God in the day of visitation (1 Peter 2:12). Come on, church get up! The time for sleeping is over! If the greatest revivalist in American history Charles Finney spent his entire ministry preaching to the church to repent and be saved, and the book of Revelation in the first three chapters instructs five of the seven churches to repent should we consider ourselves above reproach? Reflect on Acts 3:19 "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;"

D – O Lord, let us return to You, our first love. Revive us with Your love. Let us do the first works as You instructed the church in Ephesus in Revelation to do. Please forgive us for prayerlessness and apathy, and move us to action by Your Spirit in Jesus’ name; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Thu 22 Jan 2009 9:58:08 am | no comments

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Mon 12 Jan 2009

Let the impact of this sink in

"I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”

William Booth (founder of The Salvation Army)

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 12 Jan 2009 8:40:23 pm | 1 comments

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Mon 12 Jan 2009

Revelation Question

There are 7 churches mentioned in Revelation. 5 of the churches are told to repent (Ephesus, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, and Laodocia), and 2 of the churches are not (Smyrna and Philadelphia), but all of the churches are given the option to "overcome." My question to you: Do you think it is possible to repent and not overcome or overcome and not repent?

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 12 Jan 2009 7:57:17 pm | 1 comments

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Sun 4 Jan 2009

The Sower, The Seed, and the Fruity (I mean) Fruitful Hearer

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Mark 4:3-25 “Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and [their] sins should be forgiven them. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive [it], and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.”

O – This is the most widely known parable in the synoptic gospels (A.K.A. Matthew, Mark and Luke) because it appears in all three. Mark was a companion of Peter and Paul, but most likely this gospel was written more to a Gentile audience than to a Jewish audience. Something worth noting, however, is that Peter was the apostle to the Jews (Galatians 2:8) and Paul went to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46), which is interesting because the book of Mark is thought by many to be the gospel according to Peter. I went ahead and included verses 21 through 25 even though these verses are not necessarily part of the main parable, but I believe they further describe the context of this parable because it concerns the kingdom of God.

No matter what a person’s commentary on the scriptures nothing and I repeat, NOTHING can replace reading the word for oneself. Each person must “hear” the word of God for themselves and not have another tell them what it is saying. Commentaries are fine, but the best commentary on the scriptures is the scriptures themselves. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and He will teach us. That being said let’s look at what I see being emphasized in the parable today.

R – Notice that I put portions of this in bold. I want to emphasis each of these statements not because they are necessarily more important, but because they contain within them what I believe to be keys in unlocking what the Holy Spirit is saying.

“Ears to hear” – everyone has ears, but not everyone has ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. We have the option of allowing the Holy Spirit to minister what only He can unlock. So be open to hear as you read, not only in this passage, but also every time you read the word.

“Mystery of the kingdom of God” – the kingdom message is not something that is going to be understood by the natural man. This is something that only the Spirit of God can unlock to us. The “kingdom message” is scattered throughout the scripture, both Old and New Testaments, but allowing your eyes to be opened to see it is another matter. The “mystery” is only able to be comprehended by the Holy Spirit opening your understanding. It is amazing though because when you think you’ve got a concept God will reveal more when He deems it appropriate. ALWAYS BE A LEARNER, AND NEVER BECOME AN EXPERT! (You know what an expert is, right? EX is a has-been and spurt is a little squirt of water. We don’t want to be experts.)

I believe contained in this parable is a key to understanding or “know[ing] all parables.” Parables illustrate the kingdom of God, not only the salvation of God. I believe salvation is included in God’s kingdom, but not necessarily that the kingdom is equated with salvation. The kingdom of God represents a rule or a realm that God rules – the king’s dominion. I believe a person can be saved, but not live under the King’s Lordship following the command of His voice. We can all work on this, but this is my opinion from what I can see in the scripture. We can disagree on this, but let’s do all things in love!

Finally, the last emboldened item is about stewardship. What do we do with what we have been given. It’s not about what we do with everything; it’s about how we handle what we’ve been given. Interestingly, it appears that if what is given is mishandled or dealt with lazily, even if not much is possessed, then what they do have will be taken away.

So what is this parable about anyway? I believe this is about stewardship and obeying what the Holy Spirit says. Notice that the only soil where the seed fell that bore fruit was the good soil. All the rest were unfruitful. There was no life. The “sower” who sows the word in this parable could be anyone who has the word. (We see in the parable of the “wheat and tares” in Matthew 13:37 that the sower is the Son of man one that sows the good seed and the devil is who sows the tares. There’s a different emphasis here in our parable.)

The “word” here in Mark is “logos” in Greek. This is the same for Jesus who was the “Word that was made flesh” (John 1:1,14). I believe the sower here is anyone who preaches the kingdom message because that was the message Jesus preached. This is proved out in the other gospels as well. It’s hard to imagine that what we’ve been given would be taken away, but God will not entrust His kingdom message with those who will waste it and become unfruitful. If they do He will take what has been given to one and give it to another. He will find those who are willing to position themselves to receive His word on good soil in their hearts no matter how the word is delivered. As I emboldened we need to be careful “what we hear” though because not every word is a kingdom word.

Let’s position ourselves to receive with faith the word of the kingdom. A bunch of fruit is at stake!

D – Lord, let us hear and obey. I don’t want to make up what sounds good or listen to words that tickle my ears in these last days. Help us only to obey You and to be mobile so we can position ourselves to receive Your word on good soil in our hears in Jesus’ name I pray; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 4 Jan 2009 10:38:01 pm | no comments

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Tue 16 Dec 2008

W.O.R.D. " The Whisper of Christmas"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

O – Paul writes to a group of believers who had assembled as a church in Corinth which was the capital of Achaia, a Roman province. He begins here relating a concept to them which was for the most part foreign to them because the city was so wealthy and full of prosperity. Paul is giving them a short lessen in Kingdom theology. They were so accustomed to having their affluence and pedigree count for something that Paul’s language of “take the low road” was not a normal message for them to hear. God is wise, but He doesn’t choose many that are wise. In fact there is not anything a person could do or learn that could improve his status in God’s sight. There has to be a giving of “them” to “Him.”

R – In this season of remembering the birth of Christ and the greatest gift ever given for the redemption of man let’s never lose the mystery of wonder that a child has. We’ve heard many sermons throughout our lives of how the Savior of the world was born in a manger among cattle and sheep, and of the star that guided the shepherds to the place where the “poor baby lay asleep in the hay.” Let’s never lose the mystery of faith that causes God’s righteousness to be put into our account all because of His grace.

Watch what Paul says here about Jesus. God has given Christ to be four things for us. First, He is our wisdom. Wisdom is Divinely applied knowledge. How can we apply Christ to our lives? Secondly, He is our righteousness. This means that it is His work and not our own that brings us into right standing before God. How can we obtain this righteousness? It is by faith or complete trust in the Person of Christ and not in our own ability. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that “we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags.” Nothing that we do in and of ourselves can ever raise our standing in the sight of God. It is all Him and what He has done. Thirdly, He is our sanctification or holiness. This again is by faith. We may not feel very holy at times, but because of our faith in Who He is we are holy. That is why God can command in 1 Peter 1:16 to “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” It is His holiness, not ours. We just have faith, but that is a gift that He gives as well. Lastly, he is our redemption. He has purchased us or exchanged His life for ours by His own blood. What a deal! He exchanges the perfect, sinless life of His Son Jesus for our soiled, stained and broken life.

Now my question to you is do you have faith in the Lord Jesus? If you are not sure wouldn’t it be outstanding to receive His offer of life this Christmas? Romans 10:9 tells us, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Is it that simple? It sure is! There are those that may be reading this right now and say, but there are other things that you have to do to insure you really mean it. I’m telling you if God is the Author of salvation and He is the finisher of our faith, then He is fully capable to bring to life what was once dead in trespasses and sins. Just trust Him. He will never let you go!!!

This is part of the mystery that we should capture at Christmas. What is unexplainable in noble, strong and skillful terms is simply received and attainable by childlike faith. Thank God for the greatest gift to us all in His Son Jesus this Christmas!

D – Lord we humbly whisper “Holy” this Christmas. It is not in our own wisdom or in our own ability that we can offer anything of worth. Thanks so much for Your gift of life and love in Jesus’ name we pray; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 16 Dec 2008 10:53:15 pm | 1 comments

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Mon 8 Dec 2008

W.O.R.D. "God Our Armor"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Genesis 15:1-2 "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house [is] this Eliezer of Damascus?"

O – Immediately after Abram came back from the slaughter of the kings which we can read about in Genesis 14:17-24 he was met by Melchizedek who was priest of the most high God. The type and shadow of the person of Melchizedek is not what I want to look at here, but the fact that Abram was protected from the battle with Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam, and some other enemy kings. They were in league together in this war and had even captured Lot, Abram's nephew. It was all kind of a muddled mess involving several nations, kings, kidnapping and war. The bottom line of it all was that Abram was protected in all his dealings.

R – That was a fast background, but what I wanted to look at though was what God said to Abram and what was his response. In chapter 14 there was lots of war; in chapter 15 the first thing God says to Abram was, “Fear not.” That was nice, wasn’t it? I mean these kings weren’t playing chess, you know. They were Kung Fu fightin’ for real!

God then reveals something to Abram that is immediately applicable to our faith here in 21^st century America. He says to Abram that He is his Sumo Wrestler suit and his Cracker Jack prize, right? No, God told him He was his shield and also his fantastic reward. God’s comfort was that He was the Great Protector and He was giving Himself to Abram. Think about that. God says I love you so much I’m just going to give you Me. It seems odd to me that Abram was not satisfied with that because there was a stigma and a hole in his life of being without offspring and specifically someone to give his name. What he appears to be implying is that what good are God’s blessings without someone to give them to?

Even here with the father of the faith, God is introducing the concept of the armor of God that we read about in Ephesians. Ephesians 6:16 says, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” God says to Abram, “Here, take Me. I AM your shield. I give you Me.” God is our Armor; the armor of God. God wants us to take Him up and to be clothed with Him. When we are clothed with Him we are in Him. We are in Christ!

