Fresh Bread: SPEED

When one thinks of horses, one thinks about two major things: Power and Speed. For example, horsepower measures the strength of an automobile’s engine. And when it comes to horses, who isn’t at least aware of the sport of horse racing? In fact, watching horses race is such a thing of beauty that movies such as Seabiscuit and Hidalgo were financially successful, both earning over $100 million. Last month a horse by the name of “Rachel Alexander” won The Preakness in Baltimore, which is the middle portion of horse racing’s triple-crown (the other two being The Kentucky Derby and The Belmont Stakes). What made the winner of this race so exceptional was that it was the first time in 85 years that a female horse (a filly) beat out the male horses (colts) in such an event. In these most difficult times, I want to take you on a journey toward victory against the tremendous odds that you are facing today. I want you to join me on an exploration of a book in the Bible that I believe was written specifically to produce a winning attitude. That book is called “Philippians”. The word “Philippians,” which is derived from the name Philip, means: Lover of Horses. There’s a Scripture found in Jeremiah that states “So, Jeremiah, if you’re worn out in this footrace with men, what makes you think you can race against horses? And if you can’t keep your wits during times of calm, what’s going to happen when troubles break loose like the Jordan in flood?” (Jeremiah 12:5, The Message Bible). Today life seems to be racing at such a pace that people of all ages are growing both weary and exhausted. And, as Jeremiah indicates, it’s only going to get worst. There are very few individuals in the Bible who’ve had a more hectic and challenging life than the Apostle Paul. Yet, he not only exceeded the foot speed of other men, he seemed to thrive during when life’s challenges came with the speed of horses. How else could he write such words as “Rejoice in the Lord always…” while he was in prison for doing God’s work? The Book of Philippians is Paul’s thank you letter to the Philippians, and it focuses on “living a life full of joy in Christ.” I believe that during these challenging and discouraging times, the verses within this letter...
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Things Remembered

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So the angel said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a MEMORIAL before God.” (Acts 10:1-4; NKJV) As a boy growing up, I used to look forward to this weekend. Not simply because I got the day off from school, but because our city held one of its very few parades: The Memorial Day Parade. Though our nation was engulfed in the Vietnam War at the time, I never really understood what Memorial Day meant. As a boy, all I cared about was seeing the marching bands and getting my parents to purchase a souvenir from a vendor. Of course, as I got older I realized the seriousness of this holiday due to the sacrifices soldiers, both living and deceased, have made and continue to make for our country. And that’s not even including the sacrifices required of their families. So I was intrigued by the wording in the King James Bible describing a prayer coming up to God as a “memorial”, especially since God never forgets. I discovered that in Greek the word “memorial” means “memorandum”. Memorandum is derived from a Latin word which means, “a thing to be remembered”. Thus, the angel says to Cornelius, “Your prayers…have come up as a ‘thing to be remembered’ before God”. Picture your prayers as little “Post It” notes all around Heaven. However, do not for one minute think that your many prayers are reminding God in case He forgets. No! No! A thousand times No! I believe these many prayers are a declaration to God and the angels in Heaven who run His errands that though we’ve been praying for many, many years, WE STILL BELIEVE! I encourage you to use part of your holiday weekend to take some of your old, forgotten prayers and dust them off! Then, remind both Heaven and Hell that you still believe. (Luke...
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Fresh Bread: Holy Joy

