Fresh Bread: Leadership! (What We All Need in Difficult Times)

Then the LORD told Moses, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land… Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must LEAD my people Israel out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:7-10, NLT) This year has got to rank as one of the most unsettling years in recent history. People’s anxieties are surely being tested, especially when we consider the political events of both the primary and presidential elections, the destructive impact of the recent hurricanes, and the recent economic crisis which former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, says is the worst he’s seen in his lifetime. It seems like at more than any other time since September 11, 2001, our country is in need of God-given leadership. It always amazes me how independent we as Americans claim to be until crisis hits our lives. It’s then that we realize how important it is to have good leadership. In the Bible, God shows us time and time again the important role that good leadership plays in His plan. In fact good leadership, whether it’s a president, a coach, a pastor, a boss, a spouse, or a parent, is the mechanism by which God blesses (provides preferential treatment) to people. And if this is true, then the absence of good leadership reflects the absence of God’s blessing. There are many sophisticated ways one can try to measure or identify good leadership, but I believe it can be summed up in a phrase Ronald Regan stated almost thirty years ago: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” And that’s really the question. Are you better off now than you were before? If the answer is yes, then praise God for blessing you with good leaders. If the answer is no, then pray that God will send someone into your life whom He will use to lead you out to the place He desires for you. PRAYER: Holy Spirit, during these times of uncertainty...
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Fresh Bread: A Bishop’s Needed in Anxious Times!

But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will…encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not know the time of thy VISITATION.” (Luke 19:41-43, NLT; Luke 19:44, KJV) The hurricanes (Gustav, Hannah, and Ike) and the financial collapses (Fannie Mae, Freddi Mac, and Lehman Brothers & Merrill Lynch) that have occurred over the past few weeks have made these extremely anxious times. Some financial experts believe we are heading toward the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1929. So, what does this all mean for The Church (world-wide) and local churches? God’s people need a true Bishop in these times of spiritual and emotional turbulence. In this Scripture, Jesus grieves over the city of Jerusalem’s missed “opportunity” to avoid catastrophe (see verse 44 in the NLT). Why? It was because these religious people, who should have been aware of the season that was approaching, did not recognize their time of visitation. The word “visitation” is the Greek word “episcopolate”. This is where we get our English word “Episcopal”. Episcopolate means “to see over.” These folks were in danger, and yet, they missed their moment to have an “overseer”, which simply means “bishop”. 1 Samuel 9:9 states that a “seer” is a prophet. He or she has the responsibility NOT to tell the future, but to reveal God’s directions to His people. In fact, 1 Corinthians 14:3 tells us that prophecy is to do three things: edify (build us up), exhort (urge us on), and comfort (give us strength). So, the questions that remain are these: Who is your bishop? What pastor, minister, priest, or rabbi has God placed in your life to speak God’s words of edification, exhortation, and comfort to you during these turbulent times? Times are going to get worse. And the days are coming when people will be able to tell the difference between who is regularly receiving words from a true, God-given bishop and who is not. PRAYER: Holy Spirit, these times are so severe...
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Fresh Bread: Perverted!

…Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath PERVERTED thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. (Isaiah 47:10, KJV) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7, KJV) The word “pervert” has a very negative and morally filthy connotation. It may cause us to think about some old man in a rain coat doing something very inappropriate. However, the actual meaning of this word lends itself to something far more troublesome to God. The English word is derived from the Latin word “perverto”, which doesn’t simply mean to “corrupt” or “spoil”, but also: to turn the wrong way; to invert the order of; to cause to face in the opposite direction. God tells us that to fear Him is the beginning of His knowledge. Isaiah warns about how our own wisdom and knowledge can pervert us. It happens far too often that our own wisdom and knowledge: (1) Turn us in the wrong direction (when we should be looking to God – Psalms 121:1-2); (2) Invert the order of our lives (putting our natural man first instead of His Spirit); (3) Cause us to face in the opposite direction (from God). Thus, in God’s eyes, we are perverted when we are so focused on ourselves, our abilities, and even our inabilities that we fail to turn to Him, and His wisdom and knowledge. This is the perversion that limits God from doing the things in our lives that only He can. PRAYER: Holy Spirit, help me to stop turning in the wrong direction (away from God) whenever I encounter both positive and negative situations. I cannot trust my own wisdom when things are great, nor discredit Your ability to give me Your wisdom when things aren’t good. Please help me to keep my focus on God! This I ask in Jesus’ Name,...
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Fresh Bread September 5: Urgency!

When everything was ready, the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family…” Then the LORD closed the door behind them. God wiped out every living thing on the earth…All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. (Genesis 7:1,16, 23; NLT) By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. (Hebrews 11:7; The Message Bible) During my vacation, I wanted to do something that would make no demands on my mind. So, I decided to watch a comedy (DVD) called “Evan Almighty”, staring Steve Carell as Noah. The movie was Biblically inaccurate in that upon seeing the approaching flood waters, many people were able to save themselves by getting onboard the ark. Yet, the Scriptures clearly state that only eight (8) people survived. For 100 years, Noah warned the people of the approaching flood but they seemed to have no sense of urgency. By the time they realized what was happening, their window (or in this case a door) of opportunity had closed. We have entered a season in which I believe God-given opportunities and opportunities of a lifetime, are going to be afforded to many people. Yet this is the problem: Will there be a sense of urgency to seize them! The word “urgent” means: important, pressing, serious, requiring immediate attention. On that day, many people lost their lives because they did not sense that their opportunity to board the ark was important enough to require immediate attention. PRAYER: Holy Spirit, in this season of New Beginnings, please provide us with YOUR sense of urgency so that we do not miss our God-given opportunities and thus lose the purpose for our existence here on earth....
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Fresh Bread August 28: Succored by the Lord!

Then Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD God of Israel…You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear… Now therefore, O LORD our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD God, You alone.” Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to Me…I have heard.’ (2 Kings 19:15-16, 19-20, New King James Version) This text describes a scene where King Hezekiah, whose name means “the Lord strengthens”, faces overwhelming odds. In the midst of his fear and frustration, he makes a conscious decision to pray. And his prayer is very specific: “Now…O Lord…save us!” One definition of the word “save” is the little used word “succor”. The word “succor” means: help me, sustain me, aid me, support me, protect me, shield me, take care of me, give me a lift to, or back me up. It comes from a Latin word that means “RUN to help me”. As we enter a new season (Fall/Harvest), let’s makes sure that we are: helped by God, supported by God, protected by God, taken care of by God, succored by God. PRAYER: Father God, there is no way that I can take care of myself. I agree with what your son when He says that “without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). So today, and every day, please save me. In Jesus’ name,...
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