In this time of Christmas we remember what God gave – Who God gave. God gave us the gift of Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can see from this Old Testament picture an application for us in that God is our shield just as he was Abram’s shield, but in fact ours is a greater reality because we are actually in Him. He is our total protection and security. Thank God for His inexpressible gift!

D – Father, thank You so much for Your reality in our lives as our shield and our reward. Help us to remember You this Christmas because You first gave love so that we could pass that love on to our spiritual heirs. I pray this in the name of Jesus our Lord, Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 8 Dec 2008 7:13:54 pm | no comments

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Fri 5 Dec 2008

W.O.R.D. "God’s Uncreated Light"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Genesis 1:1-3 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

John 1:1-4 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men."

John 8:12 "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

O – This is the beginning of all of that we know. God piercing the darkness and moving from His place of the eternal now to where there are limitations of "in the beginning." This is the initiation of what we know as boundaries. God does not have boundaries, but we see Him declaring what seem to be segments of limitations for our benefit. There's heaven and there's earth; there's light and there's darkness.

We see the dichotomy of creation demonstrated in this passage. What appears to be an uncreated darkness (there is no defining of the origin for darkness here, although Isaiah 45:7 indicates God does create darkness) is invaded by the voice of God through which came uncreated light. Let me explain. Genesis 1:1 says that “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” but the words “created” or “made” does not occur again until verse 7 describing the firmament or expanse. The King James Version says that Christ was the "true Light, which lighteth every man" (John 1:9). The release of God's word shattered obscurity. This release brought about light or ability to see because naturally "in the beginning" there was not light until … God's voice.

This is huge!

We move on from Genesis to John and then delve into his commentary on the creation. We see God. We see Word. We see light. We see life. John combines these four and then like a prism refracts them as coming from a single Source. God contained within Himself this very essence called life. Life is possible because His very existence necessitates viability. Can we see death ever coming from God? No because He is life, and that's why Jesus says in John 14:6 that He is the way, the truth and the life.

R – Notice in Genesis which means "beginning" how God sets forth a pattern for us. God does not change, and I think we can learn a lot by observing a first pattern that God sets forth for us. When there was darkness the Spirit of God moved. This did not happen in the light. In fact this happened when no light existed. It was only after the Spirit of God moved that God said "let there be light." Only when the Spirit moves can there be illumination or light. It must begin with Him. We know that it is His will to reveal Himself to us and to bring understanding is because His word declares it to be so (Ephesians 1:15-18; Colossians 1:9-11). So be encouraged! He wants to reveal Himself so we should pray to that end. The only place in scripture where the word "illuminated" (photizo in Greek) is used in the KJV is in Hebrews 10:32 which says, "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions." Illuminate (phōtizō) has to do with understanding or spiritual knowledge. Revelation (apokalypsis) has to do with that which is observable or manifest; in other words God’s glory. Glory is that which is not subjective or up for debate. It is that which is seen with the eye and observable (John 2:11; Romans 1:20-23). What I believe is next on God's agenda for us is revelation in all that the word entails.

God’s uncreated light of our understanding is after the moving of His Spirit. This has to do with the breath of His mouth and also has to do with the slaying of His enemies (Isaiah 11:4). The establishment of His word in our lives is preceded by the moving of His Spirit. Come Holy Spirit, come!

D – Lord, I want to submit to all which Your Spirit has prepared me. Let us as Your people live in unity that we will respond together for what You have spoken in Jesus’ name; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Fri 5 Dec 2008 4:04:39 pm | no comments

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Mon 1 Dec 2008

Are We Beautifying or Putrefying?

In Pastor Nelson’s message yesterday “We Need Church” I had an interesting thought. Since the scripture compares the husband and wife relationship with Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:30-33), what can be said for those who decide to go to a church body, but never commit to that fellowship? They love the feeling of being close to God through worship and intellectual stimulation of a word in due season because there is power in God’s revelatory word, however, without a commitment to a particular fellowship can it be said that one could be using that body for pleasure of the soul? Looking at the analogy of a male/female relationship, what if someone wanted to come again and again to worship, but never wanted to commit to the fellowship? We see in this secular society all the time those who want companionship and fulfillment that a relationship brings, but are deceived into thinking that they have the full package without making the commitment to the relationship. Is that right?

I know the analogy breaks down after a point, but do you find it as tragic as I do? There are so many people in this society that for one reason or another they find a point of contention within their church, and then use that as an excuse to break fellowship as opposed to staying with and finding common ground.

Have you ever found yourself being one who looks for things that suit your taste as opposed to what suits God’s taste? The Israelites complained when they came out of Egypt because they said the food was better in captivity than with God (Exodus 16:2-3). Just remember the message of the Kingdom of God will divide (Luke 12:32-51).

Are we people of God? Since we are let’s all discover together how we can serve His bride, and not use her. I don’t ever want to stand guilty before the throne of God and have to explain the reasons why I murmured and complained against His bride as opposed to beautifying her.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 1 Dec 2008 6:44:15 pm | 2 comments

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Mon 17 Nov 2008

W.O.R.D. "Do We Have A History-Shaping Voice?"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Matthew 3:1-2; 13 "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. … Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering

said unto him, Suffer [it to be so] now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him."

Matthew 4:12-17 "Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, [by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

O – The beginning of Jesus' public ministry was completely orchestrated by His Father. Believers from all around the world have heard the story of how Jesus began His public ministry after He had been baptized by His cousin, John (aka the Baptist). I found it very

interesting that Jesus did not preach the Kingdom of God until after John stopped.

R – The Jews knew what the prophets had foretold concerning the Messiah and the coming Kingdom. Isaiah 9:6-7 says, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the

increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." This is just

one of over 300 Messianic prophecies contained in the Old Testament. Isaiah reiterates the oldest conditional promise of God to Moses concerning His Kingdom and Israel. God told Moses in Exodus 19:5-6 that "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth [is] mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." The Jews knew the Kingdom promise and about the Messiah who would usher in this promise. However, the understanding of this Kingdom was not one of a physical nature for which they were hoping.

I began to think about the timing of all this. John was the first one recorded in scripture to break on the scene with this hopeful Kingdom message; however, this message was not without preconditions just like God's message to Israel of "if ye will obey … then you'll be my kingdom of priests." His shout from the wilderness was, "Repent, every one of you, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." The call of obedience was to repent. One could say that the obedience of repenting was the first step to God's Kingdom, but interestingly John was the first one with this word, not Jesus, the King of the Kingdom. Think about it, the messenger of the Kingdom was shut up in prison, but the message of the Kingdom was "at hand" and was to be brought forth. Jesus perpetuated what John started.

How do you feel about this: did Jesus fully embrace His Messianic ministry before John identified Him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29-36)? According to scripture Jesus knew He was God’s Son when He twelve years old in the Temple (Luke 2:49), but nothing is said that He understood all that would be required of Him as the Messiah of the world. When He was in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of His betrayal He prayed to the Father, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou [wilt]” (Matt. 26:39). What amazing pressure! Could it be possible that when John the Baptist identified Jesus as God’s Lamb that God was using him, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, to utter the prophetic word which would change the course of history; that would shape the decision of Jesus to embrace His destiny? Here it is: the Son of God hears this Lamb of God word, and He knew what that meant. He was to die for the release of those who were imprisoned by sickness, sin and the devil.

We just heard Bob Sorge say yesterday to pray prayers rooted in relational equity with God. He called them “illegal prayers.” Could John the Baptist have made an “illegal prophecy” based on his relationship with God? Could such a relationship that he had with God move him to utter the history changing prophecy of identification to move the Son of God to fully embrace His destiny? Man, that’s too heavy to handle!

I do know that if we would build our relational equity with the Father that we could pray and God would move heaven and earth to answer. God wants to answer, but He wants His voice to be heard through us. Just as John was a history maker with his prophetic voice will we let God’s voice be heard through us to our neighbors, our coworkers, and our friends because we have not only built relational equity with the Father, but also with others?

D – Lord, please help us to listen to you and build our relationship with You so that we will know Your voice. I pray that we would be bold because of our relationship with You in our asking. Cause Your voice to be heard and Your love to be known through us in Jesus’ name; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 17 Nov 2008 6:53:15 pm | no comments

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Tue 11 Nov 2008

Question?

What do you think: Is it possible for a person to be holy and not walk righteously, or for a person to be righteous and not walk in holiness? Or do you think they go hand in hand? What's the difference?

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 11 Nov 2008 4:34:28 pm | 3 comments

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Sat 8 Nov 2008

W.O.R.D. "Womb in the Wilderness"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Genesis 2:18-25 "And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that

[was] the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

O – The creation of man has always been one intended for community. When God created Adam He said for the first time that something was not good because man was alone. The "one flesh" language of marriage originated here in Genesis where we begin the understanding of the importance of unity in marriage. God takes the rib (Heb. – tsela)

from Adam, which is also used in scripture to mean a "side chamber" in the temple (Ezekiel 41:5) or womb if you will to make a help that would be suitable for him. The first woman Eve had been fashioned for Adam from his own side-substance. So the Lord drew out of Adam for the purpose of creating to bring back unto Adam. What was the result of bringing back what was taken from? Life.

R – Life is the result of intimacy. Whenever we as Christ’s bride come together with the Lord we share in His intimate touch in which the life of God flows from Him to us. We as a result of this are recipients of this germination from Whom we carry life that began from Him. That is why intimacy with the Lord is so important. We must allow His life to be carried by us to full term, then given to others and not be cut short or aborted. So many times the church has allowed the cares, riches and pleasures of this life to come in between the only One from which life flows (Luke 8:14). Let's not lose our focus on the Bridegroom. He's still able "to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20).

One of the detrimental distortions of homosexuality in my opinion is that it messes up the clear picture of unity and life that should result in marriage. The life of God is conceived in His bride. Life is of or from Him; it is birthed through His bride (see 1 Co. 11:12). Homosexuality can never produce life! Peter described the wife as the weaker vessel. 1 Peter 3:7 says "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [them] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." This is talking about the marriage relationship with a man and a woman; a husband and wife. With the picture of Christ and as the Husband and the church as the weaker vessel we can see the picture decays into an idolatrous mess when two men or two women are "married" or even involved sexually. There are two HEADS, but in reality there are two weak vessels with no possibility for regeneration of life.