And the disciples were filled with JOY, and with the Holy Ghost. (Acts 13:52; KJV) For the kingdom of God is…JOY in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17; KJV) And ye became followers…of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with JOY of the Holy Ghost. (1 Thessalonians 1:6; KJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is…JOY… (Galatians 5:22; KJV) One of the reasons that I began to study the fruit* (result, harvest, outcome, advantage, benefit, consequence, effect, reward, product) of the Holy Spirit was that one day I became sick and tired of hearing myself whining and sighing (deep exhaling of breath in response to frustration) about life. I wanted a holy (different) kind of joy. We all can come to a place in our lives where no news is good news, and that’s not good! It certainly doesn’t describe the kind of joy that comes from the Lord, which provides us with enough strength (Nehemiah 8:10; NLT) to live the kind of life we all desire to live. In my search for a definition of joy that I could “wrap my brain around” and pursue as a God-given objective, I fell in love with Eugene Peterson’s definition of the word in The Message Bible, which calls joy an “exuberance about life”. Exuberance means “. . . having an almost uninhibited enthusiasm (origin: en = inside + Theos = God)”. Thus, “uninhibited enthusiasm” means “having God uninhibited in our lives.” This is the kind of life that I want for the remainder of 2009. In fact, the etymology of the word exuberance is “characterized (marked) by beyond having plenty and beyond being fully content.” Exuberance has several other definitions such as: energetic, animated, bouncy, buoyant (can’t be held down), cheerful, chipper, eager, elated, excited, exhilarated (bringing in a breath of fresh air), high-spirited, lively, passionate, sparkling, vigorous, vivacious (full of life), zestful, NOT depressed, NOT discouraged, NOT lifeless, NOT unexcited. The joy that comes from the Holy Spirit leaves a mark on us that goes beyond being full of fruit, beyond being productive, beyond having plenty, and beyond feeling a rich contentment. This is what I want for my life! This is what I want for my wife and my daughters! This is what I want for my friends and my congregation. I want an energy, a buoyancy, a passion, a vivaciousness, and an excitement about my...
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Fresh Bread: Holy Habits

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? (Isaiah 58:6; KJV) In Chapter 14 of The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges informs us of our need to develop “Habits of Holiness”. We need to develop habits that make us “different, uncommon (not like the public), peculiar (private property), and separated”. But the question is: What is a HABIT? The word “habit” is derived from the Latin word “habeo”, which means to “have, hold, possess, own, keep, or control”. Thus, as we look at the word habit, we need to ask ourselves, “What has me in its grip? What has a hold on my life? What possesses me? What owns me? What keeps me from attaining my life’s goal? What controls me?” Is it food? Laziness? Sleep? Anger? Anxiety? Low self esteem? The opinions of other people? The word “Habit” always seems to have a negative connotation (idea or meaning) because we tend to focus more on our “bad” habits than our good (God) habits. But some of the good habits that possess us are things such as: attending church regularly, reading the Bible daily, exercising weekly, praying & worshiping regularly, regularly sharing the gospel (good news), etc. We also possess good habits in the form the things we choose NOT to do, such as: NOT getting intoxicated, smoking cigarettes, regularly skipping classes in school, losing our tempers, spending beyond our means, etc. I believe that during this consecration of prayer and fasting, God desires to help us develop holy habits by breaking the yokes (bondages, bonds, burdens, chains, enslavements, knots, oppression, slavery) that seem to possess us. These chains constantly keep us from God’s highest and best for our lives. God once told Cain that if he was not careful, he would allow sin to fulfill its desire of “having” (habit) him. (See: Genesis 4:6-7). As we approach the end of this week’s consecration, let’s take time today to ask God to help us to form new godly habits in our lives. I believe that His response will be to pour out a new freshness of His Holy Spirit on our lives, setting us free (2 Corinthians 3:17) to be the persons we knew we could always be in...
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Fresh Bread: It’s Harvest Time Now!

Jesus said to them, My food (nourishment) is to do the will (pleasure) of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish and completely finish His work. Do you not say, “It is still four months until harvest time comes”? Look! I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields and see how they are already white for HARVESTING. Already the reaper is getting his wages [he who does the cutting now has his reward], for he is gathering fruit (crop) unto life eternal, so that he who does the planting and he who does the reaping may rejoice together. For in this the saying holds true, one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap a crop for which you have not toiled. Other men have labored and you have stepped in to reap the results of their work. (John 4:34-38; Amplified Bible) Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was someone like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came from the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, “Swing the sickle, for the time of HARVEST has come; the crop on earth is ripe.” So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested. (Revelation 14:14-16; NLT) On last evening, Reverend Virginia Ward spoke using the previous Scriptures. The title of her sermon was: “Call for the Harvest”. What I found interesting was that on January 25th and February 8th, the Lord had used those very same Scriptures to tell us to go out and get the Harvest of Jesus from seeds we did not sow (John 4:38; NLT). Reverend Virginia even quoted from Matthew 6:33, repeating what the Lord told us that very morning: Take care of God’s House (Kingdom) and God will take care of our houses (things). Thus on Palm Sunday evening, God reminded us, yet again, that NOW is the time to go get His harvest. Even during today’s morning prayer, I received a report of yet another person within our congregation receiving incredulous favor that has left the mouth of the person who received God’s favor and the mouths of others open in amazement. Yet, I want to remind us that although this is the season for us to...
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