The Heritage We are Given

I read old books because those who have gone before have wisdom from above.

Spurgeon commenting on this verse Psalm 61:5  "For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name."

" Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. We are made heirs, joint heirs with all the saints, partakers of the same portion. With this we ought to be delighted. If we suffer, it is the heritage of the saints; if we are persecuted, are in poverty, or in temptation, all this is contained in the title deeds of the heritage of the chosen."

The heritage, the inheritance has stuff in it that I would not normally think of when I think of inheritance, but if the glory of God was the focus of my life then yes, suffering, persecution, and poverty would all be part of the path to His life being lived out in me.

So Lord, thank You for the heritage of the saints in all of its forms. 

Ahithophel and Me

Ahithophel was able to give counsel as if from the Lord. 

But do you see how destructive it could be if Ahithophel heard a person saying that about him.  Pride is our enemy, humility is our trusted friend.  We must be careful that we are not using words that point to a gifted or talented person, but to the God who freely dispenses gifts and talents.

Ahithophel's name means brother of folly, and since some people say Nabal, whose name means worthless and who lived up (or down) to his name, is the brother of Ahithophel, maybe he began to think of himself as wise in comparison to his brother.  But wait there is a severe grave danger in comparing ourselves with ourselves.

David trusted Ahithophel and Ahithophel knew that David was the anointed king and yet he turned on David and sided with Absalom, so it turned out Ahithophel was actually the brother of folly to David.  It is a truly great and truly freeing day, when we own the name that God has given us.  Jacob owned Jacob and became Israel.  I agree with God that I am a sinner and that lining up with truth gives me access to His life.  If Ahithophel had seen himself as the brother of folly, God could have protected him and kept him from this betrayal.

David speaks of this betrayal in Psalm 55 and pronounces a curse that his life would be cut in half.  Jesus took that curse too, dying at 33 years old.  He is our wonderful Savior, Messiah and King.

It's Not How, But Who!

Abraham, Zechariah, Mary, many beloved saints of God upon hearing of God's plan were struck to ask How?


Beautiful revelation from God today as I was seeking for what actions, strategy, or deeds are the next step in seeing God fulfill His word to release a dear friend from prison.


It is not "How?" but "Who!"


The lesson is simple keep your eye on Yeshua as the Father works out His plan and receives all the glory for the fulfillment of the word He spoke. 


Our job is to wait on Him, asking for and relying totally on Him for help.  May our eyes be opened to see the beautiful reaction of the heart of God as He sees His children, doing nothing, choosing to wait for Him, resting and trusting in His faithfulness.


No plan.


No program.


No flesh!

One Test of a False Prophet

My wife made this reply to me when I was asking her opinion on a $40 purchase of a man's teaching on DVD, "If it was real it would be free."

That was witnessed by my spirit, because years ago reading Jude, I came to this verse, "Woe to them! For they have gone the (defiant) way of Cain, and for profit they have run headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of (mutinous) Korah."  Jude 11

Balaam knew he was not to go with the people from the king who wanted him to curse Israel, but the more the riches increased the more willing he became to disobey God.  The story shows that he ended up speaking words of blessing over Israel, but he was not supposed to go with them at all, and now that he was in their territory he was susceptible to their influence. The story later on states that he gave a strategy to the king to lure in the Israelite men with the king's women.

Bottom line, the gifts are freely given to us, and are therefore to be freely given by us.  God said, "Do not go with these men."  Balaam saw the money being offered and he went with them.  Money clouds and blocks our ability to hear from and obey God. 

"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give."
Matthew 10:8

The Body of Christ (Messiah)

Post-tribulation is true because the body of the Messiah went to and through the cross to display the invisible attributes of God, and the current body of Christ (Messiah) on this earth is called to do the exact same thing.  The cross of tribulation is ours to cling to as it is His good pleasure to carry us through incredible difficulty in order to reach those who are lost.  (Isaiah 53:10 "Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief;<sup>"  )


If only we could see it is a high calling. 
It gives purpose and meaning to our current struggles
and it releases us to have the proper attitude toward God and man,
as we see the unseen principalities and powers begin to rise up and speed up.</sup>

Hi I'm Chuck and I'm an Addict, but I am also a New Creation

Many thanks to my wife for this insight.

There is a debate in "recovery circles" on how to
introduce yourself. 
Do you say, "I am an addict..."
or
do you say
"I am a new creation"

My wife said something like this..."In my flesh, and
anytime I walk away from His presence, I am very
much still an addict, but the truth is I am a new creation
and that new creation is not an addict."
I think it lines up with Jesus when He said,

"Apart from Me you can do nothing."  so apart from
Him, if we are not in the vine, in the flow of His life
our reality is we are an addict, but in Him, the addict
is gone gone gone and we are a new creation.

So it is my favorite answer in Bible Study

"yes and yes"!

How a Leader Responds to Criticism

One of the lessons from a beautiful visit with friends, "How does Moses respond to insubordination, murmuring, complaints directed against his leadership, disparaging remarks about his qualifications, and his wife?"


He falls on his face before the Lord. 


He does not defend himself. 


He lets the Lord be his defense.

Israel Will Become Teachers of the Gentiles of the Mercy of God

From the Treasury of David by Spurgeon, specifically Psalm 51 comes this quote.


  " I cannot doubt the prophetic bearing of this Psalm upon the nation of Israel. In the latter day they shall consider their ways: repentance and self loathing will be the result. Blood guiltiness heavier than that of David has to be removed from that nation. They will become the teachers of the Gentiles, when first the iniquity of their own transgressions has been purged away." Arthur Pridham.


Wow. 


This guy gets it.


He has read Zechariah 12-14 and takes it literally.


Psalm 51 applied to the Jewish nation in its entirety!


All Glory to the Mercy and Faithfulness of our God.  One God, One family, One plan of salvation through One Messiah by the Holy Spirit.

Our Reaction to the Partial Hardening of Israel Reveals Either Arrogance or Humility

^"17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; ²¹ for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. ²² Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³ And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
²⁵ For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;"  Romans 11:17-25 


Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit was deeply burdened for Israel.  His hope was that the gentiles who the Lord called him to, would understand and be humbled by the deep cost that Israel is and now has been paying for 2,000 years.  There is no room for arrogance, there is no room for a gentile to feel that in any way they have replaced or super seeded Israel.  The second we leave their root we are cut off.  Paul had the humility of God to see this mystery and to stand before it trusting in the wisdom of our great God.
On the other hand, Luther, had great expectations that his reformation would be welcomed and embraced by the Jews and when they did not turn and repent in the way he expected, he looked at Jewish writings and saw that they disparaged Jesus and he went off, way off!  He wrote a hate-filled book that in a very real sense opened the door for Nazi anti-Semitism. 
Oh God save us from ourselves!  Help us to look with humility at the terrifying cost of the partial hardening, and break us till we are crying out to you for them in priestly intercession!