Two competing heads in a relationship symbolizes lordship. When Sarah called her husband Abraham lord (1 Pet. 3:6) this was an act of submission to authority, just as we who are Christ’s submit to Him as an act of our yielding our will to His Lordship. When we are intimate with Christ we are impregnated with His life.

As I was thinking on the implications of the meaning of all this God dropped another amazing nugget of truth into my heart which completely validates this word. I was driving home from work two nights ago and I turned on the radio. Since I work the 3-11 shift many nights I have the chance to listen to Praise In The Night on the radio hosted by Steve Solomon, a spirit-filled Jew. I love his teaching time. I listened intently as the Holy Spirit opened my understanding further in this very matter. Steve said that when God lead the children of Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness, He led them out so He could speak to them, and so they could worship Him. The Hebrew word for “wilderness” is midbar which is also taken from the same root word as dĕbiyr which means “oracle” or Holy of Holies in the temple (1 Kings 6:5). Midbar also is translated “pasture” as in Psalm 23. The LORD, our Shepherd leads us into green pastures. Remember that Jesus is the good Shepherd (John 10:11). In Hebrew this is from the same root dabar meaning“word” or “commandment”. Jesus said in Luke 8:11 that the seed was the word, and He was the Word made flesh (John 1:14). God intended His whole relational process with people to be one of life. He led the Israelites into the wilderness as they had been impregnated with the word of His leading. He wanted them in the womb of growth in the wilderness which was in essence to be in His “Holy of Holies” where true intimacy could take place. Unfortunately, all of them died in the wilderness and could not go into the promised land except for Joshua, Caleb and those under 20 years old. This was a type of the Kingdom of God. Were they “still-born?” That’s some food for thought.

We must not stop short in the birth canal of the life that God has intended for us no matter what. Guard with tenacity and fervor intimate times with the Lord. It is only then that we can be empowered with His life through which others can be ministered. This is Kingdom life through which God’s life is birthed.

I believe throughout this whole election that war was being waged over this issue of life. We must not allow what seems to be loss to be a distraction from God’s purpose. God’s desire is still life and unity. We must continue to gird up our minds with His word and pray His will into our land more than ever before. We are in a war and we have not lost! Maybe this was God’s way of bringing us into the womb of His wilderness to show His goodness. We must not look at outward circumstances as an indicator of God’s goodness. Walk by faith and not by sight (2 Co. 5:7). “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

D – God I ask that You would reveal Yourself to us more fully as we go from this place of comfort into the womb of Your wilderness. Lord, we have sinned as we have been reliant on our own goodness instead of being dependent on Your holiness. Please Lord forgive us and be gracious to us, and impart a dependency on You for our every need. We pray in the name of Your holy Son Jesus our Savior and Lord; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sat 8 Nov 2008 12:32:11 pm | 1 comments

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Mon 27 Oct 2008

W.O.R.D. "Walls of the City of God"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Nehemiah 8:1-10 "And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that [was] before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that

could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that [was] before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people [were attentive] unto the book of the law. And Ezra the scribe stood

upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, [and] Meshullam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the

people stood up: And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with [their] faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people [stood] in their place. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused [them] to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, which [is] the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto

all the people, This day [is] holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for [this] day [is] holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy

of the LORD is your strength."

O – The book of Nehemiah is an incredible account of the faithfulness of God to the restoration of His city, Jerusalem and His people, the Jews. The Jews had been in captivity in Babylon for seventy years. They had not made obedience to the law of the LORD the priority in their lives, and therefore, they had flippantly regarded His mandates. What this did in essence was to make themselves as supreme because

they had a better way to live. If they had made obedience to the word of God priority in their lives, then they would have been God's special treasure that would have made them unique in all the earth as the LORD had promised them. The LORD told Moses on Sinai in Exodus 19:5-6

"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant,

then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all

the earth [is] mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and

an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the

children of Israel."

Because they were unique to God they were to take His Sabbaths seriously. They were to rest on the seventh day as well as let the land rest from cultivating it for growing crops every seven years. Israel had not done this as the LORD had commanded. We might think this was rather insignificant, but God was serious. They were His peculiar people and He had a peculiar design for them to follow. Pride resulted because they had a "better way to build a mousetrap," and they did not let the land rest. We read in 2 Chronicles 36:20-23 what happened as a result:

"And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: [for] as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD [spoken] by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and [put it] also in writing,

saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which [is] in Judah. Who [is there] among you of all his people? The LORD his God [be] with him, and let him go up."

This was taken from what Jeremiah when he prophesied, "And this whole land shall be a desolation, [and] an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, [that] I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity,

and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations" (Jeremiah 25:11-12).

Here in this Nehemiah passage the Israelites had been freed from their captivity and are

inspecting the walls of Jerusalem that had been left in disarray over these seventy years while in captivity. They did this on the first day of the seventh month called Tishri which was also what later became known as the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah. Remember that these people had been in captivity for what seemed like a lifetime - 70 years, and had truly been a lifetime for many of them. Nehemiah was known as the Tirshatha or governor. He had been the cupbearer to the king while in Babylon which was an extremely high position of trust because he was the one that tasted all the kings food before he ate it. He had to make sure it had not been poisoned by an enemy.

Because they had been in captivity they had not been following the law of Moses nor had even been acquainted with what it said. That is what is so amazing here. Ezra the scribe read a copy of the law to the people in the midst of the broken walls of Jerusalem, and the people stood to revere the hearing of God’s word. They knew there was fear and awe attached to the holiness of God’s word. After reading it they made the people to understand what the scripture was saying, and it completely overtook them with conviction because they realized they had not kept what the LORD had said. The Jewish people are people of such passion. They passionately received what Ezra the scribe had read because they realized what a huge task of rebuilding the walls of the city of God was to be. That’s when Nehemiah tells them that God will be with them in this endeavor and that the joy of the LORD is their strength.

R – As I have been meditating on this passage the revelation hit me that the church of Jesus Christ has been in disarray. Walls of defenses have broken so that the enemy of our souls can come in and out without any resistance. I believe the church has been prideful in many respects as the Jewish nation had been prideful in neglecting the commands of the LORD to let the land enjoy her Sabbaths. The church, the “Israel of God” has not truly entered into her rest by faith (Gal. 6:16). The kingdom of God is entering into the rest of God by faith and obedience to the word of God. In the kingdom there is a King and His name is Jesus. We must, we must, we must be a people who so revere the word of God and passionately pursue Him in obedience because He truly knows what is best for us and for His City. We are His City, don’t you know.

As we are in this election season we must recognize that our walls have been broken down. It seems to be that the enemy is looming and awaiting his chance to further steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). The devil wants to use the ungodly democratic platform to steal from the nation in ways to further destroy our morality. He wants to kill our unborn babies because of his blood-lust for people who are made in the image of God. He wants to destroy the faith of those who are weak through discouragement and hardship by the deception that God does not care about them.

Don’t listen to deceivers! Pray intently! Hear receptively! Obey unrelentingly! The walls of His City will be restored.

D – O God, hear our prayer this day. We repent of our prayerlessness and our own selfishness. Help us to honor Your word and obey Your voice. We stand this day for righteousness. We pray You would restore this nation to our foundation in Christ. We pray righteousness would prevail in this election because Your word says that by You kings reign in Proverbs 8:15. We pray that the ungodly foundation of the democratic party would not be allowed to govern this nation in Jesus’ name; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 27 Oct 2008 11:38:32 am | no comments

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Tue 21 Oct 2008

Kingdom Blog

So I'm thinking about God, right? So much for which Jesus came to earth was to reveal a life that was not humanly possible, and yet, He demonstrated that it was possible. He was sinless and perfect as God's only begotten Son, but His challenge to the world that He lived in and for all of us throughout history was to live in His kingdom. Jesus proved that as a man that it was possible to live in total submission to the Father's will by being in the Spirit. This is true kingdom Life, and that was His message from the beginning. It was a message of obedience motivated by love. This is what compelled Christ at every turn. Love of the Father was demonstrated through Christ as he was completely obedient with no form of rebellion in Him whatsoever. He was not only God with us, but also our older brother (Heb. 2:11-17).

This kingdom message is what I want to look at. My questions to us all are: Is salvation from sin and death the same as being in the kingdom of God, and at what point does one come into the kingdom of God? Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3-5 "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Look at the two words see and enter. Seeing is a different action than entering. "See" is the word eidon in Greek which means to perceive or behold. "Enter" is the word eiserchomai in Greek which means to come in or enter in. Keep in mind that Jesus made this statement to Nicodemus in the Old Testament.

According to Jesus the birth process has to take place in the spirit before one can see or enter the kingdom. We know that life begins at conception, but Jesus clearly says that to either see or enter the kingdom one must be born again. Birth does not take place at
conception, but life begins at conception, right? That’s what is so controversial about abortion. So can a person have life, but not be in the kingdom? Can someone be called by the name of the Lord, and have gone out of the bondage that they were in but still not be in possession of what God has already given them? In my opinion the answer is yes, even though I don’t fully understand it. It is seen throughout scripture in the Old Testament and also in the New Testament. God is always taking His people out to lead them into. In Egypt the Israelites were God's people. They were all His, but they were enslaved and in bondage in Egypt. He led them out of Egypt to go into the land of promises; a land He had given them. They were to go in and possess it, even though it had been given to them. This would require faith, right?

Jesus said in Matthew 11:11-12 "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by
force." Simply speaking the kingdom of heaven had been allowing violence to be done to it since John the Baptist came on the scene until the time that Jesus had spoken these words. Could he be saying that now the violent could take the kingdom by force? The problem I have with this interpretation is the word "and." This is a connecting
conjunction that ties two thoughts together as opposed to the contrasting conjunction "but" which sets two thoughts against each another. The kingdom allowing (suffereth) violence is connected to violent people taking it by force as opposed to contrasting violent people who try to obtain the kingdom by their own will.

