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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Fresh Bread: The Blessing of a Praying Pastor

For this reason [seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,…I pray that He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality]. May Christ through your FAITH [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts!…That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all… [God’s devoted people…] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of God’s Love]; [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God […having the richest measure of His divine Presence …wholly filled and flooded with God Himself] Now to Him Who, by… the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]– To Him be glory in the church…throughout all generations… (Ephesians 3:14-20; Amplified Bible). In Chapter 7 of The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges informs us that there is “Help in the Daily Battle” to live a holy life. This help is not as simple as having assistance from the Holy Spirit. It is quite obvious that the reason God gave us His Holy (different) Spirit is so that we could live our lives differently. However, if God’s People are going to live holy lives and win this battle, they must have the assistance of a praying pastor. Ephesians is one of the crown jewels of Paul’s Epistles (letters). In addition, the church of Ephesus was actually his strongest church plant. One of the reasons for this was because he stayed and taught in Ephesus for the longest time. However, the other main reason for their success is that the Apostle Paul prayed fervently for the people of God. I remember being told a story about Jack W. Hayford, who was affectionately known to many as “Pastor Jack.” He was once asked, “How do you grow a large...
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Fresh Bread: Heart Dis-Ease

Search me, O God, and know my HEART; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24, NLT) During a message I gave a few months ago, I asked this question: “What is the leading cause of death in women?” Most of those present responded, “Cancer”. Who could disagree with them given the tremendous amount of advertisement and press coverage this disease has received? The official color representing the fight against this disease, pink, is virtually ubiquitous. Many were as surprised as I was to learn that the actual answer to this question was heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in the United States. According to the American Heart Association, about 13 million Americans have active symptoms of coronary artery disease. Heart disease is the narrowing or blockage of the arteries and vessels that provide oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the heart. It is caused by an accumulation of fatty materials on the inner linings of arteries that restricts blood flow. When the blood flow to the heart is completely cut off, the result is a heart attack because the heart is starved of oxygen.* In Chapter 6 of The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges informs us that “holiness is a battle.” It is a battle that daily occurs within our hearts. Every battle involves attacks. I believe that the main cause of spiritual death in believers (Christians) is also heart disease. Satan blocks the breath of God, that is, the influence in the form of God’s Holy Spirit (oxygen) and the food of God’s Word (nutrients) that our hearts (attitudes) need to live victoriously for God. Satan begins his attack on our hearts with anxious thoughts. On my way home, I regularly see a sign in front of a church that says, “Worry is the opposite side of Faith.” Worry or anxious thoughts will destroy our faith, which is the ticket into our God-given place of promise and purpose (Hebrews 3:12-19). The currency on which God’s Kingdom runs is not money, but FAITH (Hebrews 11:6). We are commanded not to worry! (Philippians 4:6). And yes, being anxious about our future offends our God who holds the future in His hands. Anxiety or worry distracts us from the purpose for which God saved...
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Fresh Bread: Today We Go Sightseeing!

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall SEE God. (Matthew 5:8; KJV) Make every effort to…be holy; without holiness no one will, SEE the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14; NIV) This word “See” means the following: • To gaze at with wide-open eyes, as at something remarkable; and thus differing from a simple voluntary observation. • To stare at and thus discern clearly (mentally); by extension, to attend to. • To experience. Today begins our congregation’s twelve-day consecration. The third chapter of our consecration reading, The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, is entitled “Holiness Is Not an Option”. The Scripture found in Hebrews 12:14 tells us that we must make every effort to be holy (Different, Uncommon, Peculiar, Separated, God’s Private Property) because without holiness we will not be able to experience how remarkable God is. God’s holiness is what causes the angels in heaven to call out to each other in amazement 24 hours a day and 7 days a week without ever getting bored (Isaiah Chapter 6). This is what David, the greatest human worshiper in the Scriptures, means when he tells us to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (1 Chronicles 16:29; NKJV). Whenever people go on a sight-seeing tour, they can either see what every other tourist sees or they can see the special places that only those native to that specific area know about. These are the places that are probably not described on the internet or in a printed tour guide. These are the places that after you tell someone you’ve seen them, they reply, “I’ve never been there before!” or even better “I’ve never heard of that place!” Because the word “beauty” is also defined as “originality”, there is a place in God that is so original (fresh, new, imaginative, innovative, inspiring, inventive, novel, unconventional, unprecedented, untried, unusual), that we can never be bored in life. It’s a place that only the Holy Spirit knows (1 Corinthians 2:10-11; NKJV). The question is, as with any other sight-seeing tour: Are we willing to pay the extra cost to see places in God that others cannot see? That cost is holiness! If you’ve found yourself so bored with your tour in God that you’ve fallen asleep, this consecration is your opportunity to begin paying the price to see places in God reserved only for those who will make every effort (and...
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Fresh Bread* March 29: Entangled

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be ENTANGLED again with a yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1, NKJV) No one engaged in warfare ENTANGLES himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. (2 Timothy 2:4, NKJV) For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again ENTANGLED in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. (2 Peter 2:20, NKJV) The Message Bible seems to make this Scripture frighteningly clear: “If they’ve escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they’re worse than if they had never left. Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back, repudiating the experience and the holy command. They prove the point of the proverbs, A dog goes back to its own vomit and A scrubbed-up pig heads for the mud.” (2 Peter 2:20-22) Last Sunday, I saw a young child get her hair tangled in the earring of her mother. Almost everyone who observed what had happened either stopped to try to untangle her hair or simply lend his or her moral support to the crying child. My heart went out to her, as she had no idea how she got herself tangled up in such a painful situation. At her age, one would have to believe that it was an accident. Yet, it could happen again. If this were to occur, folks would probably feel even worse because we all understand that this toddler clearly does not understand what she’s getting herself into, nor how she got herself so entangled. But we are neither infants nor toddlers! As we enter into our consecration this week, I believe God is going to provide us freedom from sins that have entangled us. Through the Spirit’s revealing and bondage-breaking power, this is going to be a tremendous season in our lives. Then the question will be: After the Holy Spirit untangles us from the mess (vomit & mud) in our lives, will we voluntarily choose to return? Will we return to messy habits? Will we return to relationships...
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