Luke 16:16 says, "The law and the prophets [were] until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it." John's message was that of announcing the coming of the kingdom of God. It was a new message that involved rulership by a new sovereign. These people knew what he was talking about because the system of government they were used to was one involving a king or sovereign ruler. Rome had a Caesar which was the sovereign ruler over its entire domain, and Israel was in this jurisdiction. So looking at Jesus comment was He suggesting that a natural man could press or force his way into the kingdom of God which is spiritual? I don’t think so. It all has to do with Him. He is Alpha and Omega. He is the beginning and the end. He is the first and the last. The kingdom is about the King.

The words of Jesus are so chocked full of meaning and so deep that by just a simple reading once or twice can never unpack all that God is saying. Remember that His word is living and active. Meditating on the word of God is truly eye and heart opening. Secret place meditation on the Lord and His word will reveal more than sermons alone could ever uncover. Ask God to reveal His kingdom to you. You’ll be amazed!

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 21 Oct 2008 11:15:14 am | no comments

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Tue 14 Oct 2008

dreams

10/14/08 (between 7-9 AM)

I set my alarm to wake me at 4:00 AM to get up and pray during the fourth watch of the night called the Morning Watch. I had read an interesting article in the Elijah List that Chuck Pierce of Glory of Zion Ministries had written. He said that God was restoring the fourth watch because that is the watch where God reveals His glory. I’ve been waking at 4 to get in on this Morning Watch action.

I’ve also been praying that God would allow me to dream His dreams. Ever since I was in a near fatal jeep wreck in Mexico in 1988 I don’t dream that much. I suffered what they call a severe closed head injury in which part of my brain was destroyed. The doctors told me that for the rest of my life my brain will be re-routing itself to use other parts of the brain to compensate for the loss. In other words different parts of the brain are used for specific functions such as sight, smell, hearing and also for math, problem solving, creativity and so forth. Dreaming is in one of those categories as well. I don’t know which part, but all I know is that I used to dream a lot now I don’t dream hardly at all – at least that I remember.

Today I work at 3:00 PM so I did not have to get up before the crack of dawn. After I got up and spent time with Father I got back in bed (the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, right?). Kim had to be in Dallas this morning for a meeting so she got up at 6:30 and got ready. She came back in and had discovered she had misplaced her keys so I got up to help her look for them. After we found them I went back to bed.

Since I had been praying for God to give me His dreams I’ve been expecting them. Between 7 and 9 AM this morning I had two different dreams which may have spiritual significance which are as follows:

The first dream was that I was in what appeared to be an old boarding house or hotel. I was in the lobby noticing the people that were milling around and my eyes fixed on this one particular old woman. There was nothing exceptional about her. She was rather plain in her demeanor. I interacted with her in the lobby and she was very nice, but something was strange. After walking away I kept noticing her behavior. I had a strong sense that she had an evil spirit within her. She kept mumbling something as she was walking around. I felt the need to walk back to her and confront whatever it was that I sensed. When I did she wheeled around quickly and stared with cold, inhuman eyes. I had not seen that before. She began to attack me in the spirit. I can’t say that she physically assaulted me and I can’t really described the kind of fight I was experiencing, but it was very real. When my focus was not on the evil within her, but on the Name of the Lord, the compassion of Christ for her life and wholeness for her being I would win the battle, but when I would focus on the demonic and the intimidating antics she was displaying I would be weakened. I understood that the battle was won or lost not in my own strength or by what kind of moxie I could produce within my own self, but in the power of love that the Lord had given me because that is His nature.

The second dream I had was where I was to be in some kind of long-distance race, maybe a marathon even though I don’t think that word was used to describe it. I was given a route in which I was to pass through farm land where there were different domesticated animals, kind of like Charlie’s place, but on a much larger scale. I was running at a pretty good pace, then when I got to a barn I had to go through it because there was no other way. There was a man in the barn that was tall, skinny and bald up in the rafters who was kind of directing traffic as to the runners. He displayed no emotion whatsoever as he was giving instruction. He said I had to pass through one of two places. I could go through a field of wild black horses or go through an adjacent field full of manure with many large black bulls. Both of these I sensed the presence of evil. I proceeded through the black horse field because there was not as much crap on the ground. As I did I thought of the scripture in Zechariah 6:5 which says that the different colored horses are spirits which go throughout the whole earth.

These are not a doctrinal dreams so please don’t think that I’m trying to make this to equate with scripture in any way. I just sensed that as we go through this time nearing what the world knows as Halloween we are under stronger spiritual attack. We live close to this place called Screams where there are different haunted houses, and I know the enemy wants to distract even Christians from focusing on Him and get caught up in noticing the evil of the moment. Don’t do it! The devil not only wants to intimidate with fear, but also get our focus on what he is doing. I even believe that these Christian Hell Houses which are supposed to produce an evangelistic effect make fear and intimidation more at the forefront than the grace and love that emanates from Christ’s nature. My opinion is that for Christians who attend these it is about entertainment and for lost people who attend these it is a deceptive way to manipulate them to button-hole them into “salvation.” Does this produce lasting fruit? I don’t know. Only God does. This is only my opinion and sense I am the one writing this I can express it.

Praise God that He is giving me dreams! He’s alive and He answers prayer!

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 14 Oct 2008 12:39:15 pm | 1 comments

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Thu 9 Oct 2008

W.O.R.D. "Sounds Like A Bunch of 'Huios' To Me"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Mark 2:18-22 "And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles."

O – Jesus is talking to the scribes and the disciples of John about the reason why His disciples do not fast and they, the scribes and the Pharisees fast often. Fasting was done as an act of anticipation of ridding oneself of earthly encumbrances that one's voice might be heard by God in a certain situation. This is what the fast of Isaiah 58 is talking about, "to make your voice to be heard on high" (Is. 58:4). Matthew 9:14 which says, “Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?” is a parallel verse of this passage in Mark that tells us specifically that John's disciples were not understanding this clear difference between them and the disciples of Jesus.

He gives an incredible picture to these men. He starts talking about children of the bridechamber. This bridechamber was the place where the marriage was consummated. In other words it was the place where the wedding bed was, and intimacy resulted. They understood what He meant.

Jesus uses the very interesting word "children" when describing His disciples relationship. This word in Greek is the same word that is used for "Son" found in 1 John 1:9 which says, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." This word in Greek is huios. This is not the same word that is used of the Lord Jesus Christ in John 3:16 being the "only begotten Son." This is monogenes or only born Son. Christ was the only one ever born into Sonship with God. The only One. Even Adam was created the son of God, but he was not born into Sonship. Chew on that. This is also a different word for "sons of God" or "children of God" used in 1 John 3:2 and 3:10. This is teknon meaning a physical son or daughter now.

Is this confusing? Let me break it down. What Jesus was doing was drawing a line that crossed between worlds – the spiritual and the physical. Here in Mark He is talking about children that are born out of the place of intimacy, and this intimacy only takes place in a spiritual context. A spiritual son cannot be born into a physical plane. The reason 1 John 3:2 says that "now are we the sons (teknon) of God" in my opinion is because John sees a spiritual reality that is, but will be manifest in a later time. On the earth in their physical bodies they are sons or physical offspring (teknon) of God, but their spirits are already sons (huios) of God within them. Does this mean that God is not concerned about our material well-being and our physical existence? By no means. This is part of the error of what Gnosticism is all about. God sent His Son Jesus to save the whole man spirit, soul and body. Romans 8:19 tells us, “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons (huios) of God.” In other words who we already are is not yet revealed to all the world, but there is coming a time when all believers will be gathered together in one as stated in Ephesians 1:10, “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; [even] in him.”

R – Intimacy is so important with God. Out of intimacy is birthed fruit or life. His invitation to bridechamber relationship is open to us. We can choose to try to sew a patch on our lives to fix the problem in which we find ourselves, or we can yield to His faithfulness. Remember the comparison Jesus made of the bridechamber with the new wineskin. The newness of the bridechamber is not an old wives shack. God desires intimacy continually with the bride of His youth because He desires fruit to be born in our lives. He does not ever compare us to a post-menopausal spouse. He is “I AM.” He is forever in the present and He forever sees us as His young, fruitful bride. Let Him do a work in our hearts to bring His fresh work of revealing who we are to not only ourselves, but also to all the world. That is what we are waiting for, the manifestation of the sons of God.

D – God we desire a new work in our hearts of intimacy with You. Help us to be led of Your Spirit to realize the hope that is in Your heart. Make our desires what Your desire is. Unity in the Spirit is truly what our hearts cry is in Jesus’ name, Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Thu 9 Oct 2008 3:25:03 pm | no comments

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Tue 30 Sep 2008

Dow Jones drop Monday

Did anyone catch this? On Monday the Dow Jones fell 777 points. If God had anything to do with that (and I think He did), could He be trying to tell us something? If 7 is the number of God's completion and if 3 is the number of God's perfection what do you think He is trying to tell us? Anyone? ... Anyone?

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 30 Sep 2008 8:18:59 pm | 2 comments

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Sun 28 Sep 2008

W.O.R.D. "Here's Mud In Your Eye"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – John 9:1-7 “And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man which was blind from [his] birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”

O – Just think of the miracle that Jesus performs here. A man being born blind was completely healed and restored by the Anointed of God. If we go on to read the rest of the chapter we see the Pharisees who were jealous of Jesus were trying their dead-level best to someway, somehow find a loophole in this miracle to discredit Him. After all, being born blind is something altogether different than recovering from an accident or disease and losing sight, amazing as that would be. Being born blind and then gaining sight had never been heard of before. Our Jewish friend who gained his sight seems as perplexed as the Pharisees were angry regarding this miracle.

Think about never being able to observe anything, and then obeying Christ’s word and kaboom – the vividness of life! Wow! I’m sure I would be beside myself with excitement. There is a lot this passage does not tell us about what was not said. We can use our imagination, though. Just look at the rest of John 9.

Look at the question the disciples ask Jesus about who sinned either the man or his parents. It’s so interesting to me how human nature gravitates to the failures of others. God is an optimist. He doesn’t look for failures, but for opportunities for grace and mercy, and Jesus just wanted to display the works of His Father. You see God’s works are always creative and life-giving. In the beginning life was manifest in His creativity.

What Jesus did was a little unorthodox for the day (unorthodox for any day for that matter). I wonder what the ratio was for Jewish rabbis to hawk up wads of spit to make mud for smearing it on people’s eyes to restore sight? He was the Son of God and I’m sure He had His reasons, but the man saw! Where there was blindness Jesus brought sight. There was darkness, but Jesus brought light because He is Light.

R – This miracle happens today. In fact with every one of us who have received the Lord Jesus we have experienced this. You see we were all born blind in our spirit. Jesus, the light of the world revealed Himself to us in a glorious way and we saw that we were in darkness.

The pool called “Siloam” comes from the same root word as “apostle.” Jesus told the man to go wash in a pool or swimming hole which was essentially named “The Apostle.” We know from the book of Hebrews that Jesus is “the Apostle and high priest of our confession.” Not only is Jesus the light of the world which gives light to every man, but He is also the One sent to be the Living Water by His Spirit to manifest His life in us. The work of God is to manifest life.

Look at our lives. Are we bringing life and God’s glory to every situation? Let’s lift others up with our speech. Our words are so important, even if others’ words are not uplifting to us. Become God’s optimist because He does all things well, and in Him there is no darkness at all. “All of His promises are yes, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God” (2 Co. 1:20).

We are His agents of healing in the earth. Our words are healing just as they can be poison. Open your mouth today and let Him fill it with grace, love, hope and healing.

D – Father, we are Your agents of healing and light in the earth. Give us Your favor and boldness to do the work of Your will in Jesus’ name, Lord. Father, just as You sent Jesus to manifest Your works in others let us be sensitive to every situation that we can demonstrate Your kingdom’s power for the glory of Christ.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 28 Sep 2008 11:10:57 pm | no comments

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Sun 21 Sep 2008

W.O.R.D. "Think On His Name"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Malachi 3:16-18 "Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard [it], and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as

a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not."

O – In the canon of scripture the book of Malachi is placed last before our New Testament. Chronologically, it was written around 450 to 455 B.C. Throughout the book we see words of warning coming to the people of Israel and Judah, which is one of the operations of the office of the prophet in the Old Testament. The nature of God is reflected by the prophet without the buffer and privilege which we now have is the Lord

Jesus Christ. Malachi, whose name means "my messenger", was giving Israel a message concerning their casual treatment of the things of God.

R – One of the themes in the book of Malachi is the unchanging nature of God (Mal. 3:6). Regardless of covenant, God's nature is the same. Even though cultures and events change, how we relate to God is what is changed by the New Covenant. Since this New Covenant is based on better promises (Heb.8:6), what we can now experience in Him is all the way better. If there is any changing that is done in this relationship with God, the changing is done on our part, not His. His standard is the same. His purpose is the same. His focus is the same – the Kingdom of God and our relationship with Him in His Kingdom. The message of Jesus was the Kingdom of God. He perfectly revealed the nature of God to us. He perfectly revealed the name of the Lord to us.

This is an interesting passage of scripture because it speaks of those who think on (or meditate on) the name of the LORD. Jesus Christ is shown to us in the book of Revelation to come on a white horse (Rev. 19:11). Revelation 19 is cool because it talks of this One being called three different things: Faithful and True (v. 11) and the Word of God (v.13).

Just to put a wrinkle in your renewed mind, have you ever meditated on name of the Lord Jesus? Malachi tells us that a book of remembrance was written before the Lord of those that feared Him and thought on His name. This is the name of Christ.

We relate to God in Jesus’ name because every mystery, and every question about which we have of God is wrapped up in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is perfect theology. Colossians 2:9 says that, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” We also see that, “without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1Tim. 3:16). Our understanding of the true nature of God is not found in an Old Testament paradigm, but in unveiled look at our Savior.

I would like to encourage you to think on the name of the Lord. Meditate on Who Jesus is and His sufficiency for you. Any need we have; any deliverance we need; any vision we desire is all found in Jesus. His name means “Jehovah is salvation.” Call to Him today. Remember, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom. 10:13).

D – Lord, help us to remember that Your name is on all our lives by faith. We are in Christ and are protected by Your grace through faith. Help us to remember that even in the hard times, even in the times that don’t make a lick of sense You are ordering our steps. Help us to never forget Your goodness in Jesus’ name I pray; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 21 Sep 2008 7:50:35 pm | no comments

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Mon 15 Sep 2008

W.O.R.D. "Wheat and Chaff"

W – Matthew 3:11-12 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and [with] fire: Whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the

chaff with unquenchable fire."

Luke 3:16-17 "John answered, saying unto [them] all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable."

O – Two parallel passages that indicate a very dire end for half of those involved. John the Baptist is speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew tells us that they were coming to His baptism, but does not say that they had any intention of being baptized

themselves; just coming. Maybe they just came to critique and to cast their doubts and disapproval of the whole thing. Whatever the reason John was warning not only them, but also all that were within earshot.

John says two things that I want to note about this One who was coming after him. First, He would be the Baptizer, but not with water unto repentance as he was doing. He would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. I believe this is one action. When the Holy Ghost came at Pentecost He came and appeared as tongues of fire which sat upon each of the 120. This was not a sustained event, though. The Spirit lifted and tongues of fire went away. This is not the fire that He purges His threshing floor with because the threshing floor fire is unquenchable and never goes away – forever! This purging is of the threshing floor. This is what is done after the threshing of the wheat to get rid of the remnants of the hulls (chaff) of what covered the wheat.

My observation is that John was speaking of Christ, and that all of these processes were accomplished by Him. He is the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost, and He is the Baptizer with fire. Not only is He the Baptizer with fire, but also He is the One who purges the bad and useless with unquenchable fire. This means He cleanses thoroughly. What is left is a cleanness that only comes by fire.

Purging and baptizing are different actions. Purging is for getting rid of the evidence; baptizing is for transforming. The action of baptism completely immerses an item into a substance and the item soaks up the qualities of whatever it’s baptized into.

R – Wind throughout scripture is often used to depict the Holy Spirit. I don't see why this passage cannot be interpreted the same way, especially since Jesus Christ is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. Isn't that an interesting thought? Only wind divides the good and the bad, and both are from the same stalk. Put that into your applicator!

Could we be sitting next to "chaff" in our meetings? Could you be chaff? Could I be chaff? There is one way to know. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” We are people of His voice. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Are you His? Do you have the voice of the Spirit resonating within your heart? If you don’t just ask Him. Luke 11:13 says that He will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask.

Christ wants to gather you into His barn because He loves to make fresh bread from 100% whole wheat. Ever gotten a hull (chaff) in your bread? Talk about gross! Since Jesus is the epitome of a perfectionist He will not have hulls in His bread. No mixture is what He’s all about.

Let Him purify you with His refining fire. Once He has refined you, He will wash you with cleansing soap and water (Mal. 3:2).

D – Father, I pray you would cleanse us and make us useful for Your bread. Refine us and make us one with Your Spirit that we may behold Your face, and that we would be suitable seed for Your bread in Jesus’ name; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 15 Sep 2008 7:57:37 pm | no comments

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Thu 11 Sep 2008

W.O.R.D. "Miracles, Ministry and My Mamma"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Mark 9:38-41 “And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.”

O – The “disciple whom Jesus loved” is looking for a fight! Remember, he was one of the “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). Isn’t it interesting that John refers to himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 20), and Jesus referred to him as one of the sons of thunder? Hmmm.

The main message of Jesus’ ministry was the kingdom of God, and He had been modeling what the kingdom was all about to them. Whenever we see a work of power displayed the kingdom of God is being demonstrated because the kingdom is not in word, but in power (1 Cor. 4:20). John was trying to regulate the kingdom by saying who they should and shouldn’t allow to operate in the name of Jesus Christ to do good, wasn’t he? That sounds close to being cultish. Can you be cultish and be a follower of Jesus? Ah. You know, “only we are the ones that can have this kind of power and understanding and no one else.” Casting out the demons in Jesus’ name is definitely a work of power, but to try to limit that power only to your little group is like trying to contain hurricane Ike to stay in the Atlantic Ocean. Even Christ spoke in the authority of His Father and a storm is stilled.

Christ has an interesting response to him, though. He’s trying to teach them about His kingdom through compassion, acceptance and love. The Lord had just set a child in their midst and said that receiving an innocent child in His name is receiving not only Him, but also His Father. The way of the kingdom operates in love. Power comes through love.

R – How often do we do this? Has it ever occurred to you that when we say or think, “Your group doesn’t do it like us” or “Your worship is not anointed like ours” or “Your mamma is not as pretty as my mamma,” we are essentially saying that they are not worthy of the love and the miracles that comes through Jesus hand.

If unity is not a priority before Christ returns, what’s going to make a difference after He returns? Power will come when our compassion for others supersedes our own selfishness and proclivities or spiritual leaning.

Love must prevail. If love does not prevail, then God does not prevail because God is love. You see how powerful an opportunity we have to display Christ’s nature? We have a choice. Jesus talked about those who show compassion in His name will not lose his reward.

D – Lord, teach us to live by Your compassion and Your love. I pray that our own understanding and experience won’t be a hindrance to what You want to do through us at Harvest Hill Church in Jesus’ name I pray; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Thu 11 Sep 2008 3:38:18 pm | no comments

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Wed 3 Sep 2008

W.O.R.D. "Christ In Us"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W –Colossians 1:24-27 "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; [Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory …"

O – Paul was talking to the Colossian church about the responsibility he had as an overseer for their well-being and growth in the Spirit. Understand that Christianity was just getting off the ground so to speak in terms of becoming known throughout Asia Minor in from between 59-62 A.D. when Colossians was written. The church at Colossae was not planted by Paul, but by Epaphras who was an evangelist who he delegated to preach the gospel among the Gentiles. This is great because it shows us the operation of the Kingdom of God is one of a collective development and not just one of individual orientation. Paul shows us as well as teaches us that “we” are the Kingdom, not just “me” is the Kingdom. Release and empower, release and empower, release and empower!

Colossians was Paul's attempt to combat the thought which later became full-blown Gnosticism which had infiltrated this Asian church. Gnosticism was basically a teaching that said that the body was bad and the spirit was good, and that nothing of the body could ever be holy. This secret knowledge in their opinion could only be received

through a special impartation by being initiated into this higher doctrine. We can see how this could present a problem when it came to the explanation of Jesus Christ having come in the flesh. After all how could God stoop to dwell in the flesh with His own creation? Paul's warning to them was one of not letting others defraud or cheat

them out of any reward from God by convincing them to worship angels who were spirits instead of the Most High (Col. 2:18). They believed this understanding or knowledge was only given to the enlightened few, which is exactly what God wanted to get men away from having come out of Judaism to the grace that was in Christ Jesus.

There is a difference, however, in special knowledge and the mystery of faith. Faith is not taught, but received by God as a gift. There is mystery when it comes to the revelation that Jesus Christ was God Who dwelt with us and took our afflictions so we could be perfected in Him. The understanding of this mystery only comes from God, and yet is never fully comprehended.

R – Mystery is such a large component in God because He operates in a realm that is other. He takes what is read and understood by us naturally, then turns it upside down and backwards in the Spirit, and gives us a mirror and asks us to read it. Not only does He ask us to read it, but He tests us and requires a perfect score. That's impossible, you say. Yes, that's true, but that's mystery.

You see, mystery is what helps us to live. Mystery is what has been hidden since the foundation of the world. Mystery is the hope and expectation of God's anointing in us for glory. Can we fully explain it? No, but we can rest in the fact that God is always good and everything that happens cannot bypass His sovereignty. Sickness and disease does not come from Him; health and healing does. God would not inflict on someone what He died to take away. Mystery says I don't fully understand, but I believe.

Jesus Christ translated from Greek means "Jehovah is salvation" and the "Anointed One". In Hebrew Joshua means "Jehovah is salvation" and Messiah means "Anointed One." A mystery that we see here is in Colossians is that "Christ" the Anointed One in us is our hope of glory. It's not Jesus in us, but His anointing or Christ in us. Jesus had a physical body, but His Spirit abides within us. The anointing within us is the hope of glory. This is the mystery.

Let’s go for it! Christ is in us. Whom shall we fear? Through this fast one of the things we are asking for is boldness. I’m tired of theories of what might be or what I read happened once a long time ago. For us to turn the world upside down like the Apostles did it will require faith to step out and cross over as we hear the Lord speak. His anointing is in us!

D – Father, we are willing. Help us to obey Your voice boldly because Your anointing is in us. Thanks, Lord.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Wed 3 Sep 2008 6:22:06 pm | no comments

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Mon 18 Aug 2008

W.O.R.D. "Perfect Fruit"

Perfect Fruit

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Revelation 22:1-3 "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were]

for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name [shall be] in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them

light: and they shall reign for ever and ever."

O – John's final revelatory vision from which our understanding of eternity culminates. This vision of John is descriptive of when there is no time. This is so hard to wrap our minds around (at least for me) because we are temporal beings. This is all we know. There has never been an instance in which we have not been subject to time. John tells us where there is no night forever and ever, but there are months. Go figure that one out and then get back to me. My opinion about it is that he is talking about no lack of understanding forever. There is complete understanding available because light from God is revelation. Since there will be no more curse, seeing the face of God will be permitted. Perfect understanding is in the face of God we will have access to unlimited revelation of which no eye has seen, nor ear heard neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared to those who love Him (1 Co. 2:9). It will be unlimited in growth forever (whatever that means). I get very happy when I read Revelation because not only does it bless me (Rev. 1:3), but I'm reminded of God's eternal Kingdom of which I'm a part. Death has no part in my future because I am in Christ regardless of if I die a physical death or not.

R – Something that is very exciting that I see in this passage is the fact that in the middle of this street through this city (we are the city of God) are fruit trees which bear fruits every month; twelve months and twelve fruits. This is often a number used to symbolize

governmental perfection. Regarding this Isaiah 9:7 says, "Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." Could this be a depiction of the perpetual fruit-bearing nature of God's kingdom? Anyway, Psalm 1:3 describes those that meditate in God's law as trees that bring forth his fruit his season.

Fruit is also refers to offspring (Deut. 7:13, Ps. 127:3, Lk. 1:42). Children, or life from the womb is a response to intimacy. There are 12 fruits which are born every month. This to me symbolizes supernatural bounty. What would take years to happen in the natural is accelerated in the Spirit. I believe that this is referring to the fruit of the Spirit that we see in Galatians 5:22-23. In Galatians there are 9 fruit and in Revelation there are 12. Even though the English rendering there is fruit (singular) it is the same Greek word

karpos which is used for both fruit and fruits. This is kind of cool because Galatians is speaking from an earthly standpoint and Revelation from a heavenly or eternal. What is this fruit? I believe that it is the love of God which His bride bears through intimacy with

Him. Love is the response to intimacy with the Lord. What God does in an earthly life is elevated and multiplied in a heavenly. People get ready!!! Imagine what true intimacy with the Lord is like.

D – Father, it makes me excited to know I will be with You soon. Use me here now to be apart of calling for Your kingdom to come and Your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen; Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 18 Aug 2008 10:01:29 am | no comments

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Thu 14 Aug 2008

Anointing Actually

Jesus said to ask in His name and not in our own name. He said in John 14:12-14, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do [it].”

Jesus is the name in which we petition the Father. Christ actually is not a name, but a title. Christ is in us, though, is our hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Christ means the anointed one, therefore the anointing is Christ who has come upon us by His Spirit in such a way that we actually become one with Him just like He prayed in John 17:20-23. This tells us of us who hear through the apostles’ word:

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me hrough their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”

No one can tell where we end and Christ begins, just like when we rub lotion into our hands. This word anoint actually means means to besmear with oil as to rub into ones skin so that the smeared substance becomes one with the person. Charlie said Sunday that on Pentecost that Christ reproduced Himself. If we can grasp this concept of Christ reproducing Himself in us, then we can see that the works that He did we will do also. Just think what that does to the devil! He sees the anointed one everywhere he looks. We become the anointed one, too. Would that give you more faith to know that the same anointing that Jesus had dwells in you if you believe (Rom. 8:11)?

Confidence is lacking in the body of the anointed one. Does that sound funny? It should. 1 John 5:14-15 says, ” And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” Jesus said when the Son of man returns will He find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8). Are we operating in faith because of His anointing or are we slothful in our representation of Him?

Posted by Jay_Axt on Thu 14 Aug 2008 10:47:02 pm | no comments

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Wed 13 Aug 2008

W.O.R.D. "No Rhema"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Luke 1:35-38 “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”

O –The angel of the Lord came to Mary telling her the awesome news of God’s selection for the mother of His Son. In her wildest imagination she could not even remotely begin to fathom the depths of what that would mean. In fact this whole discussion was probably like some kind of dream to her. When was the last time you saw an angel and he spoke to you? I think we as Christians almost take that fact for granted that this was not a regular occurrence. This lady had simple faith because she believed the word of the Lord.

R – I’ve said often that we are people of the voice. We must be or we are no different from those who have bought into a set of mandates to regulate their behavior to make themselves feel better. What’s the point of being Christian when we could be buddist, hindu, or muslim if there is no difference? The difference is that our God is alive and theirs is not.

We as people can only relate to living beings no matter what the response. Relate is the root word of relative or those we are kin to. God’s voice proves He is alive, and that is why Mary said, “Be it unto me according to thy word.”

I have been listening to a challenging message by Bill Johnson who said something that I was not sure about. In fact I let Charlie listen to it and he picked up on what was challenging to me without me telling him. Anyway, Bill Johnson said that the word “nothing” in “nothing shall be impossible” was a combination of three different Greek words which essentially were no, whole, and rhema (utterance by the Spirit). I had been trying to find this in a computer Bible program until Charlie showed me in his Strong’s concordance. I was thinking Bill Johnson had been smoking in the Spirit. It’s true, though. The only place in the Bible where this is used is where this angel delivered God’s word to Mary. What the angel was saying was that with God no rhema is impossible. In other words what God speaks God will bring to pass. Do we believe that? We must. Because without faith the effective power to see the seed of faith brought to fruition will be left dormant.

D – Lord, let Your utterance come and penetrate our hearts and birth Your word. Let us see Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Wed 13 Aug 2008 11:22:01 pm | 1 comments

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Thu 31 Jul 2008

W.O.R.D. "Pride"

W – Isaiah 2:10-12, 17-18 “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

For the day of the LORD of hosts [shall be] upon every [one that is] proud and lofty, and upon every [one that is] lifted up; and he shall be brought low: … And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish.”

O – One of the Major Prophets speaks to us about the day of the LORD. Prophets are also called “seers” because they see the vision of the Lord and relate what he is shown to all who read. This vision is specific as to the timing of its fulfillment called the day of the LORD. It is known as the day of the Lord in the New Testament. Isaiah is warning those who read of the impending peril to those who are proud and arrogant.

When the prophet speaks of “the day of the Lord” he is referring to a time period because as Peter points out, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). God transcends time, but time is for our benefit. Our days are measured, but God is never ending in days. He’s a great big NOW! That’s why He is called the “I AM.”

R – I see in this passage God’s attitude toward pride. God is never threatened from anything because He has no rival. He is sovereign, but He does hate pride. It is one of the things that really push Him over the top. Proverbs 6:16-19 says, “These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” We never see Jesus getting angry over someone’s sin issue, but we do see Him react to those who place themselves in a position of superiority over others. Pride and conceit make a person so that they cannot feel compassion, which is the heart of Christ. In fact when one is prideful they make themselves their own god. Lucifer fell from his position of great influence in heaven because of pride (Is. 14:12-18).

God hates pride. We must guard our hearts because we can so easily slip into the harsh rut that is truly a blight on the intent for God’s purpose to be fulfilled in our lives. God will destroy the proud. He will not tolerate a rival. When pride comes into our hearts we are challenging God’s authority, and His Godhead. It won’t work, saints. He’s much bigger than we are, and there is a day when He will come to abolish every idol including ourselves if we don’t repent and soften our hearts.

D – Father, please help me to always walk humbly before You in obedience to Your word. Help us not to deify ourselves, but to obey Your word. We need Your revelation that we may live not as our own little god, but as Your compassionate creation before You as well as before others in the name of our Lord Jesus; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Thu 31 Jul 2008 8:35:29 pm | no comments

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Sat 26 Jul 2008

Back To The Top

God is the Source of life. What does that really mean? What is source? Webster’s dictionary defines source as:

1 a: a generative force : cause b (1): a point of origin or procurement : beginning (2): one that initiates : author; also : prototype, model (3): one that supplies information

2 a: the point of origin of a stream of water : fountainhead barchaic : spring, fount

3: a firsthand document or primary reference work

4: an electrode in a field-effect transistor that supplies the charge carriers for current flow — compare drain, gate

Oxford defines source as: a place, person, or thing from which something originates.

I’ve been thinking about God and His purpose for our lives. I was talking with Kim and related to her my musing of the day: What if God’s purpose for us is to reconnect with Him as our point of origin? I know that men throughout the centuries have had philosophical thoughts about this topic so I know it is nothing new (Ecc. 1:9), but just think about it for a minute. Throughout scripture God uses language of re meaning back or again like repent, restore, revive, return, etc. All these mean to do the action again: to store again, to live again, to turn again, and although the etymology of repent is one of doing penance again, it’s really cool to look at it as to go back to the top again (like penthouse or top room of a building).

We have to get back to our Source. God was not made for us or made in our likeness, but we for Him. He always has been self-existent. Because He was not ever made, He was not created in our image, but us in His. He has no needs, but we do. Our greatest need whether we realize it or not is to come back into unity with Him because He is the Source of life. Outside of Him is not life at all only biological and soulish awareness. Our awareness takes place in our soul which makes us uniquely human.

The little book The Latent Power of the Soul by Watchman Nee sheds some amazing insight into what God created us to be as our lives are joined with Him. Our creativity, our imagination, our complete existence as united with God apart from sin would have given us unlimited potential. Jesus came to build the unbridgeable gap with Himself which no other carpenter could build. Christ’s life was laid down for us as the Way to lead us back to the top unto God’s life, and I must get there. I can’t get there without you, though. It’s a we thing, not a me thing.

We here in America have so internalized Christianity that we’ve almost made it into Christiana-me. If Elmer Fudd ever became a believer he would say, “I can’t be vewy, vewy, quiet. That waskelly wabbit led me to Christianitwe.” You see it’s a we thing, not a me thing.

Let’s get back to the Source; back to the Top. Our lives are dependant upon it.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sat 26 Jul 2008 2:39:56 pm | no comments

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Thu 24 Jul 2008

Hearing of the Bride

So I've been thinking and pondering the state of our church and where we are as a people. I love who we are, and what's really cool is that Christ Jesus is passionately in love with us as His bride. I was asking myself these questions: How are we as His bride? Are we

spending time with Him to know His heart to listen and to obey what He is saying? What are His thoughts and what is His direction? We as individuals are created to be His children, but we collectively are created to be His bride. There is a difference you know between a child and a bride. What is the difference? Maturity and intimacy.

The book of Ezekiel chapter 16, verses 1-7 has a very interesting reading concerning Jerusalem, the city of God:

Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity [is] of the land of Canaan; thy father [was] an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. And [as for] thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple [thee]; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: [thy] breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou [wast] naked and bare.

We see a progression in this passage of Jerusalem being birthed, then growing into adolescence. With adolescence comes many changes which not only are physical, but also emotional and psychological in nature. If you have teenagers you know exactly what I mean. We can quickly make application to this passage to our own circumstances in that we are part of New Jerusalem being Christ's bride (Rev. 21:2).

The question is, though, have we sufficiently matured to relate to Christ in a side-by-side relationship or are we still relating to Him as one that cleans up after us when we make a mess? I like what I heard Bill Johnson say, “Jesus is coming back for a bride that is in equal proportion to her Head.” Don't get me wrong because I am not in any way suggesting some type of equality with Christ on our own merit. I just want us to reflect on where we are as His people at Harvest Hill Church. Is our faith such that we make our own wants and desires primary, or are we listening to the voice of God and following His bidding?

Maturity in Christ is the only way we can bear His fruit. What does His fruit look like? It looks like love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. We will behave with these characteristics, and we will also hear Him as to what we should do. As we are in a maturing relationship with Him we will know His voice and follow His leading.

Practicing obeying as He speaks is living the life of faith. How do you know when He speaks? Maybe you think you cannot hear God. Let me dispel that by saying if you have ever given your heart to Christ or even have desired to go to a church because you knew it was it right thing to do, then you've heard God. Christ will ask you to follow His voice and we must be willing and ready to do what He says. This is not a burdensome thing, but one of tremendous joy and peace. As we mature the fruit of the Spirit will be displayed to others, and we will act in accordance to His voice. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). Whatever He

says, no matter how impossible it may seem to be, He will accomplish through us.

There is an Old Testament passage that I’m reminded of that illustrates an important truth. Isaiah 1:18-20 says, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].” Obeying the voice of God brings the rest of God. Let’s enter the rest of God together as a body at Harvest Hill Church.

Blessings,

Posted by Jay_Axt on Thu 24 Jul 2008 3:30:30 pm | no comments

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Thu 17 Jul 2008

W.O.R.D. "Blessed Is He Who Is Not Offended In Me"

W – Word

O –Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Matthew 11:1-6 "And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered

and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is [he],

whosoever shall not be offended in me."

O –After John gets thrown into prison by Herod because he made him face the immoral behavior of marrying his brother Philip's wife, Jesus commends John the Baptist as the greatest prophet in the Old Testament.

John was the prophetic forerunner that first introduced the message of the kingdom of God after breaking the 400 years or silence since the last prophet Malachi. Isaiah said that there would be, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." John was this voice. He was bringing a new message to the masses which involved obedience to different leadership, a King if you will. New Leadership also implies a new realm. The Kingdom of God was being ushered in. Ever since John made the statement, "Behold the Lamb of God" (John 1:29, 36), he was committed. You just don't go around making statements like that frivolously.

It is quite interesting that this new Kingdom was one of power and authority, but John did perform any miracle. Isn't that interesting? John 10:41 says, "And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true." You see the forerunner brought the message; the King brought the miraculous. It blows me away, though, that even while in prison for standing for righteousness he still wanted to double-check himself so he sent two of his disciples to make sure. Jesus told them to report what they saw – works of power.

R – How many Christians do you know today that are preaching a message of right-ness and holiness, and may have even separated themselves from any type of evil or fleshly activity? That is an amazing feat in itself. John was the greatest of all Old Testament prophets so from that perspective he had the message of repentance down. There was a

new message in which the Kingdom of God brought in, the beginning of which was repentance. This new message was a message of grace and truth that was to be brought by the King Himself (John 1:17). This could only be achieved by the power of the Holy Spirit. This power of the Holy Spirit is also the same power that Jesus told the disciples

of John that the blind saw, that the lame walked, that the lepers were cleansed, that the deaf heard, that the dead were raised, and that the poor had the gospel preached to them. This Kingdom message was one of power. (If you haven't taken the Foundations (First Principles) courses at Harvest Hill Church, I would like to personally invite you to join our Sunday School classes. This will give you a greater understanding of God's foundational design for our lives based on His Word.)

Did you know that power is offensive? It is. Just go ask many Christians how they feel about God working miracles today – for real! Try talking about it with folks in confidence as you expect it! You'll get some offended people. Religion will stifle faith. Form without faith will only give you the skeletal structure of what a relationship with God is supposed to be. You can see through it because there is no meat on its bones. What should be life-giving will only yield a hard, brittle framework in which one can hang their behavior.

The message of the cross is offensive because it requires us to believe in Other than ourselves. Power displays produce amazement in some, mocking in others (Acts 2:12-13). We are not an end unto ourselves.

I desire to see God's Kingdom come in power and authority so that many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord (Psalm 40:3). There is no formula we can follow to see His miracles or His fruit. I want to see that. I don't want to be offended at Christ, and I so desire to see His manifestation. Join with me in calling on the name of the Lord that we will see His Kingdom manifestations – His mighty works of power. Jesus Christ does the work as we have faith. He truly is the beginning and the end. In fact we don't even have authority in and of ourselves. It's all His. We just believe and trust. That's a hard

one for all us control freaks, huh?

"Blessed is he that is not offended in Me."

D – Lord, help me not resist what You desire to do in my life. Help us all, Lord. Teach us to walk according to Your authority and power and not ever to be offended in You, Lord Jesus. Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Thu 17 Jul 2008 10:29:57 am | no comments

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Sat 5 Jul 2008

W.O.R.D. "God's Authority"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Matthew 17:14-21 "And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a [certain] man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."

O – Several things stand out to me as I read this scripture concerning the dialogue between Jesus and this man. First off, this man's son is what is called here "lunatick" which is another way of saying epileptic because he had seizures of sorts. Literally, they believed that this activity was supposed to return and increase with the increase of the moon, hence lunar-tic. It was also known as being “moon-struck.” At any rate the disciples could not cure or heal him. If this was epilepsy why would Jesus rebuke the devil because this is how his healing came?

The disciples came to Him separately and asked why they could not cast out the devil, and Jesus talked to them about prayer and fasting. I've often wondered at what exactly Jesus meant by this statement. I don't believe He was talking about the devil when He said, "this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." The Greek word translated "kind" is genos which is were we get words like "offspring" and "born." In other words He was talking about LIFE! Jesus was not talking about the devil coming out because the devil is not life. He was referring to a life giving word of faith that came as a result of prayer and fasting – rhema! Jesus had neither prayed nor fasted at this time, but He had lived a lifestyle of prayer and fasting in which His miracle bank reserve was completely full. But wait a minute, Jesus was God's Son! This is true, but we are God’s sons by His Spirit indwelling us. Does that mess with you? It messes with me because I haven't

seen or performed the miracles that Jesus did. It does not make that not true, but I haven't experienced it yet. Jesus demonstrated to us what man could do when totally surrendered to God. His same life-giving Spirit indwells believers today.

R – There is something about speaking life-giving words into the atmosphere. I know that we are not operating in the same level of the miraculous that Christ walked in (at least I'm not). I want to, but how much of my “want to” is tied to me and how much is tied to God? Maybe my level of knowing is not the same because Jesus said that greater works would we do because He goes to the Father (John 14:12). This seems to be more the norm in churches in America today than the exception. People are to be healed from sickness and disease which Jesus equated with the devil's work because this is what Christ came to destroy. 1 John 3:8 says, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” God does not bring sickness or disease; if He did then He would be working against Himself. Scripture tells us that by Jesus’ stripes we were healed (1 Peter 2:24). It’s ludicrous to think God would cause something for which His Son had already brought deliverance. That would make God divided and His house could not stand (Mark 3:25). The idea that God causes sickness and disease or death goes against His nature because He is life. How do we then explain bad things? The answer I believe lies in the understanding of authority. Adam had authority and then gave it away at the fall. Jesus had been given all authority as the “last Adam” (1 Co. 15:45) to reclaim for man what had been given away. You see, Jesus said, “All authority has been given unto me” (Matthew 28:18). He said that as the risen Son of man because God never lost the authority. He reclaimed the authority for man.

Now here’s the thing that gets me – why am I not walking in the fullness of God’s authority in demonstration and power? I don’t know. Bill Johnson says something that really ministered to me in that he said we take what we know is true and live and keep making adjustments in our walk until we see kingdom results. That makes sense to me. Would everyone join me in seeking to make kingdom adjustments in our lives by listening to His voice and then obeying what He says? I believe that we can see God’s kingdom established on earth as it is in heaven if we are following the voice of the King.

D – Gracious Lord, thank you that You have called us to be together at Harvest Hill for such a time as this. Help us to listen for Your voice and obey what You are saying because we want Your rule in our lives and not our own. The devil has deceived us for too long. Help our passion be according to Your revelation knowledge and not stuff we invent in the name of the Lord Jesus; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sat 5 Jul 2008 10:09:46 am | no comments

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Mon 30 Jun 2008

Amazing Displays

All this week at work at the Hilton Anatole we are hosting a huge convention for the National Federation of the Blind. Since I am one of the concierges for the hotel I have had regular opportunities to speak with them and observe their behavior. More than 3000 people are in attendance of this phenomenal gathering which is the largest meeting of the blind anywhere in the world in 2008. I have been astounded at the freedom that these folks have and confidence they display in this environment. Think of this: a ginormous hotel with more than 1600 guest rooms and over 350,000 square feet of meeting space completely filled with blind people! This place is hard enough for me to get around in and I’ve been here two and a half years.

These folks are anything but bitter. In fact they are some of the most happy and content guests I’ve seen in a long time, and we have had several Christian groups here, too. (What does that tell you?)

This has made me think of Jesus’ encounters with the blind, and specifically that of a man named Bartimaeus. Mark 10:46-52 tells us about him:

“And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, [thou] Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, [Thou] Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.”

Bartimaeus had a confidence that despised etiquette. He just cried out with a desperate purpose for healing from the Son of David. This was a term that was attributed to whom the prophets referred to as the Messiah of Israel. Even though he was blind physically he saw in the spirit that Jesus was the Messiah. He was the Healer because with God there is no sickness. Did you see that? This man knew that Jesus was the Messiah and could heal because God did not make sickness; only life and wholeness. Because he knew this, faith was released, God was pleased and he was made whole.

The simplicity of faith is truly amazing. God is good all the time and everything God does is good – all the time. He cannot be tempted with evil because that is not His nature. He is good always and does all things well (Mark 7:37). Why are many people not healed even though they have faith? I really like what Bill Johnson who is a great Bible teacher says. It’s pretty profound so strap on for a heavy revey. Why are people not healed? Bill Johnson says, “I don’t know.” Bethel Church that he pastors in California has prayed for numerous people to be healed of all kinds of diseases and they were healed, but his dad who founded the church died of cancer. What’s up with that?

Maybe you’ve prayed for something to change or someone to be healed and it did not happen. It’s happened to everyone. That does not change the fact, though, that God is good and He is the Healer. Be encouraged today in that fact. He is the God who hears. He loves you and is always on your side. The devil is bad and hates your guts, and is the author of sickness, disease and sin. Don’t ever be confused about that.

God wants us to recognize who He is and to call forth His life that He died to give us.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 30 Jun 2008 3:11:35 pm | 1 comments

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Sun 15 Jun 2008

W.O.R.D. "Faithing"

W – Word

O – Observation

R – Revelation

D – Devotion

W – Luke 1:26-38 "And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name [was] Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, [thou that art] highly favoured, the Lord [is] with thee: blessed [art] thou among women. And when she saw [him], she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."

O – This is the amazing word that Gabriel brought to Mary concerning her miraculous pregnancy, and her response of faith. What a tremendous response! She did not say, "You a crazy angel!!!" or even, "I believe what you said is true." She said, "be it unto me according to thy word." She put action into the word (rhema) that was spoken because she responded in faith. Faith is a noun, and believe is a verb, so when you put action into the noun faith you get faithing. Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” She was in the substance of that word. Do you think Mary hoped for a child? I’m sure she did, but without a husband? Come on! What’s a good Jewish girl to do? She knew the voice of the Lord, and that God is good. He does not make mistakes. So in essence what she said was, “I receive the evidence of the action of what You have spoken.” Having faith in what the voice of the Lord said produced life in her. That’s a good rule we can follow: What the Lord speaks always produces life if received in faith.

Think about Mary receiving the Word of life (1 John 1:1), and then carrying that Life for nine months or so. The spoken word (rhema) became the living, eternal Word (logos) according to the faith that Mary had because she was highly favored and blessed. In other words she abounded in God’s grace to walk in her destiny, and her destiny was to birth the living Word of God. What an honor!

R – Here is the really cool thing about this for us: we can carry God’s word in our hearts today and birth it in His time. Has God spoken to you concerning something in your life? Are you listening, or have you asked? God will speak, but we must be yielded vessels to birth by his grace what He says. Have we yielded to Him, “Be it unto me according to thy word”? God is waiting for those who will have faith and trust him at His word like Mary. He wants to birth His word in the earth again today through us. Let’s let God deposit the seed of His word in our heart today and His life-giving fruit will be produced in us by faith.

D – My prayer today is, “Be it unto me according to thy word.” Let us hear what You are saying and be instant in obedience so that our faith would be living and not dead in Jesus name; Amen, Amen.

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 15 Jun 2008 6:15:40 pm | no comments

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Fri 6 Nov 2009

Cell Phones vs. The Holy Bible

Posted by Jay_Axt on Fri 6 Nov 2009 2:42:11 pm | 2 comments

Sun 6 Sep 2009

"Jesus Prayed"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 6 Sep 2009 1:47:21 pm | no comments

Mon 31 Aug 2009

"The Taring of the Wheat?"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 31 Aug 2009 8:06:03 pm | no comments

Sun 30 Aug 2009

"THE PRAYER LIFE OF JESUS"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 30 Aug 2009 9:22:47 am | no comments

Sat 15 Aug 2009

Relational Equity

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sat 15 Aug 2009 1:50:02 pm | no comments

Sun 26 Jul 2009

The Resume of Jesus Christ

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 26 Jul 2009 5:15:33 pm | 1 comments

Fri 19 Jun 2009

Amazing Einstein Quote!

Posted by Jay_Axt on Fri 19 Jun 2009 6:46:42 pm | no comments

Wed 17 Jun 2009

Fire and Light

Posted by Jay_Axt on Wed 17 Jun 2009 10:59:19 pm | no comments

Sun 10 May 2009

W.O.R.D. "Keeping the Commandments"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 10 May 2009 11:47:21 pm | no comments

Tue 5 May 2009

W.O.R.D. "Honor"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 5 May 2009 10:47:26 pm | no comments

Thu 23 Apr 2009

W.O.R.D. "Salt In Yourselves"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Thu 23 Apr 2009 5:37:36 pm | no comments

Fri 10 Apr 2009

W.O.R.D. "His Resurrection; Our Life"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Fri 10 Apr 2009 10:05:08 am | no comments

Fri 20 Mar 2009

W.O.R.D. "Life in the Spirit"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Fri 20 Mar 2009 10:59:15 pm | no comments

Tue 10 Mar 2009

W.O.R.D. "Charge!!!"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 10 Mar 2009 7:22:47 pm | no comments

Wed 11 Feb 2009

W.O.R.D. "Family Altar"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Wed 11 Feb 2009 1:18:46 pm | no comments

Mon 9 Feb 2009

W.O.R.D. "Revival of Sin?"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 9 Feb 2009 10:34:35 pm | no comments

Tue 27 Jan 2009

C.S. Lewis sermon "The Weight of Glory."

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 27 Jan 2009 5:45:45 pm | no comments

Mon 26 Jan 2009

John Piper "Desiring God" pp. 81-82

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 26 Jan 2009 6:35:07 pm | no comments

Sat 24 Jan 2009

Deep quote of the day: John Piper "Desiring God"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sat 24 Jan 2009 3:06:38 pm | no comments

Thu 22 Jan 2009

W.O.R.D. "Revive Us, O Lord"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Thu 22 Jan 2009 9:58:08 am | no comments

Mon 12 Jan 2009

Let the impact of this sink in

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 12 Jan 2009 8:40:23 pm | 1 comments

Mon 12 Jan 2009

Revelation Question

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 12 Jan 2009 7:57:17 pm | 1 comments

Sun 4 Jan 2009

The Sower, The Seed, and the Fruity (I mean) Fruitful Hearer

Posted by Jay_Axt on Sun 4 Jan 2009 10:38:01 pm | no comments

Tue 16 Dec 2008

W.O.R.D. " The Whisper of Christmas"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Tue 16 Dec 2008 10:53:15 pm | 1 comments

Mon 8 Dec 2008

W.O.R.D. "God Our Armor"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Mon 8 Dec 2008 7:13:54 pm | no comments

Fri 5 Dec 2008

W.O.R.D. "God’s Uncreated Light"

Posted by Jay_Axt on Fri 5 Dec 2008 4:04:39 pm | no comments

Mon 1 Dec 2008

Are We Beautifying or Putrefying?